It Feels Like 9°F Outside

At least when we have this Arctic blast, we have something to show for the— it feels like 9 degrees outside.

Look at—

they're long gone. They're having a blast. Looks like they're sledding. That's good. I wanted to be up there when they're milking so I can train Harriet. Right? Rain, sleet, snow, sunshine— still got to get done. Our main furnace is out. We can turn on the wood boiler But it's a continuous thing and it's gonna be— it's supposed to be 45 this afternoon and 65 tomorrow, 70 this weekend. So it's not wood boiler season yet. Always the redundant, always the permaculturalist, always the redundancy-est. We got us our wood stove going in the living room and that's great for the little cold morning, cold evening, nothing during the day. Train Harriet. We probably took a step backwards yesterday getting her collar on and then it falling off again. This looks very traditional.

What I'm wearing?

Yeah, you have the Native American-inspired shoes and probably— and they're probably Native American-inspired pattern blanket, the polyester blanket from the snow with your long hair.

Oh, it's cold out there. It feels so good though. It's not like— it's cold, but it's not—

Did you just earth?

Well, I went outside. I got some cold exposure and I got this on my mat.

I earthed this morning in the snow. I took pictures. Barefoot. Did you? Yeah.

Look at you.

Not very long. We're training Harriet. Oh, let's go see how the animals are faring in this cold weather. Take care of basic things. Get the heck inside. Well, Lily wants me to film her a— horse chores in the snow video. I'm gonna say to her, because I want to treat her like a man should treat her, and say, yes ma'am. All right, here we come. We got those chickens inside just in time. It's not that it's too cold. It's not that even the snow would hurt them that bad. They don't like it. Oh no, that's not the plan. It's a cold-hardy crop. It'll probably be just fine. It wasn't going to make it for this winter anyway. It wasn't going to be big enough. But if we can keep it alive for the spring, we'll have a huge head start. The lettuce held up, which is great. Look at that. See what it looks like. It freezes, but without frost getting on it or snow, it lives. It survives. We just harvest this all winter long. How about forget canning, dehydrating, freeze drying? Eat it fresh off the ground. That's also one method of eating food during the winter. We incorporate all of them. Okay, are those Lily's boots?

Yeah.

Okay, go put them by the— go put them inside to get warmed up. I want to go with you though. Okay, go, go put those back. I gotta teach these boys how to treat a lady, and that's going to be best done through treating their sister well. You could do fence This is in the afternoon. I'd be miserable right now. Cole, it's 19 degrees, feels like 8, I think they said. All right, you want me to watch this or what? Yeah, I do. There you go. Did you guys wait on me? Did you guys wait on me, or is this just how you're doing it today? How we're doing it today. All right, maybe because it's snowy. Harriet will be really hungry for alfalfa. Wow, she's already starting to dance and I haven't even gone over there to her. Wait, Lily, let me do this. Because it's missing its little strap here, the collar has hung down. We've got it on now 3 times. Uh, each time it's getting harder. We didn't realize that was a problem. And it was too loose. Second time, we tightened it up and, and it still came off. And then we realized, oh, it's probably because that didn't get hooked back up like this. Third time— this is so embarrassing— our little make-do strap wasn't on. I did forget Harriet's collar back on. I'm thinking the stanchion with Funnel her into the stanchion. Gates, you not want that collar on at all? No, she don't put up with it at all. We got her head in the stanchion, we can really put it on proper. Kids are going up to the Bear Wallow, tallest mountain in the county, just right there. I think there's going to be some snow up there, and there might be. I don't think it's a fool's errand. Okay, there is a million things I need to be doing right now, but this is one of them. You want to take a breather here by the fire while the kids are gone?

Yes.

It's so nice, isn't it?

It is. It is so nice.

I just realized I could open that without even turning that off. I wonder how the kids are doing. We're going up top of Bearwell Mountain. See if there's any snow to sled on. It's too cold up here. Henry's cold, so we're gonna head back down. Get out of my way! The unsexy project to get out of the way. The cabin. We're down to the wire on our guest cabins. Potential first guest next Wednesday. Plumber is supposed to come today. That would mean we'd be able to get our final inspection for plumbing. And for certificate of occupancy. Floor guy is supposed to finish by Friday for the cleaning lady to come. So theoretically, we could be moving stuff in Sunday, Monday. Speaking of plumber, he needs our dishwasher. I'm pretty sure it's very buried in there. I'm pretty sure everything's gonna have to come back at— come out and then back in. And there's snow on the ground, so I wanted to pack for a good night in camp. So I think this is camping stuff right here. Oh gosh, are you kidding me? These were those frame packs I was looking for last week.

Week.

You joking? You joking? They were right here. Plumber's coming today. He has to have that dishwasher. It's so fulfilling as a man to hear a request from the wife, and it being a stressful thing. You know, this is, this is an annoying project. I'll say, you know what, you do your thing. She's just going to train. I'll take care of this. I don't think I'm some hero. It's very fulfilling. He's not having to deal with the cold, the snow. And plus, I want to get our— plus, I want to get packed for camping trip. Somehow I'm going to have to move the sleep mattress. Good news and bad news. There's a mattress here, a couch there, a bench there. Right behind it are two what look like would be a washer, washing machine. I don't know if I can move this couch by myself. It's looking pretty bad for me, but at least it's not in the very back. Back, I could lift it over this. I'm doing this. I figured this would be impossible, but you don't know until you try. Aim for the impossible, extraordinary things happen. Now we can get all this back in. Okay, this I think is blocking the way of this table.

Table.

2 of them. Sorry, I said washer and dryer. Dishwasher. That's a little one. I don't think there's one for the little one anymore. I think we need the full-size one. Okay, I hate to get this far and then pull my back out trying to get this to the porch. Let's go get the trucks. And I recruited some help. You got on there tight, correct?

I'm getting it.

Whoa, whoa. Now to get this stuff back in. I'm getting it all back in. Save this big match. Here he comes. You coming to help? That'd be great. Got a bonus. Really? Ours broke. Here we go. Really, Papa? Yeah, and guess we're gonna get a Squatty Potty, but you'll never know. Don't tell him. He's wanting to see his house. To clear things up, this is going to be Jonah's house when he gets married. He's not married. We're going to recoup some of our costs, rent this out. He's been sanding the floors. Whoa, this is just so good. All non-toxic. Jonah, if you fix our Squatty Potty, we can put this one back. Y'all got the Squatty Potty. If you're interested, we're thinking about, thinking about doing farm visits. I can't say for sure if we are, but if you're interested in that, we'll put a link down in the description. We're just kind of filling it out. No, don't come in here with that. Let's take it to the house. No, first, yes, take it to our house, put some batteries in it and play. I love it. Just, just last night— was it last night? He said he was gonna have a nice shop over here, and I said, you better lock it up, keep the kids away. And he said, I'll send the kids— I'll send my kids over to your shop.

Thanks.

So, so I'm never gonna have a nice shop? Is that what's gonna be? Yeah. Well, then we came to an agreement. I said you put a lock on your shop and give me the code, huh? Yeah. And the kids will have reign of our shop over there, and they can't come to mine and your shop. How about that? Wait, what shop? It's gonna go right over there. I'm gonna take that old shed down. That'll be funny when he's got a little one like this.

Only me?

Yeah, like you. Uh, I know—

don't.

Passed decking inspection yesterday, actually, and HVAC. Yeah, I gotta come clean this up. Wait, wait. Yes, you do. It's all— it's got to be done, isn't it? This is all— it's time to clean up. You can grade this level, plant grass, put hay on it. Here you go, take it to Mom. Surprise her. Surprise!

Oh wow, where is that from?

From the cabin thing.

Oh wow, that's nice.

I don't want to miss lunch with them again today, but I want to have beef bits. Well, we have to go to Home Depot, right? Just say I didn't think there was any meat on those bones. That's my soup today, yo. I'm all about this soup now.

It's the best.

Got the camping checklist. We went on the 100-mile bike ride. I planned and packed and for a week, and we didn't want for anything on a 100-mile wilderness bikepacking trip. I'm gonna take a play out of that playbook. And we got the list. This is awesome. Approving vlogs. Gonna get some work done. You're gonna give me more office hours, bro? Gonna go— you're gonna go down this camping list, put it all in the trailer except the firewood? We'll put it back in the truck. Your wish is my demand. Papa, give me some cream. When Mama wants some cream, usually something beautiful is coming along.

Yes, look at what's coming along.

30-minute caramels. Wow.

Yeah, pretty excited about it.

What have I done? Is that driving you nuts?

A little bit, but it's having children.

Now what?

It only took 30 minutes. That's right. Oh, I'm gonna let it cool.

30-minute caramels are right.

You're seeing this, you're not gonna be able to buy this. Sorry, but this is where it came from.

Hopefully you got it. Shout out Kelly Brotherton, Better Together Life. All right. Oh yeah, you're gonna Do some crunchy salt on it.

Yeah, I'll have it.

You don't want it?

This is horrible.

Can I have some? Taco Tuesday. Is it good? Chef's choice. Get to eat first too, it looks like. Yeah. Sun is going down, our eyes are gonna go to down. Tomorrow these hillbillies are going to Hollywood— no, Dollywood. See you then. Happy day.