Winter has come

 Dave contacted another cat rescue on Monday to ask if they'd consider taking Scamper.  

A woman came to the house, while I was at the office, to meet Scamp, but, of course, Scamp ran away.

Dave explained everything to her, and showed her the spay and vaccination paperwork, and she said she'd try to get Scamp into their program.

She agreed that Scamp bit the tech out of one moment of fear, because she couldn't see or smell Dave.

But.... then, the woman texted on Wednesday that they would not be taking the kitten.  She said Scamp was too feral, had been on the street for 6 months, and that the socialization process would require more than their fosters could give.

We call "bullshit," because she never actually met Scamp, or saw her with us...but that was that.

So, it was 1 degree last night, with brutal winds, and Scamp still lives in our back yard.

Sammie goes somewhere else at night.  We have seen her go back through the back yard, and over the fence after eating dinner. This means that Scamp is now alone at night, in the shelter we have for her.

Both of them showed up for breakfast today, though, so they survived the coldest night in 3 years.  Sammie stays here with Scamp during the day. I just wish she stayed with her at night, too.

In OTHER kitten news, STRIPE HAS BEEN ADOPTED! 

Neither she, nor Joe, lasted more than a few days at the adoption center, because they were so perfectly socialized.

We DONE GOOD!!!

I know my last post was titled "Last Kitten Update," but... well... it wasn't.  HAHA!

So, once again, the dangerous cold has come back to Oklahoma, where homes are not insulated, and people don't necessarily own parkas and mukluks.

We went around the living room, and Dave cleaned off the cob webs before I caulked the windows shut.  This is helping a LOT with keeping the brutal wind outside.  

The windows on the front of the house are 1927 original equipment, single pane, and very loose/drafty.

So, they're now sealed shut, but that's okay.... There was only one we could open, in the first place.  

We have a storm door with a screen, so when we can get fresh air into the house, that's usually what we use anyway.

There is a prediction of snow today, but the amount has changed over and over, so we will just wait and see.  It's too cold for me to shovel, though, which kind of bums me out.

I LOVE shoveling snow, and going for walks in that lovely, insulated silence.  Since the high today will be 7F, with windchills in the -25-30F range, there won't be any walking, either.

This is supposed to last until Wednesday, so I told my supervisor that I would be working from home next week.  

Tomorrow is a holiday, which is great... and Tuesday morning, it's supposed to be -7F at the time I would be leaving for work, so.... just... NO!  

Wednesday, Dave needs the car, and Thursday is my next treatment.

SO, I didn't ASK her, I told her, and she was fine with that.

The big news for OKC, other than the killing cold, is that there was a swarm of earthquakes between about 9:30 Friday night through yesterday.

20 in total.  

One of them woke me up at 5:35 on Saturday morning, and I never went back to sleep... This was after we stayed up late on Friday, watching movies.  

Some homes in the area closest to the multiple epicenters (all clustered in one spot) have new foundation and wall cracks, and some of the home security system videos are pretty scary.

There were two quakes that measured 4.4  The rest were between 2 and 3, which is more normal for the fracking quakes that have become pretty common in Oklahoma. 

Anyway, I had planned to make New Mexican pork for a friend, and have her over for dinner last night, so I did my chores, and cooked the wonderful dinner, and she stayed until almost 9.  We had a lovely visit!

I had planned to nap in the afternoon, but when I finally did lie down, I couldn't actually nap, so I gave up.

By the time she headed home, I was too tired to sleep.  It took me 3 or 4 hours to FINALLY fall asleep, and that was because I took a Sominex.

Once I slept, I slept really well, but did not get up until almost 9 this morning.  

Then, I wanted my yummy old fashioned oatmeal, so I made breakfast, and we ate.... and now I am finally here!

I am telling you all of this, because this post might be appearing for you a little bit later than usual, HAHA!

Since it's so cold, we planned ahead, and have nowhere that we have to go today.  The groceries came yesterday, and we're stocked up on cat food.

We WILL be going out to warm up the car periodically, though.  Dave also got the oil changed, the tires rotated, and splash guard replaced (making it much harder for any future kittens to get into the engine of the car), and the BATTERY replaced, all in advance of this deep freeze.

The car started right up yesterday, no problems, but it was 17F yesterday.  Much less cold than today.

My cooking project for today is chili, which is MUCH easier than the somewhat labor intensive Pork Adovada. 

That being said, I might also bake some oatmeal breakfast bars.

I also hope to get out needles and thread and learn some embroidery stitches.  I have been wanting to do this for months, since a dear friend made me a really cool linen dress, and she also sent me a bunch of embroidery floss, needles, and fabric remnants to practice on!  

I went and got some various sizes of hoops, and a "chalk pencil" to draw designs.  

SO, we shall see!  I used to do embroidery as one of my living history demonstrations, but I was never very good at it, and didn't study "real" stitches.  

Thankfully, there are a LOT of You Tube instructional videos available for free!

Wherever you are, if you're in the U.S., you are likely also having unusually cold weather....  I wish you all peace, comfort, safety, and warmth.  

Until next time....