When It Rains, It Freezes

Xpressions RagaMuffins

 

Here we go again. We are under another winter storm warning. Last year in February, Central Texas had a freeze that we had never experienced before. Six days of below freezing temperatures, (some days with the wind chill below zero) ice and snow paralyzing our area. Some of you may be thinking why is that a big deal. Simply put, our homes are not designed to handle cold weather. Central Texas has few plows, trucks and materials to use on our roadways. The central Texas electric grids started failing Over 200 people died during those six days.

Now we are bracing for another storm. Thankfully, not as serious.  I’m writing this blog to let you know how we faired, but more importantly, how our dog and RagaMuffin kitties survived this ordeal. We were blessed. Our power went off for hours, but then came on for a few hours. Our home never dropped below 45 degrees. Our pipes did not break and we only lost cell service for short periods.

For the RagaMuffin cats it was a dream come true. Blankets and sheets covered the windows which made a great speedway. All the pillows and extra blankets were on the floor making it a great obstacle course. Because our pipes run on our outside walls, we pulled the furniture away from the outside walls to let the heat from the inside keep the walls warm to avoid broken pipes . Any closets and cabinets that were on the outside walls were emptied and the contents were put on the furniture in the middle of the rooms. That made for not only a speedway and an obstacle course, but now mountain climbing was added! We may not have had phones or television, but we had a kitty circus! A three ring circus!

Our eight week old RagaMuffin kittens were exposed to so many people during the next couple of weeks. Several people who were not as fortunate came to use our showers, washing machine and dryer; along with filling containers to take water to their homes.

The outside temperatures were finally hovering over the freezing mark. The sun was out and we were thankful that we were some of the fortunate. Then out from under one of the piles of stuff, one of our RagaMuffin cats limped out. Her foot was swollen. I did a quick check for punctures and whether her nails were intact. All seemed good. Almost every business was closed due to the weather including our vet’s office. I called and left a message. In the mean time, I called a friend who is a vet to ask her advice. In less than two hours our vet called and said she was on her way to the clinic. If we wanted to risk the roads, we could meet her there. We did. After X-rays and medicines were given, we were on our way home with our kitty and her two broken toes.

Blankets came off the windows. Pillows came off the floors. Furniture was moved back. The tedious task of putting everything back in the closet and washing items to put back into the kitchen cabinets began. Things were finally returned to their original places. The humans were thrilled with getting their life back in order! The dog and kitties not so much.