Icebergs in Kansas
Like many parts of America, bitter cold weather is gripping Kansas. Tonight will be -13 degrees.
Eek.
For a week now I have been preoccupied with assuring that my yard kitties will be safe. They have a heated winter cat house, and a heated water bowl outside. And, numerous stray cats have managed to find the winter cat house.
I will give them a reduced rent for now.
There is little I can do for the front porch stray cats. I have only seen one these past five days or so, but somebody is eating the cat food. I assume the stray cats have somewhere safe to sleep, and are only darting out to eat and drink, and then darting back to safety. I hope.
I have a heated water bowl on the front porch for them.
I put out some dry food every hour (because it freezes soon in this weather). I tried to buy a heated bowl for their food but everybody is sold out.
Other than that, there’s nothing I can do. The stray cats sleep somewhere and I am just hoping they are safe.
Then there are the many neighborhood squirrels, skunks, opossums, and raccoons. I worry about them all in this kind of weather. I live in a ranching community and worry, too, about the goats, chickens, cattle, and so on.
It’s scary scary scary right now, and my anxiety levels are high. But really only for tonight. It will be almost 60 degrees in a week, and I should know by Friday if the stray cats are OK.
Luckily, unlike Texas, I still have power. For now.
And then there is the big house to worry about, too.
The boilers have been having some issues. Snow has been getting sucked into the fresh air intake pipes and clogging them. The boilers then shut down. This has not happened before and I do not understand why this year.
To remedy this, I created a screened “box” well in front of the intake pipes, and this (I pray) should keep snow from clogging the pipes.
A few days ago I found a small snow drift on the east window sill of the window in the second-floor servant’s hall. On the inside sill.
This is bad.
While the sashes have been restored, the window frame and outer trim have not. So snow and wind was freely bypassing the sashes. Thanks to four different sizes of foam rope, this issue is now resolved.
In the former servants room in the SE corner, second floor, there are two…
…huge Windows. The right window frame was rebuilt two years ago, so it is nice and tight. Nonetheless, I stuffed in some insulation around its frame. The sashes were not sealed though, so more foam rope came to the rescue. The whole thing is now tight! See the left window?
There was a small snow drift under it a few days ago. How had the snow gotten in, as the sashes were sealed? I laid down on the floor and looked inside the open wall. I could see daylight. A lot of daylight. Then I took off the trim around the window. I gasped. A ton of daylight. Freezing air freely came into the room.
HOW had I missed this since buying the house in 2014?
The problem is that the exterior window trim is not tight to the sheathing. Nor to the window frame. And there is no way I am gonna get on a snow-covered roof to fix that. So, more foam rope and insulation. When I was done, I could not feel any air coming in.
I felt victorious.
These two east-facing windows were allowing snow in because the second-floor east exterior has not been restored yet.
Then I began to reinstall the window trim…
…on the big east window. The filler glop predates my ownership. Note the corner block. (I have the broken off bit of trim to the upper piece.)
The four corner blocks on the servant’s room trim were plain and obviously new. Luckily, Megan sent me a small box of the above blocks a few years ago. The blocks are similar to the blocks throughout the house and I was quite excited to find the perfect place for them at long last. Thanks, Megan!
So, I am crossing my fingers and toes that my houses will be OK, all the beasts, and y’all out there.
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Don’t worry about the squirrels, skunks, opossums, and raccoons, Ross. They know what to do. You’ve done what you can for the outside cats, and that’s all anyone can ask.
Stay safe up there; brother in Merriam just lost power at -20 degrees, but he has a fireplace and gas cookstove, lots of water bottles, and filled up the bathtub for flushing water before the power went out.
Down here in the Texas Hill Country, we had no power all day yesterday and well into last night. With our house heavily insulated to keep out the Texas heat, it did a great job at keeping the fireplace heat inside. We never went below 57, and that’s just excellent sleeping temps. Power’s on now, more or less, and while it was 7 last night with a -3 wind chill, we’ll get up to 28 today and it’s sunny and a very light breeze. Except for the water pumping station not being able to send us water, we’re doing fine. Got drinking water in pitchers around the kitchen and can melt snow or draw from the hot tub for flushing water. Got the camp stove for cooking; if absolutely necessary, we can bundle up, then fire up the big green egg grill. Ski socks help, too…
We’ll be above freezing for highs by Friday, and it will all be gone by Sunday. We’re fine, and we and our neighbors are helping those within reach — roads are still heavily iced up and with hills, makes automotive travel next to impossible. My 96-year-old Mom is here and has excellent advice for surviving cold weather without power (she didn’t live in a house with electricity or indoor plumbing until a few years after marrying Dad).
Y’all be safe up there in the harsher winter climate. We’ll get by — them nice Floridians are sending power crews our way. Hope they’re dressed for it.
It’s cold! And I’m not happy the big house was having problems, but I’m glad you found and fixed them.
It was -26 when Howard left for work today (his job is deemed essential), but the wind chill was -36. Whenever it’s this cold or icy, he wakes me up before he leaves for work and I watch to make sure he makes it to the garage OK, and that his car starts and makes it up the driveway.
We’re doing what we can to conserve power. Our local electric utility has instituted rolling blackouts, and while our neighborhood hasn’t been affected yet, I’m waiting to be called into service. Meanwhile, I made coffee while I could and dropped it into the thermos to keep warm.
Stay warm, stay safe, and I’m sending warm wishes to the porch kitties. Let me know if you want me to pick up a heated water bowl for them. I can drop it by when I’m in Emporia next. It won’t help now, but it could help when the next cold snap hits.
We have the cold here in Illinois (wind chill today is around -20), but we also received around 12″ of snow yesterday; no one knows for sure how much, since the gusty winds have blown it into drifts anywhere from 2′ to 4′ deep. We are forecast to get more snow tomorrow and Thursday, anywhere from 5″ to 12″. We too have a gas boiler, and the old workhorse has been going non-stop for several days trying to keep the house warm; the upstairs is comfortable at 70° but the downstairs rooms (especially the ones on the northwest side) are a little chilly. Our house, like yours, sits on a corner facing west, so not a lot to break the wind. My wife is ready to sell out and move to Florida, but not me… You are fortunate to have a full basement; ours is only under the kitchen and pantry area, the rest of the house is an unheated crawlspace and it definitely makes the floors cold, even though we have sealed everything and insulated the underside of the first floor. I hope that your furry friends all come through this ok…we don’t have any cats, but we took in one around midnight last night that was on our side porch, crying in the cold. I’ve seen her around the neighborhood at all hours, and have no idea who she belongs to; she is now safe and warm in our mudroom, quite happy (with a full belly) on her blanket bed next to a radiator. Her collar has no tag, so we will keep her inside until this weekend when the weather warms up and then let her go. Hopefully her owner will miss her enough this week that they will not leave her outside in the cold again…
Ah, yes, winter. Don’t work too hard at excluding fresh air. Our grand & great-grandparents lived in houses that had a zero R-value, and they lived in good health to their mid 80’s and beyond. 13 years ago, I lived in a new, huge mobile home in a park. It was impressively insulated-my highest gas bill was $75 for the month of February in SE Wisconsin. It was also a place where my health deteriorated very quickly. Strange aches & pains, and peculiar maladies came & went. I lost a ton of cats there as well, at least 6. I attribute this to the super-insulated home, and the copious amounts of spray-foam insulation. The contents of this insulation are not good for any living thing, it turns out. Added to the complete exclusion of fresh air, I’m sure that this home was responsible for my poor health. As for the cats, all were indoor only, and it good health when we moved in. One had a seizure and died, another died of a cancerous tumor in his mouth. 2 more passed due to inexplicable reasons, only 1 died of an explainable disorder-I had adopted him, knowing he was in end-stage renal failure, and he was 17 & lived another 3 years in that condition. None, except Charlie, the renal failure cat, were of any great age. Lack of fresh air, and super insulation are, therefore, no-no’s in my book. The last one that I had from that time was Cootie. He died of cancer in his mouth, as well, and I kinda-sorta dated him at about 12 when he died. You rarely know the age of a shelter pet, they have a range they can give you, but that’s as close as it gets. So, let the wind blow in. Put another blanket on the bed, and get a good selection of lap throws, and Sunbeam heated blankets. Turn the t-stat down to 65, and save some cash, you & your pets will sleep better & be healthier.
Hello Ross!
I am so thankful for all the responses to alert others as to how they are faring.
I pray that all are protected, safe and warm.
Most of all, thanks kindly for your concerns for wildlife and nature.
Hi – I was just thinking about you today when I saw -22 degrees on news. We’re cold here in Iowa, but not that cold. I always worry about my bro and sis-in-law and nephew – farmers. I thought about how years ago, I was feeding strays in my garage (had cat door) (along with the possums and a raccoon!) and had set up boxes with blankets for them. It got so cold, I put boxes in my square back entryway, put brick to keep door to garage open for them, and hung a heavy blanket on door to keep out cold. Remember opening door to put out food and a new cat was huddled with them! They were more friendly towards each other after that winter! Poor things. Thoughts and prayers to all affected by this weather (and virus). Stay warm and safe as possible. 🙂
Hi Ross, it’s not so cold today in NY, and we are used to cold here, but I have also been worried about the animals. We feed a lot of ducks and geese at two nearby lakes. They should fly south but they don’t, and there has been so much snow they can’t get to the grass to eat, and we have been too cold to do, our usual walks most days. So I do worry about them.
Like you I have also been thinking about the bunnies and groundhogs. We have a shed in our side yard, and over the years animals have dug a nice hole for themselves under it. We’ve had a number of different residents, including a family of skunks last Spring. I was a little wary of them, but I read that if you just leave them alone, they will leave when the babies are old enough, and they did.
I also have 3 bird feeders and a heated birdbath. There are many people who try to help the animals.
I’m very glad the kitties have the warmth you’ve provided. I’m sure you have put a box and blankets out for the porch kitties.
Your house is a strong old house, like mine. We had no power for 9 days during Sandy. Fireplace, oil lamps, gas stove. We will all make it through.
Hugs and wishes for warmth, for all creatures great and small.
Hi Thoughts and prayers with you. You have a big heart. Plz be careful of gas stove – I forget how many people in Texas have died trying to use their grills and cars for heat and get carbon monoxide poisoning. Be safe.
We used to have the same problem with the fresh air intake pipes. Especially when the snow was light and fluffy and easily sucked. Not fun to get up in the morning and realize your furnace has gone on strike because it can’t breath. We had to put a goose-neck extension on the intake to get it further up than the snow was likely to drift.
I found a link to another historical house restoration project you might enjoy checking out. The owner seems to have the same idea of ‘restoration’ vs ‘renovation’ as you do, and he could probably use some of the information you’ve gathered. Right off, I can see he will need the hardware for repairing his pocket doors.
The 2nd Empire Strikes Back
I found this YouTube channel just as he started it. Fascinating the way he’s trying so hard to bring back this house, pretty much alone.
Reminds me of a guy in Kansas…
I’ve been watching his vlog, Jenine. Thank you!
I had started watching him a month or two ago when he first started but haven’t had much time lately. I need to catch up…
Hello Ross. I’ve been enjoying this immensely even though I suspect I’m pretty far behind. I follow some of these topics on Instagram as well, and wondered if you want another resource for you stash of resources. The link is http://www.victoriandepot.com. Maybe there’s a little something to strike your fancy.