Stunningly Frigid Blasts

Ah, devoted readers, we trust that your weather conditions (OK, we know better about Lausanne) are not as brutal as ours. Five of the last seven days have not broken freezing here on the farm; in fact not even gotten close. The high yesterday was 20F and the high today, for perhaps an hour, was 17F. This with winds gusting to 32 mph as measured on our Davis Instruments weather station. The chill factor today has never climbed above 7F.

It snowed some last night put the high winds scoured it from the open ground. I feel great sympathy for the poor cattle who are out in this arctic blast. The deer and other wild animals can at least seek shelter from the quickly fatal winds in the forests, most cattle, however, are in open fields with virtually no cover. I would guess some will lose their ears to frostbite under these conditions.

Last summer bit the financial bullet and replaced all of the windows in the house. The very cheap original windows let air in all around their margins and where the windows met at the lock. They virtually hummed on days like today at the plastic seals vibrated like a kazoo. We were shocked at the cost of quality replacement windows but after two bad winters and high heating bills, it seemed pretty obvious that this could not wait forever. Are we glad now!

Wow, what a difference the new Andersen windows have made in the comfort of the house. Despite the brutal conditions outside, the Century Furnace Fireplace was last filled 24 hours ago and the house is still at 65F on the ground floor. Mrs. Fuzzy will soon re-light it and fill it for what may be a single digit night with chill factors of -10F or worse... and we will be comfortable for a decent interval using the oak Mr. Fuzzy cut from a fallen tree.

Here are two of the new windows. The double window (at top) is in Mrs. Fuzzy's studio and the triple window is in the old master bedroom, on its way to becoming a den eventually. Eric framed both windows and Mr Fuzzy did the finish. The triple window is framed in red oak, a gorgeous local sustainable wood. I hope to trim out the remaining den windows in local quarter sawn rayed white oak.

Stay warm until next time, boys and girls. Remember that you can click on the photograph to enlarge it.