Record Low Temps ~ Dehydrating Garlic

Last night, we hit an all time record low.  When Hubby called me from work about 7pm, it was already -17°F (actual temperature), with a wind chill of lower than -35°F.  The dogs are not taking the cold well at all.  My son said their legs start shaking after a few minutes outside to do their business.  Some times they won't even go, and he'll have to go out again.   It's too early to tell how the barn animals handled it.  As soon as the sun is up, we plan to do a quick check on them all.

When my 17 year-old daughter came in from tending her goats, she said it was so cold it hurt to breathe.  I agree.  I opened the door to call for the barn cats, and the air felt like it was suffocating me.

I got a text from my 19 year-old.  Her heater in her car has been broken, and we've been trying to meet up and have Hubby fix it.  She said her hands hurt so bad, driving home in this extreme cold, that she cried.  She's also having to stop and scrape ice from the inside of her car.  I plan to try and get "old faithful" out of the driveway, and gas her up today.  She's got a bad tire, so that will need air about every day, and I'll need to put wood in the back to keep her from sliding off the road.  But, the old truck has heat.  I'm offering it to her, in hopes it will get her back and forth to work safely, and until Hubby can do his magic on her car.  Praying that I can get her started in these temperatures as well.  She's a 20-25 minute drive (when the weather is good), so I may have to deliver "old faithful" to her vs. her driving all the way out here and risk her life.  Please say a prayer it all works out.

We made it through without frozen pipes (update:  Hot water pipes are frozen in the kitchen and front bathroom).  I had to practically run the water to keep things from freezing.  Hubby never made it home however.  Work would not allow employees to leave until 11:00pm, and after I suggested he get a hotel room, his work paid for it.  Driving home in those temperatures, at that hour (and he has an hour drive) could be deadly.  

I am running low on my homemade powdered garlic, so I dug out my dehydrator and sliced more garlic.  I will have to double or triple this amount for next year.  There are things I tried last year, that I will be doing again, and things I won't.  This is one I will be doing, but I will freeze my blueberries and not dehydrate them.  

I hope everyone is staying safe, warm, and that tumm