Brits are accused of continually talking of the weather but it is always a topic round here where we enjoy 4 seasons of extreme weather. This winter has been the coldest in almost 30 years, not so much that the thermometer hit an all time low but that our daytime highs have been consistently lower and windchills have had us with winter warnings more days than not. I keep a record and December saw us with 15 days where the daytime high was below zero F ( -18C) and most of them were in double digits below zero F. January hasn't been much kinder with 8 days not climbing above the magical number of zero F and it is only the 12th of the month.
Vehicles won't start, animals need to be cared for and protected from wind chills that regularly hit -40, fires needed to be tended and when we did get to town, the regular cry from folks was "You girls staying warm out there?" We had to cancel our New Year's plans because of the cold but also the wind which had blown up a ground blizzard and there was no way of knowing which township road would be driveable. One memorable Saturday had us racing from town only to be caught in a ground blizzard with zero visibility. There is no turning round on a township road, you try to get home or you sleep in the vehicle, those are the only choices. Leaving the vehicle even when we were less than a mile from home spells certain death in those conditions. We were very glad to get home safely, even if the last few miles took us longer than the entire 45 mile trip usually takes. It was as bad a drive as any I had ever done back in the days when I drove truck in the USSR and Warsaw Pact countries.
Comments from our Southern and European friends include the often repeated phrase of "Oh I couldn't live there!", yet we continue to enjoy our 4 seasons. The extreme cold is preferable to the extreme bugs found in the south. The extreme cold with those dramatically beautiful days, we have more sunny days than not in winter, are far easier to bear than the endless grey, wet days of the UK. At least we know with absolute certainty that the cold will give way to rain and mud season, also known as spring, the precursor to summer. I remember the winter rain in the UK as bleak and relentless, giving way to the warmer and more promising spring rain that eventually gives way to the rain and thunderstorms of summer. Guaranteed rain if it should get too hot too quickly! Yes I will take our winters because the other 6 months of the year are just too beautiful to miss.
The cold does take its toll and today I went out to re-wire the heat tape in the automatic waterer. It couldn't be done during the extreme cold when everything is so brittle and it is possible to do more damage than the repair could fix. I was on my own, as Anita works nights this weekend. I shut all the animals out of the barn, replaced the lamp that heats the water pipe where it emerges from the ground and got ready to turn off the electricity. Goats are curious creatures, they like to know what is happening, they want to be part of any outdoor activity....and gates are never a successful way of keeping our goats out of the barn. No sooner had I opened the base of the waterer to replace the bulb but the 4 youngest goats were pushing their heads passed me to get a good look. Their horns are quite long now and they successfully pushed me out of the way. I yelled and they retreated, only to be replaced by their mothers, who have very long horns. I had no intention of playing the lead role in our own French farce, so closed everything off, hoped the light bulb will keep the water liquid and put the new heat tape on the 'to do' list for when there are 2 of us. Goats 1: Me 0....I understand the friends who refuse to have goats as they don't want any animals more intelligent than they are.
We were concerned about our chickens as winter started, we just don't have enough of them this year to keep the heat up in the chicken house and this extreme cold has us even more concerned. There are no heated chicken waterers for sale that work well, we have tried them all and they all have at least one fatal flaw that takes over when it gets too cold. I have our 5 gallon chicken waterer wrapped in heat tape, the tape is protected from the chickens by duct tape, this keeps the reservoir from freezing with the added advantage of heat tape having its own thermostat, so it only works when needed (all the time lol) The entire thing stands on a large cookie tin, inside the tin I have installed a simple light fixture, the heat of the bulb keeps the water in the tray liquid. I'm not sure what we will do when the ban on incandescent light bulbs makes them impossible to find. Warmish water has obviously helped the chickens stay alive but the real winner has been the cat food we use as scratch feed, with a 33% protein level they can scratch and supplement their regular feed. They look healthy, they sound happy and as soon as the temperature soared to 30F they started laying a few eggs again. We haven't lost a single chicken yet, so we have high hopes to get them through the rest of winter.
We sew, we stoke the fire, we teach the dogs new commands, they teach us new games, we watch films and TV shows on netflix, we read, we get a regular 8 hours of sleep each night, we cook and when the weather permits we get out and enjoy the day. It is amazing how good 20F ( -6C ) feels after a week of -20 F ( -28C ). We both have snow shoes now, so we have been practicing and enjoying the freedom of movement they afford us. As a good friend told me on the phone "at least we don't have to worry about you girls going hungry if you can't get out for a few weeks". We have enough food until next harvest and beyond! We enjoy each others company and keep our minds busy, once the seed and poultry catalogues arrive we start to dream and plan for spring. The only one with cabin fever during the extreme cold is Milton, who becomes an absolute turd when he can't burn off his excess energy outdoors; but even that makes us smile and enjoy the moment. We have so very much to be thankful for and we both see the glass as half full, and that, for the most part is what makes us so happy in the life we have.