Having to protect exposed pipes and faucets is just about the most aggravating part of winter weather in Texas. I'm glad it doesn't stay frozen for long even when it means digging them out. I use those faucets year round and they aren't available when it's too cold. I have a couple of cows in the barn area and I was grateful it thawed enough that I was able to top of the trough and know they had the opportunity to drink.

I wrapped my pipes goooooood! I will have to undo parts of it to get to the faucet. They did predict 24º in some parts. And we are on the border of where it could have been that cold and for longer than the other side of that border . I took the time to wrap the pipes tightly so that I didn't have an unmanageable water problem later. Been there, done that! UGHHH! Does anyone else have trouble unscrewing water hoses? I do! I hate them! They just go around and around and around and sometimes I don't see that it hadn't gotten a hold and you have to go around and around AND around again! Frustrating! Then I have to use a wrench to tighten them tight enough so that they don't leak. I think one day I will convert all the hose ends and faucet ends to the snap on type. If I have this much trouble now, I can only imagine the trouble I will have 5 years from now!

I am ready for our mornings temperatures to AT LEAST get into the mid-20's so I don't have to run water in so many faucets in the house. At least I did not have to run the LP heater in one of the greenhouses last night. The two electric heaters kept the temperature above 50F.

I have wrapped pipes "well" in the past and still had them freeze and break - also the animals unwrap so it becomes an annual chore. Since I have 19 outdoor faucets around the farm away from the house, I added shut-offs so that I can turn off the water and drain the pipes and only wrap a few places that will not empty completely. So far so good.

You sound like you have a handle on what you are doing. Gosh, 19 outdoor faucets!

Weather forecasts are such. I learned to take it as a ballpark expectation. It is always different in my yard anyways, just depends which temperature/weather sensors the agencies are using to monitor the weather changes. I got my own sensor, the micro climates here are such, so it helps me compare their data to mine. A slight variance of 2 to 3 degrees. But it is the windchill that really hits bad, so I have to hide/cover the more prone ones to damage. Before I do not have my sensors, and it is so dicey to gauge just how cold or dry it is outside.

I just feel glad when the dire forecasts do not occur. It may have been some effort to keep plants/property safe, but better to have done something than nothing and regret later.

Early this morning, the heaters in the big hoop went out. We had an electrical problem yesterday, but DH thought he had fixed it. Even though I said he should call an electrician, he declared it working. Soooo.....this morning, he called the company that re wired all our recessed lighting last year. They were only doing commercial work now, but called back to say one of the guys that had come out last year said he'd be right over. He said he remembered that I made homemade cookies for them every day they were here. So I whipped up some cookies and he unfixed, then refixed whatever DH had done. Luckily, the house didn't burn down.....the heaters were on the same breaker (?) as the outlets in the upstairs bath. I didn't ask how that happened, but next time we have an electrical problem, I'm going to remind "someone" that the electricians know better than to fly jets, so he should know better than to mess with electricity....

uh-oh...good save by the cookie loving electrician heheh

Yep! And just in time. It's sleeting now.

DH, my now-retired Mr. Fix-it guy, always remembered the people who offered cookies, coffee, etc., etc! He also remembered those who made complaints without any cause whatsoever!

We don't soon forget those that make our lives miserable, particularly those that seem to find nothing good in anything.

When I'm"reflecting" on past years, I really don't give much thought to mean people. I do remember the ones that were kind, or fun, or just plain good ole folks.

We're looking at a mix of rain and snow tonight. The grass is crunchy. The hoops are a toasty 44. Off the patio, it's a little warmer. I'm happy that I didn't lose anything last night. So far, so good.

Another 'next week' is coming tonight. My poor, poor back. It's been giving me fits for 3 months now . With all the nice weather, nearly everything managed to make it back outside and I'm working at getting them moved back inside for safety against temps in the 20sF tonight. I'm using the cart, but those really big clay pots still have to get up on the cart and then down again. Ouch. I'm seeing new growth on a lot of things. Not surprising with some 80F days. Looks like I'm going to see blooms on a lemon tree given to me last summer. It needs to get in a larger pot, but that's going to wait 'til it can stay outside until next fall. Right now it looks like the below freezing weather is just going to be one night. I guess in the next day or two I'll start hauling things back outside again.

We are supposed to have a low of 36 tonight. It sure doesn't feel very cold outside. We really haven't had to run the heaters very much this winter. A few nights around Thanksgiving and a couple recently. Keeping my fingers crossed.

@ needrain Take care of that back . DH put off surgery as long as he could.

It's about 38F at 10p.m. There are about nine hours of 32F and below beginning after midnight with the low around 27F or 28F. Of course that's if they got it right. I'm in a low spot and in winter I often match temperatures in the county west of me. In that case it may be as low as 24F. In any case, everything is stowed away for the night. I'll start toting some it back out tomorrow and if the long range forecast is correct, most of it will end up back outside this week. I really have to watch it this time of year. Neither the weather nor the forecasters can be trusted .

I don't know how to take care of the back! Things are what they are and things have to be done. Sure takes a long time to do them though.

So far, this has been the mildest winter I can remember. Of course, February still can have some bad weather. Our live oaks out back are just now losing their leaves. Waiting to hear the weather report tonight.

Lucky you, Sandi. The wind has been blowing strongly since midnight (out of the north) and the temperature is dropping rapidly. We are supposed to get down into the mid to upper 20's tomorrow morning, then back to around freezing the following two mornings, and then back into the 20's again. I am so ready for some spring-like weather. I have a lot of plants to ship out and can't ship a single one until we warm up here.

I left all my plants out and got super lucky last night. When I went up to the top of our property this morning there was ice in the horse trough. I had no idea it was going to get that cold. I hurried back down to the house to see the damage and was relieved to see it somehow stayed warmer and did not freeze. Temps look to be hovering around freezing the next few days. I guess I should not put any trust in those bone head weather anchors. I am getting tired of playing musical plants. In and out, in and out. I really need a green house. I guess it will better to be safe than sorry to bring them all back in. Well, there went my day.

Yep, a greenhouse is the thing you need to work on getting in place.

@drdawg The wind was fierce here last night. It has died down. Temp is 37. Our crazy weather will go from a high of 48 on Tuesday, to a high of 79 on Sunday! No wonder everyone has the sniffles.

@Esperansa I use the KXAN app on my phone to see the weekly forecast. DH uses the AccuWeather app. We both check both against the tv guys. They seem to be fairly close. We also check NOAA on the web. I can't blame the weather guys. I know they are making "educated guesses" I Do sometimes ignore them, and think that because we are on a hill I can leave things out. Usually, I guess correctly.