Saturday, January 17, 2009

Freezing Cold Days

So, how are you all surviving these frigid cold temperatures? If you live somewhere that is not icy cold, don't you dare tell me about it! ((Just kidding!))

WE ARE SO COLD!

My house is not really made for temperatures below 25 degrees. Our floor is not insulated well and our old windows are drafty. Plus, my husband is adding an addition onto the kitchen side of our house, so there is no wood siding over there...only complicates the problem! Once it gets in the low 20's outside, Old Smoky just can't keep up!


Old Smoky is what I call our ginormous wood stove. It usually serves us quite well, but when the thermometer is reading below 0 outside, which it has the last 2 nights, that means it's about 32 degrees inside. You think I'm joking...I'm not! This morning there was ice on the inside of all of our windows!

There are 2 warm places we can be when it's that cold out: In our beds with about 6 layers of blankets piled on top of us or sitting about 6 inches in front of Old Smoky. For that very reason, I created this little sitting area, which has now become everyone's favorite spot!


And we battle the water pipes constantly. We have to keep every faucet open, hot and cold, in order to keep anything from freezing. We haven't quite won that battle this time...I still have no hot water in the kitchen, no cold water in the bathroom sink, and I'm struggling to keep water flowing to the shower.

So, needless to say, I did not get up for my morning routine this morning. In fact, I didn't pull my freezing body out from under those blankets until about 9:00. And I couldn't wait to work out so my body temperature would rise a little!

Through all of this, though, I'm so thankful for a roof over our heads, warm blankets to snuggle up under, and a kitchen full of food. Sweaters and long underwear are not being taken for granted and a hot shower has to be a little like heaven. And I'm even so thankful for Old Smoky because even when the electricity went out a couple nights ago, we had heat. There are so many that rely on electricity for warmth, and when that fails, they are just cold.

I'm thanking the Lord today for my family's blessings and for giving us just what we need to get through the tough spots.

As far as staring my new routine, well, that can wait...I'll give it a try again tomorrow!

Blessings!
Brandi

P.S. In case you're wondering how we keep the baby warm in this place, he sleeps between us and stays quite toasty. During the day, we keep him bundled up and he wears little gloves on his hands. My other 2 kids are old enough to keep their blankets on and then they deposit themselves right in front of the fire first thing in the morning! That's where they play and that's where school takes place! Good thing these temperatures only last a couple days a year here in WV!

1 comment:

On A Hill Homestead said...

Brandi,
I know how COLD y'all must be!!
Last winter was tough on us, and the woodburner still didn't keep us warm in the house. It just kept us from freezing...
As for water fill up containers and jugs when you can rotate them out. Heat them on the woodburner. I don't have running water, and our hose will freeze outside during the night. We just keep water containers full and to keep them by the woodburner to melt them. If need be we've made beds at night next to the woodburner, and yes wear lots of clothing. Take blankets and cover up your windows, this will help with the draft.
Drink lots of warm liquids as you probably already know. I've had to live through that and am so thankful this winter for the insulation we finally put in. Our little woodburner and the insulation have kept us really warm this winter.
I hope this helps, and stay warm!
Peace, Kris