It's a Blustery Day!

Gopher: If I was you, I'd think about 
skedaddlin' out of here. 

Winnie the Pooh: Why? 

Gopher: 'Cause it's "Winds-day." 
I used to love to read the book and turn 
the pages every time the story DINGED
 turn page... The sounds effects 
were captivating and my anxiety built as
 I worried about Pooh and Piglet on
 their latest adventure!

Well, it's Thursday but it feels like Winds-day! After weeks of extreme sub-zero temperatures, frozen pipes, no hot water, the block heater in the truck going kaput and being unable to stay warm even huddled next to the fire with a blanket, we have a reprieve! Feels a little bit like an Albertan Chinook today! Last Thursday I was completely at a loss, unable to stay warm, the truck on a winter vacation and I couldn't even warm the house up enough to make bread - well I could if I wanted little lumps of dough... If that is not bad enough, my 100+ hens have also gone on strike. Those girls have no intention of letting out any nuggets. The egg production has almost completely stopped. We are getting (when lucky) about 1 dozen eggs a day! Sure hope those girls get back to work with the warmer weather or we might be switching from omelets to chicken stew for dinner!

Today is completely different. The past few days the weather has improved, warmed up and at the moment it is actually +12C outside. Considering last Thursday, baking day, it was -37C with the wind chill... brrr! The weather has caused the school district to make a few closures - last week wind chill was -41C and they closed some schools. Yesterday, closed due to freezing rain, even though we were hovering around 0 degrees. Our pipes froze again last week so it was a welcome surprise to wake yesterday to hear the toilet bowl tank filling with water as the thaw began.

Today, I have to wonder how baking will go since the rain and winds have been thrashing against the house all night and the power keeps flickering. I woke up about 3:30AM and finally got up at 4:30AM to read for an hour. Then tossed and turned from 5:30AM until 6:15 when Jess woke up and wondered if there was school. Both girls woke early, I am guessing it is our blustery day that disturbed them too. (Another grateful moment, not waking up to any flooding or leaky roofs! Sending out positive thoughts to those who are going to have to deal with running water issues!)

Poor Jess, she was up and ready for school, dressed, lunch made, all by 6:50 AM (which is when she is usually pulling her sorry butt out of bed) AND she still missed the bus! Not our fault this time! I guess there was a replacement bus driver who showed up about 7 minutes early... She is normally picked up by good old MaryEllen between 7:13 and 7:17 AM. Today, we heard the bus drive AWAY at 7:09AM! I was furious! The only saving grace was Rachel has a car and was driving to school so Jess could catch a ride... Otherwise, I would have had her home today or had to drive an hour and spend $30 in fuel to get her to school! Grrr! So glad when our driver is feeling better!

Now I have to bake for market. We didn't make it last week, what with no truck and a kitchen cold enough to freeze a witches toe. Now I have to catch up, put on my Cinderella shoes and get to work. All I really want to do is crawl back into bed and take a nap! Did I mention that a good fairy (new fab friend) sent me a surprise? I woke up on Saturday morning to hear voices in the kitchen. It was so cold out I was staying in the warm blankets as long as possible. I decided to get up and see who was talking to Len. Well, am I ever glad I did! Our neighbour and friend Clayton had brought a gift from his beautiful sister Jane... A NEW QUEEN SIZE DOUBLE CONTROL ELECTRIC BLANKET! Woo Hoo! HAPPY DAY! 

Funny story about the blanket, then time for me to work so I can really earn that nap! The first night with the blanket was heaven sent, Len and I were SO happy to crawl into a pre-warmed bed ... I can't explain how GOOD it felt! The next morning though we were less happy and I didn't know how to tell Jane there was something wrong with the blanket. It would be my luck and very typical to buy something with any type of power associated to it and expect to have to return it at least twice to get something that works properly. 

OK here is what happened... Night one, the night began with us both warm and happy. End of night one, Len boiling and turning his side OFF, me freezing and turning my side to HIGH. He had to get up and cool off. This was not working out very well so we knew we had to figure it out better for night two. Sunday night, we crawl into bed and once again adjust the controls, maybe the cords didn't work right, maybe they were really working on the opposite controls... We both set ours to about half way and slept. It was better but I was still too cold. Night three, A HA moment! It turned out that when we placed the cords under the bed and plugged it all in we had reversed the controls for each side of the bed. No wonder when I put mine on HIGH I felt nothing and poor little Len baked and when he turned his to OFF I froze! DUH! YAY! Dear Jane: The blanket is not faulty - but we are apparently challenged when it comes to making a bed! 

Is it time for my nap yet?

I guess I better bake before the power blows... literally!

 Have a great day!