OK, it's cold enough, thanks...

[altivo]

We're at -6°F and dropping. The "freezeless" hydrant in one barn is frozen. Oddly, that has never happened before, even when we had temperatures of -20 a few years back. The animals are not complaining much, actually, as long as they get fed and preferably extra rations.

I'm complaining though. I'm getting old enough for this to make my joints stiff. We have the woodstove going 24 hours a day, which we haven't done at all in recent years. The house is comfortable enough, but going outside to do animal chores is painful.

Supposed to be worse tomorrow, then gradually improving. No long posts from here for a day or two. It's too cold to sit at the computer (far end of the house from the woodstove.)

Comments

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Ick. :( Ick ick ick.

Well, don't worry...I'll completely understand if you're not around Sunday night.

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

It is cold. The Pontiac is deader than a doornail, as the old saying goes. The pickup's power steering is complaining loudly.
So I'm just staying in.
The house is working okay so far.
Sorry to hear about your hydrant.
I wish this cold snap was shorter.
Take care.

frozen pipes

[(Anonymous)]

OK this will not be the same from your standpoint, BUT, my barn waterpipes froze here in
scottsdale, AZ and it was a bit pain in the rear to get replacement pipes!

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

That's not good... odd that the things should freeze at this point though... maybe it's insulation is getting weak? No idea how that really works...

[ducktapeddonkey.livejournal.com]

We got wind chill down to -30C here tonight.

Brrr!

Hopefully you guys all keep warm enough tonight.

[alaskawolf.livejournal.com]

i love woodstoves :)

gomake a nice hot mug of hot cocoa ;)

[lobowolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's already down to 0 here. It was really warm most of the first half of the winter, so the ground absorbed a lot of water, and now that it's been frozen solid for two weeks, the tiny cracks in the basement floor keep getting a little wider. Even though the frost line is supposed to max out at 4 feet, I bet it could very well be down almost that far.

I think we're supposed to get that in the next day or two..cold as heck all week and then finally (or so they say), warming up to seasonable temperatures next week.

Winter is never the same twice here.

[damnbear.livejournal.com]

*throws a few shaggy warm blankets on you and Gary*

We're on the opposite side of the 0 mark from you, but all the same it's still a tad cold. I must be getting used to 6 degree weather, it doesn't feel that it's biting in the same way when we dropped from 60 degrees to the mid twenties.

[lobowolf.livejournal.com]

For that kind of cold, notice in my pictures I'm wearing the Fargo-style fur-lined hat and insulated coveralls. All I was wearing underneath those were sweatpants and a sweatshirt. They're good for -20 if you add more layers.

Because I go out to visit Yukon on a daily basis and do chores outdoors 'year round, they're a necessity.

We have the big stove going...once the basement floor warms up, it keeps the whole house nice and toasty. Haven't had the furnace on all day.

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

keep warm - cuddle up

:O)

[heavens-steed.livejournal.com]

*tries to warm you up with a big horsie hug*

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'll put on an extra sweater. ;p

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The hydrant should be fine when it finally thaws out. The question is how did it freeze up and how long will it take to come loose again.

Re: frozen pipes

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hopefully nothing needs replacement. Fixing a frost free hydrant requires digging a huge hole.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No insulation at all. These hydrants use a long pipe that extends down three to five feet underground, where they are attached to a water supply line. That's deep enough that it isn't supposed to freeze. The actual valve is located there. When you turn it on (by tripping a long vertical lever) the water rises in the vertical pipe until it comes out the spout. When you turn it off, the water in the vertical line drains back out underground, leaving nothing to freeze.

The problem is likely occasioned by the exceedingly warm weather we had in December and January, with lots of rain. The ground is saturated to considerable depth, and then froze in the cold. Water did not drain from the vertical line because it had nowhere to go, and then froze there.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We're warm enough, thanks, as long as the power stays on. Of course, the legislature just let the controls on electric rates expire, so we expect our next electric bill to be up by 25% or more.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The woodstove is a good, reliable source of heat. Unfortunately it's also a large producer of greenhouse emissions. And it needs wood, something we're running low on and will have to get more of.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Winters here used to be pretty consistent, but in the last decade or two they've started to be really unpredictable.

I'm with you on the sweats. Gary insists on wearing jeans to do outside chores, but I find sweats much more practical and warmer in this weather than even his flannel lined jeans. Wool socks and rubber boots help too. The big problem for me is my hands. Gloves don't keep them warm enough, mittens don't give me enough dexterity. Consequently I usually am taking my mittens on and off frequently and risking getting my fingers frozen to bare metal. I wear those old double layer mittens they used to call "woodchoppers" that have an inner knitted mitten and a separate leather outer mitten you can put on over the knit when needed. These are probably 30 years old and finally beginning to wear out. I don't know if they even make them like that any more.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Oooh! Blankets and quilts, yay! And dogs and cats on top of them too.

If it gets too cold for you and Lobo, crawl under here with us. ;p

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Working on it. Still -6°F this morning, but at the moment there's little wind at least.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*grins and shares his horsey blanket with you*

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

I think the cold is making /my/ joints hurt and they
are a late 60s model. >.<

Isn't it Glorious!

*wanders around in the cold and gets yelled at to
come inside*

I can see it now, its 2050 and its -20 outside. The
nurses chase him around.

XD

[kakoukorakos.livejournal.com]

High, persistent moisture content in the soil can conduct the frost deeper since it doesn't act as an insulator when it's wet (much like any insulation). Compression (like walking or driving) also can accelerate driving the frost deeper too. We have to be remarkably competent about laying water lines up here, as long as the cold season can be, and the way it's not just plain cold, but goes through repeated freeze-thaw cycles that assure moisture is driven down far.

My water line is 8-10' deep and I made sure to keep it in a shaded area that doesn't get driven over. It only freezes where it comes up into the cabin. Which it does every few weeks during winter. It's no fun when that happens, but this last stretch of bitter cold and wind managed to freeze it badly enough that it took me a day or so to thaw it. I think the heat tape came unplugged too.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

At the present, I'd say that's unlikely. By 2050 it won't be getting this cold. Instead they'll be trying to get you inside to keep you from getting heatstroke.

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

*eyes the glacier in the yard*

Of course in 2050 I'll be 84 so YMMV.