Kind of Cold Lately

Handling the Cold

Just pulling out of a really rough one today. Had the pets in last night, expecting extreme cold that never really got that bad. The forecast was for minus 26 or 28 or something, so I brought them in. It got down to maybe minus 13 or so, which was not quite so life threatening. So I missed sleep again for about the third night. I was up at about 5:50 from the dog barking to go out, and that was that. There was a faint light of dawn in the east south east about 6:17 when I headed back in after setting the dog back in the garage and the cat with him. I had warmed the garage up to about 40 degrees or so, warm enough for the animals, and I set up the "milk house" heater to keep them warm in addition. I came back in, had breakfast and laid back down for about two hours. It was a good rest this time. I have to go back out now. It's about 7:13 in the evening and I started a wood fire in the wood stove. I have to check it.

OK - The dog - "Snuggles" seemed very comfortable and the cat - "Tina" was very playful, as usual. The wood fire was just about out and I closed the air vents so that the fire would go completely out relatively safely. That's the problem with burning wood for fuel. It's cheaper, but it requires continual monitoring for safety. After heating the garage for about 10 minutes, the temperature rose to about 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Without a strong wind, and with the electric heater going, it should stay a bit above freezing till tomorrow morning. The current forecast from NOAA is a low of -22 tonight. This is about five degrees warmer than last night's forecast which never really got below minus 13, so we'll chance it. Last winter it was good for minus 20 with the electric heater on. This is fine except for the cost! Heating with electricity is very expensive in Vermont. Still a few cold nights is a cheap enough price to have to pay for living in probably one of the most beautiful places in the US. The people up here are very aware of the values Vermont offers. They also don't like it to be so very cold in the winter.