As you all know, that winter storm became an epic catastrophe in Texas. Waves of icy precip, single digits temps, and snow over the course of about a week. We fared pretty well. We had recently grocery shopped, our power was only out for around 15 hours, and we had potable water the whole time.

A few tree limbs down and a couple of outside pipes need repair, but we came out in pretty good shape it seems. After the first icy wave, we obtained some tree and shrub coverings and supplemented those with some blankets and sheets to cover some of our plants. Not sure it helped given the extreme temps, but at least we tried.

We texted with our former neighbors over in East Austin, and they had been without power for 60+ hours! And the house we rented last year was surely uninhabitable as it had like zero insulation, no fireplace, etc.

So many people were hit SO HARD by this storm with lasting problems. It’s sad. I hope Texas makes some improvements to the grid after this tragedy.

The chickens refused to venture into the snow. They spent the entire week in their coop. Not even in the run but in the roost area. So I added all I had left of pine shavings so they could have as much insulation as possible. Heres a video where I got them to step out just a bit for some treats once the snow was melting.

During the week or so of winter weather, the trail cam had little activity. The night before the storm, however, was a JACKPOT! There was coyote, fox, bobcat, and raccoon! I assume all the animals sensed what was coming and got all their hunting in that evening.

After the endless storm, there was a warm-up mud-season kind of day and ever since then it’s been warm, sunny, and like SUMMER! 80 degrees today. Weird to see the weather shift so quickly with all snow gone in about 1 day. I sure hope the trees survive.

I also tried to recall all the different herbs and shrubs in the flowerbeds around the house in case they didn’t survive, as well as the ones that were annuals. These were all here when we moved in.

Rosemary- 2 or 3 kinds
Thyme - 2 or 3 kinds Sage
Lavender - 2 kinds?
Cilantro
Parsley
Mint
Lemon Balm
Shiso
Echinacea
Roses- various kinds
Coral Glow
Texas Yucca
Aloe
Lamb’s Ear
Laurel bushes
Salvia
Sage (mexican bush, mealy cup?)
Prairie Verbena

Just a few more pics below. I didn’t take many pics as I didn’t get outside much because it was very icy and dangerous out. Also it was just really cold. And finally, I don’t find snow and ice all that novel having spent all that time up north.