We’re not going skating today: a forecast daily high of 9 is just a little unreasonable for the winter clothes we own: we are not equipped for Fairbanks or Nome. I have an important scene to write today, and over all—we’re just going to be homebodies.
The pond froze despite the heater, but it is thawing as sunlight hits that area. It’s a good thing. The heater is not to keep the koi warm, but to prevent the pond from freezing over, because it is vital to allow gas exchange with the atmosphere: notably co2 needs to escape from the pond.
If a pond does freeze, the way to fix it is to go boil water and use boiling water to melt a hole in the ice. You cannot break the ice, because the shock from the impacts on the ice could kill the fish. This is why you do not throw rocks in ornamental ponds: it’s painful to the fish.
I didn’t get much sleep last night—don’t know why. It was cold, but I had a warm spot. Ysabel was cold—that was much more to the point: she couldn’t figure out where she wanted to be and kept clawing at my face, or my arm, or the covers—“We’z changed our mind agin. we wants to be unner teh coverz, plz…”
There’s nothing more annoying than a claw on the cheek at 3 am.
“There’s nothing more annoying than a claw on the cheek at 3 am.” Except hearing the cat throw up?
I think the homebody thing is a great idea! Stay warm, lots of good coffee out of that new pot, and many words for you both!
Heh. 2:30 in the morning, the cat jumps up on the bed, with those unmistakable horking noises, then: “Honey? The cat just threw up on me.” Immediate removal of the quilt for later washing. Eeww.
Stay warm and safe, you two.
I think I think I wake up fastest (I almost wrote “best”, but that sure is not the case) to the deep-throated, horking sound of a cat about to barf on the bed. I sit up, reach over, grab cat and fling out the nearby bedroom door onto the tile hallway. Then I fall right back to sleep. Next morning, memory lost, however, can be bad when stepping out into the hall to stumble to the bathroom, however! “Eeeww” on barefeet.
Hmm… on that dubious note, please have a lovely Thanksgiving, all!
“The Claw of Doom!”
My daughter, up in Calgary, said it’s 20 below up there!
OOOHHH! Not *nice* weather. Stay safe and warm. 🙂
I get my eyelids batted whenI am dreaming. Most disconcerting is the face washing that Aloysius gives if I do not get up at *his* time to give the kittehs their cookies and milk.
Thank you to you and Jane for giving us so much time and pleasure and making us some part of your busy lives.
Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂 😀 😆
Sylvester has taken to crawling in bed next to me in the middle of the night wanting to be petted. He’s very gentle about it, but it still wakes me up. Of course, a purring cat relaxes me and I fall back asleep. The new cat (nameless still as I really don’t like what they were calling her in her foster home) is very active at night. I’ve begun to sleep through the noises and wake up to the destruction – anything paper is in shreds, dead crickets from the basement everywhere. I asked for an adult cat, hoping for calm. Oh well, she is very sweet. And Sylvester is no longer in mourning.
The cold, wet nose against an ankle, after the cat has learned how to climb the side of the bed under the covers?
(I know about the middle of the night glurking cat, too. And the cat wanting in at oh-god when she decided to stay out the night before.)
My little Rana-cat has taken up sleeping in my bed again. She does that when the weather gets colder. Her favorite move is to curl up in the curve of the knee, especially if she can do that and have the body pillow on the other side. It makes a little hollow that I figure is easy for her body heat to warm up and keep cozy.
And the sound of a horking cat is the only thing that will get my two dogs to bolt out of their beds. They hear that and are at the cat waiting eagerly to lap up whatever she coughs up. They are very upset if the cats decide to do that where they can’t reach it!