Our first big winter storm

 

High winds and a hard freeze have been forecasted for today, Sunday, all week.  The winds began early today.  I saw one of my foldable solar panels blow off the top of the van and land in the neighbor's yard.  I walked the dogs around the block, drove into town for a warm meal with Fritz, stopped at the coffee shop, and then got home by 2pm.  The  wintry clouds didn't appear until 3:30pm, after I finished washing my hair.  The winter storm that will now blow east across the country has arrived.

By 4pm the temperatures dropped to 47F and it got darker.  A mist, then fine snow, began to fall by 4pm. By 4:45pm it turned more into a heavy, freezing rain. By 5:30pm the outside temperature dropped to 32F and the snow began to stick.

The dogs Fritz and Gretchen have been wearing their coats all weekend.  They both seem to like them.  Neither has tried to rip them off.  I got both of them via Duluth Trading Company, a company whose clothes I got to appreciate after I broke my left arm and needed pull-up pants since I couldn't use my arm to button or snap my pants.  The clothes are well-made and comfortable.  The coats arrived earlier last week.

Overnight temperatures have been in the low 30s all week.  The dogs like to spoon with me, with Gretchen to my left and Fritz by my feet.  He's so big, though, his weight cuts off the circulation in my feet! 

I touch their backs and they feel cold, so perhaps this is why they like their coats on all day, even when it's 50F at 3pm.  

I hate being cold. I need to find an electric blanket big enough for all three of us at night, one that won't bunch up under one of the dogs and leave me chilled.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exceptionally-powerful-january-storm-impact-125205319.html