Frozen in Fort Worth

Currently at 8:10 this morning my outdoor thermometer reads 19.5 degrees F. Winds NW at 30 mph. My greenhouse thermometer is reading 23.3 F and I am pleased as punch it is still standing.

When my sweetie got home (from working second shift) he came in the bedroom and quietly said, "What do we need to get out of the greenhouse?"

I immediately sit up. "The greenhouse? Why?"

"The NW wall is gone."

I could be a fireman, except I forgot my gloves. Got dressed and immediately spoke my plan of attack without even seeing the situation. Got outside to indeed see the wind and the sleet were working on downing the whole structure.

Got (what I previously thought was) a ginormous tarp out of the truck and my sweetie found some rope. (These things come in handy when you move so much.) Got the gaping wound of the greenhouse covered with the tarp and realized my fingernails felt as if they were going to come off.

I yell into the wind and run to find my gardening gloves. I realize my fingers are useless at this point and run upstairs to bath my hands in warm water until the feelings return. Back into the wind.

My sweetie, who is prepared with his gloves, has tucked the tarp under the strapping and has the south side secured. I help secure the bottom and we are done. Except, now the wind is circling around and beating the SE side pretty hard. (I will insert here -- this is all being done in 6" of mud and rain run-off from the loft roof.) Re-adjust and re-attach - at this point I say we are done.

It's not pretty, it's not warm, but it's still standing.

This is pretty much the view out our window today. Temps are still falling and the wind is howling.

Hope y'all stay, warm where ever you are.

UPDATE: 1:30 PM

Just saw this on the national news. Super Bowl party tent at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park (Dallas) has collapsed. They are not certain if it was due to the storm winds or weight of the snow. My sweetie points out to me, "If the professionals had a tough time, you know it had to be a bad storm." My sweetie knows just what to say.

Update: 2/4/11 - Greenhouse is standing but one wall gone for good. Some what intact but plants are history. Temps have not been above 19 degrees since this posting started. The "dusting" of snow we were to receive last night was 7" here. Crazy weather. Warmer in Alaska.