Ouch!!!!

It was 23 degrees this morning when I stuck my nose out the door.  I immediately withdrew my nose from the outdoors, back into the warm house and slammed the door against the encroaching cold.  Three seconds of that was about to become painful, so I avoided it.

We get cold weather here in the deep south, just generally not this soon in the year.  It should be somewhere in the 40s and 50s, not the 20s.

We had a very cool summer this year.  It never got really hot, except for a couple of quick jabs, and we had lots of rain, which is just weird.  The earth never really got a lot of heat to absorb, so it could radiate it back at us.  The "experts" say that doesn't make any difference in what kind of year you have, but I'm not so sure.  Anyway, I've been saying all along that we were going to have a bad winter.  Just saying it though doesn't make it feel any better when it gets here.

And the first cold weather always seems to hurt worse than it does in the depths of winter.  My system hasn't adjusted and its not an instant turnover.  The first few days of cold, I never have enough layers on and I always get that bone chilling cold that you can't get rid of.

It's been getting steadily colder over the last couple of weeks, so I did get a running start.  I had pulled out my boots I bought from LL Bean when I used to live in Vermont.  They are old and worn, but they keep my feet warm and that's what counts.  I also found my heavy coat, made in Russia, (and we've all heard what the winters there are like) and have it on hand.  Gloves, scarves and mittens have all been turned out and are waiting in a basket by the door.

I'm late on winterizing the house, but I stopped by the DIY big box store yesterday and got the materials I needed to get to work.  It's suppose to warm up over the weekend, so I know what I'll be doing.

I went through the yard and picked up all the fallen sticks and made myself a box of kindling and put it on the porch.  I also pulled my little wagon full of firewood on the porch and I'm ready to light the woodstove.  The porch keeps the wood out of the house, but it's also out of the rain and all I have to do is take one step outside to grab a log.  Love it.

I have plenty of food in the house and I just got the heating unit serviced and it's working well.  Next week I've got to call and get some gas delivered, but other than that, I think I may be ready to hibernate for the winter.

I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for.  I hope you all are having as wonderful a Thanksgiving weekend.