Been A Long Time...

[Dennis1209]

Since I walked 200 yards to the mail box and my mustache was completely frozen. One hard wipe would have done the hot wax treatment!

 

With frozen mustache and ice cycles eight inches long hanging off of it, I proceed to the chicken house two hundred yards away to collect the eggs. As the tops of my ears and finger tips were turning a nice dark shade of black, my snot the size of a grape frozen under my nose, I collected the eggs. 

 

The first egg I picked up was cracked, so I threw it against my aluminum pole barn in disgust and put a nice dent in it. Long story short, every egg was cracked and frozen harder than my ice cubes in my freezer. That's with a 200 watt light and heated water pan in the small coop.  

 

Forgot my second grade physics, that heat rises and water freezes pipes below 32 degrees. Had my wood burning stove going and staying nice and toasty upstairs and the furnace basically off. Went down to the basement this afternoon to retrieve a Glock and install a Talon grip on it for something to do. Open the basement door and proceed down the stairs and notice I could see my breath and how cold it was with the furnace off down there. Asked the wife to stick her tongue to the well pressure tank to see if I had anything to worry about? Guess she's not as dumb as I thought :rofl:

 

I guess I shouldn't complain, my son lives up around the St. Louis area across the street from a Walmart super center and walked there this morning. He sent us a picture of the meat(s) displays and except for maybe a dozen items, were completely empty?

 

If we ever have an actual emergency, can you imagine how fast the grocery shelves will become empty?

 

Well, the water from my moustache and nose is thawing and dripping all over this key board so have to change cloths :rofl:

Edited January 6, 2014 by Dennis1209

[maroonandwhite]

That's funny and gross at the same time.  :rofl:

[hipower]

That's funny and gross at the same time.  :rofl:

 

And probably true. I haven't walked to the mailbox yet. I'm expecting a package and waiting for the carrier to bring it to the door for me. :cool:

[RED333]

Made a water heater for my chickens, did not work last night.

Did not have any frozen eggs, did work a bit out side today,

I stayed warm as I could, long johns top and bottoms, pj bottoms, tee shirt,

work pants and shirt, 2 pair of socks, big jacket, scarf.

[billyscott]

I did not intend to get out today. I do not like this weather. I'll take 106 in the summer fine but 8 degrees F, no way.

But my neighbor called me. Her pipes were frozen. They're good folks and I don't mind helping them so out I went. 

She had talked to her father and her husband and they told her to open the cover on the water cut off and turn it off if the water thawed and it leaked. 

The cover was frozen. I put two pitchers of hot water on it and with some taps from a mallet it came off.

She said "why did my water freeze?"  I looked at her house and every vent was wide open.

Shut the vents and within 15 minutes her water was thawed, no leaks. And I stayed inside for an hour waiting for the feeling to come 

back into my hands. 

Close your vents and bring in your pets! It's cold. 

But to put it in perspective, the coldest day on record in Tennessee was January 21, 1985: 17 degrees below zero!!! 

[hipower]

I've got old  foundation vents from 1950. They probably were great then. Had some with pulls to close them manually, some with a self closing mechanism that was supposed to close at around 45 degrees. I had intended to replace them this summer, but some foot and back issues got in the way.

 

Anyway, last week I got some heavy cardboard and cut some slightly oversize pieces to jam into the recess as I closed them up. Did a walk around Sunday morning before the temp dropped and repositioned a few of them. Added another layer to some and braced them in place with some creek rocks I had stacked around to do a stacked flowerbed for my wife. No...I didn't get that done either.

 

Got a few fawcets on a slight drip where the wind hits the high and most exposed areas of the foundation, beside the attached garage.

 

Just wanted a little further insurance as it were.