Yes, thank goodness! And luckily, our girl who lives at the farm has family close by so she’s been able to sleep there.
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My parents’ house in western NC lost power, and it was so cold, the valve for the automatic generator’s natural gas line froze, so no generator power, either! The generator repair company said they had hundreds of calls for the same thing. I think he said it got down into the 40s in one house and 36 in the other (55mph winds blew a door open, with nobody home). Luckily they were here with us, not there!
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I’ve seen all kinds of lizards here, the little ones (like the Geico Gecko). This article said where they’ve been found in the U.S.:
The Green Iguana is native to South & Central America, Mexico, and some islands of the Caribbean but, once again, because of the popularity of the iguana in the pet trade they have become invasive in South Florida, Hawaii, Texas, and Puerto Rico.
Fortunately not in Alabama yet, that we know of.
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Thanks, that is good to know! I like iguanas, having met two, but they belonged to people I met and lived in tanks. I love little lizards, e.g., skinks which we have here, and anoles that we had in north-central AL, but much as I like iguanas they would take a LOT of getting used to if I started running into them sunning themselves on the patio, forget dropping down out of trees!
I like 4-legged reptiles in general, but with all of them, size takes some getting used to for me. I was thrilled to see the alligators close-up at Hilton Head – when they were in the lagoon and I was up on the bridge. I would NOT have wanted to see one anywhere near me on land.
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My dad and stepmom lost power early Saturday morning but it came back on around 6am.
It’s a good thing your parents were with you this weekend!
We had another pulse of freezing rain during the day 
. Everything is thoroughly glazed. Temps made it up to 32 today but the air aloft…in the clouds…is quite a bit warmer. Hopefully tomorrow, it will make it quite above freezing down here on the ground. Poor pony needs to get out of the barn for a bit but I am not going to risk a fall if it doesn’t warm up.
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It’s still unusually cold but we seem to be out of the hard freeze period. In spite of days of below freezing temps the ground is not frozen. It had been in the 50’s before all this started.
Today it was crisp and sunny, 20’s to upper 30’s, almost no wind. Very nice Christmas day.
Hopefully the national travel network is recovering.
Crazily, by Wednesday afternoon and for several days afterward, we have forecast highs in the 70’s.
In this area it is not unusual to have weekly swings in winter weather with highs from the balmy bright 70’s to the cold overcast dank windy 40’s. Some of the nicest days of the year are in January – but that can’t be counted on. Out-of-staters who move here from the north and expect more consistency can find this a bit unnerving.
It does make it hard to plan for an outdoor winter horse show. Any given day a couple of weeks away might be the best day of the year, or the worst.
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I remember telling a BNT once to pack for anything. It was for a clinic in December in Louisiana, so I told him “could be 8, could be 80!”
On Friday, we had lows in the teens, the high never broke freezing. This week on Thursday, low will be 60 and high of 72!
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Over Christmas I learned that my DIL’s brother’s little mini got loose and died. They think from the extreme cold. He’s not the most savvy of horse keepers and I doubt he fed extra hay or blanketed them. So sad 
That’s so sad. Poor little thing. 
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If I murder DH it will be because yesterday he turned on the outside water sources, spigots, left hoses full of water, set plants out in the sun, etcetera and FORGOT HE DID ALL OF THAT.
It went down to 19 last night.
Time will tell. I am not shifting my carcass one inch to help him see if he broke anything in his negligence. Not. One. Inch.
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I’d like to share something this deep freeze taught me. I’ve been setting out medicated soaked snacks for am and pm for years for my princess. A few times a year they freeze before they are fed even though they are in insulated soup cups. Why it took me so many deep freezes to figure out I’ll never know, but I finally got smart this time and added a pinch of salt to each snack cup. No more ice cube snacks. D’oh!
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Thought of this last night around 10 pm. I got delayed at a family get together yesterday and was late getting home to feed and blanket my boys. They had plenty of hay but I had left them naked as the daytime high was 50 F + with full sun and no wind. It was about 34F when I got out to the horses last night. Dark but not a breath of wind. My old TB was full body shaking / shivering. I felt like the world’s biggest a$$hole. Horse warmed up quickly after I got his medium plus hood blanket on. I was worried about him (woke up before dawn to go check him again). This horse isn’t clipped in any way. Full face / ear fuzz, heck I don’t even pull his mane. But he still got so cold in just a few hours.
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awww poor guy! It happens! I’m being extra careful with my 32yo this Winter, his blanketing temp ranges are bumped up about 10* from previous years.
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Seems to me you’re doing exactly the same thing? You want people to quit riding or “dress accordingly” but you’re getting bent out of shape if they do things differently. What’s it to you if they are paying to heat their barn or arena?
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I go insane this time of year with all the “horses don’t need blankets” posts.
I mean, humans survived outdoors in caves wearing nothing but bearskins. Yet I’m a whole lot happier and healthier staying indoors in the heat and layering up in modern fabrics when venturing outdoors.
Social media goes nuts with “bring your pets indoors!” If a domesticated dog or cat should have warmth in temperature extremes, how are people going to insist a domesticated horse deserves less? I can’t bring them indoors by the fireplace but they most definitely appreciate clothes.
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I’ll have to be more careful too. I could have left a no fill sheet on him during the day and he probably wouldn’t have overheated in it and it might have kept him from shivering until I got home. He kinda hates his current no fill sheet so I best make a decision on ordering him a new one!
32! Wow! Yes I can definitely see him needing more protection from cold. My guy is a decade younger and already blanket him a touch heavier than my riding horse.
Riiiight! My horse survived being shivering cold but I’m certain he was miserable.
I tell people that if your horse has a proper hair coat, shelter, and plenty of hay he/she will most likely be just fine and you can monitor and adjust accordingly but if you want to put a blanket on because it makes you feel better, do it. My blanketed horses did not leave their sheltered area for 3 days so I know even with blankets and endless hay they weren’t feeling the windchill.
The forecast for last night’s low was mid 30’s at 6 am, so I didn’t blanket my two - who had been wearing them previously when temps were in the teens and low 20’s, but off during the day when it hit close to 70 (no place has temperature swings like Texas does). Ah, a heat wave, thinks I. When I woke up at 6 and saw it was actually 26 outside, I felt like crap for leaving them nekkid. No one was shivering, but I could tell they weren’t particularly comfy, either. Fortunately, it warmed up quickly as the sun rose.
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