Cold Tolerance

The Hughes satellite internet had some kind of hairball stuck in its craw this morning. My usual wake up routine of coffee and computer was disrupted. That got me moving on shelf building much sooner than planned despite the 20 degree temps. At least it was sunny and the wind that had roared all night began to settle down.

There has been little snow melt in these frigid conditions.

Two more shelves were built. The boards get cut outside in the cold. The shelves get assembled inside in the warm. These two have an added shelf in the rectangular half.

I don't get far or stay out long in weathers like this, but I still manage a quick look in the garden. The kitties don't get out much in this cold. It is not to their liking. Even the neurotic Miss Collar has been spending more time inside. The grand high for today was 33 momentarily.

I checked on some of the baby shrubberies that are at the edge of their hardiness zones to see how they are fairing in this cold. The Soft Caress™ mahonias are looking fine. They are rated to zone 7. I am not supposed to qualify for that at all. This winter's lowest low of 10 is the dividing line between zones 7 and 8. They still have 10 degrees to go to really get tested in a zone below their rating.

The two camellias I planted are rated to zone 6. This will be their second winter. They survived the first and grew nicely. I didn't get any blooms from them this year. That isn't surprising considering their small size and the need to acclimate to being planted at the far edge of the world for a camellia.

Now there are four shelves, sanded and ready for staining. I sanded out there in the cold.

The wintry mix is scheduled to arrive in the morning so the staining may not happen until the weekend when sun and a dash of warmth, more in the operating temperature of stain are predicted.

Each shelf was individually hand made from cheap lumber by an unskilled artisan at the limits of his carpentry knowledge and with only rudimentary wood working tools in sub freezing temperatures. No two pieces will be exactly alike. Some variation and imperfections are to be expected.

The unskilled artisan was pleased enough with how sturdy they turned out to be.

Once these are in place and filled with books, a determination will be made if more should be crafted. I now have a template of parts. It was easy once my design dilemma was solved.