I don't like working on ladders in the best of times

Which times do not include 35 degrees, gusting north winds and wet, soft ground.

You need the full timeline for this:
Yesterday evening it was almost 70, winds gusting out of the south at, on 35 or so(until the strong ones hit). Then it started pouring rain and the tornado sirens started blowing as the storms set up by the cold front moved through. No tornado, happily, the circulation didn't develop fully. Then the front came through with the same winds and gusts from the north. So I came home to find it had ripped some of the siding on one side of the house loose during the day. So I had to run to the store for screws & sealant, get out the ladder and the steel squares I keep for such things, set up the ladder and repair the mess. No way I was going to let it sit with the wind working on it all night, especially with a chance of some more snow.

So the siding is repaired, though a few spots will need extra attention tomorrow when it's warmer and the wind is down. A few years ago I bought a steel folding ladder, one of those you can set up as a stepladder or work platform, and set up as the latter it let me do the work with a reasonably solid base. Which doesn't change the fact I was standing on a ladder on wet ground in gusting wind on a cold day. Couple of years ago, after a lot of sleet and a little freezing rain, I discovered too late that I'd damn near frozen my fingertips on several fingers, and I may have frostbit them just a bit; as a consequence this kind of crap makes them stiffer and number than formerly. Especially since I can't wear gloves and handle the screws, etc. Which is why my first notice of something puncturing a finger was the red smears on the siding. Washed up now, bleeding stopped and feeling has returned to the digits in question.

Sometimes a house is just SO much fun.