Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

@Mini Horses never thought about putting a "mini greenhouse" around it. Will have to go out and measure to see what I can come up with. Thank you for the suggestion. Tried heating it from the inside, but it doesn't get it thawed. Stupid that they didn't angle the pipe down so the water just runs downhill. It is against the brick and stone on the side of the house. I tried putting the straw bales up around it the first year, but then it never thawed out when that side of the house got late afternoon sun & warmed up. I have to put the straw around the old stone foundation for the bathroom pipes or the cold and wind will freeze the hot and cold water lines. So it sits above the straw bales and on sunny days does warm up decently.

 

[farmerjan]

WELL.... how does low 20's from the weather forecaster turn into 10 DEGREES? in actuality??? I really am thinking I need to become a weather GUESSER...... it is 11 a.m. and is only up to 29 in the sun....was supposed to be 40 by noon, with temps into the low 40's by afternoon. It's gonna be a stretch to get there although I have seen it rise pretty fast in the afternoons. But really 10 degrees last night?

 

[B&B Happy goats]

They also sell. Heat tape.....you wrap it around the pipe and plug it in ...used to use that when i lived in N.H. it wasn't expensive , easy to use and you can take it with you if you move.......good luck and stay warm

 

[farmerjan]

@B&B Happy goats ; I considered a heat tape, but; the problem with heat tapes, this house is a 1750's stone house with a brick addition that is where the kitchen is. There are MINIMAL outlets and I can't run the toaster and the convection table top oven at the same time in the kitchen. Plus, there is no way to go around to a plug except for several hundred feet of cord outside to another building... and I don't know if I would trust to have something like that plugged in. There are several non-working outlets in the house, that I am sure that wires were chewed through at one time....My son talked to the owner and wanted to buy the place and all the acreage on this side of the road. We would have done some redoing and made the house much more liveable...but he doesn't want to sell. His son will never do anything with it, and his daughter's husband is part of a big family farm operation and they don't have enough time to take care of all that so it will eventually go up for sale. The owner won't put anything into it if he doesn't absolutely have to and I am at the point that I'm done asking. Not worth it anymore. But I don't want to burn it down while I am still here....
And there is no way I am going under the kitchen part in that crawl space. The full "basement" is only under the original house and that crawl space is like 12-14 inches... NOPE

 

[B&B Happy goats]

@B&B Happy goats ; I considered a heat tape, but; the problem with heat tapes, this house is a 1750's stone house with a brick addition that is where the kitchen is. There are MINIMAL outlets and I can't run the toaster and the convection table top oven at the same time in the kitchen. Plus, there is no way to go around to a plug except for several hundred feet of cord outside to another building... and I don't know if I would trust to have something like that plugged in. There are several non-working outlets in the house, that I am sure that wires were chewed through at one time....My son talked to the owner and wanted to buy the place and all the acreage on this side of the road. We would have done some redoing and made the house much more liveable...but he doesn't want to sell. His son will never do anything with it, and his daughter's husband is part of a big family farm operation and they don't have enough time to take care of all that so it will eventually go up for sale. The owner won't put anything into it if he doesn't absolutely have to and I am at the point that I'm done asking. Not worth it anymore. But I don't want to burn it down while I am still here....
And there is no way I am going under the kitchen part in that crawl space. The full "basement" is only under the original house and that crawl space is like 12-14 inches... NOPE

Sorry, he really sounds like a lousy landlord....hope you are able to find a more up to date and comfortable place to live....one other idea, lol and we did do this and it works...if the frozen pipe is against the wall build a box that is larger than pipe area by at least 6 " all around.....and pack it with cow poop, straw , and /or pig poo, it will create its own heat, and keep the pipe from freezing....Have done it and it Does work

 

[farmerjan]

Well, guess what???? It's RAINING for a changeI mean gee whiz. The snow is finally gone, washed to the South Pacific I think!!!!!! Really, forgot to check the rain gauge which I am glad I didn't put in yet. Will look when I go out in a bit. Don't really think I want to know. It started yesterday, and rained real steady all afternoon, all night, and some more this morning. It is cloudy and grey and just DEPRESSING out there. At least I had gotten feed in the barn last Sat before the snow started. Will head up in the little 4wd ranger and go do the calves and the cats up there.

Going out to eat this evening with the widow of the friend that was killed in the freak jousting exhibition accident a couple of months ago. She is coming down to their house for the weekend. Thought it would be good to just have an evening out and her not sit around her house with him not there. Don't know what will happen there in the future.

I mentioned in someone's journal, or somewhere, that besides all the horrible accidents and losses of friends in the past couple of months, that we also had a young farmer friend that we used to trade stuff with and do things together. He had cancer and it got to where he opted to stop the treatments and they had called hospice. He passed away on Wednesday. 37 yrs old. This has been a very difficult fall. He is no longer suffering, but I know that it will be a very mixed blessing for the family. Sure makes you think more about your own immortality.

 

[Rammy]

 

[Latestarter]

Hope you and your friend's widow can enjoy your dinner together despite the loss to both of you. Sorry about all your rain/snow/moisture issues.

Sure makes you think more about your own immortality.

I don't have immortality... I believe that should be mortality.

 

[r3bauer]

We are going to have a brown Christmas here in Northeast Iowa. Temps in the high 30s low 40s this week

 

[farmerjan]

Hey everyone, guess what....... IT IS RAINING FOR A CHANGE !!!!!!!!!
Noontime on Friday Dec 21st. We had 1.3 inches last Fri-Sun and then got 3 sunny days but cool. Had the funeral for Matt on Monday, and it was nice weather, I think I posted a bit on that.
Then it started getting hazy cloudy yesterday. Clouds then light rain after noon time. Then, it started to rain harder and continued all night. It rained a little this morning, sun peaked out for about 15 minutes, then turned dark and poured down so hard and the drops were so big it sounded like hail on the windows and roof. Lasted about 15-20 minutes, now has stopped. But the radar shows we will be getting it off and on most of the day. The worst is staying to the west. WVA is getting alot more than we are and I see where it must be getting colder in spots as there is now "blue" in the radar so that means snow. We are not supposed to get that.....but who knows.
Talked to the farmer I tested yesterday afternoon. They have had some flooding and they closed the road near his house. It has a "low water" concrete bridge that has culverts that run under it. The water has to get up at least 3 ft to run over the concrete....
The water here is running down the fields in sheets. Guess it is better than 2 ft of snow.... although the snow would be better for the ground as it would melt a whole lot slower.

Going up the hill to the pasture in the 4wd ranger, then going to switch trucks, go to town and do some groc shopping and errands.
Supposed to clear out and be sunny for 4 plus days...Maybe it will dry out some before the next "weather event" ...looks like next Thurs....

Changed the name to Farmerjan's journal, so that I don't keep cluttering up everyone elses' with all my life's difficulties.