You Know it's Cold When - Day 228 - Haiku - Winter is Here in Earnest!

You know it's cold when
wherever we go we see
kitty sandwiches

Winter weather is here in earnest, with tonight expected to go down to 21 degrees F, tomorrow's high temp maxing out at a balmy 33 degrees F, and tomorrow's low getting down to 18 degrees F, the coldest so far this year.

Thankfully we'll have a break afterward, with several days with lows in the forties, though the first couple will be very rainy. Hopefully I'll get a dry spell before next weekend so that I can finally get our grass mowed, since we finally got our mower back and functioning!

Meanwhile, even when it's not particularly cold, we have our kitties sandwiching together, and often snuggling up fairly close to Lolo. He gets up and moves if they actually touch him, much to Truffle's disappointment, as she still adores him, even when he growls at her. ;-)

I've been running around like a madwoman, trying to keep everyone fed, watered and warm, and I need to bring more straw back from the barn for the guinea pigs this afternoon.

Like the Muscovy ducks, guinea pigs are a lot more cold hardy than I was led to believe, but eighteen degrees is eighteen degrees . . . for reference, 18 degrees F equals minus 7.778 degrees Celsius, which by any scale is flipping cold.

I've got their cages wrapped pretty well against drafts, and we're happily not expecting any high winds, but plenty of straw for them to burrow into is a must in this weather. I'll be giving additional straw to the other animals as well, but the guinea pigs need it the most.

Obviously all our potted plants are inside for the duration, though I'm looking forward to moving them outside for few days, and I know they will appreciate the rain and warmth.

Now that the mower is back in action, I'll be able to move most of them to the studio before it gets cold again, using our garden trailer that we bought for the mower a couple of years back. That makes it SO much easier than trying to move them all in the car, not to mention a whole lot less messy.

I'm not looking forward to our higher power bills, but c'est la vie, while I'm okay with the house getting down to around 65 degrees, I don't want it getting much colder than that, as it costs a lot more to raise the temperature than it does to simply maintain it.

I am looking forward___very much___ to finally getting off the grid, which we're making small strides toward each year, but we still have quite a ways to go.

When we are providing enough of our own power to get off the grid, I will NOT grid tie our system, as I would far rather be completely independent than to receive payments from our utility companies for our overflow power.

I know others will disagree, which is fine, but I would simply prefer not to be connected at all.

I hope everyone stays warm and comfortable this season, has a wonderful season, whatever holidays you choose to (or not to) celebrate, and enjoys many peaceful, loving and prosperous years to come! Much love to all!

This post, and all those from now until the end of 2018, I am dedicating to the work of #tarc and #yah, aka @rhondak's nonprofit Appalachian dog rescue, and @sircork's international charity, @youarehope.

Half the liquid proceeds earned from my posts will be evenly split between the two organizations, and more when I can manage it.

The photos above were taken by me within the past several days with my Samsung Note 8 smartphone.

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