It began to get cold while we were down in the valley, shopping. It's usually ten degrees warmer down there, but it was getting shockingly cold.
One of my favorite things while shopping is to leave Darling to check out like an adult, while I take the dog and run on to the next destination.
But the wind chill was terrific. I had winter gloves, scarf, hat, etc, but my cheeks felt like somebody was scouring them with sandpaper. I didn't even make it out of the parking lot. I turned around without a trace of shame and dived back into the truck. My face hurt so badly that I put hand cream on my cheeks, which helped a bit.
"I'm not one of those wussies who wants to be dropped off at the door" ummmm, yes, I actually am. When I was done shopping, I called to be picked up, and waited inside the building.
When we came home it was minus 4 deg F; by the time the groceries were unloaded it was -6, before bedtime it was -10.
Jeff didn't go to bed.
I put two down comforters on the bed and two long fleece robes on myself before I got in. No worries about waking up sweating. I was just warm enough, and slept well.
I woke up at 4:30am, and my poor husband was on the couch wearing his big coat and wrapped in blankets, keeping the woodstove blazing, and it was 42 deg in the living room.
He went to bed and I fed the flames. If that stove wasn't going hard, it would get very cold in here.
Jeff had some old wire crates that he kept just because they were cool. They're now very handy for carrying firewood inside. We usually burn through two crates' worth in 24 hours. That's with letting the stove go out when we go to bed.
The last few days we've been burning around the clock, and filling those boxes around the clock.
Okay, I'm impressed. It's not Alaska - SING WITH ME --> "When it's springtime in Alaska, it's fortyyy beloooowwww"
But this is the coldest I've ever felt. Nature is not joking around. Earth doesn't feel hospitable. We wouldn't last very long out there. Can't take gloves off, def can't touch anything metal with your bare skin or it will keep you.
Last winter when we camped out here, I woke up one morning to 20 deg inside the trailer. I remember a sensation of fear. We're afraid of things that might kill us, and the air felt like it was trying to kill us.
Jeff put up skirting which helps a bunch, and he's been adding insulation in every crack in this RV. The window blinds are a thick textile that trap air, so they're kept pulled down.
He tried to run the generator, but it wouldn't run. Too cold. This model of generator, if it had been sold in Canada, would have had a cold weather kit installed, but it wasn't so it has bluetooth remote control instead, so we can turn it off without going outside. Thanks, that's so helpful! The only problem is that we can't turn it on because it doesn't work in the cold.
The trailer batteries have gone dead, and we have candles. It is really pioneer days now, except for watching movies on our phones haha.
Today I went out twice, as briefly as possible, with as much warm clothing as I could pile on. Firewood is my job, and I had to throw the stick a bit for the poor doggie so she doesn't go nuts. But she's not as eager to be outside as she usually is, and she's glad to come back in. Her black fur coat isn't enough today.
That's what I wore to bed, plus a scarf. I dashed out to pose with the thermometer because yay, and then straight back in again. "Getting dressed" implies a moment of being dangerously UNdressed, and that's a NOPE. I'm wearing the same long robes daytime and nighttime, just like they did in the middle ages.
Jeff says it was -22 in the middle of the night.
Do I look happy? Well, I'll tell you what's missing. There's no self-doubt, there's no intrusive thoughts, there's no regrets, no bad memories, no toxic chatterbox in my head right now. I just don't want to freeze. I'm tryna stay warm. It makes things pretty basic and it's a relief!
Anyway who wouldn't be as happy as a piglet when there's light white and dark white, light brown and dark brown, and dark green, and sunshine and blue sky? The snow makes it all very, very quiet.
I gotta tell you about a great bit of clothing / equipment I made! It was an old sleeping bag of a straight square shape. I trimmed off the ends to make into sleeves. It's much too fat to fit under the sewing machine. I hand stitched some of the seams with heavy thread, and others are still safety-pinned, but it works fine :-)
.jpg)
It is a game changer and attitude changer. It's like a suit of armor against the cold. Just step into it, wrap the front around and there's instant protection from that freezing environment. I can move around enough to do basic work, and it's large enough to get dressed inside it!
