The amaryllis I got for Christmas is sending up two stalks with buds. There may be another in the middle too.
In other news the Arctic cold front hit us hard here yesterday and into today. We stayed in all day Friday as wind chill factors were low. The high for the day was in the early hours of the morning and the temperature just kept dropping. By dinner it was minus something and by 9:30 it was -17º. I think it may have gotten to -21º overnight.
What was tough was losing power! We had an inkling that it may happen early in the evening so I put my flashlight in my robe pocket and kept iPhone close by as we watched Midsomer Murders. Right at the end of the episode as we found out who did it the power went off.
I called our utility company right away to report it. We grabbed some extra quilts to add to the bed and headed upstairs not knowing what the night would bring.
From upstairs I heard footsteps on our gravel driveway and then a knocking at the door. Our son in law had bundled up to come check on us. They were out of power too but had a heat source: their woodstove. Our woodstove is still a work in progress if you recall. We told him we were okay for the night but knew we could come there in the morning if still no power aka no heat.
It was hard to fall asleep, not because I was cold but because of the wind, the extra creaks from the cold, and underlying worries. Eventually we both did.
At 3 am or so I was awaken by I don't know what and realized the clock was lit. Hurrah the power was on. Dan went down to the basement to turn on the water heater again and looked at the furnace thermostat. It read 48º! Needless to say the furnace ran for the rest of the night to bring the house back up to 68º
It was -17º when we got up and as I write now it's 0º. The sun is streaming in through the south facing windows and the house is comfortable again.
That woodstove is really going to be a godsend if this happens again as we know it will.
How did you fare in the winter chill?
