Winter wonderland

[jsh]

+3 here in KC, wind isn’t as bad as the forecast.
Still drinking coffee with a dog on my lap to keep me warm.

[Rick in Oregon]

Zero here on the high desert of Orygun at present, with the "feeling like" temp at -6. We've got about 10" of snow now, with much more on the way.

Spring varmint shooting in the nice warm sunshine seems like another galaxy, far, far away right now.

[MTPaul]

The temperature outside our home in SW MT dipped to -42F last night! Electrical power went out, as we later discovered due to a nearby substation failure, at 12:06am (yes, 6 minutes after midnight!) and the power stayed off until I awoke this morning at 5:30. When I looked, the temperature inside the house it had dropped to 49 degrees.

Luckily, we had a standby electrical panel installed for situations just like this. I always have our standby generator in the "ready to go" condition, so I went to the electrical panel, switched us from the local grid to the external power, fired up the generator, selected the items I wanted to power (eg. furnace, refrigerator, a few lights and outlets) and we were up and running by 6:00. By the time the local electrical company was able to restore power, at about 8:45, our home was a comfortable 70 degrees, the fridge was running, and I was having my second cup of coffee.

I never forgot the Boy Scout motto...Be Prepared!!

[Rick in Oregon]

Glad to hear that Paul. That Boy Scout motto sure comes in handy when we experience chit like we're into right now. If these conditions were more prevalent, I'd opt for a Generac unit without any further thought. Thankfully, it's only once every few years for us here.

Good to hear you're okay, as 49* inside the house is no bueno!

[skipper]

I just finished freeze protection preparations. Sprinkler riser is wrapped and bagged, laid a bag of mulch on the water main, put faucet socks out and wrapped the potted plants. Now if I could just wrap Maggie.

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[Bill K]

That is a unique looking stove there Skipper. What brand and/or a photo. Is there a door over the opening ? Can not tell from the photo, looks like none.

[MTPaul]

I'll let Bill K chime in on his particular type or model as it looks like his is made of a sort of clay. We have a similar heat source sitting outside on our patio and it is called a chiminea fire pit. Ours is made of some sort of cast metal and it sits about 5 feet tall. Yes, it is heavy!!

[skipper]

That is a unique looking stove there Skipper. What brand and/or a photo. Is there a door over the opening ? Can not tell from the photo, looks like none.

That is a chimenea, a open fronted, ceramic fire pit common here. You should get one. Uses a lot less firewood than other designs.

[Bill K]

I will have to google that up and check it out. Could be handy on the patio/deck. In the old cabin I use a Englander wood/air tight style and it does a super fine job of keeping me nice and warm all winter.

[skipper]

Bill

Just be sure to get some sand to go with it. Lay in a half inch or so of sand in the bottom so it won't crack.

[Bill K]

Thanks for that info. I would hope, if I do buy one, instructions, etc. come with it.

[MTPaul]

Our chimenea sits on our back patio. As you can tell it is keeping nice and warm as it is wrapped in a blanket of snow...

For your further enjoyment, I've also included a picture of what people in MT do for fun when it's freaking cold outside...they give OId Man Winter the middle finger and go outside and play in it!!

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[Jim White]

No snow here but plenty of cold temps. The wind chill while hoofing it into PSNS yesterday was -6 due to the balmy winds in 20-degree weather. Y'all be careful out there and stay safe.

[SecretCode]

Had our first Blizzard of the winter and new year. Just coming out of it. Not to much snow out of this system but definitely the wind. We hunkered down and did nothing today.

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Well if nothing else I know what time of year it feels like again. Haven't had a clue what season we're in all fall early winter.

[Tom Kat]

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