Posted on 11/01/2025 5:46:00 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Ithaca has probably spilled the beans to him on his eventual fate.
LOL! Ithaca is down in the pasture, far, far away from Stew. He’s always been mean to the steers, so we just keep them apart.
Every animal here seems to have some ‘personality disorder.’ Could it possibly be ME? LOL!
Warming up to 40 today, though very windy blowing in the warmth. Then onward and upward to 62 by Saturday! Gonna have to dig out my flip flops again. ;)
We have used a blow dryer to warm up a pipe that had frozen once when we forgot to take precautions. I held it in place for a few minutes then the water started to drip, drip, then slowly started flowing again. Of course, that’s the AFTER. If you can prevent a frozen pipe in the first place, that’s the better idea.
*** Gonna have to dig out my flip flops again. ;)***
Now that’s some positive thinking!
It will be warmer here too in west Michigan. Still have a few things outside to do.
Well, I have solutions like that in this house. It works and its easy and you will be fine. (If you lose power that will be another thing! I hope you have a back up generator somewhere in your sheds!)
We are fortunate that as far as the house is concerned, all the water pipes come into the basement (stays 50ish all year long) below ground (about 3/4 up the basement wall) so there is no freezing problem. The pump is submersible in the well & the tank is in the basement.
All the outside faucets have insulated covers on them & have water shutoffs. If they’re drained & the water can’t get to them, no freezing.
The shop is the only potential issue. There is a half bath & on the other side of the wall, in the main shop there is a double sink. By leaving the little heater on in the bathroom with the cabinet door open to the pipes, that keeps all the pipes warm & the double sink pipes are warm enough.
If the power goes out, no generator, but I have wood stoves in both the house & the shop. I also have enough wood to fire the stoves for a couple of days.
At our current (new to us) house last winter it got pretty darn cold (single digits to zero) & we had no issues.
At our old house, we had the water tank in a pump house & that setup took a heat lamp, heat tapes on the pipes, etc. to keep it from freezing. I left a vent open on the pump house once & the pipe from the tank to the house froze where cold air from the vent was blowing on it. The pipe did not crack - between a hair dryer & putting a small space heater in the well house on ‘high’ for a couple of hours, the frozen section thawed without further issue.
We DID have a bit of snow last evening - just a sprinkle on the mulch & a bit in the grass in spots. Nothing on the driveway/road. It’s already disappearing :-)
Mrs. Augie had some cannas in the kitchen garden that she wanted to dig and save back for next year, so we went out there with bucket and shovel yesterday evening.
The tomato and pepper plants are dead, and not just “mostly dead” like farm boy Westley was after evil Prince Humperdinck tossed him into the Pit of Despair, they are all the way dead.
So now it’s time to get serious about garden cleanup, but that will have to wait for another time. I’m off work for Veteran’s Day today, but we are traveling a couple hours south today to attend the funeral of Mrs. Augie’s Uncle Al.
Al was a good guy. WWII vet. Patriot. Cattleman. Inventor. 102 years of age at his passing.
Augie, you and the Mrs. have a safe trip!
(Yes, pretty much everything here not covered has died after 2 days with lows in the 20s.
Happy Veteran’s Day and thanks for serving
Yes, thank you, Diana, and all our veterans! ❤️🤍💙
36 mph gusts here doing the same. With all the stuff I hear landing on the tin roof and wind chill, I’m staying indoors today. I do need to go pick up the chain saw from the shop. It’s finally done. Will be a fun drive with the wind.
Wind will slow down tomorrow and be NW and then Thursday, light South wind. Half tempted to take Friday off for the 75 and sunny. Poly film arrived Nov 6th via fedex but wiggle wire and track is usps so .... maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day.
HOT CRANBERRY CASSEROLE
A good side for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Ing 3 c sliced/peeled apples, 2 c fresh cranberries, Topping 3/4 c ea sugar, raw oatmeal 1/2 c melted butter, 1/3 c self-rising (or 1/2 c a/p flour) 1 c br/sugar
Layer in sprayed casserole: cranberries, apples, then Topping. Bake 350°F til browned.
Thanks! I loved every minute of my time in service. Nearly 17 years. And I didn’t have to go to war and I didn’t have to shoot anyone, either. ;)
Had to get out early due to a selfish (ex) husband and a kid with special needs, but my healthcare is through the VA and if I get inspired I can go back to school and finish my business degree on Uncle Sam’s Dime. Well, the Taxpayer’s Dime. ;)
Probably don’t need it now that I’m retired - and I managed to run two multi-million dollar operations for others without it, so Meh! ;)
And now, I work as a SLAVE to a steer, LOL! This Farm Wife Gig can be a lot of work at times. Makes me miss Army Life!
It is crazy-windy here, too! But it’s blowing in WARMTH, so I’ll take it! 26 this morning instead of 19. Hitting 40+ today and that’s sticking overnight! Yay!
Looking good for the rest of the week/end. Hoping to get more mulch down - I’ve got four bales hogging up space in the greenhouse.
Ping to Post 275. Thanks!
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