Sunday, September 19, 2004

Hurricane Ivan Hits Saltillo!

Well! An exciting weekend in Saltillo... or at least an exciting Friday night/Saturday morning. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan came and sat over Pennsylvania, sending small streams over their banks and into our basements. At least in this part of PA they are just SMALL streams! Harrisburg is getting flooded this (Sunday) morning as it is along the Susquehanna River. (Good thoughts to everyone there!)

The basement had four feet in it. The furnace was completely underwater, but my neighbors the plumbing and heating repair guys knew what to do to get it working again once the fire company had me pumped out. Fred was also able to install a new sump pump for me. The old one tried valiantly, but twelve hours of submersion with no rests did it in. I forgot to haul the dehumidifier up the stairs, so it needs replaced as well. After 1986 there was nothing else of value down there, just a muddy mess of old plastic jugs and paper bags that the cats had knocked onto the floor.

Marion has been home from school for three days with an attack of cystitis. I was a little upset to find that she felt well enough on Friday to clean my admittedly in need of it kitchen. I think if she felt that well, she should have come to school. Oh, well. I'll be more insistent next time.

At one point early Saturday morning, I did get worried and move some things up stairs... the important things... all the bags of yarn and WIPs I had in the living room! Most everything else could have been replaced, but the water stayed in the basement where damage was minimal.

Thursday, September 09, 2004

More Kitty Pictures. Bigger Now!


Bubba and Sissy sharing the chair cushion. It is quite normal for them to sleep close to each other. This is one reason why Jim wanted to find them a home where they could stay together. Posted by Hello

Aren't the babies cute?


Jim with Sissy (mackerel tabby female) and Bubba (tuxedo male) Posted by Hello

These are the "big kitties" when they were little kitties.
Wow.

Once again, long time no blog!

When last I wrote, I was taking an undeserved break from cleaning my house in preparation to welcome a young lady from France for the year. Things got off on the wrong foot... she arrived a day before I was expecting her! (I'm still really, really sure that if I had been told she was arriving on Friday the 13th, I would have remembered!!!) The house was very messy, it's a very small town... village, really... and she's from VERY near Paris, so things were a little tense.

I "think" we're doing better now. We are interested in many of the same things. I have tidied up a great deal and am learning to do vegetarian foods, while she has resigned herself to the fact that unless she goes home, she will be in a rural area of Pennsylvania for the next nine months. I'm planning lots of trips to big cities!

School started for teachers on Thursday, August 26, and for students the following Monday, so we already have almost two weeks in. Teaching in a high school/middle school combination rather than a junior/senior high school is still "interesting". We're supposed to think of ourselves as two entirely different entities which just happen to share the same building. Much is still "flexible" but improving.

While visiting my mother over Labor Day, we attempted to contact the man who gave me Bubba and Sissy so he could see them. I got them last November when they were about three months old... needless to say, they've grown and changed!

OKC: I'm working on some preemie burial items to send to the listmom of AC4C. All are white, a burial bunting and a crocheted round blanket. I'd like to work on some hats and slippers for Ship Support as well, hoping that hurricanes will soon decide to go somewhere to play OTHER than in Florida where Ellen Harpin-Sattler lives. In between, there's always another pumpkin hat from the never ending ball of orange yarn!