Icy cold weather

It's mid February, and the weather is cold.  It's been cold for a while.  Our family weathers it pretty well, but this is the coldest our youngest two have known.  Back in January, right after Christmas vacation, they went back to school in below zero temps with wind.  It was rough but they did great.  And yes, we do walk to school when it's cold.  We bundle up and I have puffballs walking out the door.  But they're warm.  They cover faces, hands, legs, wear long-johns, balaclavas, hats, hoods, double mittens, extra layers, snowpants, windpants, neckwarmers, whatever combination they like of the above, plus handwarmers if they so desire.  And honestly, unless the wind is howling, they're warmer than if we would drive, and probably it doesn't take them much longer either.

My husband is wonderful - he has taught them resilience through his insistence that we NOT drive on these mornings because it's not good for the car!  And he would be right, although I admit to some incredulity still, and a weird feeling that we treat the car better than the kids . . . . . Yet I have seen what weeks of indoor recess can do to my kids, whether due to wind chill, actual cold temps, or ice-covered playgrounds, and I am thankful for the fact that they still get some fresh air and time outside every day due to walking, at least to school, if not home as well.

The cold takes a toll and we were tired.  I think we were sick a lot too (germs love all the indoor time - again, we miss being able to play outside a lot!) and we have been thankful for some snow (the inches of thick ice of late December/early January all melted by mid-January, yay!) and the few days we have been able to get out (much more lately).  I unfortunately have had cold-induced asthma issues as I've never had before (weakened lungs from a very bad cold I caught just before Christmas which took me weeks to recover from) and have not tolerated it as well, but by late January, covering my mouth when I went outside and taking it easy seem to be working and the tightness is no longer overwhelming (and the meds not needed - yay).  I love that we all have the "can do" spirit, and knowing that the cold won't kill you is critical around here.  Today was a 10 below morning again.  And it was the first time that Papa Bear walked Patience to her 6:30am viola lesson.... because it was too cold to start the car and we didn't want her walking alone in the mostly dark so early in the day.  Yay Papa Bear!  (and the viola does survive - we use handwarmers to help maintain the temperature, and more importantly, the humidity, in the case!). [We did reschedule her lesson another week when it was about 18 below... that was too much for the viola - we draw the line around -10].

Inside the house is kind of fun too.  In our den, we have some pretty poor insulation in the walls, plus the only heat in this room is the space heater.  The temp in this room is always cool and often drafty, esp. if you have the drapes open.  The heater does a great job, and keeps the room at about 65-68 degrees with the help of the ambient heat from the rest of the house through the doorway (and we have our main thermometer in this room  - so we know the temp and aren't guessing at that 65 degrees!).  But we realized early in January that we really REALLY like our drapes.  We have (from the folks who put on this addition) custom-made honeycomb shades on the windows, which do a great job - when closed.  We have known that for some time.  But the thermal drapes on the sliding glass door (north side of the house, never sees sun except May-July and only for a short time then...) do a great job at keeping the cold out (and protect us from the drafts!)  We don't open them in the winter, but I did for some reason some weeks ago, when it was below zero, and I took pictures of the ice build up which is all over the doors, especially on the edges, and the panes are (naturally) frosted over.  I have noted since that it is ALWAYS like that, whenever we get below zero, like today.  And we even get frost on the wood panelling itself, behind the TV.  So it's fun.  Every house has its quirks, and this is one of ours.  We don't end up with any moisture issues because of the low humidity that you get in northern homes in the winter due to the cold, so when the ice melts, it evaporates quickly (or refreezes!).  I think there's plenty of transpiration too.  Hope you enjoy the pictures of our indoor weather phenomena, including the "puffy" drapes which show you that there is indeed a draft, and how well they contain it!