Watcha' Doing - 2021 Showing 251-300 of 1,871

[Janice, Moderator]

LOL! Never let winter stop you from BBQ'ing.

[Peggy]

I knew I could count on you two to put things into perspective ;-)

Also, I had no idea it could be too cold for snow.

People have been hoarding food again. Based on some pictures I saw you'd think we'll be buried in 3 metres of snow for the next 3 months!

[Abby]

We've been going back and forth between snow and freezing rain which is just the most lovely weather (not). :) I'm honestly surprised I've only fallen once and haven't broken something yet from all the ice on the ground.

[Jenn]

I agree with you on that Janice :) unless it is -40 it is hard to keep the propane tanks full enough to deal with that :( But, if you can't BBQ in winter that would shut us down for more than half of the year lol

And, yes Peggy, it can get too cold to snow. When it is warmer you get the big fluffy stuff, but the colder it gets the smaller the snow gets, until it is more like dust. Then it gets to the point where the air is get full of ice, and it hurts to breath :(

It was -35 C today, so I went shopping, assuming that the weather would keep everyone in :( but everyone seemed to have the same idea :( Tomorrow is calling for -42 C, so I'm just going to stay home and read my book :)

[Janice, Moderator]

My dad always says, "You know it's cold outside when your nostril hairs freeze." Another interesting tidbit - the colder it gets, the more the packed snow squeaks when you walk on it with heeled boots. When it's around freezing, it crunches. But when it's -30 to -40, it squeaks.

[Kristie, Moderator]

This is interesting. I never really paid attention to what type of snow we got when. We are on that rain/snow cusp here today. It rained, then we got some big fluffy snow, now it is raining again. Oh, never mind... it's snowing again. lol I'm sure it will turn to rain again and wash everything away soon.

[Peggy]

Ah, we usually don't go below -5C so I guess our snow (if we have any at all) is always about the same. Sometimes it's a bit more powdery than other times, but that's it. I'm happy that I know this now.

I can't even contemplate -35C! Where do you live again, Jenn?

We spent over an hour outside freeing the car from ice. Rob went to take something out of the car and realized he couldn't even open it. It was covered in about 2cm of ice! I think from the ice rain we had yesterday, as I've never seen this happen before. He has to leave for work tomorrow at 6.30am, so better fix it now. I've been inside again for 1.5 hours and my toes are still ice cold! And it's only -5C here (windchill makes it feel like -15).

[Esther]

Janice wrote: "My dad always says, "You know it's cold outside when your nostril hairs freeze.""

I like that. :)
I think the worst I have been was a -40C something and with windchill it felt like -53C. I had a 20 minutes walk to do. I could hardly breathe at the end. Felt like I was breathing ice. I was young. Now you would have to smoke me out of the house with that temp.

[Kristie, Moderator]

The ice is worse than snow, Peggy! Especially, if you get the light, fluffy stuff. That is pretty and pretty easy to clean up.

We don't get much snow where I am now and it usually melts after a couple of days. It's much nicer than the mountains of snow we used to get.

[Janice, Moderator]

It was -43C (-45F) this morning when I woke up. That's without the windchill. We have the ice fog Jenn was talking about yesterday.

The coldest I've experienced was -50C without the windchill. It was Christmas 1995. We had to go to town for some reason and it felt like we were driving on square tires. They wouldn't hold the air so we went to a gas station to fill them up but the air pump wasn't working. We weren't the only ones. We soon had a line of vehicles following each other from one gas station to the next, looking for an air pump that would work.

It's a hot breakfast kind of morning, so porridge it was. :)

[Kristie, Moderator]

Those are crazy temps, Janice!

[Peggy]

-50!!!

That's all I've got to say.

[Abby]

I was outside this morning which was the worst. winter is my least favorite season and was thinking about that. So, of course, It's the Most Wonderful Time of The Year got stuck in my head for 20 minutes. My ever rational brain at work once again.

[Dawn]

Okay, and this is why I live in Southern BC. The rest of the country can have the -50 and the 30 cm of snow. I am happy to just complain about -10. Which is apparently coming to us next week.

But speaking of snow, I would like to point out that the dry fluffy stuff is way easier to shovel than the wet heavy stuff you get at 0 degrees!!

[Kristie, Moderator]

Hahaha. That's your brain working overtime to improve your mood, Abby.

[Abby]

That's true. :)

[Travis]

Hey long time no posting. Having some marriage issues blah blah blah.

Anyway Weezer dropped a new album last week and if you haven't heard it yet they have a song about listening to audible that I thought was cool

https://youtu.be/IhjhaJwhBLI

Hopefully that's the correct link

[Travis]

It is the correct link. But most of you it looks like maybe busy with a toppler

[Janice, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "-50!!!

That's all I've got to say."

Did you get the snow you were expecting?

[Janice, Moderator]

Travis wrote: "It is the correct link. But most of you it looks like maybe busy with a toppler"

Hi Travis. Nice to see you, but sorry to hear you have some issues. Covid isolation has been pretty tough on relationships.

We're planning the toppler right now. Next week, we'll all have our noses buried in our books.

[Peggy]

Janice, not as much as expected by far (other parts of the country did get a lot of snow), but combined with the sub zero temps enough to be very disruptive.

The roads are like ice and Rob has to go to work tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous about it. He's a very good driver and knows how to drive in these circumstances, but you know, I always worry too much.

[Shirley]

Just for a little perspective - over 30 degree days here. Summer is going on and on and on. Too hot 🥵. Rusalka did you get up at 3:00 am to watch the launch of Skywhale? For our o/seas friends, it’s an new National Gallery of Australia exhibit called. Skywhalepapa Funny thing is, the first thing I thought of was - what task would I use for the Annual Challenge 😂

[Jenn]

Hey welcome back Travis :) The link worked, the song is awesome, and yes it is totally stuck in my head now lol
I am really sorry to hear your blah, blah, blah :( I hope that everything works for the best :) I am sure Kristie can find a team for you, if you are in need of a diversion . . .

No kidding Dawn lol I came from Victoria for this, what was I thinking??? And, the dry snow is generally easier to deal with. We keep a corn broom at the back door, but once there is more than about an inch we have to pull out the shovels anyway. And, once we get tired of that, we pull out the quad with the plow :)

Peggy, I am just North-East of Janice. I am currently in Fort McMurray, which is roughly 5 hours North of Edmonton, Alberta.

Oh Shirley, is it bad that I am jealous of your temps right now lol Maybe we need to find a way to share :)

[Dawn]

Victoria to Fort McMurray?? What were you thinking!! :D

[Jenn]

I do wonder that sometimes Dawn, especially in the middle of winter lol But my answer has always been that he came for work, and I came for love

[Shirley]

Jenn wrote: "Hey welcome back Travis :) The link worked, the song is awesome, and yes it is totally stuck in my head now lol
I am really sorry to hear your blah, blah, blah :( I hope that everything works for ..."

Yes I’d like to share - a few degrees would be nice. Reading about the troubles you all have with snow and ice, I don’t think I should complain too much. At least I can jump in the pool or crank up the aircon.

[Jenn]

I was thinking the opposite Shirley lol At least with cold you can add a layer (or six 🙄) unless it gets silly cold, of course; but with the heat, there are only so many layers you can remove, at least in polite company anyway 😜

[Travis]

While a toppler is fun, diversion is the last thing I need. The issue at hand is I work too much and don't make family time. This guy who works with farmers for various issues has you do a 90 day challenge. You make an unattainable goal and basically focus on it for90 days. You don't have to achieve the goal as 90 days may not be enough time for that but I guess if you devote 90 days and are making progress most people will continue on and achieve the goal. Mine is sustainable schedule. And the schedule does not have a space for topplers currently. Not at this time. I do have 2 diversions this week a webinar on udder health and milk quality Tuesday and a webinar on risk management for the milk check on Wednesday so I'm set. And this 90 days is probably about my last 90 days to get my butt straightened around before I see everyone move out of the house so I better stay focused to my list for the present time

[Saar The Book owl]

We've got some of the snowstorm from the Netherlands. Now it's -3.5°C, tonight it will drop around -10°C and that for the whole week, not above 0°C, with strong winds, ice and snow. It's snowing since yesterday morning. I'm a bit worried about my 2 chickens. Yesterday their water was frozen, so I put it in their little chicken coop with a load of straw and closed the door, so they could stay inside. This morning around 6 a.m. their water was frozen. I put some new in their house and close the door, so they can't go outside. I hope they can get through this freezing week.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Hope everyone is surviving the cold!

Or the heat, Shirley. We've had a really mild, wet summer which has been lovely compared to last year's hell. No Skywhale or her new boyfriend for us. Getting up before 9am on a weekday is hard enough to go to work, let alone before sparrows to see the Hindenboob on a weekend!!

She's been around for quite a few years now (I think I linked her in here when she first appeared) but her partner, the SkyPapa, with their young made their debut at the weekend. People have a weird affection for the Skywhale here, the launch event sold out ridiculously quickly. Although I have no idea why you would pay seeing that they are enormous and on the side of the Lake in the middle of town. No doubt I will see her boobily floating over the city once again when it becomes balloon weather in March. Very distracting when you're driving to work and she floats across your vision...

Sorry to hear, Travis. I know that you very rarely had time for Topplers anyway, let alone with this extra layer of complexity at the moment for you. Thinking of you guys while you work this out. I don't ever envy you guys with your own businesses let alone a farm and trying to fit in every day life as well. Look after you, and check in and let us know how you are going :)

And how much snow you guys have gotten this year in the snowiest place in the US!

[Jenn]

Oh Travis, I’m so sorry for what you are dealing with! But, it looks like you have your priorities, and a plan in place, and I wish you all the very best.

[Saar The Book owl]

Sorry, Travis, to hear this. I hope you can work things out and I'm giving you a big hug and all the best.

[Kristie, Moderator]

You definitely sound like your time is maxed out, Travis! Seems you have the opposite problem of most people over the past year, where your wife wants to see more of you instead of less. I suppose that is a good problem to have in some ways. I hope your 90 day challenge works out well for you and you are able to find more time for family.

[Kristie, Moderator]

We are getting a new puppy tonight and I am a bit concerned about our weather. It is supposed to be cold, rainy, snowy all week. The puppy is only 9 weeks old. She's never been outside, so has not been house trained yet. Everything I've read says do not paper train or it makes house training more difficult and can lead to issues in the future. So, we need to start house training on day one. I'm not thrilled that her first exposure to outdoors will be in miserable weather. I'm not thrilled that I'll have to be out in it multiple times a day with her either...

[Jayme, Moderator]

Kristie wrote: "We are getting a new puppy tonight and I am a bit concerned about our weather. It is supposed to be cold, rainy, snowy all week. The puppy is only 9 weeks old. She's never been outside, so has not ..."

I can't believe how much snow Virginia is getting this year. We're even getting it here in Virginia Beach and it's been 3 years since our last snow fall. My brother moved to Raleigh from Minnesota in December and I keep getting texts from him stating "I thought you told me it doesn't snow in the south?" lol

A new puppy - that is awesome - best thing we did during 2020 was get the two kittens. I don't know anything about training puppies, but do you have an area that is covered that she can use and do you have a name yet?

[Peggy]

Oooooh puppy!!! Definitely post a pic for us!

[Esther]

Kristie wrote: "We are getting a new puppy tonight and I am a bit concerned about our weather. It is supposed to be cold, rainy, snowy all week. The puppy is only 9 weeks old. She's never been outside, so has not ..."

if you have something like a kid sandbox that you can fill with earth and place it outside on your patio/by your door, it may to the trick.

[Abby]

I'm not the biggest fan of dogs but puppies are the best! I don't have a pet exactly but a barn cat adopted my family a while back. He is a orange tabby and we might be spoiling him a little as he is starting to get to fat to get through the chicken fence. His name is Chester but we might as well call him Chicken. He always comes running when he sees us giving treats to the birds to see if he can steal some of them. 😂

Saar, on the chickens, if you're worried about them getting frostbite then you could get a heat lamp and that should also stop the water from freezing. The weather still bitter and disagreeable here and our heated waterer broke this morning so I'm going to try to remember to check on their water a couple times today.

[Peggy]

So, with the weather.. we have this huge event in the Netherlands called Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour) which is an iceskating marathon of almost 200km on natural ice. Because of the natural ice it's pretty rare, especially in recent times, because it never gets cold enough and there have to be very specific other conditions as well for the ice to be thick enough everywhere to be skated on safely.

The last one was in 1997, before that there were 2 in the 80s, before that one in the 60s. With the weather we have now, and the forecasts of it staying like this for at least another week, makes it a real possibility.

Except there is corona. How ironic is that?

[Dawn]

Jenn wrote: "I do wonder that sometimes Dawn, especially in the middle of winter lol But my answer has always been that he came for work, and I came for love"

Well, that seems like the best reason to move. :)

[Dawn]

Hope it all works out well for you Travis!

[Kristie, Moderator]

Peggy wrote: "Oooooh puppy!!! Definitely post a pic for us!"

I definitely will.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Esther wrote: "if you have something like a kid sandbox that you can fill with earth and place it outside on your patio/by your door, it may to the trick. "

That's a brilliant idea. We'll have to see if we can figure out a way to do something like that quickly.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Abby wrote: "I'm not the biggest fan of dogs but puppies are the best! I don't have a pet exactly but a barn cat adopted my family a while back. He is a orange tabby and we might be spoiling him a little as he ..."

We already have 2 smallish dogs and a cat, plus a beta fish. This puppy will be a bigger dog when it is grown. Our house is definitely pretty full.

[Shirley]

Travis wrote: "While a toppler is fun, diversion is the last thing I need. The issue at hand is I work too much and don't make family time. This guy who works with farmers for various issues has you do a 90 day c..."All the best Travis - not much else to say, but hang in there.

[Shirley]

Rusalka wrote: "Hope everyone is surviving the cold!

Or the heat, Shirley. We've had a really mild, wet summer which has been lovely compared to last year's hell. No Skywhale or her new boyfriend for us. Getting..." Oh I didn't know it'd been around before - just like a Queenslander - a bit behind the times *laughing at myself*. Hindenboob - that's hilarious.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Saar The Book owl wrote: "I'm a bit worried about my 2 chickens. Yesterday their water was frozen, so I put it in their little chicken coop with a load of straw and closed the door, so they could stay inside. This morning around 6 a.m. their water was frozen. I put some new in their house and close the door, so they can't go outside. I hope they can get through this freezing week."

Missed this Saar. Hope your little girls are okay. What I've read (as I have never understood how animals can withstand such temps) is that chickens are okay as long as they don't have drafts, and don't get wet. But those temps would still bother me.

Can you bring the girls inside for a few days into the bathroom or the laundry? Last year with the smoke here that made the air unbreathable for 2 months, I saw chickens inside in showers or in tents or playpens, lined and with hay/sawdust/etc. Could that be an option for your piece of mind?

Or you can go full on Rusalka and Lexx where the chickens think they own the place and wander the house freely. Found one girl randomly in the bathroom earlier today scratching a towel that had fallen to the ground, and another appeared out of the bedroom suddenly and seemed to have had snuck off for snooze on our bed for an hour or so...

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Shirley wrote: "Oh I didn't know it'd been around before - just like a Queenslander - a bit behind the times *laughing at myself*. Hindenboob - that's hilarious."

When it was launched in 2013 for Canberra's 100th birthday, the Liberals in the ACT were so incredibly upset about it, it was the subject of many debates in the Legislative Assembly. And that nickname was so well used that it was referred to as that in Question Time in the ACT. An actual quote from Hansard which will now be in Australian political history forever:

"MRS JONES (Lib): My question is to the Chief Minister. Chief Minister, in regard to the Skywhale balloon, referred to in some parts as hindenboob, does the agreement with the operator and artist allow them to receive payments..."

Can you imagine being a political science student in 2113 and reading Hansard and that being there? They would think we were all mad. But it's not far off, the couple of pages of the debate about the Skywhale in Hansard is actually hilarious http://www.hansard.act.gov.au/hansard.... My other favourite is:

"MR HANSON (Lib): Is it a she or is it an it? Does it live?

MS GALLAGHER (Lab): Mr Hanson, you have a look at the Skywhale. I presume it is a she."

I think future students would be quite right in their assumptions lol. Just insane.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

I am also shocked and stunned that Canberran local politics is not on any one else's radar, particularly as Canberrans don't pay attention to it lol

[Kristie, Moderator]

We got the puppy yesterday. I think I slept about 1/2 hour last night. I'm drained! But, she is so cute and sweet. This puppy phase though... 😴