That arctic front hit us with strong winds that toppled a 100 year old tree onto a big house on the North Hill (we live on the South Hill) and really trashed several rooms. Evergreens grow up about 90 feet and are limber at the top and long-fibered with big, heavily fronded limbs—and when the wind blows, and they get to whipping about, down the whole tree can go.
This morning we had a dusting of snow—Shu was wilder than a march hare, and ran about doing every semi-naughty thing that occurred to him, mostly involving countertops…Sei was calmer, but definitely noted the world had changed.
I thought the hawthorne by the pond would unload leaves in that wind, but no—it was the towering big hemlocks: they covered the pond in a layer of dead needles, which I could have pulled in thirty minutes if we still had the pump in, but no—we’d pulled it.
Jane’s nasty-sick, and I’m semi-sick: upper respiratory crud; and we’re getting meds for it…but nothing for it—if 20 lbs of hemlock needles sink, they’ll rot, they’ll affect ph, and they’re not that wholesome for the fish in a closed pond for the winter. SOoooooooooo…I’m elected. I’m not letting Jane go out there and get sicker. So I put on the rain-suit to keep warm, netted out 20 or so pounds of needles, dumped them onto the walkways, then got the pushbroom, cleaned the bridge, which had about 5 lbs, then swept the patio, walkway and driveway, which netted another 20 plus, and then I swept them all out the garden gate and piled them on the weaker plants out there. The net pole is aluminum and quite cold, even with gloves, and I had to hold one hand under cold water to get the pain stopped and circulation going in my middle fingers. Owie. But that’s done.
Now I just have to get over to Freddie Myers and get the meds.
We’re pilling Shu, we’re pilling us, now, and we’re all just ducky. Bleh!
But our trees are still standing!
PS, if you haven’t seen Jane’s slideshow of Shu and the very pretty gift she got, there’s a link: http://www.janefancher.com/TheCaptainAndLime/
I hope you and yours get to feeling better soon.
I was just poking on-line at The Scotsman (Edinburgh and the nation’s main newspaper) since I used to live there and like to keep up with the news. They had a (fluff) article today on the Scottish Fold cat, aka Seisei (sp?) minus the fold:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/look_ear_i_m_the_cat_s_whiskers_1_1963670
Lol—well, Seishi was not in that exalted a price range, though he was my birthday AND Christmas present from Jane. 😉 As an adult male with straight ears and some marking flaws that wouldn’t do well in the show ring, he was going for far, far less, considering he’d had all his shots and his neutering already. The cattery takes a price hit on an adult, in that regard. You want a fold-eared kitten with perfect show markings, oh, yeah, you’re in for cost. The breeders are holding the cost up by one very smart practice, given the known genetic problem in the breed: if you want a pet quality straight-eared cat who’s neutered, ie, flaws in marking, that’s one price; a kitten of show quality who’s neutered, that’s a pretty price. A straight-ear kitten who’s not neutered, again, a very high price. A fold-eared kitten who’s not neutered, a really high price.
The logic is this: if you want to show, you’re going to pay through the nose, but they’ll be showing in the Alter Class, and they won’t be producing kittens for sale in your local paper; if you’re going to breed, and probably show, you’re going to really pay for an unneutered kitten, and you’ll sign an agreement not to breed except according to ‘safe’ patterns, ie, straight-ear to folded, or straight-ear to straight-ear—never folded to folded. A show-quality breeding cat is going to cost, and since if you want to show as a Scottish Fold, your show reputation comes from the folded-ear side of the equation—customers are going to be impressed by the wins, and by that image on the cattery wall, because it’s what they expect. Ironically Maru, the most famous cat of the breed, IS a straight-ear: he certainly helps sales of the straight-eared byproduct of Scottish Fold breeding.
And since I am on a roll with net surfing (while waiting for the apple crisp I just baked to cool down), let me post an article on coral reef health and the role that “fringe coral reefs” apparently play as nurseries to fingerling fish that grow up to eat the algae threatening coral reefs:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111110130100.htm
(It’s from Science Daily, one of my favorite sites to go read “science porn” (aka my fix of scientific discoveries in relatively layman’s terms).
Interesting: I just relayed that to the expert area of the reef forum I belong to.
I’m knitting as fast as I can. . . WOL says cryptically.
Hmmm?
bleh, that’s tough. is it the weather/dust/leaves etc that’s given you the upper respiratories?
isn’t it funny how animals react to snow. I have seen a group of bullocks, you’d think the most staid of creatures, go leaping and bucking about in fresh snow.
It hasn’t helped. Jane and I aren’t sure we’ve got the same crud, though it can manifest in varied ways. I kited off yesterday after a prescription, and found my throat getting sore even while I was picking up the prescription.
Pilling yourselves and the cats? As long as you don’t get hairballs….
I hope y’all feel better soon.