Hi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Jane (PlainJane) and I am the blessed and happy wife to Jeff and doubly blessed mama of two perfectly wonderful daughters. Please join me as I share our Lifestyle of Learning through Christian homeschooling and homesteading on our little hobby farm with our prairie girls.
Amber (Bookworm) is our dd15/10th grader.
Our perfectionist and over-achiever. She loves reading, playing violin, all things vintage, riding her Paint horse, and being a farm girl.
Anna (Ladybug)
is our dd12/7th grader.
Our "girls just want to have fun" girl. She loves to play and has a great sense of humor, but also enjoys cooking, music, and riding her QH pony.
It's official friends, we have reserved a puppy!
After two months of searching for a new dog, many emails, some research and a nice persuasive speech by our daughters, a family meeting and vote, a phone call, and sending a down payment, we have now officially adopted our newest family member. (whew)
We are getting a Leonberger Puppy. She will be 5 weeks old tomorrow so we have to wait until about November 13th until we can go and get her. The breeder is in Minnesota, but not close by.
Here she is, currently she is called "Dark Green & Orange" since that is the color of nail polish they put on her nails to tell her apart from the rest. Obviously we will be finding her a better name. She is the runt of the litter, so, no, we are not paying the going price of $1,000 - $1,500.
(All these photos by the breeder seem to be slowing down the loading of my blog, so I have removed as many pictures as possible, you can go here to view photos. The first photos are of Loverikets Khefren, our puppy's BIG grandpa from Norway.)
This is our puppy's papa, Braveheart, or Braver. Don't you just love the name. His papa came from Norway and his mama from Canada.
(Photo of our puppy's mama is here. she is the last doggie shown.)
This is our puppy's mama, Sweetie Pie. She is from Canada.
The Leonberger is a giant breed dog with it's foundation in the Newfoundland, Great Pyrenees and Saint Bernard breeds. The breed's name derives from the city of Leonberg, Germany. According to legend, the Leonberger was bred as a 'symbolic dog' that would mimic the lion in the town crest. It is a LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog) good at pulling carts & sleds, search & rescue, enjoys water play & hikes, and surprisingly, agility. It guards with it's size, not with it's teeth and is very loyal to it's flock and family. The average female (much smaller than the male) is about 27" - 29" to the shoulder and about 130 lbs.
It's been over a month now since our beloved little Peanut died and it's been harder on me than I expected, but we're mending. I did find out a little about myself though -- I "NEED" a dog! :) So, I have spent considerable amounts of time looking for that perfect new family member (and here you thought I was working hard, haha). And although I LOVE Boston Terriers, grew up with them, and seem to gravitate to them, we decided to do a little research to find the perfect hobby farm dog for us. There are a lot of good farm-type (working) dogs out there, but some need a constant job to keep them happy lest they become distructive. We wanted one that would protect it's "flock" and protect it's family without being too aggressive. We finally narrowed our search to three breeds...
3.Karakachan (Bulgarian Shepherd Dog). A wonderful LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog); however rare. I was offered an older puppy (8 months old), but the breeder is in Ohio. The few breeders of this dog are mainly out East, mostly Ohio and Virginia, and my DH isn't too keen on me traveling out there just for a dog. Oh, and btw, rare translates into $; the average price of all three of our choices is $1,000/ea. Of course, we are seeking a dog for much less.
2.Leonberger dogs derive from SW Germany and are a cross between a Newfoundland, Great Pyrenees, and Saint Bernard. Leo's a great guardian dog and a gentle giant. Yesterday I was offered to reserve a smaller female puppy (born a week ago) from a breeder in MN for $500 and it's very tempting, but after a family meeting last night, it was decided that we would try to hold out until we can find our #1 choice.
1.Our #1 pick is a Bernese Mountain Dog! A Berner is a farm dog that originates from the Swiss Alps and loves cooler weather. I was offered a BEAUTIFUL stud-quality 13-month old male yesterday, and boy, was it hard to decide against getting him, but some members of our family are holding out for a baby (new puppy), which gets a little complicated since I have yet to find a baby for under $800 in MN.
So there you have it. This is what we are looking for - now just to find it at our price within a reasonable distance. I still haven't totally ruled out other breeds or even mixed breeds from rescue missions, but we will see. The search continues, but we may not find one until next spring or later . I'll keep you posted.
In light of the frost advisory for tonight, I am so thankful that we got our harvest in when we did. This year's garden wasn't too bad -- all things considering...
We had a very late spring & summer and we didn't get planted as soon as we should have. And then, it remained cool with drought conditions most all year which took it's toll on most gardens in our area. Personally, we/I could have done more -- we have rain barrels, and I could have been more aggressive in the weeding, but it seemed like such a lost cause that I just let it go this year.
It seemed like nobody's carrots came up, including ours. Our onions were small and few. Our green beans came very late and were mostly too dry. Our corn we had enough for two meals. Apples run every-other year if you don't prune - so this was our off year and we just got two or three dozen. But..., although late, our tomatoes made a nice comeback and I probably had one of my best canning seasons for them, and then there were the potatoes...take a look at these puppies...
The potato on your left is a typical medium potato from a grocery store (what I still had in the pantry). The potatoes on the right are our potatoes this year. I weighted them, the store-bought potato is a 1/2 a pound; our potatoes are 1 1/2 pounds each! And almost all our potatoes this year were BIG - our small ones were more like the potato on the left. Although it was way too dry, Jeff did make some very nice trenches for planting the potatoes and then was diligent at covering them mid-season and I think that really made all the difference in the world. We usually get a good potato crop, but this was our best ever. We thank God for His bountiful blessings!!!
I still need to do something with the herbs, but may just cover them tonight from the frost and deal with them later.
We are thankful for what we received from the Lord and every year we say, "Next year" -- we will try harder and do better.
Well, you know I am starting my 2 year old horse, Sundance, under saddle this year with a goal of being on his back riding before snow falls. And along with an additional riding horse in the family comes the need for more tack (much to my DH's shurgrin), so I have spent considerable amounts of time educating myself on saddles, saddle pads, cinches, and the like. I'm no expert, and it seems like nobody else is either (They ALL claim that their product is the best, but yet you keep seeing horsemen forever buying and reselling their tack because it doesn't work for them), but I have come to realize that if you want a good saddle, you have to be willing to pay $600 and up (into the thousands), and ah-um, that just doesn't fit into our "horses on the cheap" lifestyle. So then the fun begins...I make a list of everything I would like in my "ideal" saddle and then start hunting for it...used. This wasn't easy either, I spent weeks looking at used saddles, but they were still $$$ and often in poor condition or weighed a ton. Then I finally found it! In Washington! My FIL even picked it up for me while he was out in that area and it was in our tack room waiting for me when we got home from vacation. Woohoo!
Sooo, without further ado, here is my new toy....
It's not absolutely perfect, but I wanted an all-leather barrel saddle with suede seat and rounded skirt, fairly lightweight, and not too much bling. Oh, and it had to fit me and the horse too with FQHB (Full Quarter Horse Bars), which may not make sense to you, but believe you me, it's not easy finding FQHB - expecially at a reasonable price. I paid only $200.
And here is Sundance trying on his new saddle last night... I can't say Sundance was as thrilled about the new bright fleecy saddle pad I got him, he seems more at ease with darker colors, but he will just have to get over it.
Yee haw! Now with just a little more training, I'm ready to ride.
Anna Grace dreams big, and this is one of her long-time obsessions...
she dreams of the day she can be on our local 4-H Horse Drill Team.
We have 3 or 4 friends on the team and our horse trainer is helping Anna get another step closer to making her dream come true by getting her and her pony trained for the task. We were at our local county fair this past Friday (for nearly 11 hrs. ) and of couse, had to catch the Drill Team's showing -- Anna was beside herself with excitement. Here is a little bit of what Anna filmed (you may want to turn down your volumn)...
There were 27 in this show (there have been more than 33 in the past) and they do a fine job. This show was nearly 12 minutes of non-stop post trotting - tiring I'm sure.
Now just to work on the matter of securing a truck and horse trailer for Anna...
If you like to watch drill teams, here is a really good one
This one competed at the MN State Fair. Silly me - I always tear up watching beautiful horsemanship for some reason. There are a lot of teams to watch on youtube - very fun!
Yesterday our trainer came out for lessons, it was a good day and she worked with us for 2 whole hours ...
First it was Bookworm's turn on her horse, Annie. Annie is our first horse -- an 8-yr. old Paint that we bought when she was three and very green under saddle. Annie is a beauty, a good horse that loves to please, curious, smart, and lovable, and of champion bloodlines. Bookworm hops on her bareback, but now has to get use to the saddle again for some more serious training. Bookworm and Annie are inseparable and Bookworm looks forward to some long trail rides with her buddy.
Next Ladybug had her turn on her pony, Kitty. Kitty is Ladybug's second pony (as the first one didn't work out) and is a full bred, champion-bloodline Quarter Horse, but has shorter legs due to being the smallest of twin foals - thus a 14 hh pony. Kitty is now 7 yrs. old and we have had her for nearly three years. Kitty is pretty well trained and should teach Ladybug a few things - Ladybug is just reminding Kitty who's boss as she moves from a trot to walk. Ladybug dreams of someday being part of the local drill team (hmm, not sure how she is going to come up with a pick-up and horse trailer).
Lastly is my boy, Sundance, patiently waiting for his mama (Kitty) and Annie to finish. Today is his Birthday - Happy 2nd Birthday Sundance! He was born on our farm 2 years ago while we were on vacation in Florida , and I couldn't have asked for a better surprise. This guy is just about everything a horse owner could ask for...handsome (although a bit wind-blown in the photo), intelligent, curious, a people person/horse, champion bloodlines, you name it, he has it. A full Quarter Horse with the look of a Thoroughbred - his every movement is like poetry in motion. At age two, horses are able to be broke to ride, and our trainers can hardly wait to start with him, but I think I'd like to wait a bit -- he's still very playful and probably more than what I could handle, but than again, I know the girls are anxious for us all to go riding together.
The girls love their horses and can't wait to get out there every day this summer and just ride and ride - so you know where we will be. Our summer's are way to short, so we need to make the most of it.
Yeah, my DH has completed our tack room and I just wanted to Show & Tell....
It's only about 5'x6', but plenty of room for our horsey stuff. It was relatively inexpensive to make too. The floor is made of tightly fitted patio pavers (the cheapest ones at the lumberyard). Much of the lumber is what my husband already had on hand; the roof & a couple of side panels are made from wavy fiberglass for optimal light; the door was free; the pole my husband used for a blanket/pad hanger is actually an old patio umbrella pole that he saved (he doesn't throw anything away); and he made the saddle racks from a couple of boards.
I was going to stain & poly the saddle racks, but it's pretty air/dust tight in there, so it would take forever to dry and stink too much - I think I'll just sand them a bit and call it good enough.
We love our new tack room, and now that the girls are taking weekly riding lessons on our farm, they find it a pleasure getting their tack and putting it away again - a place for everything and everything in it's place makes this mama happy.
I have an ad posted at the feed coop, hoping to sell our little children's saddle (top), but haven't received any calls yet - might take it to a horse auction next week. The next saddle down is/was Bookworm's saddle, but it really doesn't fit her horse very well, so that will be Ladybug's saddle and I am in the market for a different saddle for Bookworm. G-pa has a saddle that we might use, I don't know, I have to see it first, else perhaps we might find a good saddle at the auction. And the brown rug-looking saddle pad I am going to make a cover for - Ladybug wants all her horse gear in pink and she loves poka dots, so after seeing this one yesterday....
I told her I could make her a cover for her pad like this ---- she is all excited! LOL
But, I understand, this is the halter I have my eye on for my horse...
Jellybeans! lol. I was going to go with all purple tack because I thought that would look best with my bay-colored horse, but isn't this just the cutiest? I haven't ordered it yet, I'm trying to justify the price, but I'm tempted.
Thanks for letting me bore you with all my horse talk.
Yesterday was a beautiful day, 72 and sunny - a good day for our little chickies' first outting.
We placed them in a cage near the chicken coop. In years past I've made the mistake of just letting them rome in the front yard & hosta bed - I'm hoping this will help teach them that their place is not digging up my flowers, but then again, who am I kidding. (And no, I'm not kitty litter training them, we just put a box of sand in there so they can dust themselves). I put a blanket on one side of the cage to help shield them from the wind. They are too little and we still have too many preditors around for them to be out on their own without supervision. We see the coyotee and fox almost daily, not to mention eagle, hawk, and owl.
We have had them for three weeks now, but I suspect that most of them were a week old when we got them since they have feathered out so fast. We don't have electricity in our chicken coop for a heat lamp, so they will spend most of their time still in the box in our house until it warms up a bit or they get bigger - probably a couple more weeks yet, but hubby & I are anxious to evict them from the classroom/computer room ASAP.
I think Brownie, our little banty and sole survivor/keeper from previous batches, likes the babies and is anxious to take on the role of mama. She came up to the cage several times yesterday.
The excitement is almost unbearable here -- TODAY is "Chick Day" at our local feed co-op where the chicks we ordered arrive. Once we get the call that they are in (maybe not until afternoon), we are off and running to bring our new adoptees home - can hardly wait! I know it's only 10 baby chicks and we have gotten chicks several times before, but the excitement never wears off - at least not for us. Come back later today or this evening for photos!
6 Golden Links (usually a cross with a Rhode Island Red for a hardy, productive hen)
4 Barrd Plymouth Rocks (docile and good layers - even in the winter)
As a follow-up to my recent post about our Peeping Chickens, some of you asked questions about our chickens, or chickens in general, so I thought I'd just post the answers here....
First, here are a few helpful terms:
Hens: adult female chickens
Roosters or cocks: adult male chickens
Cockerel: male chicken younger than 1 yr. old
Pullet: female chicken younger than 1 yr. old
Chick: a baby chicken of either gender
Flock: a bunch of chickens
Banty: Chickens come in 2 sizes, large and bantam (banty). Banties are not a separate breed or species; they are simply small chickens.
Usually only trained "professionals" at hatcheries can tell a chick's gender from early on and they are still only about 95% correct. Most of us have to wait until we hear the first cock-a-doodle-doo before we know for sure. All chickens have combs and wattles of various sizes so that doesn't help. You can order chicks as all pullets (for more money which is what we do), or order all cockerels (for about half the cost if you just want them for meat), or order a straight-run which runs about 50-50 male/female. Often, the more you order, the cheaper it is per chick. We on the other hand, have a very small chicken coop, the size of an outhouse, so we can only accommondate about 8 large chickens comfortably - but then again you might want to order a few more to take in account some losses. I like to order our chicks from our local feed co-op. Over the past 5 years we have learnt that getting our chicks through the co-op is far cheaper and they had healthier chicks then when we have purchased them through private sellers. I pay an additional $5 for orders smaller than 25, but it's still cheaper then through a private seller - otherwise you might find someone who will split an order with you. Like I said in my last post, you only want about a 25:1 hen:rooster ratio - too many roosters are mean & fright to the death. Unless you will be getting the birds just for meat - then it's okay to go with a lot of roosters - ideally, you should butcher your chickens at about 50 days old for the tenderest meat (that's about when you will hear your first crowing from the boys), otherwise, the longer you wait, the tougher they get. We of course, have a couple of animal-loving young ladies that parish the thought that we should butcher any of our birds - no matter how naughty they may get. They just stay pets forever. You really don't need a rooster unless you want to hatch out some chicks from your eggs - you will need them fertilized. I like to have at least one rooster - I like to hear them crow and they do help protect the hens - sometimes. Otherwise, we just have chickens strickly for eggs - and the taste & color is soooo much better then store bought. I have people asking to buy eggs from me, but we just don't usually get enough from our small flock to be able to accommodate others - maybe someday I'll have a bigger coop.
Which brings me to the next question, about breeds... there are a LOT of different breeds. It's best and easiest if one just gets what is common to your area. Some birds are hardier in cold climate. And some breeds are more docile than others. You have to find what fits your farm best. If you have small children running around, you don't want a couple of mean roosters ganging up on your child - and it DOES happen, totally unprovoked. Often you can find out a lot about a breed either from a good online poultry catalog like, "Murray McMurrays" or even Wikipedia, or from locals. And chickens all have different personalities too -- we have found that for the most part, the Araucanas, that lay the pretty colored "Easter" eggs can be mean. But, one of our sweetest hens we ever had was an Araucana - you can never be certain. They can like some people and not others. Or they can go from nice, to naughty, to nice in a very short period of time. What we look for is...are they docile?...are they good egg layers?...are they healthy? One can order all sorts of exhotic chickens too (more $), but you sometimes have to be careful of temperments with special breeding. Also you want to bring in fresh batches every once in a while, otherwise you will end up with all black chickens after a while from inbreeding. Personally, we love the banties! They are adorable, sweet, and because of their short little legs, they don't usually wander off our property as they free range; however, they have basically 2 drawbacks...one, they have very small eggs - it usually takes 2 of their eggs for every one large egg in a recipe, and two, they are so small that they are easy prey for all our preditors around here...eagle, hawk, owl, fox, coyotee, you name it - an easy appitizer. We lost all but one of our banties the last two years - and that's hard to take.
If anyone is thinking about getting chickens, I highly recommend the book, "Chickens in Your Backyard
A Beginner's Guide"
by Rick & Gail Luttmann
We love our chickens - it's a very easy homesteady thing to get into with the most benefits for the least amount of work and expense.
Oh, and btw, they can make a good 4H project as well.
Many ask us if we show our animals and are surprised when we say, no, however, we have decided not to because our local fair is during the hotest part of our summers here and in recent years there have been several horses and fowl that have died in the extreme heat. We just can't do that to our babies. And it also comes at harvest time, so we just can't be at the fair grounds all the time. The risk is just not worth it to us.
Hmmm, I wonder why I'm feeling watched? This is a typical scene around our home - the chickens are constantly either looking in our side window next to the front door or here at the back patio door - pecking on the glass to come in (NO, of course they can't come in). And the sad thing - a minute after I took this photo I was back in the classroom on the computer - so they follow me to that window. lol
We are very excited though - yesterday I placed our order for our Spring chicks - 6 Goldens and 3 Barred...
Gold Link
Barred Plymouth Rocks
April 14th is Chick Day at the Co-op - Can't Wait!
The day began like most any day...we head out to the barn for morning chores...however, as I approach the chicken coop, I see that all is not well. Before I even open the door, I see fresh bright red blood seeping under the door and dripping on the white snow below. Bracing myself for the worst, I slowly open the chicken coop door to find blood everywhere, but surprisingly all our chickens are alive.
Now as a little background, you may recall from our past summer of perilous predator accounts and an assortment of barnyard drama that we are now left with only four standard/large roosters and one little banty hen - not good...not good at all...as typically the ideal number of rooster/hen ratio should be 1 rooster per 25 hens. But, be as it may, this is what we are stuck with until we get more spring chicks. So I wasn't totally surprised at the sight before me as roosters will fight for the title of head rooster, and if need be...to the death.
So getting back to today's story, what I find in the chicken coop is just one of our roosters, Snuggles, bleeding profusely from the comb and the back of the neck with his head down. It didn't look good, but again, to my surprise, within seconds, he's out of the coop and seems no worse for the wear. I tell you, this rooster is a survivor! Granted, we need a rooster like another hole in the head - but animal lovers that we are, we do so hate to see any of our animals perish - no matter what. We were happy for him just the same.
I would like to say, "end of story", but not quite yet...so a bit later I head off to my doctor's appointment, which all went well, and I was diagnosed with bacterial bronchitus and given an antibotic (woohoo). I feel better already! But once I return home my plans of resting and recouping for the day have changed as Snuggles takes refuge on our front porch for half the day away from his terroristic brothers -- proceeding to drip blood and shake his head all over our porch - blood everywhere. It is good I'm feeling better, because I in turn spend the next 45 minutes or so wiping down the vinyl siding of our house, screen door, storm door, rocking chair, porch spindles, window, and you name it with hot water, ammonia, and a stiff brush & rag. Thankfully we are having our annual January thaw right now and it reached a balmy 29 above.
I will spare you any photos - no, I didn't take any. But I did have a passing thought to just leave my chainsaw-massacre looking front porch as is -- wouldn't that be a good deterent of unwanted solicitors or Jehovah Witnesses? They would probably wonder what happened to the last visitor. lol
My story ends happily; for the time being Snuggles is sleeping in the barn rafters while the other three roosters go in the coop at night. Perhaps I'll give away our surplus rooster population next spring at the feed co-op's critter exchange.
Like I was saying in my last post, since the goatie girls are now gone, Jeff has been working on expanding Kitty & Sundance's stall into the goat pen as well -- going from a 10' square stall to 10' x 16' wide.
It's been quite a time of deciding what to do. Since I want to keep our yearling, Sundance, as my horse, we considered building him his own stall, but I really don't think he would use it - he likes being with his mama & Auntie Annie too much. Another option was to open up Annie's stall to Kitty's stall and just have one big 20' stall, but I would rather not do that either in case one of the horses gets an injury or needs to be separted from the rest for a while, we should have at least two horse stalls. So the best solution was to expand Kitty's stall into the goat pen. Actually, usually when I come out to the barn in the morning, all three horses are happily standing in just one 10' stall, but at least now they have a much roomier option that they might like, expecially as Sundance gets bigger and as colder weather will set in. Here is Annie (Bookworm's Paint) and Sundance (My Quarter Horses yearling) trying out the expanded stall. Annie is really not Sundance's "Aunt", but we just call her that.
Here you get a better idea of the wider stall - Kitty (Ladybug's pony/Sundance's mama) and Sundance again. They aren't so sure they like change, but they will get use to it soon. I always keep the outside stall doors open leading to the Paddock unless it reaches below -20, then they will be closed in for the night. This extra room with help in situations like that.
My Sweetie is so wonderful for doing this - he doesn't even particularily like horses. lol - the horses better appreciate this. Now watch, I'll find them all crammed into the 10' stall tomorrow morning. lol
3. Karakachan (Bulgarian Shepherd Dog). A wonderful LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog); however rare. I was offered an older puppy (8 months old), but the breeder is in Ohio. The few breeders of this dog are mainly out East, mostly Ohio and Virginia, and my DH isn't too keen on me traveling out there just for a dog. Oh, and btw, rare translates into $; the average price of all three of our choices is $1,000/ea. Of course, we are seeking a dog for much less.
. I'll keep you posted. 
It's not absolutely perfect, but I wanted an all-leather barrel saddle with suede seat and rounded skirt, fairly lightweight, and not too much bling. Oh, and it had to fit me and the horse too with FQHB (Full Quarter Horse Bars), which may not make sense to you, but believe you me, it's not easy finding FQHB - expecially at a reasonable price. I paid only $200.
I can't say Sundance was as thrilled about the new bright fleecy saddle pad I got him, he seems more at ease with darker colors, but he will just have to get over it. 
) and of couse, had to catch the Drill Team's showing -- Anna was beside herself with excitement. Here is a little bit of what Anna filmed (you may want to turn down your volumn)...
, and I couldn't have asked for a better surprise. This guy is just about everything a horse owner could ask for...handsome (although a bit wind-blown in the photo), intelligent, curious, a people person/horse, champion bloodlines, you name it, he has it. A full Quarter Horse with the look of a Thoroughbred - his every movement is like poetry in motion. At age two, horses are able to be broke to ride, and our trainers can hardly wait to start with him, but I think I'd like to wait a bit -- he's still very playful and probably more than what I could handle, but than again, I know the girls are anxious for us all to go riding together. 
It's only about 5'x6', but plenty of room for our horsey stuff. It was relatively inexpensive to make too. The floor is made of tightly fitted patio pavers (the cheapest ones at the lumberyard). Much of the lumber is what my husband already had on hand; the roof & a couple of side panels are made from wavy fiberglass for optimal light; the 
I was going to stain & poly the saddle racks, but it's pretty air/dust tight in there, so it would take forever to dry and stink too much - I think I'll just sand them a bit and call it good enough.
We placed them in a cage near the chicken coop. In years past I've made the mistake of just letting them rome in the front yard & hosta bed - I'm hoping this will help teach them that their place is not digging up my flowers, but then again, who am I kidding. (And no, I'm not kitty litter training them, we just put a box of sand in there so they can dust themselves).
I put a blanket on one side of the cage to help shield them from the wind. They are too little and we still have too many preditors around for them to be out on their own without supervision. We see the coyotee and fox almost daily, not to mention eagle, hawk, and owl. 
As a follow-up to my recent post about our 
Gold Link
Here is Annie (Bookworm's Paint) and Sundance (My Quarter Horses yearling) trying out the expanded stall. Annie is really not Sundance's "Aunt", but we just call her that.
Here you get a better idea of the wider stall - Kitty (Ladybug's pony/Sundance's mama) and Sundance again. They aren't so sure they like change, but they will get use to it soon. I always keep the outside stall doors open leading to the Paddock unless it reaches below -20, then they will be closed in for the night. This extra room with help in situations like that.
