HOW COLD IS IT?
Here in Boston it was -6 overnight. Apparently the coldest since an infamous Valentine's Day in 2016 (it was -9) which was the coldest ever since another Valentine's Day low, minus 3 degrees set in 1934.
It's so cold that "sweatpants" seems like a wishful misnomer, and
... the birds in the yard are puffed up like Nerf balls, and
... rhododendron leaves are curled up, tight as pencils.
My husband and I are arguing over whether to keep the upstairs bedrooms (where each room has its own radiator) open or shut. I say SHUT because HEAT RISES. He (the physicist) says OPEN because it's warmer in the upstairs bedrooms than it is downstairs... which I say only proves my point.
Here are some photos from my neck of the woods....
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| Bunny tracks... |
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| Rhododendren |
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| Our bedroom window |
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| Rooftop snow making a possibly political statement... remind you of anyone's hair? |
HANK: Oh, here's where we are:
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| the shadows on the roof of the garage |
And here is the view from the Attorney General's office where I was doing an interview. The Charles River is frozen. It's frozen in waves. The WAVES are frozen. And there you have our world.
SO as Hallie says: HOW COLD IS IT?
Brrrr!!!! When I got up this morning it was 3 but had been -1 at some time before that, according to the weather website I checked. The temperature has gone all the way up to ten! Seventy more degrees, and I'll be happy!
ReplyDeleteDebRo
LOL Hallie, I'd go with Jerry's reasoning here! The Weather Channel says it's 64, but I don't believe it. And besides, I'm sick and miserable, so I'm deducting 50 degrees from our total. (How's that for physics?)
ReplyDeleteOh, Roberta, poor thing!
ReplyDeleteWell, all I can say is that our third floor is TOASTY and the first floor is SO COLD that I am wearing fleece slippers, sweatpants, a tank top, a longsleeved tee shirt, a thermal shirt, a fleece sweatshirt, a fleece vest over that, and over that, a blanket wrapped around me. And fingerless gloves. NO exaggeration.
The best thing we did was install a new furnace a couple of years ago, one that is sufficient for the size of our house. The fan is always runnning, from very slowly, just enough to keep the warm air circulating, to high when we need a burst of heat or ac. We set it at 68 during the day and down to 55 at night. It’s does a great job on this old house on the tundra.
DeleteAnd I love you both dearly, but I would definitely leave the doors open so the heat can share.
ReplyDeleteRoberta, sick? Oh pooh. Comes from hanging out with a pint-sized disease vector. We're just over colds here.
ReplyDeleteHank, that picture is amazing. Downtown Boston had a lot of flooding. We are, after all, at sea level and (just ask my physicist husband) ice is thicker and fatter (technical terms) than water.
Deborah, with you in spirit!
I know pooh! A pint-sized vector whose mother works in the ER and sees lots of flu victims:(
DeleteHallie, as you said, heat rises. So keep those bedrooms closed. I'd turn the radiators off up there too, or down, or whatever you do with radiators. My goal to keep bedrooms at sleeping temperature, which in this house is 60 F, 59 is better. You may tell "Sheldon" I said so.
ReplyDeleteSide note: Our dog Penny comes when we knock three times, just like in the "Big Bang Theory."
We are hitting double digits here today, which means I can safely walk the dogs without any of us freezing our parts. We have Mushers for their paws, but Penny hates having her feet touched. I will make the attempt in a little while, after I have her leash attached so she can't get away from me. Mushers protects against any road salt, keeps the snow from collecting between their toes and helps with cold feet.
I haven't poked my nose out since late last year. The time has come to air me out and get some exercise that doesn't involve that evil machine in the basement, the one right next to the litter box.
Stay warm Reds. Spring will come.
Yes, Hallie, I'd leave the doors open:-)
ReplyDeleteNo frozen pictures from me here in north Texas today. It's a gray 52 degrees, which sounds great to you in the frozen wasteland, but the SOUTH wind is bitterly cold. How weird is that?
Hank, super photo, although I can't believe you actually got out in that weather. Around here, no one would venture out their doors. Especially me.
Hallie, yours, too! Especially the snow hair, lol.
Stay warm, everyone!
Just checked the weather--winds from the south gusting at 32 mph!
DeleteNo wonder it feels nasty out.
DeleteA few years ago, we converted from oil to gas and turned our home from one heating/cooling zone to three (upstairs/master, downstairs front, and downstairs addition/guest beds). It has magically removed the heating and cooling strategy arguments from our marriage.
ReplyDeleteI'd shut rooms/turn down heat in ones I don't care about and keep the other rooms open and share the warmth with the hallway and each other.
Thanks, Kathy (waving!!) -
DeleteSadly we have only one zone for most of the up- and downstairs. The one upstairs bedroom's on a different zone and I keep it down and closed.
Phew . . . when I left for church this morning it was -11 [and I shudder to think what the wind chill made it feel like]. It was so cold that poor Miss Phoebe didn’t even want to start, but perseverance got her out of the driveway and on the way.
ReplyDeleteComing home just now was much better . . . it’s a balmy 09 now . . . .
Can I just say the past few days have made me wish I could simply crawl under a quilt and not surface again until there are daffodils in the garden . . . .
Can I just say I'd like to crawl in with you... my favorite Christmas present was a big heavy fleece throw. I am living under it.
DeleteOld houses are the hardest ones to keep warm. We have one bedroom that is just icy, so the door stays closed, but all the rest are open.
ReplyDeleteWe are at 16 here right now, but the forecast is for temps above freezing for the first time in over two weeks. The pond next door and the lake across the street are both frozen, something that routinely happened around Christmas years ago, but hasn't for a long, long time.
I'm like Ann, ready for an airing. I've only been out twice since the 23rd, and scuttled quickly between the car and the house, so it really doesn't count.
Sorry to hear you're under the weather, Roberta. Feel better soon, my dear.
thanks Karen. it's such a waste of being alive time!
DeleteSo my priest called me at 7:30 to suggest I cancel Sunday School. "I don't want to say you're old, but people your age probably should stay home." I did, even though I was sooo excited about my Epiphany plans -- "wise people." Stay warm, everyone.
ReplyDeleteDenise, you cracked me up! After I was hit by a car three weeks ago, a woman who had been sitting in a parked car came running over to me and told me not to move, and that she was calling 911. She was very calm, kind and compassionate. I started to change my mind about her when I heard her tell the 911 dispatcher that " an elderly lady was hit in a crosswalk"! (My thought: " did someone else get hit, too?")
DeleteIt's now up to fourteen here.
DebRo
"Who you callin' an old lady," she said to the mirror. HA HA HA!
DeleteWe are at 13 degrees F here right now and it feels like a heat wave! Literally, the house feels warm everywhere you go today. 'Babysitting' my brother's mini-dachs while he's on vacation and it's been so cold, poor Nemo's butt freezes by the time he's able to go! He will be a happy pup when it reaches 24 degrees today and 54 predicted by Thursday!!!! I'll need to break out the shorts and flipflops-- ;-)
ReplyDelete60 F now with a sunny high of 74 F predicted for later. Yes, I will crawl off now leave you to your misery - sending warm thoughts your way as we fire up the smoker for Hub’s famous slow cooked ribs - okay, that was mean. I’m sorry! But it’ll be 115 F here soon enough! XO
ReplyDeleteP.S. The pic from your bedroom is beautiful!
ReplyDelete60 F now with a sunny high of 74 F predicted for later. Yes, I will crawl off now leave you to your misery - sending warm thoughts your way as we fire up the smoker for Hub’s famous slow cooked ribs - okay, that was mean. I’m sorry! But it’ll be 115 F here soon enough! XO
ReplyDeleteJenn, could you possibly give up about twelve of your degrees and send them to me??
DeleteDebRo
In the suburb of Raleigh, NC it was 10 degrees last time I checked last night. It is now 23 and sunny. I layer up because I don't really have winter clothes, but going to the dog park is cold business. I look longingly at my flip flop tan lines slowly fading on my feet.
ReplyDeleteI heard it reached something horrendous like 45 degrees Celsius in Sydney, Australia yesterday, which I cannot even imagine - so much harder to escape the heat than the cold, I think. I'll take the minus 10 Celsius we have in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada today. Yesterday's wind was *wicked* and made the decent minus whatever it was feel ferocious. I enjoy wearing Turtlenecks in the winter, but am already pining for the T shirts of summer. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteIt's so cold in Maine I spent last night reading in bed because our oil-fired furnace is finding it impossible to heat the house to more than 62 degrees. It's so cold, we've had two nights of -15 and -20. It's so cold ALL the pipes, upstairs and down, have frozen for the first time in the 23 years I've owned this house.
ReplyDeleteIt's so cold that I had to turn off my refrigerator, which backs against an unheated pantry. It has literally been freezing everything inside it. I checked this morning - after twelve hours off the milk is STILL frozen in the door.
I figure the next step is where Youngest and I huddle around the fireplace with the chairs and sofa behind us, tossing books into the fire à la THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW.
Nooo--break up the furniture first, THEN the books!
DeleteI could never understand why they didn't burn the years of newspapers before the books. My librarian self still shudders.
DeleteAnd my comment disappeared again! But I also wanted to say: I am wearing thermal slippers, sweatpants, a tank top, a T-shirt, a thermal shirt, a fleeceSweatshirt, a fleece vest, a scarf around my neck, and a blanket wrapped around me.
ReplyDeleteJust saying.
Welcome to my world.
DeleteAnd my world. So many of my comments have disappeared after posting them that I've almost given up on bothering to post a reply.
DeleteIt’s up to 15, chill factor is 1. Tried to walk the dogs but even with the mushers, their little feet were freezing and they were holding up one leg than another. Maybe tomorrow. Pork and kraut is in the oven. Y’all come!
DeleteJay, Ann - I've been rescuing you! Don't know why Blogger has it in for you guys.
DeleteProbably because of my habitual dropping of F bombs? Although I don’t do that here or on Facebook. Like I’m fooling anyone.
DeletePretty bad when Blogger goes all HAL on my comments.
DeleteIt's a lovely 43 degrees F here in Seattle, on it's way to 47. There are rain showers in the forecast (shocking!) and it's gray. I would still take my weather over most of yours, but I do look forward to one day seeing that giant glowing orb in the sky, and not because I'm on an airplane!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteOut my window just now I saw a man carrying his dog down the street... setting it down to do its business... and then carrying it back the other way. It's SO COLD dogs are walking their owners.
ReplyDelete...snort...
DeleteI can identify with that.
DeleteBefore commenting on the cold, I have to tell you, Hallie, how much I love the bedroom window picture. I'm a big fan of window and door pictures, and yours is fantastic. See, we took that old icicle picture and made it a positive, a thing of beauty and not adversity. Yes, you may virtually slap me for being a irritating Pollyanna about it. Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteThe temp here is a balmy 36 right now, much improved, and supposed to hit a high of 40. With the temperature in the teens for such a long time an overnight in single digits, I'm delighted with the change. Predictions are for an unheard of 60 high on Thursday, and then it starts dropping again. I think I've already mentioned here that I feel a bit cheated, getting cold temps and no snow, but I'm sure those of you with snow to spare would not agree with that. We are actually supposed to get some sort of wintry mix tonight, yet another strange occurrence in a strange weather year so far. I do hope those of you who are in the truly frozen areas get some relief this week, and, Julia, I keep thinking about you in your cold house and with your pipes problems. I really hope you get relief soon.
I know I should not be whining, but 60 degrees is cold, especially when that is the inside temperature. When I was miserable with the heat during Irma, I kept saying you will miss this in the winter. So true.
ReplyDeleteI'm right before Cape Cod and it is pretty darn cold. Last I checked today's high was about 8. With no idea about any wind chill.
ReplyDeleteI put a slightly NSFW comment about how cold it is on my Facebook page, but since that won't work here, let's just a mother in law's heart is warm by comparison.
It's up to a sizzling 14 here on the New Hampshire border. When I walked to Quaker Meeting this morning at 9:30, it was minus four. I held my scarf in front of my face as I walked north. At one point I let my hand down and the scarf stayed up, because the moisture from my breath had frozen it in place! Thanks to the rebuild and insulating skills of my beau (and sun pouring in), our house is toasty with the thermostat set to only 64. Tomorrow it'll be warm enough out (into the twenties) for me to grab a ski in the park.
ReplyDeleteHallie, your photos are gorgeous - the sky is so blue it's heartbreaking!
ReplyDeleteNot so cold here - 40 this morning, but we are probably up around 65 now. One Florida oddity - since the houses are made to hold the cool and keep out the heat, when it does warm up outside it's still cold enough for heat inside for a day. I think we are at that point now.
California houses are like that... stucco.
DeleteI remember visiting friends in Boston in January and the train service was shut down because of the snow so my friends had to drive me to the airport! Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteDiana
I thought the end was in sight (I'm down to a turtleneck, Irish wool sweater and blanket weight sweats inside) but...tonight we're getting an ice storm! Warmer temps headed east.
ReplyDeleteIn Quebec, after 2days from minus 20F to minus 35 with high winds , it is warmer today with minus 0.4F and finally no wind : hourra!
ReplyDeleteBut I would not mind warmer again tomorrow and warmer the day after.
Like Hank, I wear multi- layers, only way to stay warm.
My two cents - I say close the rooms upstairs so the heat isn't sucked up from downstairs!
ReplyDeleteIt has warmed up to an incredible +10 here from -6 when I got up and the wind has stopped!
I agree!!!
DeleteI had my front bedroom closed off with supposedly only the radiator in the bathroom on upstairs. Tuesday I heard a plop and dripping. A tile from my living room ceiling was on the floor and some others were discolored. Upstairs that radiator was hot and leaking. I got it turned off that night but the furnace people came the next day to tighten it and make sure. My oil furnace hasn't been able to get my heat up to the 74 degrees that I keep it since Thursday. I think we had some zero over nights. Come on spring!
ReplyDelete