We are in deep cold.
Our HIGH today will be minus 5 celcius. However it is sunny, with no wind so far. The wind might come up later but so far so good. We can do ok in the cold but wind and cold is just miserable.
Tonight will be minus 13 celcius. It looks like this will be the norm for the next few weeks.
While I was away mice got into the bags of food in the pantry and so I have had to purge a number of contaminated bags of beans and rice and pasta – it will all go to the pigs. I will need to get totes for the dry stores while I am away next time but that is only as good as the person who replaces the lid.
I cooked it all up in a big stock pot on the new woodstove and it worked really well.
Before I started writing this morning I got up and pulled the lever to heat the oven and stoked up the fire. The bread dough has been in the fridge for an overnight retard and I will shape it and score it and bake it once the oven is heated up. So it will be cold but we will have bread for second breakfast.
This oven won’t be as hot as the gas oven so I will be watching closely and adjust my bread baking accordingly. It is a good size though and will take the Dutch oven.
The dinner I made yesterday was wonderful. I simply roasted everything! The fire does a great job. I love cooking for free!
All the pigs are doing marvelously but I have a lot of poopy scooping to do today. It is only a few days since Rhonda has been here and already a mess. The Pop-Pops still just go anywhere. Even in their bed area. So I will clean them out again and lay in fresh straw again.
Though they are all fat and happy and vigorous and unconcerned. Jude is great, and is barely limping now. So much better. And FreeBee is up and out in the cold – no problems so far. He had a difficult winter last year – you will remember.
And now for the buckets. For at least the next ten days no water will be running outside so we will be carrying buckets of water for all the animals. They have heated water bowls so at least it stays thawed.
The pond has frozen over with only the tiniest of holes above the water heater. But even that was frozen over when I checked it yesterday. It was only a thin layer but I am not sure the fish would have survived it. I will keep the hole open and hope for the best. Though it will freeze over every night I fear. I am not sure how long it takes for the bad gases to build up. And there is also the problem of shock to the fish when I break the seal on the pond. So we will see.
I will keep working on it and hope for the best. I don’t see any bodies.
The bubbler seems to be still going.
But it is very cold. And time for me to get out there. I may have to invest in some good insulated boots. My holey gumboots have been fine for the last few winters but this winter is looking very cold.
Onwards!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
31 responses to “deep cold but the pigs don’t care”
Your stove looks fabulous – I thought the dogs might want to sleep in front of it. We had a wood and coal burning Rayburn when I was 11. It did the hotwater and cooking.
There was a bit of snow here last week and it’s been frosty, but only down to -1º or -2º C at night.
I bet the Pigs were pleased to see you!
Hotter as well! That would be amazing. I do not intend to use the gas cooker or the heating at all while I am here. It is my challenge to myself.
You’ll be dragging your bed in front of it and sleeping next to the dogs 🤣
Just got the bread out! It is looking really good!!
Fantastic!
Deep freeze here too! Interesting watching which bays freeze over and which don’t here on the shore of Lake Ontario. Next to our building is ‘the slip’. The big lakers used to dock here. So it is very deep. And so far hasn’t frozen over. That seems to bring the swans, Scaups and Canada Geese into our bay for the sunny parts of the day. Great bird watching!
Brrr!!! 18* degrees here and snow coming this Friday, which we don’t often get. Everything comes to a screeching halt when it happens. I find myself longing for spring! Do get the boots as body heat leaves through our head and feet. On a positive, we are getting more light daily! 🙂
I am only here for two months and the boots are not cheap. So we will see. There is not a lot of money around this year.
If you have alpaca socks and alpaca felt inner soles they are a game changer. I cannot believe what a difference they make.
Oh I would love those!! But where would I even find them – they sell nothing like that down here. So far I have been ok. It is very cold but I am in a determined sort of mood. You know the one!
Further to my comment below here is the link to my alpaca person. They have socks and inner soles. They would be cheaper for you since the exchange rate. I don’t know if they ship to US, they may. https://alpaca-tracks.myshopify.com/
Thank you!
You can get them on Amazon
I gave my dad a pair of alpaca socks for Father’s Day last year because his feet get cold. They were awesome. I got them at are farmers market from a lady who keeps alpacas and spins the wool and then makes the socks. They are truly local!
That is the very best! Everything about that purchase is good.
And they don’t itch!
even better
Interesting to see what gets sorted and what doesn’t, what is a priority and what isn’t when you spend time away from a place… The Pops are going to need a renaming ceremony. I think the Roly-Poly’s describe them much better now. So shiny and round they are 🙂 Even with the cold the snow seems manageable- no huge mounds or drifts for either animals or people to struggle through. Get those boots and wear them joyfully with warm feet 🙂
I am setting everything up as a bachelor pad!! Just the basics. And yes. Really not much snow yet. Just a few inches. So it is easy to navigate.
Love that! Minimal for a guy and his fire loving dogs 🙂
Boots for the winter, so important. Justify it with the money you will be saving on gas! Lovely healthy looking black pigs! So pleased to see them again and all sounds good with Jude and Freebee. Welcome back to snow, buckets and bubbles.
I will probably just wear my gumboots even with a hole in them. All my money is going on paying for fares to my children for the next few months. I am buying nothing.
I am so in love with that stove and the orange wall behind it! How neat to be able to bake bread (and other delicious things) in it. Of course if I was carrying all the wood inside to fuel it, I might feel differently.
Cold here as well. 23 F just now. I am so looking forward to the predicted 6 F next week. We do have snow here (9 inches) which looks to be around for a good little while until melting temps come back. We were so lucky to have missed the ice, freezing rain etc. It looked for awhile that we would be in the thick of it but fortunately, for us at least, it went south so we only got snow.
Take care in the cold and make every effort to stay warm. You have people counting on you, you know. I feel very privileged to be able to just look out at all that snow and cold and not have to traipse around in it unless I just want to.
Victoria
I don’t mind bringing in the wood. I just grab an armload as I pass while doing chores. And I love my orange walls too.
The woodstove has been tempting me back inside all day. I just love cooking on it. Stew today, with baked potatoes. Everything takes a little longer of course but planning ahead is fine with me.
get the boots! and I love the stove and how you can roast things in it. score~!
I am all about the roasting. And the frying!! 😂
We’re in the deep freeze too! High of -10C yesterday and not much warmer today. The sun is nice, though.
Your place is much colder than here! Hopefully it won’t be for too much longer. – but we always say that we!!
Bloody freezing hell. The new woodstove arrived in the nick of time. Love how dogs lay and look at the flames… like they get the aesthetic.
They are heat mongers.
That stove will be perfect for drying and airing clean laundry, too. Those old-fashioned wooden racks on wheels that collapse down out of the way. And of course perfect for toasting cold toes, so long as you’re not subject to chillblains.