Snowcopalypse 2015, Pulling a Swartz, Small Town Living

Well, a bunch of states (including New Hampshire) declared *states of emergency* in anticipation of Winter Storm Juno hitting the east coast.
So far, not such a big deal. Snow, yes, but not as much as they said there would be.
Winds? Not much so far.
No raids on the grocery stores up here by the French toast brigade (you know, milk, bread & eggs). Everyone pretty much kept on doing what they normally do.
The roads are being kept fairly clean. New Hampshire is darn good at that! They scrape, salt and sand with a determined ferocity. They even have small scrapers that clean the sidewalks! My neighbor comes over and scrapes my drive and parking area. Every second truck has snow blades on it up here, I swear!
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Remember *A Christmas Story*? Remember Swartz, the kid who stuck his tongue on a flagpole?
Well, I sorta pulled a Swartz a couple weeks ago. I had to run to the store and, before I went out the door, I put on hand lotion. Kinda necessary here in cold weather, otherwise your skin gets all cracked from the cold. So, put on hand lotion, put on my fingerless gloves. I wear them because I feel like I can't drive properly if I can't feel the steering wheel. Go out to the car, start the engine, and because there had recently been article after article about how warming up a car was a waste of gas and harmful to the environment, went ahead and grabbed the steering wheel. My hand-lotioned unprotected flesh immediately adhered to the plastic steering wheel. Plastic? PLASTIC!? I thought it only worked on metal!!!
What followed was the most excruciating 10 minutes of my life, or so it seemed at that moment. I screamed, I cried, I doubt my fingerprints have grown back yet.
Never. Again. I now warm the car up thoroughly!
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 I am still getting used to living in such a small town. Besides the obvious things of folks waving, courteous clerks in local stores and everyone knowing  your name, there are few other things...
People leave their cars running when they go into stores. In El Paso, especially in some neighborhoods, your car would be stolen in nano-seconds. Here, it's normal. Especially in cold weather! No one worries about their car being stolen. And if someone does have a car stolen, it is usually returned within a couple of hours, not because the cops caught the thief, but because the person that took it brought it back. Usually a neighbor that had an emergency and needed a vehicle right damn then. (Most folks around here leave their keys in their car, btw. ) And it usually come back gassed up.
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Chickens in the House? Sure, Why Not?!?

We had some cold days and nights. One night it got down to -33. The chickens and ducks were NOT happy out in the unheated garage.
So...

Tarps on floor, hay on tarps.

Cab moved, but Inky looked lovely!

The chickens and ducks are pretty content inside. However, I neglected to tell the Dalin' Man we had taken over the room that has the access door for the basement so the chickens would have a warm place. Soooo...in the middle of the night, he decided to go check on the furnace. He didn't turn on the light. He was surprised, the chickens were outraged, lol! Everyone recovered nicely.
And it is snowing again, but it is warmer today!

Mailbox and snow, getting a little art-y!

The road out front.

I intended to drive down to Littleton today, but with a winter storm watch going on, I decided it was best to hang around the homestead today.
So...a day of cleaning, doing stuff around the house and maybe even some sewing (if I'm lucky).

You Might Be a Prepper...

Over at The Organic Prepper they had these lists....sorta embarrassed/proud that I qualified....REALLY qualified to be called a "Crazy Prepper"!
You might be a crazy prepper...
More signs you might be a crazy prepper...

So...do YOU qualify?

A-n-n-n-n-n-d It's Winter!

Colebrook, NH (03576) Weather

Wind Chill Warning until Tue, 10am

7:45 am EST

-10^°F Feels Like -33^°

Partly Cloudy

Dangerous wind chills. Outdoor exposure should be limited.

Wind WNW 16 mph gusts to 24 mph

Humidity  69%

Yup. It's cold.
The chickens and ducks are now in cages in the downstairs mud room.
I am running around putting plastic sheeting on any and all windows that got left out in late Autumn.
We got our furnace running. It's at a minimal level, but it IS running. The downstairs is much more comfortable, and that, in turn, makes the upstairs (where we are) much cozier. Good Thing!
New Water heater installed and running well.
Bundle up and stay warm!