Polar Vortex | Build Me a Dream

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Archive for the ‘Polar Vortex’ Category

Frozen in Ice

As much of the country continues to protect themselves from the recent polar vortex of November’s Arctic Cold…

http://www.weather.com/news/weather-winter/arctic-cold-outbreak-november-locked-20141110

….we are thawing out! Temps in the warmest areas in our neck-of-the-woods, should be around 40 degrees today, dropping into the low 20’s this evening. With no real rain in the forecast for the next few days, the icy conditions will be greatly improved. Now is the time to look for those areas of black ice that hide in the shadows on roadways.

The beauty in this icy storm has been incredible!! Please enjoy this little video of our forested ice castle…it was purely gorgeous!!

For those of you in the areas of the continuing, strong, deep freeze…we’re praying for your safety!!

Thanks for visiting our frosty forest today!!

Your friend from Oregon,
Tami

Category:

Cold weather, Freezing Rain, Homesteading, Oregon, Polar Vortex

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Storms a brewin’

As much of the country falls under the influence of the most recent polar vortex, Oregon sits on the western edge…still within its boundaries, but on the edge.

It wasn’t until about 1:00 p.m. this afternoon that outdoor water dishes began to thaw. I didn’t even think about freezing water dishes last night…but it makes sense seeing that temps were down to 27 degrees at 5:00 this morning. More than a little distressed, the chickens looked for their morning drink…and I had somewhere to be. Thankfully, there was one little indoor water dish that had not frozen inside their house. The rest of the frozen bowls would have to wait until I got home.

Alerts of a harsh, winter storm have been flooding the news reports the past couple of days. As I looked into the sky, the approaching storm was becoming apparent.

Within an hour, the clouds moving through had a bluer, darker gray hue…the kind of cloud that carries ice, or snow. They are distinctive. A myriad of things can come from those clouds from ice, to icy rain, to snow….no one is really sure what to expect from the impending dropping of this polar vortex. Tomorrow morning’s commute should be exciting!!

Right now, it’s 8:15 p.m. on the west coast of Oregon…it is 33.4 degrees (according to our little thermometer) not a real common event in mid-November. So to keep warm…crock pot vegetarian chili,

and Spinach and Cheddar Bread (homemade) http://myfavouritepastime.com/2014/11/04/spinach-and-cheddar-bread/

…and a nice warm fire!!

Everyone seems to be enjoying it!

Thank you for buttoning up your jackets, putting on your mittens, and braving the cold to visit the farm today!! Prayers and hopes that you all stay safe out there, please be careful on the ice!!

Your friend from Oregon,
Tami

Category:

Autumn, Cold weather, Freezing Rain, Great Dane, Polar Vortex

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It’s Springing Like Crazy!!

Contrary to popular belief…I haven’t yet lost my marbles….well maybe not all of them. :o) I know it’s still winter, and much of the country is still experiencing the freeze from the polar vortex…

Amazing images from NASA!!

….but I’ve learned that once these guys come out from the mud….

…Spring is springing, spranging, sprunging…it’s knocking, loudly, at the door!!! I recorded this frog song last year in April, so right now they are not singing as loudly, or voraciously, but the brave have emerged and are singing in the early dusk evenings. It’s very exciting, and hopefully, encouraging to my friends out in the Mid-West and on the East Coast…especially to the amazing dogs (Great Danes) and people of the Service Dog Project in MA ( servicedogproject.org ) whom, btw, you can watch live on Explore.org!

OKAY…ENOUGH OF THIS FROSTY, WHITE, COLD STUFF ALREADY!!

Photo by Mark Arimault

With this being our third “emergent of spring-time” season, we think we have discovered a pattern with the onset of the frog songs. They are like our groundhog…our indicator to start planting seeds in the greenhouse (okay, we don’t have a greenhouse yet…but when we do…) and then into the ground in six weeks. We started hearing the frogs about a week ago, so we are going to mark the date of Feb. 23rd, count forward 6 weeks to April 6th, and ready ourselves for planting into the ground during that week. Since the growing season in western Oregon is at least a month shorter than in the San Francisco Bay Area, timing is crucial. My garden of 2012 suffered a lot of damage because I planted just a week or two, too soon. Frost killed much of my garden, and I had to replant which, of course, meant double the costs. My garden wasn’t huge so it wasn’t a big loss. I wrote off the cost of that garden to a very well spent Pacific NW Gardening education…of which, I’m still trying to earn my degree!

Looking forward to these little beauties again!

In the meantime, I’m enjoying our mildly cold, rainy days, watching and listening to the amazingly poetic sounds of numerous types of birds in the tree canopies, and watching the green of the pastureland become more vibrant as everyday passes. This is beautiful country, God’s country, and I am so thankful to be living within it!! When I take the time to sit, look, watch, smell, and listen, I can feel Him, hear Him, see Him…my God, my Savior is here He created all of this, and it is good…it is very good!! Just listen to Benedict…he’ll tell ya!!