I went down to do the chickens after I blogged yesterday. I found their heat lamp bulb was out. I went up to the barn and plugged in the base unit that was in the barn to make sure it was working – it was. I took out the bulb and took it back down to the chicken coop. I put the new bulb in the old base and it didn’t work. I went back up to the barn and got the base unit and took it down to the coop. I put the bulb that had worked in the barn in it and it didn’t come on. By then I was getting frozen and frustrated and had to go back to the house to warm up. I had been out in the cold about 30 minutes by this time. My hands burned for about 30 minutes after I got back into the house as they had gotten so cold.
I worried about the chickens not having a heat lamp all night. When I went down to take care of them today, the heat lamp was working and they all seemed to be doing OK. Not sure what is going on. Grateful it was working today – at least for now.
It got down to 19.7 below zero last night here on my hill on the prairie. It is to warm up to 14 today but doubting it will make it. At 2:30 it is -1. We shall see what happens.
I let the dogs out the south facing door off the living room. I couldn’t get the door to close. Kathy came up and attempted it too. The locking mechanism is not working properly. I have a chair propped up against the door to keep the door closed. It isn’t a tight fit though.
I called the new window guys and they are to send someone out this afternoon to fix it. I am not impressed with the new windows. This is the second problem I have had in the first month of having the new windows. I shall see what they say when they get here.
The dogs have been in and out all day. They spent the night outside as they wouldn’t come in when I called them. They went out for a bit today but are back in now. The cat is staying out but she is sleeping under the heat lamp in the heated box in the garage.
I was going to go to town this afternoon but now I have to stay home for when the window guys come. They were to have called me about two hours ago to let me know what they are going to do and they haven’t called me back. I would have told them about the snow drifts in the upper driveway if they had called me back. Guess they will figure it out when and if they get here.
Still haven’t decided if I am going to the meeting I have on my calendar tonight or not. It will depend on when the window guy gets here. I do have some things I need from town but walking up the driveway after dark doesn’t sound very smart to me. Kathy made it down this morning in the dark. I left the outside barn light on to give her some light but not sure it lights up the whole driveway.
I will get out tomorrow for sure as I have to go to KC. I don’t have to be there until 12:30 so won’t have to leave until 10:30. My last appointment of the day is at 4:45 so won’t get home until after dark. Sure hope it is a bit warmer tomorrow than it has been today.
This is day nine of my lock in at home. Thinking about getting out earlier today gave me anxiety. I don’t usually have anxiety so not is sure what is up with that. Good thing I like staying home I guess.
Haven’t figured out how to get the trash to the curb. I didn’t take it last week either. There is no way to pull the trash can over the snow to get it down there. I would have to carry the trash bag by bag over the snow drifts to put it in my car to drive it down. Since it is so cold, at least it doesn’t smell! Think I will skip it again this week. I will have a big pile of it next week. Trusting I will be able to get it down then.
Life gets complicated sometimes. The extreme cold seems to make everything harder to do – if not impossible to do. Not sure I could live in a climate where this type of weather lasted for months. This week plus of it has tested my limits.
The furnace has finally caught up and even turned off for a bit today. It has been running non stop since this cold snap came in. The thermostat today is showing the set temperature for the first time in several days. It hasn’t been able to get to temp until now.
So far next week’s forecast is looking much better. We are to be in the upper 30’s to lower 40’s most of next week. Shorts weather almost!
This year has gotten off to a challenging start for me so far. Problems seem to be cropping up daily. I told Kathy it feels like someone or something is messing with me. May have to get the sage stick out and smudge myself and the house.
Grateful the window guy can come today to fix the door, grateful the heat lamp is on, and grateful the furnace got a short break today.