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We have a well.  We made sure to have a light in our pumphouse.  We cannot use an LED we must have a good old-fashioned sort of lightbulb that puts off some heat.  We kept that plugged in 24/7.  Yes it costs a little but is far cheaper than frozen pumps and tanks.

Indoors we have a propane heater that we use when it is very cold because a heat pump does not benefit anyone below 29F.  It will only run continually.  We also have a propane stove that we cook on.

To protect pipes under the house we left water dripping at night only when it was below 25F.    To add much needed humidity to the dry air indoors(and therefore a warmer feel) to the air, we kept a kettle of water on the stove on simmer, leaving the lid off.  

Like you we also dressed warmly, wearing light layers and socks.

Another thing I find helpful in extreme cold is to make sure we eat a good combination of carbs and protein because we burn more calories.  Hearty slow cooked meals help to warm the body as well.

And just as in summer when it's hot, we closed the blinds and curtains which shut out drafts from the windows.

I’m right there with you!  Our county got mostly sleet and ice but only 30 minutes northwest of us got snow, about 2 inches. Elsewhere further folks got several inches. 
I put frost cloth over my garden plants and I think they made it. My flowering potted plants are pushed next to the house and covered.  We are in the mid-twenties each night but tonight should be the last night of it and we should start warming up now. 

We didn’t lose power, thankfully, but I was prepared to dig in. It’s somewhat like preparing for a hurricane. I have a little kerosene cooker and a hand pump to get water. At least I knew my cold food would stay cold!  My house is on a block foundation filled with packed earth and covered with a slab so my pipes are pretty safe. 

We all had to wait this out, too. No snow removal equipment in Florida

Grandma Donna wrote, Thank you Terri C, for some good advice.  We have a kerosene heater that we used during this because as you said the regular air forced heat does not do well when it gets really cold and I cannot imagine what some electric bills are going to be from this for some people. Even though kerosene is expensive it is a better heat and gets the house warm when those temps are really low.  

We live in northern Michigan where we currently have 2 feet of snow, which is normal for us this time of year. I have read your blog with great interest for a year now and was curious to see how your garden would go through the cold. Snow is an insulating thing so ice and pure cold are actually worse. My husband has been working on fencing our pasture this winter, digging down through the snow and the ground is still soft down 5 or 6 inches under the snow. 

To keep warm we use our wood stove, humidifiers, as said above moist air does feel more warm, and wear lots of wool and cotton layers. I also like my linen dresses with wool leggings and a sweater. 

Winter is a slower time here with lots more indoor projects. We do make the children, and ourselves, get some fresh air each day, as much as we can stand with the temperatures. It was well below freezing all week last week so 20 minutes was all that it was safe to be out at a time before frostbite on cheeks was an issue. 

When i was a child, my family, following my brother's interest, got into the world of historical reenactments. After that it has always seemed natural to me to live using the wisdom and beautiful functional pieces of the past. The snapshots of your life are very appealing to me for this. My husband requested a kerosene lantern for doing his evening chores feeding the animals. He says he enjoys the warm light and the feeling of connection to his farming ancestors. We are slowly reviving our land that was a huge dairy farm for 120 years. I think the neighbors are glad to see it go back to how it was. Once farm land is sold it is very rare that it will ever be farmed again.  

Thank you and keep writing. I am glad you have weathered this storm so well. Shows the value of being prepared as you have tried to be. 

We have had several days in the negative temps, after the first 2 or 3 it is no longer an adventure.

I have a wood burner and gas cookstove along with the gas furnace but used the woodstove to keep warm. There were several times that even the woodstove wasn't keeping me as warm as usual. I put down several rugs, I have all hardwood floors and they get cold. Rugs help, and I don't care what they look like, comfort is more important. I dress in layers and wear snow pants every time I need to go out to get firewood or check my chickens. Their water heater died in the middle of the cold weather so I brought it in and thawed it then just made sure I was taking fresh water to them several times a day. I did get another heater yesterday. Looking forward to the coming week as the temps are supposed to be going up. Spring is coming and I am so looking forward to it.

I try to stay prepared for anything and it's times like this that I am glad I had more than I needed. I do worry so much about the people that are homeless. I know they opened warming centers but  their is no place like home.

JC

Good to hear that you and Albert came through all that snow and ice relatively unscathed.  It's really hard when this sort of weather comes to areas where it is virtually unknown.  No equipment available  to deal with the aftermath.  Here in southern Indiana we got about a foot of snow altogether, in two dumps, but unlike most years the cold has been terrible with only a few hours on several days to produce much in the way of melting.  The temperature has been in the 20's, teens, negative numbers and below zero since then. So we still have a pretty good snow cover now three weeks later.  Normally we get a few light snows but almost always it warms up quickly and the snow melts for the most part.  So it was not unprecedented and we have equipment to deal with it but the bitter cold continuing is something else.  It's providential that you had changed things around already and so have much less space to keep warm.  It sounds that although you were pretty much marooned you  managed well which shows the value of being prepared. 

Take care.

Victoria 

I live 15 miles south of Detroit MI so I’m used to cold and snow. We’ve had a rather mild winter until this latest snap, which is not unusual for us in January and February. We had a couple of inches of snow just before, but then it warmed up just enough that the roads and walkways were completely clear. Then the cold came! No more snow but it got down to -3 a couple of nights and only up to 5 degrees during the days. Schools closed because of the wind chill. But I was prepared. I had food and water put aside. Gas in the car even though I didn’t go out. Being 74 I don’t push my luck.  I have draperies on the windows but I added an extra layer to each. I have a gas furnace, most everyone does here. I try to keep it set for 64. I use a humidifier and still struggled to keep the humidity above 30%. There were a lot of water main breaks in the communities, lucky for me not affecting me. But I do keep some water on hand in case. I tried to teach my grown children to be prepared. I think my son finally learned today when he had no water for a day. I have a generator in case we loose power. But we didn’t.

It is very pretty. I love the silence when the snow has settled. 

Several layers of clothes keep you warmer than one thick layer, summer T-shirts make good winter vests for a base layer. I have a woolly hat, fingerless gloves, a scarf, a gilet and blanket to put on over the rest if I am sitting for a while. It is easy to get cold slowly without realising, so a room thermometer is useful. 

I have to drink a bit more fluid when the weather is cold, just to help my circulation, on the freezing day and the next day. If I have to go outside when it is freezing I need to think about taking GTN to prevent angina. I wear a scarf over my mouth to avoid breathing in very cold air. I dread slipping on the ice, so I use two walking poles for extra stability. 

DH will stop and talk to people but I really cannot cope with standing about in the cold. 

Wow, those are beautiful photos but so much snow and I’m sure people have been greatly affected.  I think the most daytime snow I’ve ever seen where I live was two years ago and we got about 1” and it was gone by evening because it warmed up and then rained.  And then there was one morning we woke up with about the same but we didn’t get to see it snowing.  We usually have just a few nights per year that drop below 32°F, and just for a few hours at most.  But if it can snow like that in Florida then it can happen anywhere!  I’m glad your plants were mostly okay, Grandma Donna!   And dogs are so funny, when we had snow our German Shepherd dogs were fine with it, but our little chiweenie was very upset!  He doesn’t even like to go for a walk if it has rained and the sidewalk is wet, funny boy!

We’re waiting for rain, our first rain in 9 months.  It has been so dry, after a very wet winter last year.   It is very welcome, usually our hills are lush and green this time of year and instead they are dead and brown.  Tomorrow it will come and I will happily putter around in the house.

We are in South East Australia; it has been a pretty mild summer with occasional heat spikes here.

We are expecting  35°C (95°F) tomorrow and 37°C (98.6°F) the next day.

It's hardest when it stays warm overnight. We have security mesh doors front and back of the house, so we can leave the front and back doors open while we sleep. This can cool down the house overnight and especially the floor in the kitchen/dining area, which is tile over concrete.

We have an evaporative cooling system for the whole house, but it costs a lot to run because you have the electric pump going for the water as well as the fan for the system. Recently I bought a small rechargeable fan. If we want cooling overnight, we direct one onto our faces.

In Coober Pedy, Central Australia, they are expecting 42°C (107.6°F) tomorrow, and 44°C (111.2°F) the next day; overnight temps of 26°C (78.8°F) and 21°C (69.8°F). Much of the housing is underground in caves dug for purpose, because it gets so hot.

It's quite interesting that returned soldiers apparently came up with the idea; here is a link to where the photo below came from.

https://www.cooberpedy.com/underground-living-dugo...

My goodness! I can't imagine that sort of cold. I hope your garden recovers well once it has thawed. It is good to hear that your plants are showing resilience.

Hello Grandma Donna,
I'm pretty sure the plants in the garden survived the cold. The snow will have protected them.

Our summers can be very warm. There have been years with 40°C (104°F). When it is that warm, we make the basement of our house comfortable and work and sleep there.

In the photo you can see a view from our garden into the winter landscape

Best wishes from Germany!
Sibylle

How exciting and surprising for you to get snow :) Alfred's such a character !!! 

I've only ever experienced snow a few times in my life here in New Zealand, but it was always fun. 

Regarding how we cope with different weather fluctuations here - depending on the humidity levels, we either open up the doors to let cool air flow on a hot day or I use the air conditioning. As I have asthma and don't do well with high humidity (it sucks the life out of me), I just do what I need to do to stay healthy. To keep warm in winter, we have a wood fire, plus we use the air conditioning again to heat the house - take the chill off, especially on cold mornings when we will both be out most of the day.

Blessings to you ~ Linda

No snow here on the south west coast of the UK, but I have been thinking about you and Charles, wondering how you were getting on and hoping you were all well. I was very happy to see your post!

We had  rain and high winds here on Friday, the same again today (Sunday 26th January).  Yesterday was calm and dry; which was excellent as I travelled to Tunbridge wells to visit a Homeopathic Pharmacy.  I've ordered from them for over 3 decades but this was the first time I've visited.  A colleague drove so I had the luxury of just sitting and enjoying the journey.  It was a good day!

Today, despite the winds I need to venture into Chi to do a monthly food shop.  I have been eating out of my freezer and store cupboards since just before the Winter Solstice, running out of surprisingly little.  However, I am now totally out of fruit and vegetables so need to stock up again.  I try to eat what's in season so will be buying winter greens, root vegetables and apples.  My rhubarb plant is showing signs of waking up after her winter sleep and I am very much looking forward to the first crumble of the season- I suspect it'll be a few more weeks yet though!

Your snow is lovely. Our temperature, right now, is 1F. Earlier in the week it was -17, one night. 

We have very little snow right now. Our winters have changed significantly over the years. We did have a 14 inch snow late last year, but it was gone in a couple of days. Since snow is our normal, the state has plenty of snow equipment and a large percentage of private vehicles are all wheel drive or four wheel drive trucks.

We have a wood burning cookstove, but haven't used in in quite a few years. When we moved into this house ten years ago, we had a whole house natural gas generator installed in case of no power issues. It has served us well over the years. Solar would work great here, also, as the sun shines over 300 days a year. We rarely get rain.

Electricity Bill's are getting so high everywhere that it is hard for folks to heat or cool adequately. I read an article recently from The Journal of Gerontology that stated  people 65 years and older are more mentally alert with temperatures between 68 and 75. The study was done through Hebrew Senior Life, an arm of Harvard Medical School. It is difficult for so many seniors to keep their home temperatures at such a range, due to finances.

I pray that you are all safe and well as drastic weather changes affect health.

I live in Colorado.  I would much rather put on layers of clothes in the winter to keep[ warm, than strip down in the summer to keep cool.  There is a limit in how far you can strip down.  Stay warm Donna.

We had a similar week here in West Yorkshire earlier this month;  a significant enough snowfall to not melt in time and then turn to a week of ice.  We do have a couple of snowplows patrolling but they only do the main roads not the side streets (where most of people lives and parks obviously).  The 10 minute walk to school became very treacherous, though my parents gave me a pair of yaktrax many years ago, for just such occasions, and I was able to stump about just fine--with a very firm grip on my four year old's hand.

I have learned from previous snow events to shovel/sweep the driveway, car and paths on the first day.  Even if it's forecast warm the next day, I make sure to do it on that first day just in case;  we've been iced in for two weeks before.  I learned my lesson from that time, about 15 years ago.  

I was without running water for four days starting Tuesday, but it thawed out yesterday evening and luckily nothing is leaking.  I wish I could drain the pipes ahead of cold weather, but the plumbing is old with sections that have sagged, and won't drain.  Someday I might redo the whole thing, but other projects keep taking priority.  I guess if one of these times all the pipes burst, it will move up the list of priorities!

The climate sure is changing if you are getting snow for the first time.  It looks lovely, but as I read the comments, very dangerous if your climate has never experienced it before.  I’m glad you are both prepared for emergencies and are safe.

It’s hot here in NE Australia and I’ve just done a 650 kilometre round trip with a granddaughter so she can complete in a 4 day tennis comp. For two days she played in 40.5C  heat (104.9F).  Dangerous!  The tennis complex was modern, no established shade trees, no air conditioning, all glass and metal....ugly and impractical..sooooo hot and uncomfortable.  Yuk!   Very debilitating for this 75 year old who was there from 8 am until 5.30pm one day.

We have had a turtle lay eggs for the very first time in our National Park beach. So it indicates to me that the wild creatures know that the normal weather patterns are now getting warmer here as usually turtles lay eggs a few hundred kilometres  north from  here. So it is an exciting occurrence.

I’m sleeping under a fan, with all windows open for the breeze, enjoying a pleasant 27C. 

Thanks everyone for your comments. It’s insightful to read how “the other half” live.  Thank you Donna for keeping us informed of the challenges in your life. You are an inspiration. 

We've been getting worse extremes of heat and cold as the years go by. For the heat, we put in a window on the side of the house that had none and got screen doors front and back to help with natural airflow. We bought some metal air deflectors that set over the HVAC vents at the edges of the rooms and direct the air conditioning towards the center of the room. We have both curtains and blinds and close both when the sun is shining on that part of the house. We open our windows at night to let in the cool air. We don't use the oven and make sure we have ice cubes ready for cold drinks. We want to put some gravity ventilation on the roof to clear the attic of hot air without using electricity. Our electric bills in the summers are very low and we stay comfortable.

It's the winter where I can't get the electric bills down! We have a heat pump that loses efficiency at around thirty-two degrees, so we have oil heaters as a backup. I wash the windows to let in more heat from the sun. We close the curtains and blinds at night. We dress warmly. The metal air deflectors make the heating more efficient from the heat pump but the heat pump dries the air out more than the oil heaters. We've learned to be comfortable at sixty-five degrees but less than that feels very cold. I don't know what to do to warm the house  up without costing more money.