We had our first "arctic blast" last week, complete with a hard freeze and a day with wind chills in the teens. I've been kinda unplugged for the last month or so, and I'm embarrassed to admit I wasn't very prepared for it to get so darn cold. When we stepped out into that wind in the morning and noticed all the green things looking not quite right and all the creatures moving sluggishly, it was pretty obvious that we'd missed a chance to shore up the place, and stuff was hurtin'.
I spent the better part of the morning trying to help all our wards recover from the cold. I filled the bee feeders with warm heavy sugar water. I made the chickens some oatmeal with blackstrap molasses and lugged a big pitcher of hot water out to their frozen waterer. I doubled the hay in their coop and nesting boxes, and I threw some scratch out into their yard to get them moving. I broke the ice on the bird bath (which was close to a half-inch thick at that point) and put out fresh bird seed. I even dragged the dog's bed closer to her space heater in the garage and gave her some meaty leftovers.
I felt a little less guilty about the neglect they'd all felt the night before after all that, but I've vowed to pay a little more attention to what's coming our way in the winter days ahead. As for my poor freeze-dried lantana? It was a monster anyway, and it needed to be cut back a little. I'm sure it'll be fine. It's a shame we'll loose all those blooms, though.
It's a good thing everything around these parts is so hearty!
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