I did some clean up on my blog roll in the side bar. Mainly, I felt the need to remove the survivalist blog because - wow! - that is some crazy stuff being posted. I haven't been reading there lately and when I dropped in on today's post, let's just say I started laughing when the author chose the arrival of the Beatles as the sign of America's downward spiral and continued on to blame the hippies. Seriously. I thought others would respond with mocking, but after the first fifty comments were all in agreement with the author, I knew it was time to leave.

It's been a week of getting necessary things done; not fun stuff and definitely not cheap but good items to strike off the to-do list. I sent off the paperwork to have my passport renewed. I'm not planning any trips, but I'd hate to need it and not have it available. Especially since we can't even visit Canada without out one now. Today I braved the arctic winds to get our vehicle license tags and pay the property tax on the house. While it was the last day for the tags, I could have waited on the tax for a few more months, but somehow it felt right to only have to make one trip to the court house for the entire year.

Speaking of the winds today - so cold that all the schools cancelled classes. Brrrr!!! I even ran the furnace for a while to warm up all the pipes.... And now, just having come inside after chores (chickens, hauling wood, etc.) my new viewpoint is YIKES!!! that is so cold my face is still warming up. I am not going back out there until tomorrow.

Brrrr and other thoughts

I saw a news item about Russia being buried in snow and thought how cozy it must be inside with all the extra insulation around their houses! We are feeling the bite of -20F (-29C) wind chills this morning and it brought tears to my eyes doing the chicken chores. I'll have to go back out in a few hours to give them more water and try to rescue any eggs before they freeze. I'm attempting to sprout some wheat seeds to give the hens a taste of green. It's not an impressive germination ratio so far but there are some sprouting.

Do you remember the old saying about there not being such a thing as 'bad' publicity? Obviously, some things are so bad that they do have a negative effect, but not in this case... Last night my son and I were watching a vlog that included a put-down against Subway for shorting the length of the subs and tasting bad. Afterwards I said 'Subs sound good' and that's what we had for dinner. Ah, the power of suggestion!

Thoughts on buying locally:  I love being able to buy direct from the source and support the locals as much as possible. Beef and lamb come straight from the farmers, firewood from the man who cut and split it himself, chicken feed from the elevator, seasonal produce from the farmer's market when available, and when it was possible I bought raw milk from a dairy farmer. The problem I have is with the local grocery store. Unless an item is actually on sale, the costs are prohibitive compared to the store near my workplace. Example: grapes are $2-3 lb in the city and $5 lb here. Now let's talk milk - because I can no longer get raw milk and we don't go through it very fast, I buy ultra-pasteurized organic. I expect to pay about double what normal milk costs but the whole point of the 'ultra' is that it can sit in the refrigerator for up to six weeks with no problem. So, what does the local store do? It prices it at well over double the cost of regular and offers cartons that expire THE NEXT DAY and ten days out at most. Idiots.

Brrr...the house is hard to keep warm this morning. Need more wood!

1952

This is a book I've wanted to read for some time. Compiled by Mrs. Walter Hellman, it contains the experiences of people who lived through one of the worst winters recorded.

A brief recap to set the stage: in November 1951 the winter storms began and grew progressively worse until the first major blizzard on December 6 which blocked roads and left large snowdrifts. On January 11 the drifts (and everything else) were coated with a thick layer of ice. During this time the roads were only clear for one to two days at a time before drifting shut again. Thus, when January 21 started as a warm, sunny day, many people headed to town for supplies and children were in school. The first storm reports caused some to fetch their children home (or attempt to). 

My mother remembers when the blizzard hit it was like a 'wall smashing into the house'.  Zero visibility and strong winds left dozens of vehicles stalled or stuck and the occupants had the option of sitting it out for what became 48 hours or attempting to walk to the nearest farm. Eight people died of exposure and many more treated for severe frostbite.

Digging out after the storm presented new challenges. Clearing the roads overwhelmed the equipment available in the counties. Supplies had to be flown to some who couldn't be reached by road. One farmer had to dig down through eight feet of snow to reach the roof of his chicken coop.

Drifts higher than houses.

Hundreds of cattle died.

Heading in for supplies.

There were 31 days of blizzard conditions recorded (and few days spent in school). The last blizzard of that winter was on March 29. The flooding that followed the thaw was extensive and caused massive damage. It's not surprising that those who lived through it never forgot that year.

We are currently in the middle of another unusually mild winter here in South Dakota. It's best if we remember that extreme winters have struck in the past and will again. The short-sighted (and rather stupid) people who ran out of food during the ONE day blizzard we had a few weeks ago would do well to learn from their experience.

Vacation Day 4

The day of gastric distress - nuf said.

Vacation day 3

It wasn't an ambitious day for me. My son went ice fishing with friends so I've been on my own all day. Still very cold out so right after lunch I brought the dog back in and collected the four eggs that had been laid since morning chores. I sewed some hangers onto the blankets used over my son's bedroom windows to make them more secure and easier to put up. Other than that I watched lots of New Tricks and enjoyed a quiet day.

Vacation Day 2

Whew! I'm beat tonight. More plastic on the windows today: living room, kitchen, and bathroom for a total of ten windows. I know it's important; I could feel the cold air coming in around the edges as I was taping and covering them...if only there weren't so many! The only room I won't do is my son's. His bed is against both windows so the plastic never stays in place. Instead, we hang blankets over them.

According to the weather forecast our cold spell is going to continue all week. It feels like a waste now that the young hens have begun laying when the eggs freeze solid and crack open before I can collect them. All the chickens are in good health, which is the important thing.

This is definitely a night for going to bed early!

Vacation Day 1

After months of back to back projects, I've finally caught up at work and am on vacation! My dual goals for this time off are to destress and catch up on my to-do list here at home.

Today I put plastic up over my bedroom windows to help keep the northwest winds out. This evening we went to see The Hobbit. I'm afraid that I'm one of those who found it boring. It didn't have that special feel like The Lord of the Rings and the pace was very slow. My son enjoyed it though.