The Old Folks Home

[chickisoup]

It is 14 degrees with a wind chill of minus 8 right now here in west texas.

Saw what happened in Texas with the temps in the last 12 hours or so, just nuts!!!

It is freezing rain here and I'm regretting snow removal yesterday because even with crampons it's awful out there.

Hoping we keep power long enough to finish my bunny quilt today. I will also probably have to put a chick down today (a weird form of wry neck).

We haven't had a freezing rain storm in quite a while (they used to be a pretty regular occurrence). They are the absolute worst!!! You can shovel snow, move stuff in a flooding rain. Ice? Nothing you can do but watch the take down your trees, your power lines, your..........and you can't even get to the garage for the generator w/o breaking your neck(or something else).

We got the below zero stuff, the couple feet of snow stuff, now the rain stuff. I did shovel some.
Sometime soon this morn I have to start spreading wood ashes from our OWB , driveway is a couple inches thick sheet of slick ice.

Ditto to prior comment. plz be careful!!!!

A small prayer that y'all and your critters stay safe in that yuck!


Alaskan=== I hear ya on the "off grid" stuff. Too many so-called reality tv shows that romanticize the lifestyle. I've lived "sorta" off grid when I was young and totally enjoyed it however it sent my kids RUNNING to the city as soon as they were old enough!!!

My daughter has reverted far enough to now her family now resides in the suburbs. My son however, would probably have a panic attack if you couldn't see a Starbucks for more than an hour,

. Oh well, at least I know we all have the skills to survive should the zombie apocalipse ever occur.

We're under a windchill warning until tomorrow afternoon but then it's supposed to warm back up into the 20s. Might be finally able to get those spoiled chooks out of the coop by Christmas. I hate trying to clean the catchboard under the roost with all those eyes right next to my head staring at every move I make. I find myself asking them if I've done right!

Geesh!!!!


Well, speaking of shoveling, stalled as long as I can (and enough coffee) so I better get outside and dig my way to the coop before the wind picks up and it gets colder. (Don't need the ropes, Alaskan, fence runs from back porch to the coop)
Check list (after shoveling);
scoop poop, re-fill waterers, fresh hay to give them something to dig thru (hopefully to keep them from getting bored and killing each other), check outside power connections, propane fuel tank, generator fuel level, snow load on roofs, check DH to make sure he's still moving and not frozen to the snowblower. Check the check list. All done? Start chili in slowcooker, hibernation and football. Repeat cycle (alternating soups) until New Year's.



I pray for those who lack the skills to cope with this crazy winter, or worse, trying to get somewhere for Christmas. Stay safe and have a blessed week everyone!!!

 

[microchick]

Yep, getaclue, it is tough. When we bought our homestead it was owed by a young Amish couple. DH and I were only in our 50s then. For 3 years we lived semi off the grid. No electricity. It was a challenge. We had a generator that provided us power and solar panels. We finally caved when there was a heat wave and the temps got into the 110 degree range. Image trenching for cable and running wire to the attic with the heat index somewhere close to 120. We were up at 5 to work before the sun came up and and by 10 AM were sitting in front of a small fan trying to keep cool. One of our Amish neighbors said they were surprised to see us going on grid. I said we wanted to see if we could do it and proved to ourselves that we could, Getting older made us appreciate a few luxuries. Paying the utility bill every month doesn't bother me a bit. I just remember having to go out to start the generator in weather like we are having now and gladly sign my name to the check.

Frankly I don't know how the Amish do it. They have large families so there is a lot of help for one thing and they find ways to get around their strict Ordnung. If there was a EM event and the grid went down, most of us would have problems carrying on every day life while the Amish would just be perking along like nothing happened.

 

[chickisoup]

NOW I KNOW!!!!

 

[chickadoodles]

Especially when it's too cold to want to get up at a decent hr. Well, 9:30 it was today.

 

[chickadoodles]

Y'all be careful in this weather! I'm trying to stay in and stay warm.

 

[jtn42248]

Y'all be careful in this weather! I'm trying to stay in and stay warm.

Ditto to you. I went out, let out the birds, broke 3 inch thick ice off all the pools and headed back to the warm house. I will have to go out every couple of hours and re-do water to make sure they have something to drink. But that is a cheap price to pay. The birds are totally nuts. Running around acting normal like it was summer time.

 

[microchick]

I have extra sensitive skin and scalp so I use baby shampoo and body wash.

I have no excuse.

Hey! It's up to -3 here. HEAT WAVE! My birds are still shut up in the coop. Everyone is frostbite free so far. I gave them fresh water and discovered that their heated dish was frozen to the pallet so I had to wrestle it loose. I put down another bag of leaves to give them something to scratch around it and beat a path to the house.

It was -9 at the time and we had about two inches of snow over ice.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Mine protested at 29 degrees with only 8 eggs down from 16
more normal I do spoil them they have a 250 watt heat lamp all winter

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Still downright disgusting outside, and slippery. Currently 37 with rain, although there's a really nice layer of ice that came down this morning. And to top it off tomorrow is going to be a high of 13 so all of this lovely precip today is going to turn into a giant sheet of ice!

In good news, I got the bunny finished.


Dsqard and I both did this as a quiltalong - it's just a panel of fabric that we quilted details onto over the last 2 months(ish). I'm not a huge fan of my fern - looks more like a green millipede crawling up the side of my quilt but overall I like it and more importantly it's done.

 

[perchie.girl]

Still downright disgusting outside, and slippery. Currently 37 with rain, although there's a really nice layer of ice that came down this morning. And to top it off tomorrow is going to be a high of 13 so all of this lovely precip today is going to turn into a giant sheet of ice!

In good news, I got the bunny finished.


Dsqard and I both did this as a quiltalong - it's just a panel of fabric that we quilted details onto over the last 2 months(ish). I'm not a huge fan of my fern - looks more like a green millipede crawling up the side of my quilt but overall I like it and more importantly it's done.

oOOH i LOVE the stitching and the bunny do you draw out the stitching first?

deb