Low Five Degrees Below Zero Fahrenheit

Last night the low was -5º F.  Yikes.  I blame the Canadians.  And there are videos on Youtube that back me up on that.   I seem to be OK and so is Mrs. Billingsley.  Poor little Spot spent the night outside though.   So did Orange Man.  Orange Man showed up yesterday and came inside to have his goodie.   He hasn't been here in at least two weeks because Spot chased him away.  He was something of a wreck, with his fur all uncombed and untidy and a little bit dirty.  However, I was surprised to see that he's as fat as ever.  How could that be?   I suppose he's learned to catch mice.   I didn't see any dogs or cats this morning, but I put out dog food and cat food topped off with a can of Vienna sausage to keep up their strength.  A little while later something ate the Vienna sausages.   

Oh, big news.  What about the plumbing?  There was a scare this morning.  The hot water was running, but not the cold water.  Oh no!  But it finally started running after a couple of minutes of pleading with it.  The drain to the sink was not working, but eventually hot water changed its mind.  The refrigerator has a copper pipe that goes to the ice maker.  I had turned off the ice maker, but the pipe connection broke and leaked all over the kitchen floor.  It looked as if I would have to get a plumber, which seemed unlikely to happen for a while.  However, I searched under the sink and found a valve that turned it of.  So there have been no plumbing disasters so far at all.   

Now the only problem is trying to get to the Walmart for groceries.   The roads are a wreck.  I could probably do it if I really was a motivated type of person.  Sadly I am not.   Someone asked me if the snow ploughs come out this far.   There are no snow ploughs.  It doesn't snow very often and when it does the solution is to wait for a better day.  That is part of the problem with very cold weather here.  A lot of houses aren't insulated, like mine for example.   If the electric goes out some people can wind up having to just sleep in a coat and stay in bed all day under the covers, sometimes for as much as two weeks.  But usually for around four days.  We have gas heaters in the living room, and the only other plan is space heaters.  That usually works OK.   

It looks like it will be in the 30s and 40s next week.