What's everybody doing today?

[Mountain trapper]

I'll be sleeping out on the couch next to the wood stove tonight keeping it well fed. It's well below zero now, with just a light breeze blowing. I'm going down to the pump house around 2am to check on the heater and make sure everything is fine.
Even though our winter diesel is 50/50 mix with stove oil, I still added some anti gel treatment to the tank today.
They're calling for up to a foot of snow later today with colder temps and high winds.

 

[Pearl]

Re-started the fire in the wood stove, it won't stop for days now! I too will be sleeping near the stove to keep it cranking with this kind of cold weather!! I will put an electric oil heater in the master bedroom to help keep some heat in that end of the house. The wood stove can do it during 'normal' winter weather, but I will give in and use the heater during these artic fronts! We got the new battery for my car yesterday but won't put it in until after the extreme cold and ice. It can sit in the house for now! Doing laundry now, will be able to hang it outside this morning. I will call several of my older folks I clean for just to double check that they are ready for the bad weather.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got up at 4am to check things out. We're out of water. I went down to the pump house thinking the heater went out and the pressure tank froze up. Nope, it was fine, 37 degs inside the pump house. A red light was flashing on the control panel indicating that the generator wouldn't start. I switched it over to manual, still wouldnt start. I'll take a propane heater down and heat the generator up and get it started.

 

[snappy1]

Not doing a lot today! Haha. Always find stuff to do.
Will walk after I feed dogs.
Take ebay photos for DH.
Walk dogs.
Make Sonya's oat soup
Maybe do a load of laundry, later.

 

[sonya123]

didn't sleep well, the wind was howling really bad and kept waking me up. I should have looked for earplugs
it is cold and windy out but not as bad yet as it is going to get Tuesday and Wednesday
So might put the animals out at least for a little while, it's not raining or snowing

I feel bad for all the farm animals out there that have no shelters. Most of our neighbors have some sort of shelters for their animals , the one next door down even puts covers on his horses when it's bad out but you drive down the road and see poor goats and sheep out in the weather with nothing but a hay bale . I know most survive ( not the little ones) but still don't like seeing it. I guess cattle is different , they are all out in the weather.

Mountain Trapper: how does your cattle survive these -40 temps? I just can't imagine even with fur. How do you keep their water unfrozen? Just wondering

Think I overdid it again yesterday my back hurts
So today just going to take care of animals and take dog for a walk

 

[Amish Heart]

It's negative two out right now, so I'll just do well to get the animals taken care of a few times today.

 

[Tommyice]

I feel for you guys in the cold. We’re not getting any cold here in New Jersey which is disturbing. In fact right now it’s 56°. I still have one petunia plant growing in my planter beds. Bizarre.

 

[snappy1]

I feel for you guys in the cold. We’re not getting any cold here in New Jersey which is disturbing. In fact right now it’s 56°. I still have one petunia plant growing in my planter beds. Bizarre.

That is crazy! 27 degrees in SW MS.

 

[Tommyice]

That is crazy! 27 degrees in SW MS.

It is crazy. Overnights have been in the upper 20's low 30's (which is more normal for us) but the daytime has been warm. Nice for my oil tank and wallet but it worries me for the summer.

 

[Amish Heart]

I'll take 27, that seems balmy.
Husband just informed me that the weather says it "feels" like it's negative 19.
He stays in the house.

 

[Lenny]

Vivek Ramaswamy is going to be here in Spencer this morning, so I'm going to see him for the second time. Trump is my favorite by far but he would be my second choice.

 

[Mountain trapper]

didn't sleep well, the wind was howling really bad and kept waking me up. I should have looked for earplugs
it is cold and windy out but not as bad yet as it is going to get Tuesday and Wednesday
So might put the animals out at least for a little while, it's not raining or snowing

I feel bad for all the farm animals out there that have no shelters. Most of our neighbors have some sort of shelters for their animals , the one next door down even puts covers on his horses when it's bad out but you drive down the road and see poor goats and sheep out in the weather with nothing but a hay bale . I know most survive ( not the little ones) but still don't like seeing it. I guess cattle is different , they are all out in the weather.

Mountain Trapper: how does your cattle survive these -40 temps? I just can't imagine even with fur. How do you keep their water unfrozen? Just wondering

Think I overdid it again yesterday my back hurts
So today just going to take care of animals and take dog for a walk

The cattle get a thick winter winter coat, and when it's very cold they poof out their hair to trap body heat. Since we live off grid we don't have the power to use stock tank heaters @ 1500 watts each. I use a big iron bar to break the ice and remove it from the stock tanks twice a day. The ice is usually around 6-12" thick. Once I remove the ice I fill the tank up with water.
Our horse has a stall in the barn if he wants to get out of the weather, but he usually he just hangs out in the timber. We break the ice in his water bucket twice a day too. Same with the chickens and ducks.

 

[LadyLocust]

Outside dog... riiight!

Just had an interesting phone call about medicine plants. From kin who didn't show an interest in the past. Talked an hr and neither of us like talking on the phone.

Dragging today, so tired, didn't get a lot done.

Exactly! I have been hacking and coughing and sneezing! It’s -4 at the moment and we do like them trained to behave indoors. This is the only place inside that he is allowed and you can see how distraught he is over it . He is just 3 months old so won’t be long before he’s too big for this. Hopefully after this cold spell and the days getting longer, he’ll be able to just be outside. He has a heated K9 condo, a jacket, heated water dish etc. Like I said, not a good time to get and train a puppy He is learning though.

 

[Hooch]

I kept the stove going last night untill about midnight. Then finally went to sleep n now it's out.
It is cold out..,-6. I've been thinking I should get up n get the stove going for about 2 hours now..
Today,
I think I'll make a big bowl of warm grits and share with the turkeys n my 2 goats. They had a long cold night
I want to roll into town n grab a few things then get stovie going good before the big storm were supposed to get today starting around 2pm.

 

[Bluedanube]

Just finished making buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast. It’s a balmy 12 degrees and we have the start of a fairly productive snowstorm dropping the first flakes. Figured I’d load the menfolk up with some high calorie breakfast for the shoveling and snow clearing they will be doing later today around the neighborhood. I might do a batch of canned black beans today, we are down to one pint so it’s time and will help as some heat and humidity to the kitchen. I’m still fighting a cold, just a little scratch in the throat and a general feeling of malaise, which reminds me that I need to down some elderberry.

 

[sonya123]

The cattle get a thick winter winter coat, and when it's very cold they poof out their hair to trap body heat. Since we live off grid we don't have the power to use stock tank heaters @ 1500 watts each. I use a big iron bar to break the ice and remove it from the stock tanks twice a day. The ice is usually around 6-12" thick. Once I remove the ice I fill the tank up with water.
Our horse has a stall in the barn if he wants to get out of the weather, but he usually he just hangs out in the timber. We break the ice in his water bucket twice a day too. Same with the chickens and ducks.

Glad they will be ok , I have wondered before. We hiked in Montana once ( Glacier NP ) and saw a wild goat with a kid. SHe had super long white fur, much more fur than our goats ( which also get winter fur of course) . I was still wondering how they survive in winter with everything covered in snow and such cold weather. Maybe the park rangers feed them

 

[Peanut]

Exactly! I have been hacking and coughing and sneezing! It’s -4 at the moment and we do like them trained to behave indoors. This is the only place inside that he is allowed and you can see how distraught he is over it . He is just 3 months old so won’t be long before he’s too big for this. Hopefully after this cold spell and the days getting longer, he’ll be able to just be outside. He has a heated K9 condo, a jacket, heated water dish etc. Like I said, not a good time to get and train a puppy He is learning though.

I got my last Gsheppard as a little pup in December. I had to keep him inside. He was a royal pain. I almost named him 'John' because he pooped in every room in the house. Never want to do that again. Another problem came when he grew up to weigh 105lbs and still wanted sit in my chair with me. My current pup is the same way. Not as large but still too big for my chair. Both would pout when i'd say 'lay down', on the floor.

 

[sonya123]

I got my last Gsheppard as a little pup in December. I had to keep him inside. He was a royal pain. I almost named him 'John' because he pooped in every room in the house. Never want to do that again. Another problem came when he grew up to weigh 105lbs and still wanted sit in my chair with me. My current pup is the same way. Not as large but still too big for my chair. Both would pout when i'd say 'lay down', on the floor.

mine is in the house, does not poop in the house ( well unless he gets sick or something) , does not get on the furniture, and stays out the kitchen if I tell him. He sleeps in his crate next to the other dog
You have to train them when they are little. Never let them on the furniture and it's normal for them to not get on it. German Shepherds are smart, they learn fast. My previous one got to go on all our trips within the US. She was very well behaved
It's taking me a little longer to train this one, but he's a boy LOL

 

[sonya123]

Vivek Ramaswamy is going to be here in Spencer this morning, so I'm going to see him for the second time. Trump is my favorite by far but he would be my second choice.

mine too

 

[Spikedriver]

Snowpocalypse 2024 - Part II, has hit Iowa full force. I'm on my 4th 12 hour day of blowing out switches in the Des Moines railyards. The bigwigs approved some extra $ so my boss is keeping me on for 3 more days just to help the Des Moines maintenance crew deal with all the snow. Everyone is tired and grouchy and the overnight crew is just about shot. It's OK for me though - working in this weather sucks, but these weekend hours pay $54/hour. Cha Ching!

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got the water back on. I put a small propane heater in the generator housing and covered the whole thing with a heavy quilt. It started right up. I switched it over to automatic and right now everything is working fine. Of course I won't know for sure until it gets cold again. It's warmed up to zero.

 

[LadyLocust]

Got the water back on. I put a small propane heater in the generator housing and covered the whole thing with a heavy quilt. It started right up. I switched it over to automatic and right now everything is working fine. Of course I won't know for sure until it gets cold again. It's warmed up to zero.

We’ve made it up to 2 above

mine is in the house, does not poop in the house ( well unless he gets sick or something) , does not get on the furniture, and stays out the kitchen if I tell him. He sleeps in his crate next to the other dog
You have to train them when they are little. Never let them on the furniture and it's normal for them to not get on it. German Shepherds are smart, they learn fast. My previous one got to go on all our trips within the US. She was very well behaved
It's taking me a little longer to train this one, but he's a boy LOL

Yep - part of the deal. He is learning “rug” and stays on the door rug until Hubby calls him which is when this happened.

 

[Spikedriver]

Vivek Ramaswamy is going to be here in Spencer this morning, so I'm going to see him for the second time. Trump is my favorite by far but he would be my second choice.

I like both Vivek and Haley, with DeSantis a distant third. But I'm sick of all of them calling and texting me 20 times a day. I can't wait for Iowa caucuses to be over so all that will stop.

 

[Lenny]

I like both Vivek and Haley, with DeSantis a distant third. But I'm sick of all of them calling and texting me 20 times a day. I can't wait for Iowa caucuses to be over so all that will stop.

Same here.
So you live in Iowa. Where?

 

[Lenny]

The first picture is Vivek Ramaswamy and the second one includes former Iowa Congressman Steve King.

 

[LadyLocust]

Got it.

Hey there Curm. I was about to start a gofundme to raise some bail money for you. Good to see you.

 

[Heartbroken]

I had barely finished my post last night when everything went kablooey. Big power surges and all my lights and tech flashing and popping. Ran downstairs and flipped the main to try and save everything. Power was out for 16 hours. I don't have a sub panel or anything here yet for hooking up the generator, so my only source of heat was the fireplace. Not only did I have to stay up all night and stoke the fire every hour, I had to move stuff in the shop enough to get the generator out, get it started, and get the lawn tractor out, put the tire chains on it, hook it to the generator cart and very carefully pull it up the hill to the house. Then I had to run an extension cord to the basement and plug in the sump pump, or my basement would have flooded. But that's all I could get, no water or heat. I also did some snowshoveling.
Power company says "it's fixed" but no, I still had low voltage. Had to contact them again and wait some more.
I'm getting too old for all this, I'm so stiff and sore and exhausted tonight it's not even funny. It sucks being alone. But I survived, and finally got a shower when the power came back on so I smell better now too.
Wind is still howling tonight, sure hope I don't lose power again! Lots of snow and slush and tree branches down and cancellations. Tomorrow I have to see if I can get the snowblower started and the driveway cleared.
Hope everyone stays safe and warm.

 

[Pearl]

I had barely finished my post last night when everything went kablooey. Big power surges and all my lights and tech flashing and popping. Ran downstairs and flipped the main to try and save everything. Power was out for 16 hours. I don't have a sub panel or anything here yet for hooking up the generator, so my only source of heat was the fireplace. Not only did I have to stay up all night and stoke the fire every hour, I had to move stuff in the shop enough to get the generator out, get it started, and get the lawn tractor out, put the tire chains on it, hook it to the generator cart and very carefully pull it up the hill to the house. Then I had to run an extension cord to the basement and plug in the sump pump, or my basement would have flooded. But that's all I could get, no water or heat. I also did some snowshoveling.
Power company says "it's fixed" but no, I still had low voltage. Had to contact them again and wait some more.
I'm getting too old for all this, I'm so stiff and sore and exhausted tonight it's not even funny. It sucks being alone. But I survived, and finally got a shower when the power came back on so I smell better now too.
Wind is still howling tonight, sure hope I don't lose power again! Lots of snow and slush and tree branches down and cancellations. Tomorrow I have to see if I can get the snowblower started and the driveway cleared.
Hope everyone stays safe and warm.

Hope you stay warm and safe, hope your power stays on!

 

[Spikedriver]

Same here.
So you live in Iowa. Where?

Right in the middle, west of Ames.

 

[Hooch]

I had barely finished my post last night when everything went kablooey. Big power surges and all my lights and tech flashing and popping. Ran downstairs and flipped the main to try and save everything. Power was out for 16 hours. I don't have a sub panel or anything here yet for hooking up the generator, so my only source of heat was the fireplace. Not only did I have to stay up all night and stoke the fire every hour, I had to move stuff in the shop enough to get the generator out, get it started, and get the lawn tractor out, put the tire chains on it, hook it to the generator cart and very carefully pull it up the hill to the house. Then I had to run an extension cord to the basement and plug in the sump pump, or my basement would have flooded. But that's all I could get, no water or heat. I also did some snowshoveling.
Power company says "it's fixed" but no, I still had low voltage. Had to contact them again and wait some more.
I'm getting too old for all this, I'm so stiff and sore and exhausted tonight it's not even funny. It sucks being alone. But I survived, and finally got a shower when the power came back on so I smell better now too.
Wind is still howling tonight, sure hope I don't lose power again! Lots of snow and slush and tree branches down and cancellations. Tomorrow I have to see if I can get the snowblower started and the driveway cleared.
Hope everyone stays safe and warm.

I can relate..even a few years ago it was all one big adventure..
Now..I dream of rockhounding and wintering in places like Arizona or New Mexico.
Trying to feed half frozen turkeys chickens n goats ..falling n slipping on snow covered ice freezing my ass off within minutes in - temps by myself..gah...Unkle...