Freeze Preparations:
It is not too late to get ready for our impending freezing weather. Many questions and comments have gone back and forth about how to prepare. Here are a few key points compiled together for easy reference. Should you have some to add that I missed, please feel free to include.

1. If you have a boat house, turn off the water supply and drain the lines to your boathouse.
2. Ensure that any outdoor pipes that cannot be turned off are wrapped/enclosed to prevent them from freezing.
3. If you choose to just turn off your water tonight and drain your lines to avoid having to drip your water, make sure you turn off the breaker to your water heater (unless yours is a tankless water heater)
4. If you have a whole house water filter like ours that is in it’s own cabinet on the outside of your house, ensure that it is insulated and even better add a source of heat, like a string of incandescent Christmas lights, to the cabinet.
5. Leave your cabinet doors, under your sinks, open so that the warmer air circulates in that area as well.
6. If the temperature drops enough, then drip or run a slight stream from all faucets/tubs. Ensure that you have sufficient water on hand for drinking and also flushing your toilets in case your pipes do freeze. A 5 gallon bucket is handy, but an easier to handle solution for flushing is to fill empty gallon jugs or laundry jugs with water that you can keep next to the toilet.
7. Make sure you have plenty of drinking water on hand in case there is a loss of water.
8. Bring in any tender vegetation to a protected area; i.e. garage or storage shed. Block off as many drafts as possible, and for sensitive plants, you might drape an old sheet over them to keep in extra warmth (we do that for our pineapple plants)
9. For plants left out doors, cover with freeze cloth, or for an on hand solution, drape with old sheets, or blankets, then cover with plastic to ensure that the blankets don’t get wet. If you only use plastic without a fabric insulator, the freezing temps will transfer through the plastic and cause damage. Make sure the plants are covered all the way to the ground to prevent the core/base of the plants from freezing. As another person posted, your plants should look more like ghosts and not like lollipops!👻🍭
10. If you have an older home and the water meter is above ground, make sure to insulate this from the cold as well.
11. Make sure you know where your flashlights, candles and matches/lighters are in case of a power outage and you need illumination.
12. Also, if you have lots of canned goods that you are planning to eat, ensure that you have a manual can opener available in case of lost power.
13. Most important of all, make sure to bring in your pets to protect them from the elements.
14. Keep your sense of humor about you, ask for help if you need it, and just know that this too shall pass!