Record Breaking - Bitter Cold!

 As of yesterday, the statistics were impressive.  Sixty-five hours of zero or below.  Tuesday was our coldest day in twenty-five years.  It also made it into the record books as a top-ten coldest day in Omaha's recorded weather history.  Certainly the coldest I can remember during my lifetime - anywhere!  We've all been very thankful the wind has remained - for the most part - calm.

My Tuesday morning wake-up call~

On top of all that - we've been below freezing for three weeks straight.  During this cold spell, it isn't as though we haven't had snow!  We've had lots of snow.  January 25th, we had almost a foot & it stayed.  The snowplow would come through turning the piles brown, but then fresh snow would have them covered again.  Just enough to keep things beautifully white.  As other smaller storms came through - they added about 3" per visit to what was already on the ground.

January 28th,  Full moon on pristine snow~

The stories I've heard of Iowa winters, were brought home to me as truth this winter!    

February 2nd, frost~

 The day's seem to alternate between overcast & sunshine.  Our neighbor Mike, came along with every accumulation & plowed the driveway up to the Bronco.  I think the Bronco is his favorite, even if he did sell  us the Explorer.  :-)

February 3rd, blazing sunshine~

When the sun is shining, it's so brilliantly bright, you have to wear sunglasses!  It was so bitter cold - I only took one walk in the woods...  Besides which, it's deep & crusted over, making it tough to walk through.

On the 16th~

We missed another snowfall while we were in CO.  It was as light as dust & easy to blow off the porch when we returned home.

Today~  Snowflakes in the air~

I was severely chastised by my friends at Mat-Making for not showing up last week on my birthday!  I honestly didn't think anyone would brave single digit temperatures to go.  I was so wrong!  :-)  Butch & I did go out for dinner at Tobey Jacks.  Kathy bought us a homemade brownie covered with ice cream, drizzled with chocolate & topped with whipped cream & a candle!) 

Chocolate cake!

I did bake us a chocolate cake.  Not German Chocolate - Butch's favorite, but he enjoyed it & so did I!

Today, I cowgirled up, picked Doris up & we made it to mat-makers.  It's so wonderful our little group of women continue to meet & make quilts & mats regardless of the weather, Covid, or whatever else tries to deter us from our weekly appointed task!  The moral of this story - is;  Don't mess with Iowa women!  We're a tough bunch!

My leg has been so painful, I haven't even been to the Y since the first of the month.  We're promised a day above freezing this coming weekend & a warming trend back to our seasonal temperatures soon.  The 40's will feel positively balmy!  Time for me to get back in gear!

This day - last year~

Winter's Arrival~

 The first day of winter, was grand!  Sunshine, mid-50's & the snow from our first storm was finally melting off.  I was ready to try a walking stick in my right hand, Nika's leash in my left.

Winter flower bed~

Nika started by trying to pull me off my feet.  After some coaxing & figuring out our progress would be slow, she would take a couple steps, then wait for me to catch up!

21st. Nika by the creek~

She was just so excited for us to be going into the woods on a walk - it was fun for me too.  We made it all the way out to the Lowlands.

Looking east along Tinkle Branch~

Since she was good enough to wait for me, if she found something interesting, I would wait for her.  Holes - of course - are always interesting!

Anything down there?

I was really hoping she wouldn't scare something out!  I may still get her a retractable leash for our walks at home.  Yesterday, was another great day.  Temperatures topped out at 56°.  I put on my boots & spent the morning hobbling around the place.  A little organizing in the shed & the tack room of the horse trailer, now home to shovels & rakes.

22nd, Nika surveys her domain~

I had PT in the early afternoon.  I didn't want to take a piece out of the already too short days.  Once I was there & warmed up - I received more good news.  The bottom of my knee is now at zero!  My flexibility measured 109 cm - up four more from the 17th.  I was oh, so close to making a rotation on the bike...

12:30 p.m. today~

This morning we were 51°!  The wind picked up & with it the temperature plummeted & snow started just after noon.  Now, at 3:30 p.m. we're a whopping 19° with winds gusting to over 40mph.  I have no idea what the wind chill is, but when I went out to blow the snow off the porch, my hands were frozen in seconds!  

COLD!

Now - it's COLD!  I've been out blowing snow off the deck & porch three times so far - but with the wind coming from every direction - it's a hopeless cause!  Sub-zero is our forecast for tonight into tomorrow!  

Sub-zero Cold!

 To say that it's a bone-chilling cold would be a terrific understatement!  The sunshine is so deceptive.  I wake to it, open the back door to let Nika out & get hit with an artic like blast of freezing wind!

No lie!

As is mentioned around town, it's not even the cold, it's the wind that makes it brutal for man & beast, dropping the feels like temperatures down into the double digits. 

There was a knock on the door this morning.  A tall young man told me he'd just slid into our mailbox!  I went out to look.  There was just a slight dent at the bottom of the mailbox door & his car had a light scrap down the upper portion of the window & frame.  I shook his hand & thanked him for being so conscientious!  I came in & called the city road crew.  They were out in about 15-min. to plow it again & put down more deicer.  There's nothing like living in small town Iowa!

This morning~

When we heard the weather report last night, we bundled up & headed out to Farah's barn.  No one around, we tried to turn on the isle lights.  Butch said fluorescence blubs won't light in that kind of cold!  The old mare at the end of the barn had a light on in her stall, that helped.  We'd brought a flash light too.

Everything frozen~

Farah was in her stall, it wasn't until we opened the big door, the wind whistled through.  When it's closed she has protection.  Not to say she didn't seem happy to get her blanket!  I told her to go roll in the snow to knock off the mud from last time she wore it!  :-)  Plenty of cookies later, we left for home & dinner.

Light powder~

The powder snow just blows around in the wind, sending shining crystals of light through the air & covering everything.

Front porch~

I go out a couple times a day to sweep the porch & deck, but usually before I'm done, the sifting snow returns.

My potted grass~

This is the most successful plant, I left in a pot this winter!  I bought it passing by Walmart & wish I'm bought more.  It was beautiful all year & is now a pretty golden color.  I'm concerned about my trees...  The two Jantar's out front are close to the low end their hardiness zone.  I'm glad we kept them watered during the dry fall.

Nika & wind blows waves of snow~

I let Nika out a couple times a day & she loves it!  You can tell how deep some of the snow has drifted at the bottom of the hill.  As we walked out to the camper for our evening hot drink last night, Butch decided to see if she'd follow us off leash?  NO!  Away she went!  By the time we were heading back to the house, she'd had her fun & was waiting to follow us inside!