You run your Setter, of course:



Sky was impossibly blue, and here we come upon another impossibility-there is a dog in this photo. It is sometimes hard to see a white dog in the cattails and snow. She is in there, in about the center of the picture:



She moves like a spectral being through the brush, heard when she is belled, a ghost when she is not, as was the case, today. We went about four miles through the open spaces area near my home. We saw one hawk, on the wing, and, likely hungry, a robin, and a nuthatch. The robins that attempt the winter are not the fearless birds of summer, too many things here are trying to eat them this time of year.

We had fun:



Yes, that is ice, frozen in our facial hair. A true Minnesota-in-January fashion statement.

Hope you guys are well.

Best,
Ted

Only -23 here.

I just parroted what the weather channel said, have no idea what it was actually, but, the good news was, the wind was down from last night. Maybe 5-10 mph when we were out, tolerable for man and beast for the 4-5 miles we walked.

Supposed to be 40 above on Saturday.

Best,
Ted

For some years now, the Pacific storms that normally go West to East across Oregon have been deflected North along the coast up into Canada and then curve down into the Plains drawing the very cold from the far North. As a result, today was sunny in the 50's with one day this last week in the 60's. Nights near normal in the 20's so the fire wood gets used. Mountain snow level down but may go up as late snows have been common the last number of years.
Sorry you all are suffering. That has to be miserable. Spring WILL come. Enjoy your fires...don't get your reloading supplies too close.
Global warming is a [censored].

Poor baby, your tears must be frozen to your cheeks.

Yup, those storms occasionally detour. Been going on, for what, the last 35,000 years or so?
It got cold when I was a kid. It got cold when my Dad was a kid. The Dakota of a few centuries past had a name for it, which, translated, roughly, to “Moon of the popping trees”. Heard it last night, same as they heard it 500 years ago.

Best,
Ted

Minus 31 overnight Monday to Tuesday, minus 28C this AM in Saskatoon, just another winter day.
Warming a bit, but the promised snow has not materialized. At least it is freezing the garden pests. Hopefully we don't lose many perennials with so little snow cover.

We get the curve from Chicago's "Windy City" blasts-- and Lake effect snow as well-- colder than a Mother-In-Law's kiss- river frozen over, so the "bonus" late season on geese is "Gone With The Wind" I guess-- so, I've been re-organizing my supply of misc gun parts, downstairs next to the furnace in my workshop-man cave.

But- we haven't lost electrical power (Thanks for that), both vehicles start up, as does my 10HP snowblower, and the garage door opener works too- and the County plow has been through each day, clearing off the drifted snow-- Maybe 42 on Sunday- but a chance of rain- rather have snow, but no -40 wind chills, thank you all the same.

Yes- Spring will come-- not soon enough for me-- RWTF

We always said “colder than the tits on a brass monkey”. But, only for really special cold, like the last few days.

Best,
Ted

-39C here in Winnipeg yesterday morning, this morning and supposedly tomorrow morning. When you couple that with a 40 mph wind like we had yesterday, I ain't going walking!

I really admire y'all for being tough enough to handle cold like that, Ted. I think you must have to be raised up in it to have the right mindset. I can't even imagine it. I've hunted ducks for days on end in Arkansas when the temps never got above freezing, but sub-zero temps is something else entirely.

Prayers for your safety and comfort.

SRH

Although the temps are -32 dg. today where I am, it looks like it will warm up enough this weekend to get some clays in.
Karl

That is one fine lookin' Setter, Ted. How old is she, and how many seasons on grouse has she seen? You use a bell on the collar when she is afield?? Our weather here in Mid-Michigan reminds me of some of the wintry scenes in the movie "Fargo"-- based in your State, but the title comes from a city in ND-

When I get "holed up" with this inclement type of Winter weather, I watch "Fargo" and "The Shining"-- and then I don't feel so bad.
Stay well, and stay warm.. RWTF

She will be five in April. More pheasants than grouse, just the way the chips have fallen. Not much of a retriever just yet, but, I am stubborn. She has found every bird I’ve ever killed over her, just not picked them up.
She was deathly ill the first year of her life. We got through it, but, lost much. Long story. Another time.
She is belled when afield. We use a beeper collar, as well. We might head up to the pheasant farm for some pen raised birds, this weekend.



This was our last trip out this year, wearing her finery. Yes, the tip of her tail and a few of her paws were bloodied. She is a hard charger.

Stan, had you been raised here, you’d be out there too. Just a different mindset getting out in the cold. I, can’t imagine working a bird dog in venomous reptile or alligator territory, the cold seems tame by comparison-if it is going to kill you, you can see it coming from quite a ways, at any rate.

Best,
Ted

I hard those "Poppin Trees" here in southern mid-TN back in 1998. We had an ice storm on Christmas Eve. We were without electricity for 7 days & temps did not get above freezing. We had a gas heater we could run without electricity & cook on a gas stove, which we could manually light so made it pretty well except for Water. I am on a private spring for water & use a shallow well pump to bring it to the house, a distance of around 400 feet but not much lift. I would take a bucket to the spring & lift off the cover & dip drinking & cooking water. To flush the toilets it was closer to go to the creek with a 5-gallon bucket & dip up water. My daughter & Son-in-law had gone to do some last minute Christmas shopping that day & left our 8 months old granddaughter with us. We also had my 78-year-old mother in the house with us. We all survived. My Daughter &SIL lived about 25-30 miles from us & had planned on coming that night to pick up their "Baby", but all the roads were closed, we kept her all week. Every time I stepped out of the house I could hear numerous trees cracking all around when the thaw finally came I was utterly amazed there was a single one left standing. About 100 ft from my house a large & tall Wild Cherry tree had bent over till its top was nearly touching the ground but did not break. Following spring it was loaded with wild cherries as it normally was but I could not get to them to pick them. That year I simply walked out there & stood on the ground & picked a lot of those little cherries. My Wife made some Cherry preserves & it was delicious.

The coldest I can recall here in my area was back in the late 1950s when it got down to -15°F one night. That day a man came by who had run off the road & asked me to pull him out with my tractor, a B JD, which I did. I had been having a problem with one of the radiator hoses leaking & had not got it replaced yet so had drained the antifreeze & just put water in for this short task. The problem was when I brought it back into the shed I forgot to drain it. Next morning it hit me & it was frozen solid. We covered it up & put a heat lamp on it & was still 3-4 days before it even began to drip a bit. Absolutely Amazing but it did not crack a single piece of cast iron in the block or anywhere.

To answer the question posed in the title, you start looking to go South like Brian is in his Quail thread.
Stay warm, Ted. Gil

It went to 0 here on Christmas morning back in the early '80s, and down to 5 the next year, but that was waaay out of the norm. I was running a trapline back then and did so that morning, as per usual. I remember well the only critter I had that morning was a huge old boar 'coon.

Miller, not saying that this is the reason the block didn't crack, but I have noticed that steel outside faucets which have stood years of cold/hot extremes don't seem to bust nearly as quickly as a new one, when you forget to leave them dripping. Always figured there was a "seasoning" that takes place in the cast iron/steel, over time and temp extremes. But, I have no proof of that. Maybe the old B had been "seasoned" well.

SRH

You leave your outside faucets dripping ?

When it gets cold enough at night I leave them all dripping. It works down to zero, I can attest. I notice that in ARKANSAS most of the outside faucets are big, freeze proof things. I don't recall ever seeing one here. Several dripping faucets also ensures that the well pump runs often enough all night to prevent the little pipe nipple under the pressure switch from freezing, too.

SRH

Netflix and chill.


__________________________
Baby it’s cold outside.

The faucets on a house, in this country, are long affairs that extend back inside so that the actual valve is in the heated basement or interior. They don't freeze or break if the house is warm and so long as the hose is removed from the faucet to that outer 12" can drain out when turned off. We never leave them dripping.

Stan-- my best friend, a farmer- has a JD B, and also an A--both date back before 1950, I think the A has a battery start- the B has the "Armstrong" flywheel set-up. Next time I see him, I'll ask about the cold and how it may have affected either one-I know neither has power steering- I've driven them a few times, and we have set one up with a buzz saw rig, big old belt off the flywheel- hand clutch- great idea--

As for frozen pipes, you most likely know this, but for others, here's one way to thaw a frozen pipe- if you have a Lincoln "Buzz box" transformer AC welder- set the amperage on 75- that will be in a circle on the front panel- on 75 amp. output, you get a 100% duty cycle- all the other settings are on a 20% duty cycle. Lincoln designed this with the farmers in mind-

Run the ground clamp to one end of the pipe run, and the stinger to the farther end- you can use cable extensions if you have them--to add to the developed length of the current flow-- turn on the machine, and monitor the pipe for temp change to your finger touch--

??- and I'll ask Andy about this, next time I'm up his way-- Would a crankcase oil heater, running off a 110V line, help against a block cracking in severe cold weather. RWTF

I can answer that, about the block heater ....... YES!! I have only used the types that fit into a freeze plug hole, but they work perfectly.

About the only thing that ever freezes up around here is the little pipe nipple under the pressure switch. It is easily thawed in a few seconds with a BernzOMatic torch. Anymore, if it is to get any colder than the low 20s I keep a heat lamp under the cover for the pressure switch and inline brass valve. That works perfectly.

SRH

I've never experienced -30 degree weather in my life and hope I never do. Life stops around here at 0 F and below. 18 this morning but forties this afternoon. I've caught up on my reloading, bullet casting and refinished a couple of rifle stocks due to the inclement weather so not a total bust.

If I had to live where a lot of you guys do, I'd go to bed at first frost and hibernate until opening day of turkey season. We get cold, but at least we know it'll warm up next week...Geo

I'll second that...46 here today and 62 Saturday.

Block heaters! I guess because i'm from Winnipeg, I've had three people ask me this week if I could check under their hood and see if there is a block heater.

In Winnipeg, many, many parking lots, especially city owned or for large companies with many employees, have electrical outlets at each parking spot. This is so the block heater can get plugged in. For decades, visitors to Winnipeg in the summer might ask if there were a lot of electric cars in Winnipeg.

My preferred choice when living there was just to not turn off the car when it gets really cold. Go to a dinner party....leave the car running for 5 hours.

Might need to put a heater on that blOck head of yours might help you with the jOe bug stuck inside

Just saying

I spent three years living in a tent near Spooner WI. Like every morning you strap on the ski's and check the trapline and then go ice fishing, predator calling.

I spent 12 years living east of Fargo, ND and one year we went 63 days with out it getting above zero. That winter we had a slushy snow on Nov 8 and the ice was still on the roads(except where the chains ground down to the payment) in the spring, The kids in shop class were making extra money fabricating 1 foot extension for our ice augers as the ice got to 4 feet thick that year. Detroit Lakes where the snow was plowed over the roads had frost go down 10' and you could see where they were burning in the bottom of pits in the road so they could dig down and repair frozen pipes.

Those A's started well with ether, mine had e-starter. My AC-WD had a block heater and 7' snowblower my drive way was 3/4 mile long.

Minus 30 something, wow that's cold. I've just thrown another peasant on the fire after reading that.
Maybe Blighty's not so bad after all. It's been freezing today but was working with coat off and sleeves rolled up the other day.
Does the cold noticeably affect the lock time of your guns when you're out in those sub zero temperatures or do you keep your shells in your pockets to warm them ?

Hi Lads
Epsom NH was Zero*, 32* below freezing at about 6am this morning.
But I was still in my shorts cleaning off & warming up my daughters car.
There are are a few of us around here in NH who view the wearing of shorts throughout the chillies of winter as a badge of honour, or perhaps honourably stupidity .I have not personaly worn a pair of long pants in at least two years.
That could say alot about a fellow, eh,
cheers
franc

Well, we've warmed up to minus 24C for daytime, but back to minus 37 tonight, .......about normal for this time of year.
Today is the start up of the Ice Road Trucking to the diamond mines north of Yellowknife, we have a King Air missing for the past 24 hours and search parties turned back due to a blizzard, ......and to top it off, the streets are again full of Japanese wanting to see the Northern Lights! we get about 20,000 of them each year, ..all bundled up in Canada Goose parkas and face masks.
For most of us old timers here, it's just another winter day, vehicles are plugged in and ready to go!

Nick;
How many BTUs do you get from a "Peasant"? I don't have a good enough supply of peasants to keep me warm for very long, used to use oak or hickory logs, now heat with Gas.

Stan;
The old B was a 1951 model & this occurred around 1958 so it did have a bit of seasoning. One thing which also helped was the alphabetical series of JDs all had thermosiphon cooling so no exposed water pump to freeze. All my outside faucets are the type with internal shut-offs so I never leave them dripping.

Foxy;
All the JDs came with electric starting as standard equipment beginning in 1947, prior to that it was optional. In the past, I had a 1936 model D with flywheel start & also a little H with it. I loved that old hand clutch & still love to here an old "Poppin Johnny" run. A lot of folks do not realize it but their distinctive sound is Not because they only had two cylinders, but is the result of their timing arrangement, IE 180-540 rather than 360-360.

That's cool (pun intended).

Meanwhile a 90 degree day with decent humidity is almost immobilizing for me, and probably for you too. But cold can be dealt with. Everyone has their own zone of tolerance.

Well in that case I guess a lot of us will be praying for a lot of humid, 90 degree days.

Agree- but didn't know about the timing cycle on the "Poppin Johnies"-- my friend's B- 1943- he has the wartime paperwork his father filled out to get on, due to gov't regs. $534.65 delivered. His has the compression release value set-up to make cranking over compression easier. The JD's of that era weren't high on the RPM, but they had torque 'till Hell wouldn't have it.

I had a bid in on a "restored" 520 with hydraulics and a front blade mount plow, and a Woods bush hog-- ran like a Swiss watch, but I was out-bid in a heartbeat by two local gents who wanted for more $ than I could swing-- So, I guess my JD 18 hp. lawn and garden tractor (Kohler engine) will have to do--

I put the front blade on it in Dec.- and tire chains- that and a 2 stage 10 HP 28" width Ariens snow-blower gets me, and some of my neighbors, through the winter snowstorms.Foxy

It was just about one of the neatest thing to be sitting in the swamp, thin layer of fog over the water and hear a JD fire up out in the distance, kind of sounded like a grouse drumming but kept going.

Just returned from today’s walk. A balmy -10, but, the wind is the devil himself at that temp, and it was blowing out of the Southwest (a portent of things to come, but, not arrived just yet) at about 15 mph sustained, with gusts to perhaps 25.

My southern brothern, THAT is cold. A stiff wind at sub-zero temps is like being hit with cold hammers and kicked with cold boots. You feel it in your soul.

No pictures today, it was an ugly, partly cloudy day that featured shifting sun dogs, and a raw wind. The robins were eating some sort of weed seed, and seemed tired, or low on energy. I always feel better after a walk, but, after my shift at work, I just put my head down and got it over with.

Best,
Ted

Fox;
In the early days of tractors, there were three basic configurations used for two cylinder engines. One had opposed cylinders with opposed cranks. this one had an even beat & was easy to balance.
One had the cylinders in line but with both throws of the crank in the same direction. This one also had an even beat but was a Pill to balance.
The JD, as well as some others, had the cylinders in line but with opposed crank throws. Thes were also relatively easy to balance but ran with that uneven beat. They had two power strokes on one crank revolution, then the flywheel had to carry it for the next revolution. These were all 4-cycle engines.

The old Harley motorcycles had a two-cylinder V engine so it ran with a slightly out of time beat, but not as extreme as the JD. In the late 2-cylinder era, JD had a small utility model (435) which used a 2-cylinder, 2-cycle engine which sounded like a 4-cyl running.

90 degrees with 90% humidity is just a warm afternoon for me. I never stop. I figure it's starting to warm up when it exceeds 94-95. I work outside all afternoon in those temps.



Sun dogs are evident here from about October through, maybe, early April. They are always associated with a certain cloud type. I think they're cirrus. Sun dogs are a 100% predictor of precipitation in the next two days. It never misses. One of the most certain weather signs we have in the South.

SRH

Sun dogs up here just mean it's f'ing cold. Carried mail on walking routes for 24 years. Hot or cold didn't bother the guys in the office. -28 to+ 110. Always easier to stay warm than cool off. For whoever asked about guns and shells in -0 never had any problems. The good thing is the colder it is the better the traction is. If the snow squeaks as you walk, and your mustache gets ice init the wild chill is -15 to - 20. Since it was sunny yesterday, even though the high was -9 there was a rooster pheasant feeding in the corn field west of the house. Heat is way worse than cold.

We haven't had any cold weather to speak of this winter here in N ID. Supposed to get into single digits in a few days and that'll be the coldest we've had this winter if it happens.


Been there and done that concerning cold temps and wind chills when I lived in AK. Shoot, the schools wouldn't close until it hit -70 with the wind chill or when a whiteout occurred, which happened often enough! Can't say that I miss it much.

I looked forward to -20 or colder temps and those rare days when the wind didn't blow...it usually meant some seriously good fox calling! I do miss the fox calling.

The very good thing about hunting in sub zero cold, was, you had it all to yourself.

The cold does effect ammunition, and I did usually switch to the bigger “Pheasants Forever” 1 1/4 oz loads of number 5s. I’d say there were fewer shots, and I tried to make ‘em count.

I haven’t been out in the cold like that in years, and while I did plenty of it, I’m not sure I’ll do much more of it. It takes it out of you, that is for sure. I can remember a day in Marshal, MN, when the temp was all of 0, and the wind was howling like a jet engine. It does that there. I shivered uncontrollably when I started, and only stopped after I had a few hard miles of walking behind me. I ended up with a limit or roosters, but, wondered if it was worth it. I knew I was hypothermic, when it was happening, and it didn’t have to end with birds in the pot.

Best,
Ted

Had to go to Alaska years ago for a January meeting with one of the native corporations, way north of the Arctic Circle. Arrived in blizzard conditions, -60F temp, wind chill at -100, and they postponed the meeting because they couldn't get their snowmobiles started to come into the village. Had the day to wander around in that weather, completely dark. Miserable.

It got into the 50s today at home, with some rain, so I'm cooking up a big tub of dove chili with black beans, onions, tomatoes and lime, lots of spice. Almost ready to go.

we have a King Air missing for the past 24 hours and search parties turned back due to a blizzard,

Hey Arctic, any news on the King Air, from the report I read, at the time of flight, weather conditions were really not that bad.

You guys live in unforgiving conditions,
Stan

Many thanks-- I have done a fair amount of tubular frame welding for local Harley shops- always wondered about the older- "Pan-Heads, Knuckle-Heads and Shovel-Head" engine blocks-- But you surely know those older JD's-- maybe someday I'll have a 520 with a Woods bush hog, we have about 17 acres - about 2/3 is brush and vines- floodplain.

A neighbor got his new tractor-( Kubota 80 HP series I think) stuck when he went down on my land to the river- to clear out and area for deer hunting blinds- (bow hunting only)-- Boy Howdy- that "Tagahatchi Tractor" went down into the muck and mire like a big ol' Brown bear settin' down in a washtub fulla honey..

A pal of mine, first-rate arc welder too- got a job on the Alaskan pipeline in the 1970's-- They worked 12 on/12 off shifts, had heated canopies around each joint in the 48" dia pipe- so the bitter wind was "tolerable"-- and the $34.00/hr. scale helped.

They never shut the diesels off- including the big Lincoln DC welding machines--One morning, at break, a big crane was about to lift a big piece of sheet steel- diamond tread style- for decking-- all 4 corners were secured with eye-ringed clamps, and the steel was up off the frozen ground on RR ties-- the crane rigger set the lift hooks at all 4 corners, and backed away, waved his hand in the "lift load" signal, and as the sheet cleared the ties- it shattered like a plate glass window"-- Mister- that is COLD weather....

Sorry to read King Air, two fatalities.

So there was 1 survivor, there was 3 aboard?

Going to be apprehensive of King Airs for a bit, ...understand 3 dead in Alaska, two dead here North of Yellowknife, and one blew an engine and had to return to Sachs Harbour today.
The air community has been hit hard and the entire North is in mourning!

54 above here today...got down to T shirt working in the yard.

Mid 60s tomorrow.

It was about 10 degrees when I got home from work, with a raw wind out of the south east. It was a bit less than pleasant to walk, but, the pooch shouldn’t be denied. The sunset was beautiful.
It is supposed to be much warmer, tomorrow.

Best,
Ted

Ted,
You're correct, we are in for a good warming this weekend up here. I'll be hitting the clays course for sure.
Karl

And now a word from the world's foremost weather prognosticator:



Happy Groundhog Day.

Global warming will be here before you know it...we used to just call it Summer.

Gen 8:22  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. 
God's Covenant with Noah after the flood.

Got down to about -35 here, but we missed the snow and strong winds. Normal cold snap. Time to work on my firecracker pack and label collection that likely is world's largest. And yes! Some show double shotguns and muzzle-loaders!

Trees a popping...I know that sound...The box elder trees all around my house sound like somebody shot a .22 in the back yard.
Me, I carve decoys and load 10 ga ammo for my 1894 Rem...

Mergus

Funny you should mention box elder trees.

The front of my property is low land forest, perfect habitat for Box Elder trees.

I cut a bunch of them down, and split them all up into firewood. Worked my butt off, and then nobody would buy it. 60 face cords all ricked up on our front lawn, ready to go. A great store of work.
Then one day, an Amish guy rolls in riding in somebody else’s truck.

He asked me what kind of firewood it was, I said Box Elder, it’s not worth much.

He says “how much will you take for all of it? “. I was a little shocked. I said, do I have to load it?. He said,” no, we will come down with the wagon and get it”.

I shot him price, he extended his hand, we shook, And he peeled off a bunch $100 bills.
I said, what are you gonna do with all this wood? Nobody wants it for firewood, too dry, too small. He said, we shoe horses with it. It lights good, it burns fast, it burns hot and with a little fresh air you can melt steel and no ash.

That’s the one and only time I have ever had anybody look favorably on that crap.

Wood stove in the basement, and a block chute on the side of my house, to drop the wood into the basement. Mine isn’t a pretty stove, with glass in it, it is an old, cast iron “All Nighter” with a ceramic tile floor under it.
My favorite mix is oak, elm and birch. Elm sucks to split, unless it is below zero degrees outside, then it just pops like any other wood. Popple and box elder are ok, if you have plenty of wood of other species to mix with them. I have a ton of black walnut to burn, nothing to mix with it at the moment. But, my chimney needs work, and I’m holding off until it is fixed.
I only run the stove from about 10 above or below. It cooks you out of the place, if it is warmer than that.
I love wood heat.

Best,
Ted

Clapperzapper, wood turners love box elder if it has some color from spalting, which much of it does. It does burn hot but very fast, thus not much firewood value.

If you get a colorful log, ask the local wood workers, they will probably have a club or local news letter.

I'm cutting and hauling a lot of cherry and walnut for lumber milling today. I'll sell or trade a lot of it.

Ted,

Just buy a stainless liner, sleeve, and cap on eBay and be done with the chimney work .

The block exterior is ready to fall off the house. That, and I’d like a ground level clean out installed when it is repaired.
The stainless stuff can come after that.

Best,
Ted

Ted,

The chimneys in our house are 35 feet tall, all laid I n probably 1850, and are made of soft brick with lime mortar. Consequently too hot of a fire degrades the mortar, so to extend their lifespan another hundred years or until somebody bulldoze’s the place, we put stainless liners in.

Talk about draft.

I am cursing the “Frost nip”I have on the front of both legs.
Burns like fire.

I had to work outside early Wednesday at 18 below on the docks.

Growing up we live in a little two room cabin, during a really cold spell, once a week mom would pull the furniture away from the walls and turn up the space heater to thaw the frost off the walls.

We had a kerosene lantern to take to the outhouse to keep warm in the winter and dad built a pump jack for the well so I could just flip the switch in the house and by the time I got to the well water was coming out of the pump.

It was just about the best time in my life, we lived on the river and there was fishing and swimming(it was the bath tub) in the summer and ice skating in the winter. We were surrounded by fields and forests, with plenty of pheasants rabbit and squirrels.

What more could a kid ask for growing up. We roamed the river and fields for miles no one thought it was dangerous. I feel sorry for kids today, they can't even go to the park with out a parent along.

Our house had more than two rooms, oscar, but uninsulated, no light and power, one-room school etc. It WAS the best time of my life: a .22, alder for trout rod, dinghy and sail, traps and snares, independence, Mom expected us home for meals but if we didn't we went without because there were more interesting things to do. Those of us with shoes or not to school didn't matter. Schoolmates were good to each other. We discovered the bad stuff later.

Think I'll go shooting it's 67 outside now calling for a high of 70 with strong winds out of the south should make for some fun shooting.

They had initially predicted cooler weather for today.

I'm guessing that after our Great President Donald J. Trumps State of the Union Address last night the sorry azz democrats caused the temp to rise at least 10 degrees on the east coast.

I shot a round of sporting yesterday afternoon and stayed for the bi-weekly supper. It was 79 degrees as I was driving there about 3:30. Forecast high for tomorrow is 82F. I'm really concerned that everything is going to start "putting out", and flowering, and that another freeze will ruin it all. Does that 'occasionally here.

SRH

Weather straight from the North pole this AM. Minus 41 in Saskatoon.
Not going anywhere in a rush this morning.

In 1940, wearing moccasins, I went to Caswell Elementary School in Saskatoon in those temperatures. I've never heard since the squeak of snow under my feet.

I hope that was moccasins and really heavy wool sox...Geo

For those who have never experienced the squeaking of the snow under foot while playing outdoors at 20 below zero, the creaking /squeaking of the snow is a unique sound and can never be forgotten.

Even now, with a bit of nip, I long to be outside on those coldest winter days.

Cold can do some strange things, when it was really cold up in ND my good Estwing hammer would chip off the face of it driving cement nails. How do you drive nails at -30 with mittens(leather choppers) on, you lick your mitten and stick it in the nail bag and the nails stick to it you just turn your hand till one of the nails is facing the right direction, start it and turn your mitten until the next one is facing the right direction

Really cold snow would wear on a snow blower blade like you were blowing sand through it (7' Erskine pull thru blower).

In my tent I had a 30 gallon Olive shipping barrel to keep my water in and it sat near the stove, it would freeze the bottom 6" of the barrel, the top would stay liquid. You could sit in my tent in a T-shirt but have to wear your sorrel liners to keep your feet warm.

Ice on the lakes would crack and the cracks would fill with water, freeze and expand. It would keep this up through the winter and push to ice up on the shore, wrecking any docks left in, on bad years wiping out retaining wall, boat houses even pushing up over the highway in some places. Highway 169 by Garrison, MN is one I remember it getting up on the highway

The morning I shot my first deer with a flintlock, it was -24 below zero F. I had to leave camp and drive to a designated State Game Lands about 20 miles away. My truck barely turned over, but the engine sparked to life just as I thought the battery was finished. As I drove the snow covered dirt road going to the hunting area, I noticed my truck was bouncing to the point that my head was hitting the roof. I thought the dirt road had really deteriorated. This went on for nearly five miles, and was very rhythmic, and varied with my speed. It gradually lessened and then finally stopped. I realized that the extreme cold had made the flat spots on the bottom of my bias-ply truck tires take a set overnight, and it took several miles of driving until the tires rounded back out.

I shot my deer at about 9:00 AM when it was still nearly -20 below. Removing my hunting coat and gloves, and rolling my shirt sleeves above my elbows for the gutting chore was nippy. After I opened the body cavity, I reached into the belly to roll out the stomach and intestines, etc. Sticking my frozen hands into those warm guts felt like fire, and I briefly pulled back because it felt like I was being scalded. Then I gingerly put my hands back in and left them for a long time to thaw out. Guts never felt so good! We had close to a foot of snow on the ground, and the top was frozen solid enough that in most places, I could walk for 50-60 yards without breaking through the icy crust. The deer also slid very nicely on the frozen surface, and that was by far the easiest drag I ever had.

As Clapper Zapper says, being out on sub-zero days is exhilarating, if it isn't too windy. What other time can you wet your whistle by sucking on ice in your frozen beard? Most of my hunting buddies don't share that thought, so I spend those days mostly hunting by myself. Probably not smart, but I love it. Typically, the only sign that there is another human in the world is to look into clear cold skies and see a contrail from a jet.

Well said Keith.

On those coldest days, we have the whole world to ourselves. Glad you were successful on the deer.

I don't think I could hit a nail at minus 30..

No work, no eat, Joe.

70° today...24° tonight.

Not 70, today:





About a foot, of fresh white stuff, here. It isn’t done snowing yet. The cold front will follow the storm, lows below zero degrees in the evening, highs around 5 above on Saturday.

It will be over, soon.


Best,
Ted

82F here this afternoon. Pine trees pollinating, vehicles turning yellow, daffodils blooming. Bass are likely already bedding.

SRH

I grew up in Winnipeg probably wearing the same style of moccasins....every kid on the prairies wore them. Grey leather lace up. No lining....just the leather. Then you'd get a felt liner that fit into them. Absolutely smooth bottoms...great for sliding. Not so good for climbing up the hill when tobogganing. But perfect for bumper-shining......hanging onto and getting towed by a car. Usually they didn't know you were there. Great fun.

OMG the world would collapse if kids did that today.

It's about 20F today....we've had 30 hours of on and off again freezing rain. Inch thick on my deck and steps but thankfully the consistency is such that not much is sticking to the trees.

Ted looks like your dog likes it.

Global Summer warming will be here before you can bat an eye....

24° tonight I might better get out the Mickey Mouse boots.

Just finished walking the dogs, 10 degrees out and 30 plus mph winds. Negative 15 last night. Starts to warm tomorrow.

You need to teach your dogs to use the indoor toilet.

I'd kill for a pair of size 14 wide Mickey Mouse boots in the earlier version without the air valve. The ones made by the sub-contractors Hood and Bristolite were the best because they weighed noticeably less than the other manufacturers. They must have used lighter materials or thinner rubber that still met government specs. I have a couple pairs of the newer version with the air valve, and while quite warm and good for stand hunting or ice fishing in sub-zero weather, they are too heavy for doing a lot of walking.

Remember the Mickey Mouse boot stories that you pumped air into the valves and that's what caused them to work so good.

After hearing this guy say he had never been duck hunting that his feet didn't freeze off I loaned him mine.
He was duck hunting on the Mississippi river out of a boat blind...he owned a 4 Wheel Drive accessories store after he got back he bought about a half semi tractor trailer load of the boots in various sizes.

In the late 1970s I had a pair of the Hoods marked USMC with no high altitude air valves I recall they had a slick rubber inside.

Myself I think the Bata Rubber Co. ones are the best.

One pair I purchased came with the military instructions pretty interesting read.

I live down South and I have two pair.
If I lived where Ted was I'd have 3 pair for myself two for the wife and one for the dog.

It was about 5 below zero when I got home from work today. My Son and I shoveled the snow that fell after we shoveled yesterday, maybe 2 inches or so. After that, I stepped into the house to warm up a bit, and slipped into warmer boots, and ran the dog. Stiff wind out of the northwest, always a bad thing in February, and I’m guessing, -25 to-30 windchill. It died down a bit at sunset, but, it was still unpleasant. No chance the boy, or, the wife were going to tag along.
We saw three deer, and no birds of any type. I feel for the squirrels in this weather, their fur is not all that warm.
The snow is about belly deep on the dog, and it is critical that a lightly furred Setter be able to run to stay warm. If she gets wet in this weather, she WILL get hypothermic. It is easy to see, her tail begins to droop, and she follows rather than leading.
If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have walked today. I owe my dogs, big time, for keeping me moving.

Best,
Ted

Sounds familiar Ted. Gus doesn't like the cold, but he likes to go out with me and I with him. Cold here, not quite as bad 2F and lighter wind than yesterday.

The end result of a good run:



Best,
Ted