Is any one else really tired of this weather?

[Performancemini]

Gee, so Canada, you have sent your normal winter down here! Oops. Tonight is supposed to be the last night of really low - degree weather; but then of course we get some snow again (hope the real heavy winds stay away). Maybe H. can get the horses back out. Problem is, he is going to have to dig the hay racks out. Only the tops are showing! There are so many deep drifts! And it seems like the when it snows the winds blow from all directions-so if the minis are out they still can't get totally out of the weather.

I'm all for strangling the groundhog if he doesn't tell us the right things too! We need a February thaw (but not so bad we flood). There's another scary thought for spring-all this snow turning to water! (won't be mud in the paddocks/pastures, it'll be bogs!).

If you've read the "Little House" books, remember 'The Long Winter'? I feel we are living it. How DID they do it. Houses not insulated. Only fireplace or stoves. Outhouses and chamber pots. No electric and tv, etc. We actually DO have it good. Our Pastor said a couple months ago that each morning before getting out of bed you show pray 'thank you for this day and my breath'. And to pray for what you are grateful for. Need to get into the habit of that I guess. I think it helps to exchange news on here and know others are facing similair things.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Gee, so Canada, you have sent your normal winter down here!

Well in truth, the Eastern part of the country has had a truly wicked winter if our news reports are right. But here in the great white north we've had things easy. I appreciate the reprieve even if it doesn't last the rest of the winter but it does make me worry about what we'll see in the spring/summer. Nature seems to balance the scales most of the time so a mild winter might mean a really unpleasant summer. 'sigh' Hope things ease up for all you down there.

 

[Performancemini]

No offense meant of course, Reignmaker. There's always weather somewhere, the good, the bad and the ugly, LOL.

 

[madmax]

Performance mini, I had to go out today and while driving some distances my thoughts take me odd places, and I started thinking about the Little House book "The Long Winter" (I guess like minds here) and how she wrote about the cattle's heads were frozen to the ground from their breath freezing. Also how they burned what she called "hay sticks" in the stove because they had run out of wood. I hope the new generation continues to read those books. I have a book about Laura and Manly in their later years in their final home and excerpts from a column she wrote for a local newspaper.

Right now it is so bitter outside, have to walk the dog and check on the critters, but I can come in to central heat!! Hot water right from the faucet! Have to hope we do not lose power, but probably will not, southern Georgia is getting it worse. I have a daughter in Atlanta and they have good snow; another daughter is in Tallahassee and school has been cancelled for tomorrow because of icey roads and predicted snow. I am about 30 miles from Jacksonville and sleet is what is supposed to be our worse, that rain is what does us in and I can hear it starting now. Critters are all in the barnyard, run in stalls or stalls, but I still worry about the very old ones. I am glad to read all the sharing about your happenings where you live.

 

[Marty]

What a wonderful gripe thread! I'm presently snowed in up here in the mountains for at least the next 3 days. Feel my joy.I'm so crabby and cranky. I've been a complete downer over this winter.

I'm tired of being cold. It has hit single digits and zero a few times now this month. I'm going to be freggin 61 in a couple of weeks and have to wonder what the heck am I doing this for? I'm sick. I'm hurt. I'm plum worn out. I don't know how I can continue this. If there were still any forever homes left that treated my horses like I do, I'd consider a change.

I'm so tired of having to haul myself out of a warm bed to go outside and freeze and fall. I'm such a natural klutz. Doesn't take much to put me on the ground.Looks like sinkholes all over the property when I fall.

And here's the kicker: Our pipes broke to the barn so even though I have warm water up there, tada, its busted. So back to hauling water from the house 4-5 times a day and at night.

What would make me happy is a HOT sweaty summer and horses under the hose and clipping and primping and scrunchies in forelocks. Now that would make me happy again.

 

[jacks'thunder]

I like that Marty! A gripe thread! I should ad that to my title! LOL!

So yesterday when I woke it was -8 with a wind chill of -25 and no school. Today they say it's -1 with a wind chill of -20. As for school.... I'm keeping my eye peeled on the tv screen and not my sons yet. It does look like it me get up to 15 today but I'm not holding my breath. That wind is whats bad. If the wind would stop I'd bet it would feel like a heat wave at 15 above! LOL!

Now don't get me wrong! I am very serious about being thankful for what I have and what God has give me and how I live. I have 3 times this winter woken up to a dead furnace and the temps in the low 40's in here. I lost my fish of 10 years in in the coldest of those episodes and almost lost my turtles. This morning I got hubby up because I could hear the furnace clicking. It was 51 in here. That's cold for in the house! We keep our thermostat set at 62 and don't touch it. Well he fixed it to the best of his ability. We have a frozen condensation vent line so he just has to empty the line from in house every few hours. This is not the first time this year this has happened. So every time I hear the furnace I thank God it's working!

Hubby works a very strange shift so sometimes he's on days and sometime it's midnights. In the first polar H E "double tooth picks"

we went through he was working midnights and text me with a weather update every few hours. (they are a weather station for the area) It ended up at -11( with a wind chill of Super Cold) and it killed his truck. He works 79 miles round trip back and forth. Man you want to talk about mad! LOL! That's his baby and it's dead, and not at home! (Guys and their trucks, right! LOL!

)Fuel pump died, so she(3 days later when they could get the diesel truck fired up and trailer un thawed) had to be towed home. But you know what God opened a door for us and we got a Yukon for him to drive! The truck will be fixed but for now it can wait.

I'm thankful for everything God has give me! I'm cold and sore and tired and ..... hate winter!!! That's just life and my huge gripe

I feel it's good to get it out once in a while! Yep get all mad and cranky at something you can't control! Then when things come along that you can actually do something about, it will be a piece of cake to handle!

I hope everyone stays warm and keeps the faith! It's bound to end! (some day

hehehe!)

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Of course no offence taken, Performancemini. I would be happy to accept the blame for your lousy winter (wouldn't it be nice if someone could really control such things)

I just thought those who are struggling with horrible conditions in eastern and central Canada would not appreciate me claiming an easy time for all of the country.LOL.

Since they say that misery loves company and I just need to complain about it ; We are getting some 'much needed' (sarcasm) snow today. I guess there just was not enough yet...after all the trees had shed all the white from their branches. Looks like a dang Christmas card out there again. Now I will have to slog thro snow again to feed the horses and chickens. 'groan, moan, whimper' and don't forget 'whine'

 

[Helicopter]

May I gripe too please.

We've been having a heatwave here, drought, heat.......can't stand heat, dams empty, tanks running low and critters drinking 700litres of water a day, being dry roasted, trees dying, ever present chance of bushfires ..........I do a lot of whinging. I'm very good at whinging in summer. HATE summer. Hate everything about summer. Bring on winter.

Think I'd better stop whinging now. What you folk are experiencing is not within the realms of my imagination. Truly don't know how you cope.

On the bright side, if there is a bright side, when the snow thaws I guess you will have all that lovely water and your trees will not die and your dams will not be empty.....or will you have floods?

Mother nature sure can be a bitch.

Keep strong everyone and try not to slip over too much.

 

[chandab]

For January in Montana we are having moderate weather, mostly above zero to around freezing (0to32F), so we are reroofing the house; we have one side stripped of shingles, new sheeting laid, new tarpaper laid and its ready for new tin roofing, today we started on the other side and have the old shingles stripped. when that's down we'll start on the windows and new siding. Why you ask, do we do this in winter, because spring/summer is taken up with calving, branding, seeding, haying, harvesting, and fencing; so winter it is. And, a lot to do in the next 4 weeks or so, before we start calving.

 

[chandab]

Oh, and by the way, my feet and hands were frozen from today's excursion to the roof; in to warm up before chores. Our warmer temps brought ice, its a skating rink out here, luckily I've only fallen a couple times, so not too bad this year.

 

[Performancemini]

Tonight my Husband (though he has been super irritable almost every night since after Christmas) finally vented about a bunch of things from this weather in Illinois. The horses have been in way too much and long and the stalls (though he cleans thoroughly every night) are just "swimming in poop" (I think that's how he termed it); I said 'well, kick them out-the wind chills not bad'. And he says-I did/will; after I dig out the inside of the sheds (snowdrifts), around and in the hay feeders (snowdrifts), near the water tank (snowdrifts). And they can stay out unless it snows too much (which it's supposed to) and drifts over the remaining paddocks/pastures fencelines that they are in (one already has 6' of snow over one side). Wish we were lucky enough to have a very small indoor like a friend does-hers get to wander during the day in there. Wish I could help Husband out with the cleaning-but can't with this foot/ankle and crutches-aaaaghhhh!

I usually count down til January's over-but it looks like this year I will have to count down to the end of February too! It's just got to start getting better in March! (but maybe it will in February-accuweather long range shows the week after next being better!).

 

[jacks'thunder]

Well this morning it says 28 degrees. Yesterday was warmer with it in the teens but the wind was so strong, I could not tell it was warmer. Hope the wind stops for today, that's for sure. Yep were going to get more snow too. It's going to be something like 4-6 for my area but others close by up to 12inches. It's all blah blah blah to me. I'm soo over winter!

 

[Shari]

Outside water faucets finally froze... sigh ~~ Is going to be a major pain getting water to the animals for awhile. Just hope they don't break.... spent $$$$ replacing those last year.
Need a few warmer days, so we can have a break.

But I still like the cold better than the too hot and humid and bugs in the summers here.

 

[little lady]

I "normally" love winter(I don't like humidity, the heat or bugs that summer brings), but got to say this year is putting me to the test. Looking for a break...just a few days above freezing would be nice.

 

[shorthorsemom]

been filling water buckets in my kitchen sink for weeks. Kitchen carpet still wet from spilled water bucket. High dollar pirit warmed hose died and now my outside water source is frozen.

Anybody out there suffering with split fingers? I feel like I have been juggling with razor blades. I am gluing them and taping them and putting on cream and they are so sore they feel like they have a heartbeat in them. I also learned the old lesson about not touching the gate with wet hands the other day. Stuck my fingers to the gate and then to the chain for the gate before I trudged into the house for some gloves.

This morning it was 22 degrees outside when I got up. Funny when 22 feels warm. It is going to 40 and I don't know how I am going to act with a day above freezing.

 

[chandab]

Anybody out there suffering with split fingers? I feel like I have been juggling with razor blades. I am gluing them and taping them and putting on cream and they are so sore they feel like they have a heartbeat in them.

My fingers don't get that bad, but hubby's have and the only cream that seems to work is "O'Keeffe's Working Hands", it comes in a green round jar. Here's the company website with a picture: http://okeeffescompany.com/index.php?page=working-hands&gclid=CM3gydn4qLwCFYKUfgodVC0AVA

I think we mostly find it in the hardware stores, but also maybe at the implement dealers, last jar may have come from Murdoch's (like TSC).

 

[Performancemini]

We had a year were we (well, H.) had to haul water from the house too. It is really wearing. At least that year it wasn't bad like is is. We do have a leak at the outdoor pump site though; so the water has to be turned on and off in the house. Hot or cold it can't be left on because if it's hot it leaks and eventually we find squishy grass and wet in the paddock that's in that area. Cold and it would definitely freeze and burst the pipe worse. H. dug the shelters out last night and put the horses back out. But he is so tired that he just is feeding them in the shelters. Looks like they are getting along OK sharing that way (I can only see where the 4 are, but the 2 retired ones have always shared their hay). We are supposed to get 4-6 or 8 between today and tomorrow. More possibly toward Chicago. Just don't need it, as many of you know. Would love some warmth-but can you imagine the flooding we are probably going to have come spring-unless it thaws in spurts. But when I think of parts of the country where they have had such real major flooding, like along the coast and such, and even in Iowa last year-well, we are probably not going to be so very bad. Still it helps to hear how each of us are coping and to vent some.

 

[shorthorsemom]

Chandab... I totally agree...

Just found my o'keffee's hand cream last night. Have been looking for that little green jar for weeks. I didn't want to buy another knowing I have at least two wandering around this house. I found it in with my dog grooming supplies. Am applying liberally. Yes, that stuff works, I swear by it. Here is hoping I get some relief soon.

 

[shorthorsemom]

today is in high 40's. wow. Funny how a little thing like getting some of the frozen poo up off the frozen ground can warm your heart and make you happy. hahaha.

 

[jacks'thunder]

Yep I agree! It feels like summer compared to what it has been! I went out and buckets weren't frozen solid! WOO HOO!