[Stevenator_]

Stay Warm !!!

[DruLactin]

keep the faucets dripping, and find an extra quilt!

[Stevenator_]

I sealed three vents in our crawl space yesterday, because it's right under the laundry & 1/2 bath. I was worried about the pipes in there. After I did this, I was amazed how this stopped the draft from the basement.

Today is harvesting the remaining cabbage, broccoli & collard greens. Tomorrow as the front begins to roll in, I'll pull our grow-tubs of onions into the basement. I'll cover the carrots with straw & fabric, and hope for the best.

Two days ago I got a load of firewood. I'm already sore & tired and there's plenty left to do.

I hope everyone gets through this safely. Hang in there, folks!

[HelloDiDi]

I wonder if you get it colder than Finland right now? We got "only" -12c today but it drops below -20c in coming days for a bit. Shouldn't last long but all this means insane burning of firewood like crazy. I so much wish this winter would be done with already.

[Stevenator_]

I don't know how you do it, Lara ...

I went out to give the chickens some fresh water today, and the wind chill would just cut right through you. Brrrrrrr!!!

Years ago, I've lived in Northern Virginia & Baltimore and had an outside job loading airplanes back then. Christmas of 1983 was the coldest I've ever been in my life. Three days of minus 50° windchill. I'll never forget it. But I'm 40 years older now and I guess I've grown soft lol.

Y'all stay warm this week!

[HelloDiDi]

Speaking of cold, its -22c here right now. Was +15c inside so I lit the fire going and took my dog out. He's so slow with his legs these days that it took a good while. I wasn't wearing enugh for the weather but I can handle it for a while. But without a decent hat and gloves it would be overkill very quickly. Artic cold is interesting, its quite easy to stay warm while on the move, but anything uncovered WILL freeze extremely quickly and if you stop, that's the worst. Trick is enough clothing, something to cover everything and staying on move at all times. Guess why I don't do ice fishing? That's insane hobby.  

I really dislike the cold these days, but mostly if its inside the house. Outside is easy to deal with clothing and moving most of the time. But I'm not going for a hike out there when it gets this cold. I'm sure my legs would get frost bite if I did. For some reason my legs are the most vulnerable spot for this. Second worst is ears. I have once got a BAD frostbite to my left ear, silver earrings are too good conducting cold... Anyway, that was -32c and I walked with my late bestie from my moms house to his place, that was pure insanity! Its like approx four mile walk, or around 6km. When we were there, my legs had turned dark red, no sensation on the skin what so ever and my ear was purple! One step further is where it dies, if it had gone black, that's frost bite necrosis and absolutely a hospital case. That was a close call and I've been playing smarter since. My legs "only" went to dark red which is also bad, they were really sore for several weeks, skin peeled off and so on. Forst bite is not to be played with. I learned my lesson as that was stupidity of youth, being a tough girl and soldiering through it wearing fucking jeans and a hat which didn't reach over the ears.

Don't do that, always wear enough clothes in artic cold or it will kill you.

[Stevenator_]

That's quite a scary story, Lara!

[HelloDiDi]

I was lucky, I think one more hour in that sort of cold and I would have ended needing hospital care for the frozen ear... Its really no kidding around when it goes below -30c. Interesting thing is that at certain point it stops feeling any colder, but freezing happens just much faster and easier. 

Finns are kinda funny with this, people NEVER EVER leave their drunk friends outside in winter, even if they're totally wasted drunk, they never leave anybody if they're still conscious. Passing out drunk outside in Finnish winter is a guaranteed dirt nap. Thankfully its not always insane artic cold here, lot of variation in that, but all it takes is just the wind turning to north or east for few days at this time of year and its like Alaska or Siberia all the way.

Most of the time its not so hard to deal with, but we're prepared with insulation, heating, clothes and when it gets extremely cold, almost no one goes outside more than they have to. I so often wish I would live in some more temperate climate. Like south Europe or something. Anywhere further south would be scorching hot though.

[Avign0n4090]

DiDi, if your dog has age-related arthritis, they now have monthly shots for both dogs and cats that basically alleviate the pain from the condition, so that they can move much easier.  We started one of our two cats on them two months ago, as he could barely hop up on anything over a foot tall, and now he's bounding around like a kitten.

[Stevenator_]

Anywhere further south would be scorching hot though.

You'd get used to it. It takes about a year or so, but you do acclimate.

I lived in North Carolina in the late 80s to early 90s. From there I moved to Miami and loved it. In my first winter there, I was running around in short pants with temps in the 60s and co-workers would look at me like I was nuts. The following year my blood thinned our, like they like to say. I had moved to The Keys by then and winter winds out of the north off the water would make you feel like you were freezing.

It's good that Finns look after folks in the winter like that. I guess it's a common sense approach, plus the sense of community that you have is a blessing that I haven't noticed in many years around here.