Watching the Weather!

Hi, everyone!

In winter, we need to pay attention to the weather! We have to take advantage of what the weather is like to get done what we need to do!

Once the apple tree lights go dark, Grandma worries about the lights strung between the clothesline tree and the real trees. She’s afraid deer might get snagged in them when they move around at night. The first sunny day after Twelfth Night, I helped her take down those strings of lights. The temperature was only 25 degrees F., so we both had to wear all our warm clothes to work outside! The strings of lights were stiff from the cold, so we didn’t try to wind them onto their cards as we took them off. When we were done, Grandpa took down the clothesline tree. The ground was frozen solid, so he couldn’t put the protective can around the support post.

Grandma bought a lot of butternut squash when Burnap’s market closed for the season. We keep them in a cool closet, but they won’t stay good all winter. I helped Grandma peel, cut and roast the last two squash. They got really soft and sweet, with some crunch on the outside! While the squash were roasting, Grandma tried a recipe for a Spanish tortilla. That’s like an omelet with thinly sliced potatoes. This recipe called for seasoned potato chips! I helped measure out the proper weight. It made a big pile of chips!

Last week was mostly cold, but we didn’t have a lot of snow. On Friday Grandma went to the medical center with Grandpa for some appointments. She took along another set of blankets she had made for the sick babies. That night, the weather person said that the temperature would finally get above freezing on Saturday, but that we’d have really cold weather this week. Saturday morning, I helped Grandma take the rest of the lights off the apple trees. It started to rain a little, so we had to bring those lights in to warm up and dry off before we could put them away.

Saturday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa and I went out to the bay. The weather person said we were going to have the coldest weather in seven years this week. Grandpa decided to be safe and drain the plumbing. Even though it was above freezing, there were ice fishermen on the bay! I made sure all the water came out of the faucets after Grandpa turned off the water supply. Then he put antifreeze in the drains that still had water in them.

The temperature was already dropping when we left the bay. By the time we got back to town, it was snowing lightly! Sunday was cold and Monday was even colder. It never got warmer than 19 degrees F.! Grandma said this was a perfect time to pack the Ground Hog Day cookies. We could store the boxes in the trunk of the car instead of needing room in the freezer. We had the biggest snow so far this season, so I was happy to have an inside adventure!

After dinner on Monday, the temperature was even lower! Grandma said it was a good time to defrost the freezer! We put all the food from the freezer in coolers and baskets in the garage. The garage was just as cold as the freezer usually is! Then Grandpa ran a hair dryer in the freezer to thaw the collected ice. He put a bowl over the hair dryer so the melting ice didn’t damage the hair dryer. We used pans to collect the melt water and ice, and I was in charge of making sure it got into the kitchen sink! Once the ice was all gone, Grandma and I washed and dried the inside of the freezer. Then we turned it on again. When it got down to freezing inside, Grandma put all the frozen food back in it.

This morning it was 5 degrees F. when I got up! Tomorrow is supposed to be even colder! It’s sunny, though, so I can stay warm in my sunbeam.

Love,

Lion-san