Still Frozen

Well, hello friends! Can you believe it's Monday again already- and that November is over halfway over? I really don't know where the time goes.

According to the weather report this morning, our deep freeze pattern should be breaking up tomorrow. Yay! I'm over this cold snap... the pond even iced over last night! The warm(er) weather here (the low for tomorrow is forecast at 34 degrees, so warm is a relative term) is definitely going to be welcome. My thoughts go out to the folks who aren't warming up yet.

The extended cold weather is a great excuse for staying inside and working on projects, however. I'm putting together a list of holiday crafts for upcoming posts, as I start planning out my own gift-giving agenda. Do you have any go-to items that you enjoy making for your friends, this time of year? I'd love to hear about them! Either drop me a note here or on Facebook and tell me what your favorite handmade gifts are, either to give or receive.

I Spoke Too Soon

Graphic courtesy of Accuweather.com. Click for source. 

It looks like the Fraser Valley up in Canada is building a cold weather system that's due to hit us early tomorrow. Generally, when one of these systems sets up in mid-winter, that means we'll have freezing (or below) temperatures for a solid three to five days- since this one is early in the season, we're just looking at freezing nights for the next few days. (Our days are forecast to be in the 40s. Not balmy, but I'll take it.)

Good thing I have my frost blankets and stuff prepped already. Once I finish in here, I'll be outside for a good part of the day- getting the plants all tucked in, turning off and draining outside water lines, putting those little styrofoam covers over spigots, that sort of thing. Oh, and I can't forget the firewood... I'll bring a couple wheelbarrow loads over so I can get the pile by the back door stacked up nice and high.

I'll also be putting down extra hay for the rabbits, and making sure my backup supply of water bottles are ready to go, so that in the mornings I can just swap out the frozen ones with fresh ones from inside. Really, that was one of the best "work smart, not hard" decisions made over the years. Anyone who has ever dealt with frozen waterers would likely agree. That's got to be one of the least pleasant tasks to attend to- I almost always end up getting soaked in the process of breaking ice, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. 

The chickens are in pretty good shape already, so thankfully I don't have much to do out there. I will need to keep an eye on Flo,however, since she still hasn't feathered back out completely. I'm sure she'll be fine, though- since she's the alpha, the other birds will keep her plenty warm at night when things are at their coldest. 

What about you? It looks like this cold front is going to hit most of the country- even places that aren't used to this kind of weather. So, I want to know: What tips and tricks do you have for taking care of things when it gets super frosty? Let's share what we know with our friends who don't usually experience this king of thing... head on over to FB and tell us what you do!

PS: A&T passed TEN THOUSAND pageviews over the weekend... another huge milestone! Thank you so much for being a part of my world!!

Snow day!

One of the things I love best about living here in Washington is that it doesn't snow in our area very often- but when it does, it's gorgeous. Better still, it doesn't last very long... so when it does snow, it's an occasion.

I'm taking the day off; for the first time in years I don't have to worry about deadlines at the paper or anything like that. That's actually kind of nice. Plus, the roads don't get cleared well, if at all, and most people here don't drive well in the snow...it's just a good day to stay at home until things melt. It's supposed to turn over to rain this afternoon, so as soon as there was enough light, I went outside to take some photos and check on the animals.

There will be a new post up on Grit shortly; it's all ready to go but they're still having trouble with their system. Keep an eye out for that; it'll kick off a series of posts where I go over what worked and what didn't in the garden this year.

Whatever holidays you celebrate this time of year, I hope they're wonderful. Now, it's time to get back outside before the rain comes. Happy snow day to me... :)

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It's not normal for us to get too cold here in the PNW, so this past week's sub-freezing temps have been a bit of a challenge. I run on the cold side to start with (no lie- my normal temp is between 96.8 and 97.5) so extreme lows like this present a personal challenge when I have to work outside. Chores increase exponentially it seems, both in number and duration, the lower the mercury goes.

Water bottles that usually last the animals 2 days are freezing solid within hours. No more quick top-offs as I dash off to work... these days require bringing everything inside, thawing the tubes and switching out bottles completely. Lucky for me, the caps and tubes fit onto 1 liter soda bottles, so it didn't cost too much to stock up on spares- just one dollar each, compared to at least $8 per bottle if I bought all new ones at the feed store.

Speaking of the feed store... can't forget the food! The rabbits and chickens both need to eat more when it's super cold, just to stay warm. I'm refilling feeders every time I go out, and once a day everyone gets a nice big flake of hay in their pen. Even the chickens; they get the "fines" that shake out into the bottom of my bucket as I feed all of the rabbits. Those little bits of grass and seeds are a boost for them, since they can't get out and forage much this time of year.

I have to say, though, that I am grateful for the dry weather. The low temps mean lots and lots of sunshine, and that's a huge deal for us right about now. It's also too cold for snow, a fact I'm also appreciative of. So, while we're making extra trips out to the woodpile and running around with additional chores, it's not knee-deep in snow or squishing along in the rain. Counting my blessings, indeed.

What weather challenges are you facing this season?