Freezing

Dealing with hard freezes around here. It's time to really pull out the heating pads and wrap the outdoor pipes.

This kind of weather is hard on pets and plants that are adapted to a sub-tropical climate. Our kittens, all 14 of them, snuggle down into the same box at night. It is quite a sight, a patchwork quilt of kittens.

As for the little squirts, 4 of them get fixed this week -- Buster Davis, Dawnflower, Kaitlyn, and Hummingbird. Because i also had an appointment for 5, one of Meg's boys will tag along for the ride.

All the tiny babies still have the runs, and i can't seem to get them totally over it. Mike decided to get himself locked in Sweetie's workroom, and spent a miserable hour or so (at least that's what we figure) howling to be let out. Our adult cat Little Girlie decided she is upset about the kittens and pooped on our bed.

Ah, such is life with this many critters.


Today is:

Halcyon Days begin -- a time of calm and tranquility (beginning seven days before the winter solstice, lasting until December 28, seven days after the solstice; named for an ancient fabled kingfisher bird, or halcyon, which hatches and raise her young during this time)

Monkey Day -- unofficial, by animal groups, to draw attention to the plights of simians

National Bouillabaisse Day

St. Spyridon's Day

Unreturned Library Book Sale, by the Imps -- Fairy Calendar



Anniversaries Today:

Princess Mary Stuart is crowned Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542
Alabama becomes the 22nd US State, 1819


Birthdays Today:

Paul "Beakman" Zaloom, 1951
Patty Duke, 1946
Lee Remick, 1935
Charlie Rich, 1932
Don Hewitt, 1922
Shirley Jackson, 1919
Morey Amsterdam, 1914
Spike Jones, 1911


Today in History:

Osman ibn Affan is appointed the third kalief of Islam, 644
The Zuider Zee seawall collapses, 50,000 lives are lost in the floods that follow, 1287
The first artificial pearls, made of gypsum pellets covered with fish scales, are manufactured by M Jacquin in Paris, 1656
The Montgolfier brothers' first balloon lifts off on its first test flight, 1782
David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a machine that cuts nuts and bolts, 1798
The American Academy of Political and Social Science is organized in Philadelphia, 1889
The Commercial Pacific Cable Company lays the first Pacific telegraph cable, from Ocean Beach, San Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii, 1902
Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first to reach the South Pole, 1911
Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Libya, Nepal, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sri Lanka join the United Nations, 1955
The United Republic of Tanzania joins the United Nations. 1961
NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus, 1962
Kiribati, Nauru and Tonga join the United Nations, 1999
The Millau viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, near Millau, France is officially opened, 2004