Hi everyone! the temperature is - 10 with a wind chill of -34 right now. I have waist high drifts of snow in the he back of my house and about two feet stacked up against the front door. My cable went out last night so I did not get to watch Downton Abbey. It is back on most channels today but not all. I hope I can record it tonight. a lot of people outside of town have lost power. Most county and state roads are closed and impassable.

I imagine I will be hibernating all week.

I'm glad you have power, Barb. :) Stay warm.

I have a doctor's appt this afternoon and DS is leaving work early to take me. I just opened the back door to put some UN-frozen water out for the cats and the wind just about blew me back inside. :eek:

So far no power outages and the roads are clear. Just random patches of black ice but those are the ones that jump out and surprise you when you aren't looking. :rolleyes:

I am terrified to get my gas bill for this month. My heat has run more in the past week than it ever has before. :thud:

About the same temp wise here too Barb, and I also will be hibernating.
Not a lot more snow here, but frigid and windy. Hope my power stays on.

DD has a bug...temp of 101 this morning, but was willing to come over,
if I needed anything. I forbade her to leave her warm house today.
She laughed, but went right back to bed. All of the schools here are
closed today and probably tomorrow, so she'll have 4 kids home to
take care of her.:eek:

I hope you are all are well and being cared for.:grouphug:

The temp is -18 with a -38 wind chill here in MPLS. No need to go out thank goodness!

Kitty and others trapped in the cold,

You may be able to save on your heating bill by doing a few things:

-If you have ceiling fans, make sure that they are rotating clockwise, as that will bring the warmer air downward into the living areas.

-Close off rooms that you are not using during certain times of the day/night and turn down the thermostats in them.

-Close drapes & blinds, especially in rooms that you are not using, as this will prevent some heat loss through windows.

- Keep rolled up towels at the bottoms of entry doors and loose fitting windows to keep the chilly wind out; especially if your doors don't have weather stripping.

-If you have central forced air heating, for the short term, shutter the air vents in rooms that you don't use frequently (utility, spare bedrooms etc). Open them back up again once the cold snap passes, as it is important for proper furnace operation and ventilation in the long term.

-If your hot water tank is in a cold area like the basement or a crawl space, wrap a comforter or heavy blanket around it to keep it warm.

Hoping that everyone keeps their power and stays warm.

Oh...and putting a stone that has been heated in hot water or the oven, into water dishes, and then placing the water dish into a larger container containing crumpled newspaper for outside animals, will help to keep the water warmer longer.
We use heating cables that can be wrapped around the water dishes or water warming coils that go right into the water up here to keep water thawed in bird fountains and pet dishes.

With love, Erika

Our weather has been like a roller-coaster. We had -22 a couple of days ago. Late this morning it was 50! and tonight back down near or below zero. It's been raining since last evening. There is ice everywhere, and as soon as the temperature takes a nose dive later this afternoon, the roads will be even more treacherous.

At least we're prepared for ice, snow, and sub-zero up here. My granddaughter now lives in PA. Yesterday morning there were cars off the road all over the place, including her car AND her boyfriend's. The car in front of her couldn't make the hill; she had to stop and slid off the road.

On the plus side, she was able to back the car into a driveway. When she knocked on the door explaining what happened, the homeowners turned out to be a nice older couple (probably MY age, knowing her perspective!) who were just on their way to "salt the church parking lot".

She ended up walking home--both her mother and I nearly had a stroke when she said that, but she assured us that it was only about a mile and that she stayed way over in the snow. She said, "I'm not stupid!"

No, she sure isn't, but sometimes even smart people make decisions in bad weather that make me scratch my head.

We had an ice/snow storm here back in 1978. I remember it because my Mom got stranded and a beer truck driver gave her a ride home!! :D If you knew my mother you would see the humor in that as she never touched a drop of alcohol! We laughed about that for years. My Dad especially. :p

We had another ice/snow storm in 1983. I remember that one well because I was pregnant with my first son. I wasn't allowed out of the house! :eek: Who knew pregnant women can walk?! :rolleyes:

We've had several storms but the one I remember the most was in 1969 (I think). We had an ice storm and no power for about a week. We hibernated in the basement family room and cooked on an old gas space heater. We also had a large fireplace. I remember it as fun but I'm sure my parents had other thoughts about it! ;)

It is -37 wind chill here, was -43 about an hour ago. DH said that it was -15 at 9AM without the wind chill. :eek:

I hope you will all be ok and have a plan B if the power goes out. :grouphug:

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....That's wickedly cold Wiz.
Hoping that it warms up really soon and stays that way for everyone in areas that this cold snap is hitting.

With love, Erika

That's so funny about your Mom Kelly..:yahoo:

Temp will be at minus something again tomorrow,
schools are closed and DD is still sick.:(

Does anyone else get afraid and lonely, when it's this
cold out and you know you can't get out?:eek: :( :eek: