...put your shorts.....

....back in the drawers! The big momma storm of the winter is hauling on in here next week. It will involve 48 of the continental states! I'm telln' ya ..I'm not ready to see temps of 15 degrees.........yikes!!

"eyes"

Eyes, my heating system is on the blink, how can this be??? I was dragging my heels thinking I might be able to get by without it, but you say this is the big freeze?

...afraid so Aimee! Supposed to dip into Texas by Tues...night temps 29 degrees....day 40 then Wed. 15 low
high 40 ...winter mix...no fun! Check the weather channel if you have it! Then it's heading all the way across the southern states and up the eastern seaboard.

"eyes"

Our local station said it will go down to zero or below on Thur. and Fri. night. Brrrr!

It's rollin' on in here now....gotta go cover my rose bushes really well..if it were just a day I wouldn't worry so much....but this is gonna be around all week!

"eyes"

Aimee, I hope you have a fireplace....Or go stay with family during the freeze.

By the way, can those fireants withstand the freeze?

Good luck everyone with the cold temps, I havent heard anything unusual for our area.

...'fraid so, Pebs.....they just go deeper down until it warms up again!

"eyes"

Aimee, dear....if ya can't find a relative or friend (which I would sincerely doubt :D)...put some large kettles of water on the stove and keep them simmering, along with your oven on about 200 degrees.....This will give off more heat than you think....sorta like the radiators they use up north.

"eyes"

They have little electric ceramic heaters at WalMart that are usually around $15. They look small but I'm telling you, you can heat 3-4 rooms easily with it if you put it central of them all. I have 2 of them, one for upstairs and one for downstairs. They do work nicely and would keep you toasty if you just have them in one room and close the door.

......be sure to leave your water at a drip so the pipes don't freeze....there's another chore, putting the domes back on the outside spigets........jeeez!

"eyes"

Oh, Aimee! Can you stay with your son and DIL if it goes out completely? Times like this I sure do wish we had our big house done ~ Spicewood's only about 55 miles from you and I could invite you to come stay with us if it was. You can still come stay with us in the little camper and huddle around the radiating oil heater with us and the dogs ~ the little radiator isn't NEAR as good at putting out heat as our old wood stove, so we could use the extra body heat! LOL!

Have you seen the latest weather? Channel 36 is saying 30 tonight and 27 tomorrow night with daytime highs of 48 until Thursday. BRRRRRR! But not as bad as it could be, I guess. Most definitely boil water ~ the increased humidity warms the air a LOT! In our barn house, we always kept a kettle of water on the wood stove. DOES make a difference.

Oh, my, I didn't mean to alarm anyone and I apologize! But how sweet of you all to be so helpful. Now, relax, because there isn't a problem, or at least not a new one. I have a fireplace, but have so much stuff crammed into the living room while the upgrade work is going on that I can't get to it. I have a wonderful old O'Keefe and Merritt stove with two ovens, but, alas, it's gas and hasn't been hooked up because of a leak in the thermostat. The man in Austin who fixes these things wanted $400 just to come out and look at it. I think my electrician fixed it, just tinkering around, but until the kitchen re-do is completed, it won't be in place to hook up. So I use small appliances to cook, have for over 12 years. Works okay for me. I had the house re-wired several years ago so I don't trip breakers as much. But the real solution is already here. Before I put in central heat, I depended on those small ceramic heaters and some milk house heaters, along with the fireplace. I can close off my bedroom and the bathroom and heat them to a toasty degree, and when I come up to the attic room where my puter is, I bring one of the heaters with me. This old rock house takes a long time to feel the temperature changes, so once it gets warm or cold, it's going to stay that way for a while. The trick is to start heating before it gets cold, and to be able to psyche myself not to use the entire house for a few days. And if it was really really cold, I would go to San Antonio for a visit! I can't imagine central Texas being that cold for more than a few days. Heck, I'm feeling warmer just knowing you all are thinking about me.