And so comes the big chill. The blast. The Vortex. All negative numbers (F, to say nothing of C) all the time. With a gusty wind to set the bite factor even higher.
It is really cold outside!
Ed and I walk to the barn, to the garage, to the barn and home again.
We're keeping a sharp eye on the animals. We had agonized over how to create safe environments, at least partially heated to counter the Arctic temperatures. At one point Ed suggested bringing the cheepers into the sheep shed.
We could put them in the bathroom and close the door. It can get quite warm in that shed, as Ed installed radiant heat in the flooring. Still, the thought of cleaning all that chicken poop afterwards pushed away that idea. It's not clear we could scrub their droppings easily out of the cement floor.
In the end, Ed redesigned a double bucket cave with a light bulb for Stop Sign and her babes in the garage, and we placed a space heater by the coop in the barn. Are these a fire hazard? We think not. The design of the heater is such that it shuts off if tipped. Too, it's a "mica-thermic" panel heater -- without the hot elements that are such a no-no for any creative placement. We're pretty confident that without some temperature support in the next two days, the cheepers (and maybe even the kitties) would be in trouble.
(Stop Sign is used to us coming and going. But when I poke around the garage to see if I can track down the kitties, she is on guard: her demeanor says -- don't go near them!)
(Hiding)
If you didn't have to stand outside and take in the sting of that cold air, you might find the landscape to be quite pretty right now. All that snow! And sunshine!
But the freezing air is brutal. The winds make it brutal times ten.
Me, I do have to go out: I have a physical therapy appointment to discuss exercises for my knee. I am so tempted to cancel or postpone, but I don't do that. I can benefit from both knee and back exercises!
The PT person reviews my file (darn computers record everything!), and of course, finds a previous PT visit, also for back issues. He asks, as if knowing full well what the answer will be -- have you been doing the exercises you were told to do four years ago? No? Too bad. Let me print them out for you again.
For this, I braved the cold weather. Ah well. I have a new printout, tucked into my "must do" folder. Yep: must do.
Snowdrop's school is, of course, closed. It was closed yesterday, it will be closed tomorrow and it may well be closed Thursday. In all my years (decades!) in Wisconsin, we've never had so many closings for terrible awful winter weather.
(At the farmhouse, she gets on her toy phone right away and does a perfect imitation of a "very important work phone call.")
I had decided that we need to introduce something new to the mix of our usuals (book reading and pretend play). I bring out a set of watercolors, hoping that at the ripe old age of four she can keep the little box of colors fairly clean and separate.
She can and more importantly, she loves the possibilities!
She is the water color queen, swirling colors on a bitter cold winter afternoon!
Afterwards, Ed helps her hang her work. We have a museum! All her babies visit as she explains to them the meaning behind each painting.
Later, much later, we play bookstore. I find this to be funny, because Snowdrop has rarely been inside a bookstore. Nearly all her books at the farmhouse come from Amazon and I'm sure this is true at home as well. In this particular game, I am told to read a book (any book) to her babies. I choose a book that I love, but that Snowdrop has yet to warm to (Miss Rumphius -- the lupine lady). As I read, Snowdrop pretends to be busy at her "book shop," but I can tell that she is listening and she is doing it with four year old sensibilities. In other words, she takes in so much more of the story than she did just a year ago.
Shortly after, she slides into role play. She tells me -- I am the old lady who lives alone because I chose adventure, but not marriage. I sit in my house and I look at the lilies growing outside.
Lupines, lilies -- same loveliness.
From here, we spin into a make believe world of the aging, as seen through the eyes of a four year old.
Time to go home. Even for the short walk from house to car, and then from car to home, I have to protect the little girl's skin.
We all have to create clothing guards and barriers. Icy sharp wind hits us as we step outside. Thank goodness for cars that warm up fast! For houses that warm up even faster! Tomorrow may well be the coldest of all cold days here. Hang in there, furnace. Hang in there, coop heater, and lightbulb in garage! We are so counting on you!
It is really cold outside!
Ed and I walk to the barn, to the garage, to the barn and home again.
We're keeping a sharp eye on the animals. We had agonized over how to create safe environments, at least partially heated to counter the Arctic temperatures. At one point Ed suggested bringing the cheepers into the sheep shed.
We could put them in the bathroom and close the door. It can get quite warm in that shed, as Ed installed radiant heat in the flooring. Still, the thought of cleaning all that chicken poop afterwards pushed away that idea. It's not clear we could scrub their droppings easily out of the cement floor.
In the end, Ed redesigned a double bucket cave with a light bulb for Stop Sign and her babes in the garage, and we placed a space heater by the coop in the barn. Are these a fire hazard? We think not. The design of the heater is such that it shuts off if tipped. Too, it's a "mica-thermic" panel heater -- without the hot elements that are such a no-no for any creative placement. We're pretty confident that without some temperature support in the next two days, the cheepers (and maybe even the kitties) would be in trouble.
(Stop Sign is used to us coming and going. But when I poke around the garage to see if I can track down the kitties, she is on guard: her demeanor says -- don't go near them!)
(Hiding)
If you didn't have to stand outside and take in the sting of that cold air, you might find the landscape to be quite pretty right now. All that snow! And sunshine!
But the freezing air is brutal. The winds make it brutal times ten.
Me, I do have to go out: I have a physical therapy appointment to discuss exercises for my knee. I am so tempted to cancel or postpone, but I don't do that. I can benefit from both knee and back exercises!
The PT person reviews my file (darn computers record everything!), and of course, finds a previous PT visit, also for back issues. He asks, as if knowing full well what the answer will be -- have you been doing the exercises you were told to do four years ago? No? Too bad. Let me print them out for you again.
For this, I braved the cold weather. Ah well. I have a new printout, tucked into my "must do" folder. Yep: must do.
Snowdrop's school is, of course, closed. It was closed yesterday, it will be closed tomorrow and it may well be closed Thursday. In all my years (decades!) in Wisconsin, we've never had so many closings for terrible awful winter weather.
(At the farmhouse, she gets on her toy phone right away and does a perfect imitation of a "very important work phone call.")
I had decided that we need to introduce something new to the mix of our usuals (book reading and pretend play). I bring out a set of watercolors, hoping that at the ripe old age of four she can keep the little box of colors fairly clean and separate.
She can and more importantly, she loves the possibilities!
She is the water color queen, swirling colors on a bitter cold winter afternoon!
Afterwards, Ed helps her hang her work. We have a museum! All her babies visit as she explains to them the meaning behind each painting.
Later, much later, we play bookstore. I find this to be funny, because Snowdrop has rarely been inside a bookstore. Nearly all her books at the farmhouse come from Amazon and I'm sure this is true at home as well. In this particular game, I am told to read a book (any book) to her babies. I choose a book that I love, but that Snowdrop has yet to warm to (Miss Rumphius -- the lupine lady). As I read, Snowdrop pretends to be busy at her "book shop," but I can tell that she is listening and she is doing it with four year old sensibilities. In other words, she takes in so much more of the story than she did just a year ago.
Shortly after, she slides into role play. She tells me -- I am the old lady who lives alone because I chose adventure, but not marriage. I sit in my house and I look at the lilies growing outside.
Lupines, lilies -- same loveliness.
From here, we spin into a make believe world of the aging, as seen through the eyes of a four year old.
Time to go home. Even for the short walk from house to car, and then from car to home, I have to protect the little girl's skin.
We all have to create clothing guards and barriers. Icy sharp wind hits us as we step outside. Thank goodness for cars that warm up fast! For houses that warm up even faster! Tomorrow may well be the coldest of all cold days here. Hang in there, furnace. Hang in there, coop heater, and lightbulb in garage! We are so counting on you!
