A Day Without

It's Sweetnesday!

Last Saturday, we had severe winds, with gusts that brought down part of a HUGE Maple tree in a neighbor's yard:

Tree fell across neighbor's garage and cars, then over the alley...

(Close up of smushed van)

...into our next-door neighbor's backyard!

We did NOT lose power at this time; that occured when someone else's tree lay across the wires a little while later.

Luckily, we were without electricity for only a day.

The Hubby and I put on our winter coats, and drank plenty of hot beverages.

Da Boyz curled up together, but poor Sweetie was without her Sweetie Spa heated beddy!

She tried to stay warm under the blanket, but it was unsatisfactory.

That night, she crawled on top of me, to use my body heat.

When I awoke, she was on my head!

Sweetie: "I'm in my Sweetie Spa, and no one is allowed to make it go cold again!"

Our prayers go out to those in Kentucky and elsewhere, who were severely affected by same storm system, to much more devastating results.

A day without power means nothing, when we still have a roof over our heads.

Chuck's Diary Entry: March 10, 2017

Dear Diary,

At 10:30 a.m. today, is the beginning of Day 3 without electricity at Eastside Cats.  To recap, the backyard neighbor's tree fell across the alley, to land on the power lines.  This caused every house on the block (both sides) to lose electricity, and there was some sparking and weird flashing lights that scared me and Angel to bits.  The Human called The Hubby went into the area-that-cats-do-not-go and threw the switch to make sure nothing burned out while the wind whipped that fallen tree back and forth.  Actually, as long as I get my meals and snuggles, I don't really need this thing called electricity.

Tree laying on the power lines

The tree has broken the fence!

Tree and lines are rubbing on our barn

The Human called The Mom made all kinds of calls on her cell phone, because the landline is down as well as the cable (no internet, no television).  She sounded very polite, but The Human called The Hubby had curse words to say about the fact that no one was coming out to help.

The Mom put extra blankets on the bed, and The Hubby is keeping pots of water steaming on the gas stove, to make sure we have warmth.  I don't know what Angel is doing, but I'm gonna nap under The Mom's sweater for a couple of days, until this whole rigamarole is over.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

Chucky naps under the sweater

Angel on her couch

Down comforter, fleecy blanket, quilt, and flannel sheets

Recent map of power outages

See the two guys back there?  Seeing them
made us excited, but they left when it got dark out

This happened down the street from us; that garage
on the right hand side of the photo is crushed!

The Mom here:
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/03/more_than_615000_customers_wit.html has updated information on the havoc wrought by the March 8 windstorm in Michigan.  Poor Sweetie and Patty O'Malley's cardboard boxes were blown half-way to Canada, so I'll set out new ones for them this weekend.  In addition, their electric warming pad in The Cat Hotel won't be on for this snap of deep cold; I've told them to either snuggle up together OR COME IN THE HOUSE.  Workers and firemen showed up in the alley yesterday; one guy apparently turned OFF the juice, and another set of men looked at the tree and tied more warning tape across.  Then they left, and The Hubby and I felt a bit abandoned.  However, a large section of our town got it's power back right after that, so we know we are at least on the list.  I carted a box full of ground cooked turkey meat for The 'O' Cats to the office, so it's stored in the freezer.  We lose power about twice a year at Eastside Cats, but this is the first time in the cold weather.  The Hubby and I have learned to converse (!) with each other and tell jokes, to keep our spirits up.  Angel apparently loves to sit with us, even when she could hide under covers like Chuck.  She purrs and purrs, and that is good for our dispositions too! There are folks who have it worse than we do, so as long as the barn survives mostly intact, we'll consider ourselves lucky.

Powerless

I drove Chuck to the vet's office Friday evening, for his 6-month heart echocardiogram.  The weather was warm but gusty, and there was light rain.  Poor Chuck did NOT like the way the wind blew his carrier cover around!  He fervently sang the song of his people.

Dr. Griffen was pleased with Chuck's heart sounds, and even liked that he's put on a little bit of weight!  YAY!  We are to keep up with his four heart meds daily, and she added metronidazole for awhile, to aid his ongoing gastrointestinal issues.  It was a long vet office visit, but worth every second!

When we got back outside, there was lightning overhead, and it was really blowing now.  As I called home to announce our pending arrival, I only heard a fast busy signal and could not get through.  I put the car in gear, and away we went.

Fifteen minutes later, as I turned onto our street, there was a fire truck...with lights flashing...IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE! 

Gulp!

An old, dead tree in the alley behind the neighbor's house had crashed down on the power lines in the high wind while we were at the vet's, and the whole block was out of power.  The fireguys who blocked the driveway, were making sure the wires weren't going to set anything (like our barn!) on fire.

See the tree laying on the wires?

Our really old lilac bush cracked apart too; The Hubby
said it was planted by his mother a long time ago

Metro Detroit, Michigan and points farther west and north were all hit hard by the storm, so our powerless block was not the highest priority for the utility people.  Since it was warm and sunny Friday and Saturday, there was no panic.  The Hubby kept pots of water heating on the gas stove, for warmth.

Sunday morning, however, as the temps began to drop, we got concerned. Although both The Hubby and I were pleased about Chuck's vet info (and he's reacted well to the metronidazole!), this gloomy outlook with no power gave us the blues.  We lit out in the car, for some coffee and a drive in the country.  Back home again, a utility truck was in the alley behind our house, and the hard-hat man said the old tree had been cleared away, and they were about to start re-stringing lines. He gave me a quote of two hours.  But he was wrong...it only took one hour!  The heat is back on, the water heater is getting hot, and The Hubby has a college basketball game to watch. 

WHEW!

They took down the caution tape and got to work!

Being powerless meant that Sweetie and Patty O'Malley had no warming pad in The Cat Hotel. Again, lucky that Friday and Saturday were warmer than normal, even overnight, so the two cats did not get too chilled.

Patty only wants belleh rubs...but he's got a new
wound on his nose

Sweetie slept in the sunshine on Saturday!
I took this from inside the back door, so as not to
disturb her nap