BITTERLY COLD HERE. THERE?

 I hope you all are staying warm and dry in this bizarre weather. Let me tell you - it has been cold over the last week - but last night it became bitterly cold. I have been going out and taking care of my chickens several times a day and up until yesterday evening it was cold - but it was alright. Yesterday when I went to take care of them - it was miserable. We have 4 heat lamps out there and the water in the area that they are staying but I am having to take a fresh water 2-3 times a day so they can have water - otherwise it freezes. It got down into the single digits - 4 degrees when I woke up and the wind chill - numbers. We have snow/ice on the ground and will be below freezing till Friday - IF we are lucky enough to get above freezing it will be barely - not enough to melt this stuff. So I don't see myself leaving the house the rest of the week. Last time I was out was Wednesday- thankfully I got out then. We have been below freezing for like 93 hours until a brief period of time on Sabbath afternoon when the temps got to at least 32 maybe 33 degrees - but then quickly went back down. And Friday is only set to be 32 degrees. So I probably wont make it to church on Sabbath :( After experiencing the last 24 hours - I have to say I am SO very grateful that where I live we usually only get down to the 20's as lows - they are alright. Our summers are fierce but usually we can at least say well at least our winters are pretty mild. But not this year. This is the roughest winter weather we have had since about 89 I believe is what they are saying. 

This morning at about 4am the electricity to my parents house went out and has been out. A very kind man from church took a generator over for them but it just can't run much and hard to get things warmed up - it was less than 58 in their house by the time the generator got there. So we decided it would be best for them to go to hotel. There is no telling how long power will be out. We did not know what else to do for them. Praying power is restored soon and that their pipes don't bust. 

We have lost cold water at my kitchen sink... I had been letting the sink drip but I had been working in the kitchen and doing dishes and shut the cabinet doors so I could work and a little later I went to set it to drip again and the cold out. Ugh. I already know it will be a week before I can do laundry since my washer and dryer are in the garage. And it is bitterly cold out there as well. 

A tiny glimmer of hope is that next week we have at last a day or two in the 60's to look forward to but right now that seems like forever from now. 

I do hope you all are staying warm and dry.