Still cold and snowy

Free Clip art

It hasn’t been above freezing here in almost two weeks.  It did make it up to 32 today, so maybe there is hope we’ll see most of this snow melt before we get the next batch.  There’s still a lot of it around.  Our driveway is covered and in places, it is treacherous to walk around because of ice.

A couple of nights ago, it was only six degrees here so I dripped the cold-water faucets, as I always do here in the winter if the forecast is for twenty or lower.  Well dripping the cold water wasn’t even enough in the master bathroom because the hot water pipes were frozen.  That has never happened here before.  I never drip the hot water, but you can bet I’ve starting doing it now.  Last night it was ten degrees.

We borrowed a space heater and kept it aimed at the bathroom cabinets with the doors open.  It took over a day, but the pipes finally thawed and thankfully, they aren’t broken.  Until this cold spell is over, I’ll be dripping those faucets with hot and cold water every night because that wall is on the north side of the house.

One of my sisters called me tonight and said they have an arctic blast coming on Christmas day.  Now this is south Texas and it’s supposed to be in the mid-teens that night.  That rarely happens there.  We had many cold winters growing up, but the weather has gotten a lot milder there than it used to be when I was a kid.  She goes on to tell me we’ll probably get it first because many times that’s what happens.  What a lovely thought this is.

Now I’m wondering how much of this snow will actually be gone before we get the next batch.  We went to Costco today and the parking lot reminded me of some of my days in Alaska.  It is so unusual to see big uneven chunks of ice in the parking lots and snow shoved to the sides of the road.

Our birdbath and water pans freeze solid every night and it takes boiling water to get that ice out of there.  We have to refresh the boiling water several times a day because it’s not long and it’s frozen again.  The strangest thing is that the birds jump into that steaming water and take baths.  That is so unbelievable.  They must be very cold when they emerge all wet and dripping.  I need to download my camera card.  I had to take a picture of that.

I guess that’s all for now from the high desert – a place of extremes.  I’ll post more pics soon.  Stay warm everybody.