The good news is that the ice in the blue insulated water trough that froze solid last week melted enough for us to be able to hook out the faulty water heater and jam a new one in.
Within the day the pigs end of the livestock waterer was mostly melted and with the temperatures rising to 52f / 11C (a rise of almost 80 degrees within five days) I hope the cows end will be free of ice by this afternoon.
With the weather being warm for the next three or four day we should have truly shaken free from this polar vortex episode. 
As long as another cell of arctic air does not loosen from the polar vortex this winter then that will have been the worst of it. Though we still have a good five or six weeks of winter left – Polar air should stay at the pole. 
Is there an actual pole? As a child I always imagined the North Pole and the South Pole as being actual poles – sticking up out of the ice. Like power poles but old and ruined and weather beaten. Maybe some ancient carvings of a mammoth polar bear or two . 
Melting means water covered ice before the slushy stage. This is a tricky stage. By this morning we should be all slush or melted or evaporated. Much safer. 
Happy Jude. 
I hope you have a good day.
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
25 responses to “MELTING”
BRRRRR! It still looks mighty awfully cold to me, but I have California-thin blood and no heavy roustabout clothing. – My poor cows …NO BOOT? OH MOO! Jude sure is enjoying the adventure of life, isn’t he? What a trooper!! Next, he’ll be joining the Cub Scouts! Girl Scouts? Did you discern what gender our Jude is? Happy thaw!
Speaking of ‘thaw’, my girls always wanted to “unthaw” something from the freezer. To them, it was the same thing as defrost. It took awhile for them to understand that ‘to unthaw’ meant ‘to freeze’!.
Well, after the vile cold and being snowbound today, the ice is almost all gone, the hill clear and we got out grocery shopping. We were wondering if that was going to be possible this time last week. Smoky is happy the snow and ice is gone and he did the faster outdoor bathroom visits I’ve ever seen a dog do. Not bad for an old fella of 16 years and 4 months.
It’s been such a nice break from winter. Although we still have somw snow to melt.
The picture of Jude and the ducks is priceless!