In this vlog, Victor Justin Rhodes and his family put their 63‑point winter‑storm preparedness checklist to the test during an ice storm in western North Carolina. The video opens with a real‑time assessment of icy roads, frozen grass, and sleet, followed by a walk‑through of the farm’s critical infrastructure: water trough heaters, wood boiler, and animal shelters. The family divides chores—checking ice on steps, hauling water, inspecting the wood boiler, and ensuring the water‑heater for the pig trough works. They tend to a low‑producing cow named Honey, dry her, and discuss milking schedules. The kids (Jonah, Josiah, Henry, Ryder) help with tasks, including moving hay, checking fences, and monitoring a newborn lamb and a ram named Ike. The vlog also captures moments of recreation, such as sledding on a hill, and interactions with their dogs Winnie and Lily. Throughout, Victor provides temperature updates, notes the challenges of frozen water sources, and shares observations about animal behavior and farm adjustments needed for the storm. The narrative blends practical farm‑management advice with family dynamics and a light‑hearted, enthusiastic tone.
Chapters
Happy day! In the last video, we went over my 63-point checklist to get us ready for the storm. Today it's getting tested. Link for that checklist for free in the description. First thing we do is assess what happened overnight. It's real cold. I think it's in the teens. Okay, there's ice on this. There's ice on these steps. It's a thin sheet of ice. Oh wow, there's ice. The grass is ice and it's sleeting or freezing rain. I don't know the difference between all these things. The road's— oh, that's a solid sheet of ice. Whoa, we aren't going anywhere on that. A little bit of grounding this morning. It's freezing. Why is it? It's a sheet of ice on the road. Really? Yeah. Shoot. And it's sprinkling something right now. Ice, freezing rain. Ready for me to push you? Let's go assess the, uh, farm and the animals. What you doing? This is just all the building. We just need a hammer to— okay, okay, what he said. Well, he insisted on coming out and playing. It's chore time. We've got to assess the farm. We're probably gonna have to haul some water. It's gonna be a while. And then when I'm ready to play, play with him, your gloves are gonna be wet and you're gonna be stripped down in front of the fire. You don't want to stay warm while I do chores and then we'll go play? Oh my gosh, that's gonna be crazy! After chores, let's go to the big kahuna. I'm gonna dry Honey off. Why? Because she's only giving like a quart of milk, maybe a little bit more. But let me look it up. Due March 24th means you can You could dry her off as of January 24th. What's today? It's the 24th. Is it? Yeah. Well, you don't want to milk her a day longer than you have to, huh? I'm gonna have to milk her 3 more times still. All right, after we're done with chores, I was gonna drive up to the top of the mountain. I'm gonna go down the mountain. No, we're not driving. Oh, the four-wheeler? Oh no, to the top of Bear Wallow? No, just our mountain. Oh, okay. Why don't you go to the dam? We can't shuttle ourselves. That goes so fast. Show them how crazy this sledding is. Look. Happy Sunday sea day. We had to spend our Sabbath prepping for things. We had a cow started jumping the fence. You can't pen up said cow with these guys because they pick on her. Got nowhere to go in the pole barn. What'd you say, Jonah? Hulk didn't let nobody get under that sled with him. Who isn't? Look, he made that little— oh really? That poor little heifer stay out. Why did you guys put hay under there? Why did we? Yeah, so they can eat it and then have it to lay on. Can't they get hay in there? You sure? Yeah. And we have to keep Hulk away from the little heifers so they don't get bred early, so we had to make more room. We got the pole barn and we got the barnyard yard and we got our off-grid fence. There's only 18 more Fridays until it's summer. Wow. They could not milk on the concrete because it's so slippery. Is the gravel okay, Josiah? I don't even think we can use that, it's so short. Hey, our trick worked! We just gotta install that and it's not as bad. Okay, it worked. Chompeaters are working. I'm pretty secure about all this wood. The wood boiler is keeping us warm. Starting to get real right now. You're gonna get real-time updates all today of what this storm really is. Feet on the ground. Or ice. Feet on the ice. How y'all doing? You staying dry? It's frozen. Help me find where this is unplugged. Oh wow. Ice has just developed all around it. Not on this one. I mean, I could do it. This ain't even close to being plugged in. What the heck? In our preparedness last week I noticed that the water trough heater in the big pigs wasn't working, so I got some more. But let's see if there's some— by some chance it's working again, then we don't have to replace it. Can we come in the house for a little bit? Winnie, why? This is cold. What are you doing out here? Are you okay? She's not cold. Please, she's just— she's just taking refuge on these wood chips. She's not shivering. She's barking all night long. I heard you doing your job. I don't even think that feral dog would like coming inside. Oh look, some reason it's working. You get prepared, you get the replacement, and then it's working. She's so dirty. I'll wash her in the sink downstairs. You're funny. What do you think Mama would say? Yes. Yes. Yeah, I know all you tender-hearted ladies are roasting me in the comments, but did you see the fur on that dog? She's just fine. And I don't think the beautiful one's gonna go for it. If she does, now that's a different story. Come on, come inside, please. She's okay. Why? What's wrong with her? She's cold. She's not cold. I don't think she's— well, could you come inside for just a little bit? Where is she? Yeah, because she's gonna stay downstairs. What are you doing? I'm gonna see if she does want to come inside. Mom said no. She doesn't even want to come inside. I'm sure she does if she had the choice. I told you she gave Winnie the choice and she— Winnie didn't even take it. Of course. I will open this door to the basement for Lily, for the dog, just in case she She doesn't need it. Hopefully the power does not go out, and hopefully the water falls out enough to where we can water all the animals in the afternoon without buckets. You're not gonna go sledding with us? We gotta get ready. I think you said earlier you were gonna go. I always did. Okay. Especially in rice. Hey, you got him to get dressed again. Boys, Henry won't wait long. Winter weather check-in at 10:20. Feels like 17. Severe weather, ice storm warning. Hey, let's get our feet on the ground. It does heat up to 38, 39. We'll be able to do our waters if that is the truth. That's a sled hill. There you go. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, get off! Hey, you okay? Yeah, you went by so fast. Want to ride this with me, Henry? He had to jump off to stop. There you go. Jump off! It's all gone. Nice. I don't think this is what we have to fear. I think we have to fear the single-digit temperatures tomorrow. Crossing my fingers. All right, they're getting very low and it's not thawed out yet. Plug it in case it gets empty. This water doesn't kick in within a couple of hours, we're gonna be hauling water. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! The waters are filling up so much so they've come up out of the— one's not submerged. Really? I'm gonna be able to fill my waters up in the afternoon as normal? A common question I get, a fair question, is, well, what do you do when the waters freeze in the winter, right? Well, for the most part here in western North Carolina, things warm up in the afternoon, so that's when we go and do water chores. I have a gate here, but I, I don't have a gate on the other side, so it's kind of tricky getting to the sheep right now. Oh no, I'm so glad I came out here. Okay, how did that happen? Might have fallen down in there and crawled out through there. No, that's not your mom. That's Ike the ram. Sure, this one's getting somebody. Oh, I think that might be a pretty new lamb. She's bloody. Okay, good. She's licking her off. That's a new baby. Holy smokes, I'm so glad. I'm so glad this water got disturbed. I may have never not— I may have never seen that. Ryder, you gave twins! How many we got now? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. 7 or 8. Oh good, that one's nursing. It's nursing. Let's make it so that can never happen Yeah, have this ravine. Let's get the eggs out. Let's just stuff a bunch of hay down there. Oh shoot, they'll probably just eat it. Look at this, so cute! Not in the clear yet. Let's go see if the piglets' waters have thawed out, that the trough submersion heater is working, and let's see that the steers' water is working. The water's not running, but they have plenty. It's thawing out. We're calling it. Let's get inside for some rest. Happy day.
