Weird Weather of '09 #14 Baby it's Cold Outside....

Now it is snowing heavily and starting to cover the ground. Swirling 1" flakes.

It's snowing lightly here.

Snowed here a few times this morning about 25 flakes each time, LOL. It's overcast and warming up, though. This reminds me of Alaska - we knew there was snow coming when it warmed up. I had forgotten about that.

Wow, we're actually up to 45. It's nice out, as long as I don't look at the damage done by the cold. Not looking good.

It's a balmy 35 degrees here.

Up in the 40s here in Oregon's banana belt, same as yesterday. We got a little rain yesterday, THANK GOODNESS, because yesterday afternoon, with 18 seconds left in a tense Montana Grizzlies playoff game, water finally came gushing out of my taps ... and the crowd goes wild ...

Sun is out now.

ROFLOL summerkid....perfect timing!!

It was a wild few moments at my house! The sound of rushing water from every faucet in the house, me jumping & yelling & urging my Grizzlies on ... We were up 24-17 with a minute-plus to go, and Appalachian State had to score a touchdown, not just a field goal, and they were in the red zone with 4 downs to do it, and they have an amazing QB, Amanti Edwards, but the last pass attempt bounced out of the receiver's hands.

Of course, since it was 0 degrees & snowing AND gusting there in Missoula, I'm surprised they didn't all just fall over dead by the 4th quarter. The wind kept blowing the ball off the punt stand before the kickers could get to it.

Glad to hear you have the sounds of water again! Our few little snow flake are getting much thicker now and when DH isn't in the room my granddaughter and I are going "YES Let it Snow!!!" We got DH a Santa Hat with a Baseball Brim that says "Bah Humbug" on the front!

Sally you are so right about the cats staying outside a few more minutes! This past week I have stayed by the door when I let the animals out because they want in so soon. This morning, they all wanted to stay outside for about 15 minutes before deciding to seek warmth.

Summer glad you have water again.

Oh how I love doing dishes!!! Laundry too! Wonderful, lovely laundry.

Blurry photo of one of our hummingbirds on his new favorite perch:

Oh that is precious. They will love the warmth.

I was hoping he'd roost there for the night, because he looked very comfy, and he isn't scared by me coming and going at all- but while I was trying to get a photo out the slightly opened front door, one of my cats darted out and was immediately attacked by "Porch Kitty", the homeless cat that lives in a box on our porch. Naturally, the fight scared the hummer away, and as I tried to break it up, I got some pretty serious wounds in my hand. Porch Kitty has very long, sharp fangs, and she sunk them all the way in. I've not felt pain like this in a long time. I just hope I don't have nerve damage. (her top fangs went in between the bones in the back of my hand)

Stupid cats. Why do I love them, again? Hmmph.

Those sassy cats!! Put antibiotic ointment on it right away and keep flushing and reapplying for 24 hours. I've found that that has really headed off infection when I've gotten deep bites and scratches (and, with as many cats as I have, I've had a few of those).

I like the idea of putting lights around the perches and feeders - that must create warmth.

SK, I felt the same way after our 10-day power outage in 2007. I had only cold water the whole time. It seemed like such a luxury to have hot water after that!!

Yeah, I cleaned them real good and have them slathered with Neosporin and wrapped loosely with gauze. I'm sure they'll be fine, but it's gonna hurt for a while. :-/

The snow has stopped here, at least for now. There's only 1/4" accumulated- just enough to look pretty.

I find that the pain is less if there's no infection . . .

I find that there's no better remedy than a soak in rubbing alcohol, a bit of vaseline (which has pain-killing properties) and a tight Band-Aid.

Rose thorns and cat bites really hurt more than anything. Take care of it.

I washed it with soap, dumped hydrogen peroxide over it, bathed it with alcohol, put neosporin with pain killer on it, and bandaged it. I think I was thorough. heh.

I'm concerned about nerve involvement because I have serious pain all down the last two fingers of that hand, though they weren't injured. Since her teeth sunk in deep between the bones, there could be issues there. Time will tell. I'll have it looked at if it doesn't improve quickly.

Now- how about that weather? It sure is weathery! This is a lot better than that bone-crushing dry cold. I was really hating that.

ouch! pony, hope your hand is o.k. My garage cat got me once like that, I did the same as you and kept after it and it was fine. But yes, sore for a while. Now I have to figure out something for my hummer feeder. Don't have any bushes close by, it's hanging from the garage eave. I've been tempted to change them everyday so it's not so cold.

Maybe putting up lights would keep it warm.

Still the same here. 36 and holding, no more snow yet.

Pony, cleaning out a bite where teeth leave puncture wounds is very difficult. If it were me, I would seek medical attention immediately. After all, you do want to be able to garden with 2 hands!

I agree, Pony. Listen to our medical professional. If it's that deep and is giving you so much pain this morning, then I think it's time to have someone take a look at it. With the uberbacteria that are around these days, you don't want to get behind an infection.

It feels downright balmy here today. The roads were very slick, but the county apparently sprayed chemicals on the road over the weekend and they made a huge difference today. Of course, chicken that I am, I waited until after sunup to come into the office. There was at least one car that appeared to have slid off the road in our neighborhood.

Grr. Without water again. As pipes thaw & burst & leak, our little reservoir is drained. "Wanna buy a water company," Walter asked when I called about my lack of pressure.

Trisha and Melissa, belated sympathy in losing your creatures. It is always heartbreaking, even when you know it is coming.

Summer, I am happy for you that you got your water back. You are right, there is nothing better to make you appreciate the simple things like water and power than losing them for a while. My laundry room finally thawed, and Don got the broken pipe in the wall fixed, so now I can do laundry again myself. Hooray! My poor brother is still without water (almost a week now).

I was so glad to see it warm up to 32 or so yesterday. I just don't like cold, and I hate seeing the poor plants curling up into themselves. I call my large rhodie on my driveway my "weather rhody"....when it's leaves droop and look like cigars, it is just too cold outside!

Glad those of you down south didn't suffer as was predicted! We had about a half inch of snow last night, and I was dreading the drive in this morning. It made for some pretty exciting driving until you got out of South Prairie propper this morning, but after that it was an easy drive in to work. Whew!

OOOpps! Summer, we cross posted and looks like I said congrats on the water too soon! Hopefully it is a shorter down time this time.

Well, Julie, I'm still relatively well off. I've showered & done some laundry, so I can get by easily till the reservoir fills up again tomorrow. Plus no busted pipes here! And nearly 50 degrees! So I am a lucky gus.

Of course, you have a husband AND a job, both of which are sorely lacking in my life. So, lucky Julie, too!

42 here right now, it was sunny and bright earlier and I got the outside decorations done. Yeah!! But now it's overcast and getting colder. My DH hired a girl to help me with the housework at my Mom's. It sorely needs decluttering and I keep getting farther and farther behind with everything. I'm not used to having help, always do it myself. But I have to admit we got a lot done today and she helped with the decorations too. Mom is pleased that I have help, she feels bad she can't do anything. Starting to rain now, guess the forecast was right. Maybe it won't be so cold tonight.

It's good to have help. It is best when you can work with them instead of having them do everything. I also got way behind and overwhelmed this last year with mom. Now I have help and am making progress. Your DH is a sweetie to do this for you.

I kind of felt guilty at first, like I was doing my job, then realized this job was too big for just me. I know he saw how much it bothered me not to be able to keep things up, so it was a good idea. He gets an "atta boy" again. Part of the problem is he can't do much because of his health, so I do his part too. Now it'll be a little easier and I'll have more time in my garden. Which is looking sad right now. Laughing about Julie's "weather rhody" I can see one that looks like cigars right out my window. Poor thing! It looks awful.

Mom's Daphne looks awful too. Some of the leaves are turning black, anybody know if there's anything I can do for it? Or will it be o.k. come spring.

WHAT?????

"It is best when you can work with them instead of having them do everything."

That is a nice thought, but when I was working it was great to shut the door and go to work and open the door at 9pm after work and everything is clean and neat, without my help. Now I clean my own little house - I thought it would be character building but that si just not true!

I think it depends on what they're doing.

I had to go to a meeting tonight. It was 41 when I left at 6:30 and 46 when I got home at 9:00. I know rain brings warmer temps, but this is weird.

Judi, when I worked I did that also, but I'm older and it takes me days of sneezing and aching to do anything. She is my friend and we work well together inside and outside. So I usually do the really nasty stuff and we listen to jazz and work.

Willow, I hate cleaning and I am sore all over when I'm finished. But now I don't want to spend any more money maintaining my house. Gutters cleaned. Roof repaired. Chimney cleaned. Deck repaired. Front steps replaced. On and on and on. Oh the joy!

It has been raining non-stop for 30 hours. Portland is very wet!

We have lived here twentyyears and are going through that also. Many things need updating. We have done a new heating system, new built-in vac, new garage doors and openers. And many small minor things.

GO GRIZZLIES! My wife and I were doing the same thing during the game Summer. We are big Griz fans. We often go to the games on Saturdays. When is the big game? Friday or Saturday? I haven't any news up here in AK.

Friday Friday Friday, 5 p.m. our time.

Is that Friday? Whatchya cookin' for the big game?

I'm taking in a bunch of healthy appetizers since I'll be watching it in Portland with the Crniches & a big crowd of Montana ex-pats. So ... garlicky hummus & homemade pita bread ... roasted red-pepper dip & crusty sourdough bread ... radicchio-leaf hors d'oeuvres filled with various vegetable & nutty spoonfuls ... rosemary & pine-nut cookies.

Any suggestions, Katie?