Sunrise and Squeak

 The cat and I woke up early one morning just as the sun was beginning to rise.  The sunrise looked like it was going to be a gorgeous sunrise, so I texted my daughters and told them about the beautiful sunrise.  Of course Suzanne went out and took this picture of the sunrise that we were watching.  

Isn't it beautiful?  This was a couple of days ago, and the white at the bottom of the picture is of the snow and ice that is covering the ground.

This morning when I woke up Squeak, my cat who is taking temporary shelter in the house was sitting on my bookcase looking out into the snow.  She loves looking out the windows, but whenever we approach her she runs off.  I think she thinks that we are going to put her outside and she's not ready to go yet.  This morning I finally got a picture of her looking out at her snow covered world.  

She came back to bed for a catnap and then we both got up and she followed me into the living room where I drink my morning coffee while watching game shows.

Today Squeak walked to the front door, so we thought she might be ready to go outside.  I opened the door, and she stepped way back so I left the front door open just in case she wanted a better look outside.  I was right and she approached the door again and sat there and looked out.  She left and came back to the open front door several times, so after we drank our coffee we decided to carry her outside.  I stuck her inside of her heated cathouse and she jumped right back out.  We immediately saw that this was a big mistake as she started crying at the door.  She wanted back inside.  We first remained outside for a few minutes thinking that she would settle down and get back into her cathouse, but she didn't and there was no way for us to get back in with her howling in front of the door.

Of course we gave in and let her back inside, and decided to put her back outside when the ice and snow melt away.  Last year or the year before when the winter temps got dangerously cold for pets we brought her inside, but in about 3 days she went right out, no problems, but not this time.  Of course there may not have been all this snow outside at that time, and this time she has been inside for over a week.

The temperature is warmer today and I can see some melting going on, but now tomorrow it's getting cold again.  This week was forecasted to be warmer with temperatures that were safe for our cat, but as things go here in Kentucky the weather changed again.  We may be stuck with Squeak in the house for another week and then I don't see her wanting to go back outside again.  She has to go because it's driving Rick nuts having her inside.  He's not a pet person.

While Squeak has been inside she has cuddled up to me at night and has slept tucked up against my right side.  Rick has been sleeping on the couch so that he can keep an eye on what she does or where she goes when she decides to take her night time walks.  She always comes back to bed with me, but that wandering of her's is not something Rick can tolerate.  

Squeak has been on her best behavior for a cat.  She hasn't knocked anything over or insisted on being perched somewhere up high.  Rick has seen to that and she knows what NO or GET DOWN means too.  Sometimes I feel that she is getting depressed because she's not free to roam around and be inquisitive like cats are.  She sleeps the whole day and catnaps at night.  She definitely is nocturnal and does most of her eating at night.  When she's been outside we feed her in the daytime and remove the leftover food at night.  This is so as not to attract other wild animals near her cathouse.  

We originally brought her inside because it was so cold out that she wasn't leaving her heated cathouse all day long.  We hated that for her because she was not getting any exercise.  We may have done the wrong thing by bringing her inside.  I just don't know, but it made us feel better.  Squeak protested at first and hid out under the bed, but this time she didn't remain hidden until the last day, but came right out after just a couple of hours.  I'm afraid that we might not be able to put her out without her crying to get back in until the temps reach 50 degrees F.

First Steps

 On Sunday during church services, while in the nursery Lyle took his first steps.  His birthday is on February 28, 2025, so in a little over a month he will turn ONE.  He's walking at about the same time as Brian, Sharon & Suzanne began to walk at 11 months old.

Sharon, Lyle's grandma sent me this video of Lyle's first steps.  Lyle is Megan & James 3rd child.

Watch til the very end when he lets go of the railing and walks towards his grandma Sharon.

ICE

The ice is 3 inches thick on our cars & truck.  Rick has cabin fever and went out to start the vehicles and clean them off.   He let them run for 30 minutes on defrost.  Since the Prius has very good defrosters on the front and back windows, the ice loosened up and he was able to remove it in big chunks.  But the Prius isn't the car he wants to take out on these salty icy roads.  He feels safer in the AWD Saturn and since it is so old the defrosters aren't as good so he saved it for last.

I'm sure he must be getting really cold out there because the windchill is 8 degrees F out there.  I opened a window in the bathroom and talked to him for a few minutes, but then I had to close it back up because it was too cold. 

I better check on Rick again.  He's been out there for almost 20 minutes, but he has the Prius and Saturn both running, and he's smart enough to get out of the cold and warm himself up.  I'll go check on him anyway, through the window.

  

The Main Snow Event of 2026

It's only been about 4 days, but it seems like it's been forever that I have been stuck in the house with Rick.  We didn't get much snow, maybe about an inch or two initially and another inch or two later.  We first got ice, but not enough to break down any trees or power lines. 

Mainly what concerns us is the frigid cold temperatures in the single digits and below zero.  The windchill is definitely below zero at night and today the temperature feels like 7 degrees F. outside. 

Besides being very cold outside, it is slippery. It's too cold for the ice on the salted roads to melt and when it does melt just a tiny bit the roads become more slippery.  I'm not going outside just to take a chance on slipping on the ice and breaking a hip or something and neither is Rick.  Also I don't want to take a chance on damaging any of my vehicles. It's not worth it especially when we have everything we need right here at home and besides that, our State Governor told us all to stay home unless we absolutely have to get out to go to work or in an emergency. 

Years and years ago we installed a natural gas fireplace to help heat the house in the Winter, so that when the electricity went out for any reason we would have heat.  It has not disappointed us.  There have been many Winters when we lost electric power, but we stayed warm.  It beats using kerosene  or butane heaters that require you to keep enough fuel for the affected time.  If you run out of fuel then you have to get in your car and go buy more, and during a storm good luck with that.  I remember hauling family to surrounding cities in search of kerosene.  There was a time when we had a heating unit that was fueled by kerosene, but we had a large tank that fueled it, and when the tank was full it lasted for two Winter seasons.  In those days it was very economical to heat with it, but when that heater finally died we installed the natural gas heat.  We never had to spend a night or day cold, huddled under blankets with three layers of clothes on.  Natural gas is very dependable because it's underground.

I'm feeling much better now.  Almost a whole hour has passed by, and only 12 more hours til bedtime.   

Squeak

Rick decided that Squeak should come inside for the next week because of the frigid cold.  The temperatures are dropping to a wind chill this week to -20 degrees below zero.  Tonight it's -3 degrees below zero right now.  The last time we brought Squeak inside was  because of Winter frigid temps, several years ago, it took her about 3 days of hiding before she came out to greet us.  Today it only took her a couple of hours to make her appearance and now she is here laying beside me on the love seat all cuddled up with my warm, fuzzy housecoat.

This picture on the right is of Squeak when she was younger.

The picture below is a more recent picture.  It's only around 10 years old tho, so it's not that recent.

Squeak must be around 16 years old now.  I would have to check my records.

Squeak and Jybow were put outside around 2016 by Rick.  He doesn't like animals in the house.  Jybow was an indoor/outdoor cat so she loved it, but it took Squeak some time to get used to being outside since she had been a cat that never liked going outside.  Being with Jybow helped and she soon got used to it.  Jybow at 21 years of age was killed by a pitbull that had gotten loose.  She was caught by surprise because she could no longer see very well, smell or hear, so the dog snuck up on her.  We all were very upset that this happened to Jybow, especially Squeak who stood right by her side as she was laid to rest near P.J. and Daisy's graves in the backyard.

After the death of Jybow, Squeak was lonely.  After about a year she got to be buddies with a young kitten and I quit worrying so much about her having someone to snuggle with on those cold winter nights, but then the kitten decided to cross the road one day, and there went her buddy.  

Squeak is a kind of a strange cat.  She doesn't much trust anyone.  She took up with Jimmy and she loved Brian.  She just kind of tolerated me and after Jimmy and Brian were gone, she was forced to be my friend.  Now Squeak completely trusts Rick because he feeds her twice a day, and chases away any predators that might come around to harm her.  Rick can burst loudly out the front door, to scare away tomcats and Squeak just stands there.  When Rick first started doing this, Squeak would run away frightened, but she has learned to trust Rick now and she realizes what he's really doing and just sits right there until Rick is finished and then she'll go to the edge of the porch and take the credit for chasing away the toms.

Anyway, Squeak is inside tonight, and she hasn't forgotten anything about the good ole days when she once inhabited the house.  She'd rather be outside now, and would probably survive the cold just fine in her heated cathouse, but it just makes us feel safer to bring her inside for now.  She's such a good kitty, and we want to keep her safe.

UPDATE:

Here is a recent picture of Squeak.  In fact this picture was taken today, Wednesday.  She is loving being all cuddled up in my warm housecoat. She really doesn't look much older than the first picture above, but she is.  She's much older. 

We're having a bit of trouble with her and the litter box, so today Rick went to the store and bought her some new cat litter.  Hopefully we'll have better luck tomorrow.  We're going to place the litter box over the spot she has chosen as her personal bathroom.  Wish us luck....

Thanksgiving with Brandon Hatcher, Ody, Krystal, Rick and I, AND Suzanne & Ray's accident

This year Rick and I were invited to Brandon & Krystal's home for Thanksgiving dinner.  Krystal must have cooked all morning and half the day.  The meal was delicious and of course I over-ate especially when it came to desserts.  I love sweets and Krystal made the most delicious Watergate salad and of course I pigged out.

Ody entertained us with his antics and his cuteness.  He stayed close by and wasn't a bit of trouble.  He played quietly around us and carried the Little Golden Book that I had brought over for him.  It was The Night Before Christmas, and I'm hoping that he will allow either his daddy Brandon or his mommy Krystal to read it to him.  He amazed me when he climbed up into a chair that his daddy had been sitting in and opened up the book and began gently turning each page very carefully as if he was reading the book himself, but then Brandon walked up to Ody and said, "Son, it might be better if you turn it this way," then Brandon turned the book right side up.  Ody continued to look at the pictures uninterrupted just as before.  Ody is two and a half years old, but still very much a baby.  He's a very snuggly baby and every now and then he had to get snuggles from his daddy while his mommy was busy in the kitchen.

Brandon and Krystal had their Christmas tree up and decorated with vintage ornaments from her youth.  Ornaments she had made as a child that her mother and sister had saved, and now that they are both gone Krystal is carrying on the family tradition of putting up the Christmas tree for the Thanksgiving meal.  Krystal and Brandon's parents are gone, so holidays are hard for both of them, and for me as well.  But now that they have Ody they do their best to make holidays joyful events for Ody.  I am the only grandparent that Ody has and I am his great-grandmother.

Spending the afternoon and evening with my grandson Brandon, Krystal & Ody was lots of fun.   We told stories of things present and of course re-lived the past as well.  We laughed and had the best time, but the evening ended very abruptly when my son-in-law Ray called to tell us that him and my daughter Suzanne had been involved in an automobile accident that totaled their car.  

They got knocked around, went airborne, and were blinded by all the explosions of the airbags before they came to a safe stop.  It seems that an oncoming truck hit a large deer, sent it flying over two lanes into the path of Ray & Suzanne who ran over it.  Ray received a large scraping wound to his lower leg which was caused by one of the airbags.  He was taken to the hospital which determined that he didn't break his leg, but the doctors were more concerned about his elevated heart rate, b.p. and possible damage to his four aneurysms.  Suzanne didn't want to get checked out, but now she is frightened by airbags.  Ray's leg is all swelled and bruised and he's limping around, and Suzanne is just shook up and without a car for the moment.

I'm so thankful and blessed.  My children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are all fine and healthy.  God was watching out over Ray & Suzanne.  God is always watching out and taking good care of my family.