20 January 2007

HELP! PURRRAYERS NEEDED FOR NELS!

nelson john lapurr (pierce) has had a stroke or seizure. he is at the emergency vet right now (saturday, 20th, 4:00 p.m. central time), under close watch. the vet will call this evening around 8:00 to give a progress report, but unfortunately we still have no power, so will be unable to communicate what he says to you. i'm sending from grandma's house just now, but will be leaving soon.

they are doing blood tests on him, and sending them to the lab. nels seemed to be doing better the longer we were at the vet, so that's a hopeful sign. PLEASE PURRRAY and purr and send good vibes and all such things his way!!!! we'll be in touch as soon as possible!

19 January 2007

nope; not EVEN yet.

biggify pix for best view
outside work at 7:45 a.m.

some icy grass

an artsy sepia shot for those of you who like that . . .

18 January 2007

thursday thirteen

(phoned in to mom at work)

why ice storms are not good for kitties:

1. our potty room is furry, furry cold.
2. there are enchanting shadows on the ceiling from the candles & lamps, and we can’t catch them.
3. mom won’t let us sit on the kitchen table while she reads, ‘cause she’s “nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs” that we’ll swish our tails in the candle flames. (OK, I don’t guess we’d like it either.).
4. oil lamp fumes stink ferociously bad, even to a kitty
5. beans get grumpier the longer they’re without power.
6. we get stepped on more frequently, ‘cause lamp- and candle-light aren’t enough to see us by (poor beans, with their insufficient eyesight—not like US!)
7. laps go vertical—frequently without warning—as the beans get up to go toast their butts against the woodstove.
8. there are no warm windowsills for sunning.
9. there is no sun for sunning. period.
10. our suppers are below par on preparation and presentation – again with the poor lighting excuse!
11. that brown cow, cocoa, is feistier than efurr when she comes back inside from a potty trip and chases us with more vim, vigor, and vitality than is good for us.
12. nelson hogs the chair closest to the woodstove—he only leaves to eat and go potty, and if one of us gets into the chair while he’s gone, he rousts us!

And worst of all:
13. WE CAN’T VISIT OUR BLOGGIE FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we’s thinkin’ of yas all, and wonderin’ what’s going on in the blogosphere. mom has read all y’all’s comments and told us about ‘em, but it’s nefurr the same as really seein’ ‘em for yourself! an’ she can’t take the time at work to explore bloggies, so we don’t get much news. we’ll be back eventually, though!

purrs,
nels, ed, nitro, and xingxing

insult to injury

(the kitties promise to phone in a Thursday Thirteen after they wake up a bit)

Yesterday's headline: "Recovery Begins!"
Today's headline: "Pace of restoring power will slow, City warns". big whoop. how can no progress get slower? i was so peevish upon reading that, i forewent reading the rest of the article, lest i declare an amok and run about with a kris between my teeth.

and btw, i must mention our newspaper carrier, kenny, who has delivered a paper every single day throughout this whole wretched time! kudos!! unlike the "neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night" guys, who finally showed up about 5:30 yesterday for the first time.

i am so frustrated, i feel like max the psychokitty: i wanna bite things!!!! no targets better present themselves within' chompin' range, that's all i can say.

and from our local on-line version of the one professional TV station in town:

WINTER- ROUND 2
Watch for falling water drops today... and trees and power lines, too. As the Ozarks fencerows and ornamentals begin to lose the hundreds of pounds of ice they're holding... the urban forests will try to right themselves, adding another tug to stressed pole and power lines. I wouldn't be surprised to see more outages as a result of the movement today. There's also a breeze. The Westerlies have been a bit gusty this morning, and while that's adding to the warm up... it's also adding stress to the icy situation. Highs this Thursday will warm into the mid to upper 30s under heavy clouds.

Just when the melting begins... signs of another winter storm is on the horizon!

For Southern Missouri, look for 3 to 6 inches of snow. In Northwest Arkansas, snow may be the predominant type of precipitation... but East of Eureka Springs to Harrison, the mixture could include rain, changing to freezing rain... then to sleet, perhaps ending with some snow.

Light snow showers and flurries will continue into Sunday... with flakey leftovers continuing on Monday.

as cap'n jack sparrow would say, "oh, bugger."

17 January 2007

nope, not yet

power at home, that is. i always say, if there were railroad tracks nearby, our neighborhood would be "on the wrong side" of 'em. the west side is old and poor, and we just don't rate on the city's services list. so we do for ourselves. pfui! i just now see i saved these darn pictures as black and white. well, they weren't much more than that, anyway. this is what it looks like at our house:the twig itself is on the "0" of the ruler, and if you biggify the picture, you can see the southern edge of the ice is on the 1".

good thing i hadn't left any laundry outside!

you can see how long the tree struggled to keep its branches upright by the length of the sideways icicles--and the drip trails that formed after the tree had surrendered.

16 January 2007

in again, out again

mm sez:

we have had power and phone/internet at work until about 11:30 this a.m. when the phones went bye-bye. about 30 minutes ago, the power went away. now it's back. no telling what will happen in the future . . .

the voice of the chainsaw is heard in our land . . .

meower mom broadcasting from work:

although STILL without power, we are doing ok. the "fridge" is right out on the front porch. we have long metal forks from the camping gear to make toast and hot dogs with when the woodstove is down to coals, and soup, etc heats nicely on top of it. it was just blistering cold last night, though. we got out tom's polar-rated oversize sleeping bag, zipped it open, and used it for another comforter on the bed. nitro and xing snuck into the bedroom, too, but with my allergies, that's verboten--so there was a lively chase until we convinced them both that they would be MUCH warmer in the living room! *sigh* why couldn't this have been my beloved SNOW?!? sun's out this morning, but hazy; temp was 5 degrees fahrenheit on our carport.

the Boy stopped by last night. he finally knuckled under, took his kitty (powder) and went to grandma & grandpa's. of course, by that time, THEY didn't have power either, but they have tons of quilts, a gas fireplace, a bbq grill built into the back (outside) of their fireplace sharing the chimney, and a screen porch around that, so at least they have ready access to real cookspace where they won't get snowed or iced on. we haven't been desperate enough to fire up the propane grill out on the carport yet, but if power doesn't come soon, it may come to that! we give SERIOUS thanks to g*d that the 2nd and 3rd waves of the storm were not even close to as severe as had been forecast!

we are fortunate to have always lived a bit on the rustic side at home (with the woodstove, clotheslines, garden, camping and scouting, etc). our accumulated old-timey tools and ways rendered this time a bit easier for us. we've always sincerely admired the folks who lived through the frontier (and earlier) days, and collected, studied (and in some cases, made and tried) the things that allowed them to do so. it's very satisfying to feel that connection going back, in some cases, to the middle ages--realizing your flesh-and-blood ancestors had done the very same things you are doing, in the very same way, with the very same motions, is just awe-some.

thanks so much for the cheerful well-wishes and purrs and purrrayers. it was very nice to log on at work this morning (i was here yesterday, too, but although there was light and heat, there was no phone service or internet) and see how kind everyone has been to purrray, purr, and wish the best for us. please continue to remember all those who are still without light and heat! the city power company says that "only" 35,000 remain without electricity. allow me to say, "bah. humbug."

14 January 2007

ICEBOUND, Part the Second

meower mom again: posting from grandma & grandpa's on the southeast side of springfield, where they din't have near the breakage we did (although the lights flickered twice during lunch today).


it's worse today, although yesterday's aggregation of wetness was not as severe. we are battening our hatches, though; a friend from joplin (70 mi west of here) just told us it had begun to sleet there, so it's comin'. and wind, we hear, will be in the mix, too. devastating for ice-laden trees and poles and power lines.

this morning's paper (yay for the paper guy---boo for the mailman, who din't make it yesterday) now says upwards of 65,000 are without power, and several of the little hamlets nearby are 90%=100% without power too. you couldn't buy a generator in town for love AND money. there's no power at tom's store anymore.

plenty of 'nip and food. top of woodstove warm enuf for instant coffee and cocoa, heating soup and canned stew, so we'll be fine. the deadly dullness will kill us, if anything. painted my nails by candlelight, re-read "snowbound" for the millionth time. napped. kitties like that!!

all for now. don't know if will get to a puter tomorrow or not. thanks millions to all who are praying and purring and wishing us well. we'll make it fine; pray for those who aren't so well off!