It's going to be super cold.

[zazouse]

I just watched the news seems you're going to have an ice storm!! Stay safe and warm!!!!

Well I expected it, I told my DH late last year I felt we were gonna have an ice storm, he just laughed, I will be drawing lots od water today just in case, already had the pipes freeze I the well house and it took days to get my water clear, guess I need a new tank, this one is over 20 years old and I am sure it is the sediment breaking away from the sides from the iron in the water.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Zaz, I have a small 1500 watt electric heater running inside my well hose 24-7 right now. Our last cold snap a week ago caught me off guard because I had a 250 watt heat bulb above my well pump, but the copper line going from the pump to the pressure switch froze,this line was not under the heat lite,so water froze in this small line,thus not allowing the pump to turn on as the water pressure got lower in the pressure tank.
Within 15 minutes time I had a cold water line freeze in a back bathroom because the water was not running constantly. For those who don't experience this sort of cold very often, water needs to be a small stream out of a faucet,,,,not a drip-drip-drip sort of running, it will still freeze if just slowly dripping because it is not moving fast enough. Another thing many don't realize if a line does freeze, open that faucet completely up. Remember if water freezes in a line, It will continue to freeze more and more and expands. If you turn off that faucet completely as the water continues to freeze it has no more room to expand, causing the pipe to crack much faster.It can buy you a lot of time by as soon as you notice water isn't flowing to open that faucet completely up. Hot and cold water both needs to be turned on to the point of a steady-small stream to keep from freezing up when it's 5below,as it's expected here again for the next several nites. Yes I said HOT water too must be in a small running stream because sometimes your faucet is 50-75ft or more from your water heater and by the time it reaches that faucet by just dripping, it will be cold water, not hot as when it first came out of the water heater. I coincidently have a big 175,000 btu kerosene space heater and a 55,000 btu propane heater that I use when a pipe freezes. the sooner it gets thawed, the less chance you will have of a cracked pipe.I don't have much trouble until we get to about 10 degrees or less temp wise but the wind is always a huge factor here.

 

[zazouse]

I only had a heat lamp but was able to thaw stuff out with a small space heater, the pipes and well head are insulated but that was like a band aid with the cold wind blowing.
Last ice storm we had down here in 1997 left us without power for almost 2 weeks, total disaster and folks down here don't do well in the cold, 50 degrees and everyone is wearing long johns and snow boots

I love love love cold weather even though it causes me a lot of pain when it is coming in once it hits my pain stops, weird stuff happens to ya when ya get older

Take care my friend, I do not envy ya on this ride at all. sending prayers for you and yours.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Zaz,much appreciated!! Next week is predicted to be much colder with temps not getting above zero for several days in a row. I'm adding a lot more corn to my pea feed now. Not high in protein but high in fat and that gives them energy. Last night I added more straw for the 2013 hatched peas. Around the base of the building where it meets the concrete I piled up straw to prevent snow from blowing inside, and drafts. I have 2-250 watt heat bulbs on inside this building at all times and when I was finished with the straw, went inside to warm up ,then I went back to check the height of the heat bulbs from the straw on the floor, and all the peas was around these heat lites, much to my surprise .It's a nightly battle here trying to do all I can to keep them out of the elements and provide ways to insure they won't get too cold.

 

[zazouse]

May I ask why you do not use shavings? they are much easer to spread and easy to clean out when spring comes and I fond them to keep things much dryer , I used hay a couple times but found leaves were better ,then I went to shavings when the leaves were to wet

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Zaz,this small building is on a concrete slab with a good slope on it (the concrete slab) and when we get rain,it runs or drains water off the roof back on the concrete slab, and as cold as it is wood shavings would get wet then freeze when the temps get cold like now. Straw, although a pain to get picked up only gets wet where it meets the concrete slab. Straw does not seem to "wick" water like shavings does. My grandparents used to use ground up corn cobs inside their big chickenshouse decades ago but last week I noticed they now sell corn cobs for bedding at a premium!!

 

[frenchblackcopper]

If anyone wants to see what we are expecting temp wise between now and next Tuesday,,go to accuweather.com and type in 60953 for the zip code then use the extended forecast option.. It is scarey,to put it lightly!!

 

[zazouse]

wow Frenchy 5 degrees right now ..burr
At least ya got some sun, I hate it when things get gloomy looking, it depresses me terribly, I need sunshine to stay sane fer real

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Monday and Tuesday is going to be the kilers,,0 for a high on Monday,-5 as the low,,Highs Tuesday -5,,low -17

 

[zazouse]

Bless your hearts

we are suppose to get snow, I am praying I can talk my DH into driving the farm truck , folks around here ain't use to icy and snow and he has to cross a very high and long bridge to get to work also that has accidents on it all the time without snow or even rain , i would feel better about him in that ole truck than in the newer one or the little car he drives to work daily ...I worry just thinking about it.