Green Dragon's 2021 Grow

[Oldfella]

We are looking at some record low temperatures here in central Texas. It’s been sleeting all day and they are forecasting lows of 3 F this weekend! Also the power is out due to tree limbs snapping from the ice. 2021 is not starting out promising....

That's getting a little bit cold at 3°f, however I'm sure that the weather will improve for you.
Hang in there and all will be good.
Cheers
Oldfella

 

[GreenDragon]

SITREP: No power for 24 hours. No internet or cellular data either.

(Writing this in a short window of cell data. For reference it takes about 5 min to load a page of this forum.)

8” of snow last night, drifts to 12”. Pool frozen over. Burst hose bib. Suspect pool pump and pipes burst too. Interior temp is 50F. Suspect won’t get power until tomorrow. Seriously worried about pipes bursting in the walls tonight. Have all faucets dripping a mix of hit and cold water. Temps in the single digits last night and tonight. They don’t build houses for the cold here...

I...shoveled...snow today. Not a sentence this Deep South boy ever thought he would utter. All meals today cooked in the gas grill and gas fireplace.

 

[deluxestogie]

If you can read this, open every cabinet (like sink cabinets) that has water pipes in them. It looks rough.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Don't catch the carbon monoxide.

 

[Oldfella]

SITREP: No power for 24 hours. No internet or cellular data either.

(Writing this in a short window of cell data. For reference it takes about 5 min to load a page of this forum.)

8” of snow last night, drifts to 12”. Pool frozen over. Burst hose bib. Suspect pool pump and pipes burst too. Interior temp is 50F. Suspect won’t get power until tomorrow. Seriously worried about pipes bursting in the walls tonight. Have all faucets dripping a mix of hit and cold water. Temps in the single digits last night and tonight. They don’t build houses for the cold here...

I...shoveled...snow today. Not a sentence this Deep South boy ever thought he would utter. All meals today cooked in the gas grill and gas fireplace.

I agree with China. If using an unflued gas appliance indoors ventilation is a must. It will consume the O2 to aid combustion and put you to sleep forever. I would not like to hear that. Hang in there and I hope that you will be OK.
Cheers Oldfella

 

[GreenDragon]

Got another data window. First thanks everyone for the tips and advice! Gas grill is outside and the fireplace has a real chimney so no worries there. It’s a wood fireplace that’s been converted to gas logs (gas line originally for starting the wood).

36 hours without power now. Pool completely frozen over. Supports the weight of the Labrador. Next snowstorm supposed to start tonight. 48F in the house. I am so bored. May roll some cigars tonight for something to do.

 

[Oldfella]

Got another data window. First thanks everyone for the tips and advice! Gas grill is outside and the fireplace has a real chimney so no worries there. It’s a wood fireplace that’s been converted to gas logs (gas line originally for starting the wood).

36 hours without power now. Pool completely frozen over. Supports the weight of the Labrador. Next snowstorm supposed to start tonight. 48F in the house. I am so bored. May roll some cigars tonight for something to do.

Hope your baccy plant's are OK. We get power outages from time to time but not freezing like you do. The only problem I have is no power, no pump, No water. House runs on gas so heating and cooking is OK. Just have to get water in bucket. Not cold enough to affect the baccy plants. Hope that it improves for you soon.
Cheers Oldfella

 

[GreenDragon]

Found an old battery operated cd radio and we are listening to The Lord of the Rings audiobook on cd.

Converted the fireplace back to wood and appropriated 3 bags of wood from the old house. Lovely warm fire and that old fashioned wood fire smell.

I’ve been reading some of my paperback Agatha Christy books for entertainment. Makes me appreciate the Victorians - not easy to read by candle light.

 

[Danny M]

SITREP: No power for 24 hours. No internet or cellular data either.

(Writing this in a short window of cell data. For reference it takes about 5 min to load a page of this forum.)

8” of snow last night, drifts to 12”. Pool frozen over. Burst hose bib. Suspect pool pump and pipes burst too. Interior temp is 50F. Suspect won’t get power until tomorrow. Seriously worried about pipes bursting in the walls tonight. Have all faucets dripping a mix of hit and cold water. Temps in the single digits last night and tonight. They don’t build houses for the cold here...

I...shoveled...snow today. Not a sentence this Deep South boy ever thought he would utter. All meals today cooked in the gas grill and gas fireplace.

Just run the cold water, if your electric is off your wasting hot water that you don’t have to begin with.

 

[Danny M]

SITREP: No power for 24 hours. No internet or cellular data either.

(Writing this in a short window of cell data. For reference it takes about 5 min to load a page of this forum.)

8” of snow last night, drifts to 12”. Pool frozen over. Burst hose bib. Suspect pool pump and pipes burst too. Interior temp is 50F. Suspect won’t get power until tomorrow. Seriously worried about pipes bursting in the walls tonight. Have all faucets dripping a mix of hit and cold water. Temps in the single digits last night and tonight. They don’t build houses for the cold here...

I...shoveled...snow today. Not a sentence this Deep South boy ever thought he would utter. All meals today cooked in the gas grill and gas fireplace.

Here’s a trick, get three 8” concrete block, 1 4” cap block. Place the 8” blocks along side the cap block. Get some emergency candles and then sit an 8” terra cotta flower pot over top. See if that doesn’t help with the heat. About the water, if it were me and I were afraid of pipes busting, I’d run some water for cooking and cleaning in 5G buckets and then either shut the water off prior to the water heater or at the meter. Then run the water out of the lines.

 

[GreenDragon]

Power and internet are both on so far today. More tree limb damage due to ice accumulation. I'm not bothered much by this as I had planned a major clearing of the yard to create a garden area.



Normally I plant my seeds on Feb 15 to transplant out April 15. Due to lack of power that didn't happen, so will be on this weekend's to-do list. I need to be assured the power is going to stay on before I start seeds.

The most recent tragedy is the loss of both of my fish tanks. I have a 70 gallon saltwater reef and a 30 gallon planted freshwater tank. However, 48 hours of no power and cold water wiped all my fish and corals out. What really depresses me is that I put a lot of effort in moving these tanks from the old house to the new and I didn't lose anything in the move, which is hard to do with a reef tank. So it looks like I will be starting over from scratch and lost 3 years of coral growth.

 

[Oldfella]

Power and internet are both on so far today. More tree limb damage due to ice accumulation. I'm not bothered much by this as I had planned a major clearing of the yard to create a garden area.

View attachment 35280

Normally I plant my seeds on Feb 15 to transplant out April 15. Due to lack of power that didn't happen, so will be on this weekend's to-do list. I need to be assured the power is going to stay on before I start seeds.

The most recent tragedy is the loss of both of my fish tanks. I have a 70 gallon saltwater reef and a 30 gallon planted freshwater tank. However, 48 hours of no power and cold water wiped all my fish and corals out. What really depresses me is that I put a lot of effort in moving these tanks from the old house to the new and I didn't lose anything in the move, which is hard to do with a reef tank. So it looks like I will be starting over from scratch and lost 3 years of coral growth.

Sorry to hear about your fish. If wanted could you sow your baccy seeds in the warmest room. It is unfortunate that you have no power. Does it happen often? The longest my power was out was 3 days during a bad storm, baccy plant's seemed to stand up to it OK.
Keep warm and safe. Hopefully it will improve soon.
Cheers Oldfella

 

[GreenDragon]

Thanks @Oldfella No, up till now the power has always been very reliable. I’ve lived in the area for 15 years and have never been without power for more than an hour. But the only thing constant is change they say.

 

[Oldfella]

Thanks @Oldfella No, up till now the power has always been very reliable. I’ve lived in the area for 15 years and have never been without power for more than an hour. But the only thing constant is change they say.

I often wonder how we managed without power
Oldfella

 

[leverhead]

Thanks @Oldfella No, up till now the power has always been very reliable. I’ve lived in the area for 15 years and have never been without power for more than an hour. But the only thing constant is change they say.

This storm has been, if not unique, then at least extraordinary. Control of the power distribution in Texas has been less than stellar.

 

[GreenDragon]

On the “we’ve been bored front” the wife knitted me some hand warmers! I find that my fingers get cold if I’m on the computer for any length of time. This solves that problem and let’s me type / mouse with no problems.

 

[Amberbeth84]

That's some good looking seed stitch there.

 

[GreenDragon]

It's Planting Day!

 

[deluxestogie]

Bob says label each one. Bob is clumsy. Maps don't work after the continents have drifted.

Bob

 

[Oldfella]

Bob says label each one. Bob is clumsy. Maps don't work after the continents have drifted.

Bob

Right Bob, I carefully labeled each row 1yr, chickens rearranged them & I couldn't remember what was what. It produced some interesting smokes though.
Cheers Oldfella