My life changed dramatically and forever when I lost TJ.

I welcome you to follow along as I adjust to my "new normal".

It is not all puppies and ice cream but it is my life....real and honest.


Tuesday, January 22, 2013

We Had A Hard Freeze!

Two weekends ago it was cold here. I mean super cold! Maybe not for you northerners, but for us desert dwellers it was pretty darn miserable. We had lows in the low to mid 20's F for 5 straight nights in a row. Our highs were only in the mid to upper 40's F. The Valley had not seen temperatures like that for 25 years. Most of us don't have heaters in our homes that can keep up with cold like that and most have exposed water pipes outside. I used my fireplace and covered my pipes with towels, but I am sure the plumbing companies were busy with busted pipes.

Tater spent most of his days curled up like this in front of the fire!

 In the midst of our unseasonable cold weather I saw this walking stick. I rarely see these and this one is, hands down, the biggest I have ever seen! I truly thought it was a twig until I got too close and it moved.

Most importantly, why was this guy out?! Way too cold for snakes to be out this time of year. He was sunning himself right outside my front door. I almost stepped on him. He is just a bull snake and not poisonous so he was moved away from the house and left alone.

 The cold weather once again killed my ficus tree. It was just coming back from the freeze in 2011 and now got hit again. As you can see the top never did recover from 2011 but the rest of it did. I am not sure if it will pull through again though.
But the almighty mesquite tree survived just fine! As a matter of fact it is in full bloom and is all abuzz with bees in the afternoon.

The good news is that we are back to normal temperatures with a high of 80 today and it is only a matter of time before we will be well into the 100's. After that cold weekend I am ready for temperatures topping 100....I can handle the heat but not the cold.

9 comments:

  1. Amen. I'd much rather be hot than cold. We also had temperatures like that last week. It was so cold, my lawn and my driveway had ice on it all day long for several days.

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  2. of course, the mesquites make it through anything. darn them. :)

    even the snakes and insects couldn't believe the cold weather and had to see it in person. :)

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  3. I'm surprised you saw a snake out! That is cold. We're having a cold spell now - only 29* for the high today. Brrr!

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  4. It is about 50 below in MN. ... But at least I got a day off of school!

    I love the photo of Tater & the walking stick is incredible. Xx

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  5. it's been cold here and getting colder; supposed to get snow later this week. the wood stove is going 24/7 right now and keeping the center of the house warm. the upstairs...not so much. my upstairs bedroom is freezing because I won't leave the living room door open because I don't want the cats to come upstairs. the dogs get angry if they have to share "our" bedroom with the cats -grin-.
    TMI, eh? even so, I do love winter and Appalachia.

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  6. I would never have thought about exposed pipes! Sounds like your over night lows are as brutal for you as the 10 degree weather is for us here. It is SOOOO cold and the air is so horridly dry. My skin hurts. My skin has never hurt from the dryness of the air before. I currently have a HUGE pot of water on the stove on a low boil, a veggie steamer full of water steaming, a vaporizer going in the bedroom and a small room humidifier in the family room. Still miserable lol

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  7. Tater is adorable! Love his name too, lol.

    If you have a Bull snake, you do not have a Rattlesnake. That's the good news, right!?! They are both very territorial and will not share that space. I always felt good about that.

    Down in Sierra Vista, our Mesquites lost their leaves in the winter, and we knew not to plant anything until it began to leaf out in spring. Do your Mesquites hold their leaves all year?

    We're in Palm Springs, CA right now, and although we had a cold snap too, it's up to 80* every day now. Ahhhh, thank you.

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  8. It's so difficult to see our mature trees and bushes struggle against this weird weather. I hope your ficus pulls through Sandy.

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  9. tater is adorable! like that photo, and i was surprised to hear that you saw a snake out. weird..
    please stay warm!

    sending warm hugs!!
    xoxo

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