Some Scary Nights This Week!

Adieu, Tocktober!

Howl-O-Ween always gives us the heebie-jeebies, but the night Sandy came knocking was no picnic either.  We were grateful Sandy wasn't nearly as bad as the forecasters thought and left faster than predicted.

2:00 pm Monday we had light winds up to about 20 mph (32 kph) but by 4 pm the winds had really picked up and it was raining cats and dogs.  The din was terrific.  Of course the power went out, so as evening settled there wasn't much to do.  Powerful gusts hit the house so hard it felt like the house moved, shock waves shook the bed and woke us up several times.  2 am the mom woke again and it was calm, relatively speaking.  The worst of Sandy had passed.

We are excited to say The Girl, away at a college NW of Philly, our Aunt who lives in northern NJ and our Cape Cod relatives all have their power back on.  So we are doing our happy dance.  But we are purring and praying for those who have not been so lucky, and in particular, those who have lost loved ones.  We hope their lives regain some normalcy soon and their recovery is quick.

The mom's work never lost power cause the devil looks after its own, she says.

Sandy was a strange storm.  Its the first hurricane we can remember with cold rain and caused a blizzard that dropped more than 2 feet of snow - or any snow for that matter.  We had about 7 inches (about 18 cm) of rain.  Now it is just plain cold here, we are doing lots of snuggling.

Sandy gave us lots of reasons to laugh at the mom.  She made one of those buddy burners she posted the video about and spilled hot wax all over her built-in cutting board.  Lesson:  Make them over a paper plate!  She was so disappointed not to cook in a flower pot, but was happy to have power after losing it for 18 hours.  When Isabel came trotting through, we didn't have power for 5 days.  The outage from derecho this past summer was even longer.

We live such exciting lives!  Since we started blogging in August 2011, we have racked up 2 hurricanes and a derecho.  Pretty cool, huh?

 We dare any hurricane to mess with our Julie.

Or her brother, Carlos.

Happy Howl-O-Ween!

It was a wild and wooly night!  Was that the opening line for any book?  Perhaps it should have been and it certainly was last night with Sandy.  But, we are here and happy to say Happy Howl-o-ween to all our furriends!

Sandy visited, and it wasn't so bad.  We lost lekstricity for about 18 hours, so by the derecho standards, Sandy was a kitten!  But, we'll tell that story tomorrow cause today is Howl-o-ween, and Mica Minnie Moo's birthday.   Thank Cod, we didn't miss Howl-O-Ween.  We haven't had much time to prepare, but here we go!

 If door bell ringing, scary pumpkin faces

and sticky little beans running around at night

isn't bad enough,

I have to dress up too???

 I hate my life,

I hate my life,

I hate my life.

 And hanging a blue sheet behind me doesn't 

make it look like I'm at sea on a pirate ship!

Is it over yet?

No one could face dressing the rest of the kitties, so the mom did some quick avatars of them instead.

 Zombie Julie

 Wildcat Moo

 Cutie Oui Oui

Bad Boy Carl

(Yes, he is grounded 

after his escapade Down Under with Gracie.)

Finally, Mica Minnie Moo wanted everyone to have a piece of birthday cake.  The one who finds the maggot wins a special prize.  Just kidding!

MMM's a little shy and skittish, so no big fanfare for her.  Everyone enjoy your Howl-O-Ween and stay safe!  We can't wait to see everyone's Howl-O-Ween posts.  Its great to be back.  Purrs!

Cooking Without Electricity

Hi Kitties!

The mom says she is dog tired.  Well, excuse us!  We do admit she ran around all day doing strange things, getting ready for a visit from someone named Sandy.  We sure hope she has fun when Sandy visits cause she doesn't do nearly all the things she did today when someone else comes calling.

She did want to share some exciting findings with all our furriends.  She hopes if they ever lose their lectickity this will help them out.  She found out you can build a stove and oven out of stuff around the house, and they actually work, allowing you to cook without leckrickity!  Here's video on YouTube she found that explains it all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr8cZzlk5EM

Also, here is a short showing you can use a flower pot as a grill.  She thinks you could put a buddy burner (see the first video to find out what that is) in the bottom and rig a grill top for it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGnU95yQok&feature=related

When she was looking for alternative cooking, she found a type of insulated cooking, where part is done on the stove and part is done in an insulated container.  Of course, this would have to be done when there is power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7mskk2ZTts

There are many different ways to do this, and there are patterns for making insulated blankets for cooking, but the mom is allergic to sewing and wanted to show a way of doing it without spending any money.  (Do you remember she is into cheapatude?)  She wonders how much people could save in lectickity bills?
 
One of the things the mom did today was make a buddy burner and she intends on trying it if she needs to.  Too bad she didn't know of it when we suffered through the derecho this past summer.  She hopes maybe this will help some of our furriends out there.  We're sorry for the short notice.

Please stay safe.  We will be thinking of all our East Coast furriends, purring and praying for them.  In particular, The Girl could take a direct hit since she is in school northwest of Philly.  Also, our furriends at Avalon's Gardens and Mewsings of Garden Cottage Cats could be hit directly if the track is a little more northerly.  If the storm turns a little more southerly, we will be the ones taking it on the chin.  We hope you all ride the storm out safely.  And we hope to be able to post again soon, like Monday.

Pee S, This is the first time we uploaded videos!  We included the address, just in case the mom blew it.  Anyway, look around and watch other videos too.  Everyone has their own way of doing this type of cooking and you might be inspired!  Purrs!

Pee Pee S, Sorry about not leaving comments, there just isn't enough time!  We'll try tomorrow sometime, if we have power.

Flashback Friday

Occasionally Oui Oui's Lovey is mentioned in our blog or comments  She did a post about it a year ago in September when our blog was all new and shiny, and without many visitors.  So Oui Oui thought she'd like to run that post again.

********************

THE LOVEY

This is my Lovey.  My first, oldest, favoritest and best loved toy.  I've had it since I was a tiny kitten and first came to live at home.  Its as old as I am (5 years).  I never tire of playing with it.  Or sitting on it, even sleeping on it.  It was lost for a while and when I found it one day, the peoples were happy to see it too!  Now the Girl keeps it in a safe place for me.  I found the place recently and the Mom saw the Lovey in the hallway (I am not too good at picking up after myself).

I am never too tired to play with my Lovey.

The Mom bought a bunch of loveys like the real one, and while I like them a lot, they aren't the same as The Lovey.  Old friends are the best!

********************

Purrs!

And everyone have a great weekend!

Oui Oui

Sweet & Sour Julie

Yesterday, the mom posted one of her favoritest photos, Julie as the White Witch.  After she took that photo, she'd pull it up on her phone and laugh at it.  This happened several times a day.  Julie has such an expressive face.  The mom thinks she is a delight to look at and pet.  Her furs are as soft as an angel's wings.

 Julie has the face of an angel.

The Japanese have a word for such adorableness - Kawaii. 

She loves snuggling.

(I think you are done blogging now!)

 And squeezes herself into the tiniest spots.

 She does some funny things too.

Here is her dark side!   The one you see when she doesn't like something (and that's a fairly long list).

Like being combed.  And don't go for the belly!  Someone WILL pay. Usually the next unsuspecting kitty who inadvertently passes her by will wind up on the receiving end of some powerful whaps.

 She's trying to cover her tummy with her tail.

 She's not a happy camper if someone else does the grooming either.

As for dressing up, well, if looks could kill . . .

She's mommy's little devil in an angel disguise.

WORDLESS WHITE WITCH WEDNESDAY

Tabby Tuesday

 {{  Scratch, Scratch, Scratch  }}

 What, huh?

Uh, no, nothing is going on over here.

 Really, there's nothing to see.

Just passing a little time . . .

Ok, what was I up to

before the nosy mom interrupted me?

MANCAT MONDAY

Carlos Raphael Camaro!  WHERE in the world are you? I thought you stowed away on Gracie's airplane, but you turn up on the SS Trout with those fish obsessed Tabbies from Trout Towne! Are you on Tiger Island?  Or hanging 10 on a surf board?  I thought you hated water!  While Gracie is seeing all kinds of cool places you are in some customs jail somewhere??  I am so confused!

Slip out from between those jail bars and stop by Angel Momo's and Charlotte's place.  Maybe SS can figure out what you are up to and let me know.  It all sounds like a lark and a lot of trouble to me!

The Mom



Pee S,  She's got her arms folded and is tapping her foot, Carl.  Just thought you should know.

Purrs,
Oui Oui

Kitty Down Under!

The mom has been looking for Carlos all week.  Then she found these photos on her flashy box!

 Someone is all packed for a trip.

Food, snacks, toys, check!

 All set?

 An accomplice!

Well, he couldn't zip it by himself.

 Hmmm, all ready to go?

Gracie, could you please pick him up with your luggage?

Guess he wanted to hop with the roos!

Have fun & be home before curfew.

You all have a fun weekend too!

Sunlight & Stinky Shoes

Two of my most favoritest things!

Sunpuddles & stinky gardening shoes.

Ah! Life is good!

The mom can be ok, she puts away the shoes with the pointy bottoms and leaves out the comfy, smelly ones just for me.  We both agree, that kind is the best kind.  {{sigh}}

That was your que to take your flashy box and leave.  I'm trying to consecrate on sleeping here.