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Chilly. And, Chili
Feb. 17th, 2007 09:21 amI do so enjoy tweaking people about where I live and getting cold. Lots of folk just don't believe the Baja Jorja gets cold; come on now, it's tropical right? Right? Well, yes... and no.
See, Baja Jorja (a.k.a. Florida) is this long, slender penninsula. In fact, as a geographical/demographical entity, it's long and slender in two directions, the penninsula and the panhandle. It's so long, in fact, that if one were to drive (and not necessarily at the posted speed limits, either) from one geographical endpoint (Key West) to the other (just a bit west of Pensacola) one would need between 16 - 24 hours.
So, yup, down south around Fort Myers, Baja Jorja is rather semi- or sub-tropical. Eight or so driving hours north, roundabouts where teh Ranch is located, and we're not so much tropical. Hot, in the summer time, yes. Well, you know, so is the Black Hills of the Dakotas.
At any rate, we received a freeze warning yesterday, said warning meaning that local ambient temperatures would be at or below the freezing point of water starting at 22:00 (10 PM for those who don't ken 24 hour times) and persisting until at least 09:00 this morning.
As of 45 minutes ago, measured on the thermometer that's located right next to our water inlet pipe, the temperature is a pleasant 28 F (approximately -2 C). This is warmed up from 23 F (- 4 C or so) when I first got up. This thermometer is so conveniently located next to that pipe because that pipe is about 5 feet exposed between ground and entry to the house. That's a lot of pipe to be frozen, eh? So I want to know what the temperature is right next to it.
Now, down there in Key West it ain't quite so chilly.
What this means for the Ranch is, we may need to break ice on the horse, goat, and cow water troughs (or not; it will thaw today). Not due to get as cold this evening. The few hogs we keep, their water was turned off last evening and disconnected, the water points drained. PVC tube can freeze itself solid and won't break; it's the water contained within, expanding, that breaks pipe whether it's PVC or iron or copper. And the bottle-baby kids were tanked up again at midnight.
We enjoyed Homemade Chili on baked potatoes for dinner. Good, cold weather meal, that.
See, Baja Jorja (a.k.a. Florida) is this long, slender penninsula. In fact, as a geographical/demographical entity, it's long and slender in two directions, the penninsula and the panhandle. It's so long, in fact, that if one were to drive (and not necessarily at the posted speed limits, either) from one geographical endpoint (Key West) to the other (just a bit west of Pensacola) one would need between 16 - 24 hours.
So, yup, down south around Fort Myers, Baja Jorja is rather semi- or sub-tropical. Eight or so driving hours north, roundabouts where teh Ranch is located, and we're not so much tropical. Hot, in the summer time, yes. Well, you know, so is the Black Hills of the Dakotas.
At any rate, we received a freeze warning yesterday, said warning meaning that local ambient temperatures would be at or below the freezing point of water starting at 22:00 (10 PM for those who don't ken 24 hour times) and persisting until at least 09:00 this morning.
As of 45 minutes ago, measured on the thermometer that's located right next to our water inlet pipe, the temperature is a pleasant 28 F (approximately -2 C). This is warmed up from 23 F (- 4 C or so) when I first got up. This thermometer is so conveniently located next to that pipe because that pipe is about 5 feet exposed between ground and entry to the house. That's a lot of pipe to be frozen, eh? So I want to know what the temperature is right next to it.
Now, down there in Key West it ain't quite so chilly.
What this means for the Ranch is, we may need to break ice on the horse, goat, and cow water troughs (or not; it will thaw today). Not due to get as cold this evening. The few hogs we keep, their water was turned off last evening and disconnected, the water points drained. PVC tube can freeze itself solid and won't break; it's the water contained within, expanding, that breaks pipe whether it's PVC or iron or copper. And the bottle-baby kids were tanked up again at midnight.
We enjoyed Homemade Chili on baked potatoes for dinner. Good, cold weather meal, that.
