Pretty Damn Nipply

Everyone is walking around looking like there's a pair of pop-up turkey timers under our shirts today! This was what the weather widget on my phone was reporting for my location a little while ago. -8 degrees F, and I don't know where in town the weather station is located (location name obliterated for PERSEC).

The wallpaper is my precious baby boy, Eli. Much larger now

 

 

I have a Blink Outdoor camera mounted on my garage. It also measures temperature and I have it calibrated with my Klein digital multimeter that has a temperature function. The camera is located on the north side of the house and always in the shade. This is what it read at 07:33... yep, minus 12.

I have a few hens that like to sleep outside on some perches made out of stout Poplar branches. Because of the extreme cold last night that was not happening. They were all put inside the coop, the heat lamp taken off the timer and plugged in to stay on steady, and the door/ramp that usually stays open was closed up tight. The water bubbler was already inside to prevent freezing. This morning, they all came out, gobbled up their corn and mealworm treat, and as I look out right now, there is not a single one out foraging in the yard or in the pen. My wife was home yesterday and she saw them come out one at a time, eat from the feeder and go right back in the coop. I know for myself the cold felt shockingly brutal while I was out there. I am putting off my normal Saturday chores and errands until tomorrow when temps will be in the more tolerable 40's.

We responded to a chimney fire early this morning, and luckily the wind that was absolutely roaring when we went to bed had subsided to occasional gusts. Good thing, because yours truly was on the roof ripping the makeshift chimney cap repairs off so I could look down and inspect the flue. The top of the brick chimney and cement cap was crumbling. It was covered in plastic sheets and held on with duct tape. There was a spark arrestor on the flue outlet that was glued and screwed into place that was ripped off none to gently. I had to call "Heads UP!!!" a few times as loose bricks fell off the chimney and slid off the roof. It was a two story Colonial with a shallow pitched roof that was nice and dry so it was easy to work on in the dark. The fire was all down below at the fireplace stove insert which the guys had already emptied out. I could see the flue was clear all the way down to the elbow. I went home and crawled back into my nice warm bed.