Frozen Water, Poor BlackJack

We woke just in time to get Jim off to catch his plane to the UK. The car windows were all frozen up and it was touch and go whether it would start. Luckily it did. I scraped the windows, freezing my fingers in the process, while Jim got ready. I also made him some sandwiches for the journey. Sadly, our cold water had frozen so he left rather worried about me!

I whiled away the morning on the computer, still in my dressing gown! Then decided to get dressed, still unwashed. I tried the tap more in hope than expectation, and it worked! The sun must have unfrozen it. We have water from a deep well and it is pumped up and then goes to the house. A small piece of the pipe is above ground. I have now wrapped that in blankets and placed stones over the top, so hopefully it'll be ok tonight.

This afternoon I was busy up on the allotment, de-brambling the banks around the edge. It was very very cold up there and after a while my feet froze, so I went inside to warm my toes and have a coffee. It was tempting to pour it over my feet! I added another pair of socks and headed out again. Jim rang while I was inside and he had arrived at our UK home, where the temperature inside the house was 3degrees!!

With warmer feet, I headed back to my job and got the bonfire going in the vain hope of warming me up! I could hear BlackJack meowing but couldn't tell where from. I opened all sheds, but he wasn't locked in any of them and I realised he was, once again, stuck up a tree. We have some very tall Nootka Cypress trees and I think he's up the top of one. He has done this twice before, but some time ago now. Last time he spent 2 days up there and since then has stuck to us like glue. I have tried in vain to coax him down but he's still up there now and it's sooo cold and frosty, I hope his thick black coat keeps him warm. His plaintive cries echo through the still, cold, night air.

It's the last day of Christmas today and all decorations should be down. I think ours are. My Christmas present to Jim was a papier mache vessel. It wasn't ready for Christmas but I showed it to Jim and he seemed to like it. It was hard to do it in time as my work room at the moment is the kitchen/diner, which we share of course. This is the first time I've made something over chicken wire so the 'vessel' is random shaped. I am quite pleased with the result and Jim loves it too. Today I took some photos of it outside:







The covering is wool and the whole has been varnished several times.








































Jim rang when I came in at tea time to say that he'd purchased a bathroom suite, the one we'd picked out on-line from B & Q. The bath is 'P' shaped with the top of the 'P' forming a wider section for an over-bath electric shower, which we already have. It has a shower screen too, so no need for flapping, skin-sticking curtains. Not that the builders have turned up since before Christmas. Having said that, it's too cold to be concreting. I think the temperature is going to rise a bit in the next few days, so maybe they will miraculously re-appear.

Cat Up a Tree

BlackJack crying up a tree
Sixty feet atop of me
Forsty Jack is on the prowl
BlackJack gives a shivvery howl

Let dawn's sunshine make him warm
Stop his cries so sad, forlorn
Show him how he'll reach the ground
What goes up, BJ, must come down.