UGH. SO. COLD.

Eleven days. Eleven days of bitter cold weather. An arctic blast from Canada the weather man said. Just a few days of below freezing temperatures and very high winds. Just a few days they said.

It started the last day the concrete crew arrived. By mid morning that Thursday the crew were gone and weather was dropping. By early afternoon all the tropical plants were wrapped in towels and covered in plastic. By mid afternoon the chickens were prepped for a hard freeze. These are summer chickens, not winter chickens. Their feed bucket was filled, extra water was placed in a soft sided horse bucket and placed in their run, and the windows were secured with their covers. By late afternoon the new batch of little flufferbutts were brought inside the Rainstream as the Work Box was reading in the low 40’s. Not even an electric mothers bum can keep them warm in those temperatures.

By Saturday morning warmer clothes were dug out of Storage Box and the cat came in out of the cold. By Saturday afternoon sleeping bags were dug out the camping box. By Saturday evening, the front window of the Rainstream was covered in a black plastic bag, taped closed, and covered with a heavy beach towel. Other towels were laid down in front of the door and small kid blankets or light weight towels were placed over the curtains to keep out the cold. The rest of Saturday and all day Sunday were spent inside the Rainstream trying to stay warm. Wind was howling, rain was falling, and morals were tense. The Planner, the Kid, myself, the doggo, El Gato, a dozen peppers pepping away, and two trays of tomato seedlings. All in space less than a 100sft. By Sunday evening the Planner was going stir crazy. Can we say Red-Rum? At least we had the Switch, YouTube, and Amazon Video.

Monday is when things got real. Other parts of the state were already experiencing rolling brown outs by Sunday afternoon. Boxes in Fields had power until Monday morning just after breakfast. From that point forward were were just camping in the freezing temperatures inside a Rainstream. Luckily the Rainstream had a propane burner, a propane bottle for the outside shower, and two smaller propane bottles on the in-law trailer. There was however, only 50 gallons of water in the holding tank, the water line was freezing quickly, and the black water tank had frozen solid. Yikes. It was only supposed to be a few days. Just a few days….

Tuesday afternoon the sun came out for just a few hours and it was blissful. Bitter freaking cold and still windy but at least it was not raining anymore. Well not raining outside anymore. With all of us in the trailer, there was a major condensation problem inside. We do call it a Rainstream for a reason. Sunshine does wonders for the moral, however. The Kid played with icicles and the Planner made popcorn.

Temperatures inside the Work Box dropped to the mid 20’s and everything in the refrigerator froze. Waste not want not, vegetable broth was cooked on the BBQ pit while the Planner made coals to defrost the septic tank. It was either a moment of pure genesis or utter stupidity when I suggested using a bed of coals to defrost the black water valve. The Kid bundled up in layers and layers to monitor the valve temperature to ensure it did not get too hot and melt.

Like I said, Boxes in Fields had propane to cook with and food helps the moral go a long way. With warm vegetable soup flavored with two chicken and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes and some wagon wheel noodles found at the back of the pantry followed by warm lemon bread life was not too terrible other than just cold. And dark.

Wednesday blurred into Thursday and everyone was getting antsy. A week had now passed since it was too cold to go outside. A week! Condensation was so bad we slept on wet pillows and dried off from sink baths in wet towels. Poor little chickees and seedlings, they were moved from one sunny spot to another trying to ensure proper growth.

Thursday the weather was warming up but there was still not any electricity. Needing to escape the confinements of the trailer, Boxes in Fields took an hour long road trip out with no destination in mind and then came home. This time in the car allowed for us to properly warm up for the first time in a week and charge our phones.

Then just as I was scolding to doggo who had lost her mind and was trying to chew her way into the chick box the power came on. No return rolling brown outs, no flickers, just on. Never did the beep of the microwave and the electric heater sound so fabulous. Shoes were removed and wet soggy feet were warmed.

Friday the weather finally stayed above freezing and the sun came out in full force! Plants were unwrapped to assess damage (bad, bad), sleeping bags, pillows, towels were hung out to dry on every available surface, the doggo went rolling in the dead grasses, and we three humans all went for a walk around the neighborhood to stretch out tight legs.

Already twenty days old the chicks were finally moved into their 4×4 coop in the Work Box. Warm weather and electricity returned not a moment too soon.