I just received my usual reminder call from my mom (used to be from my dad when he was alive), giving me the run down on all the things I should be doing for the cold snap we are expecting tonight and tomorrow night. Had some of the things done, but she pushed me into action:

I just came in from unhooking all my hoses.......even the ones from the "back yard people". So, no water for them until the thaw. Covered all the faucets & wrapped them against the lower temperatures. Too cheap to buy those insulated little cap things.....just make my own with old towels, plastic & some twine. No money out....AND, mine stay on all winter without blowing off.

Turned the lights on in the pump house, hoping to raise the temp in there a bit during the day........note to self to get a small space heater out there over night too. The Navy man has already cut & installed covers for all the windows in the building, so no need to jury rig those this time....Nice! The idea of my pump or it's parts freezing doesn't sound like a good time at all.

Will leave a slow drip of water in my faucet furthest from where the water comes into the house overnight..... Also leaving all the under sink cabinet doors open overnight, so the pipes stay warmer.

My faucets in the back are those fancy kind that have a valve or something in them, keeping the water below ground I think, so it won't freeze back there. Will double check to see that they are all closed before it gets dark here.

I think that's it. I do all these religiously, not sure which combo of them prevents my pipes from freezing....but I'm not about to mess with the program. All I need is a plumbing problem! The thought spending money to fix something I neglected to handle when I could ......makes me nuts. I'll stick with my cheap fixes; even tho folks here think I'm being obsessive. (none of them would be responsible for getting things back to normal, so they aren't nearly as interested in all this as I am)

Off to add wood to the fire & brew another cup of tea.....Going to daydream about spring and better weather!