Eighteen degrees.

Gentle thaw, my foot. Yesterday's heat wave in the mid-40's dropped down into the teens last night. Is this Texas? Or am I in a never-ending nightmare that has transported me to Alaska?

When we woke up this morning, not only was the water in the fountain frozen solid, but so was the water in the pond. I'm sure the shallow end of the pond was frozen enough for ice-skating, but I don't know if the deeper part of the pond would have held up. Either way, it was too cold to go and find out. I stood there in the sun streaming through the front door, just looking at that frozen pond and shaking my head in disbelief.

My husband didn't go out first thing and re-connect the temporary water hoses that bring the well-water up into the house. Instead, he drove into town to get groceries from WalMart, then we had lunch (hot soup, of course) and now he's out in the barn connecting all the switches, pipes, hoses, etc. so I can run the dishwasher and turn on the faucets.

We talked about that master plumber who is due here tomorrow morning. Rather than cancel that appointment, we're having him come out here anyway. For a small charge of $40, we can ask him questions and get some ideas from him, as to the best way to solve this problem once and for all. I told my husband that when this plumbing job is done, I don't want to have to worry about frozen pipes again. What if my husband had been out of town? I honestly don't know what I would have done, and I don't want to be going out into the barn to do what he's been doing to eliminate the ice on the water pump and/or the pipes.


And.... to add to the out-of-the-ordinary situation here... another cat has found its way to our barn. While I was out in the yard with my husband, watching as he re-connected the water hoses, I saw a cat sitting in the sun next to the barn. "Who is that?!" My husband thought it was Gatsby, but I knew right away it was too small to be Gatsby, and besides that, I left Gatsby in the house when I went out there.

Of course, as soon as I saw the cat, I started calling "Kitty-kitty-kitty...." And, of course, the poor thing meowed back and cautiously started coming towards us. While the cat wrapped herself around my husband's legs, I went back into the house for some Fancy Feast and a bowl. Here we blessed go again.

Pretty cat. (They're all pretty.) Sort of a tortoise-shell color and design, black & brown, gray and white, with black stripes on its tail. A small female, and it looks young, and it probably hasn't been fixed, so we'll see about doing that as soon as possible because I don't want an un-fixed male to find her and then I'll be surprised with kittens, which I don't want because then you have to find homes for them and you never do.

During the afternoon, I fixed up a bed and blanket, along with food and water dishes-- in the garage. All afternoon, my husband told me we couldn't bring this cat into the house. (Of course not.) Then in the early evening before it got dark, my husband went out to disconnect the water hoses and pipes so they wouldn't freeze during (yet again) another below-freezing night. He was out there less than five minutes, and he came back into the house with -- one guess -- "the new cat."

My husband told me it was getting cold out there. I know. He said the cat was too small to keep in the cold garage. I know. "Can't we put her somewhere warm and safe and away from the other cats?" Of course.

My husband said this cat reminds him of "Girl," a cat that his mother had when he was a young boy. We were going to call her Girl, but it didn't seem to work. I kept calling her Kitty-Girl, but that didn't work either. Then I was calling her Sweet Pea, and my husband said that just worked somehow.

So as I type, Sweet Pea (cat #4) is in one of our upstairs bathrooms, with her pillow, food and water dishes, a little mousie-toy.... and she's warm and fed, happy and sleeping. She has met our dog Gracie, whom she loves (all the cats love Gracie), and Mickey and ShadowBaby and Gatsby have seen her, and all except ShadowBaby have voiced their disapproval. (ShadowBaby doesn't care what goes on around here as long as he gets food in his dish.)

Another cat. Another night of freezing weather. Give me a blessed break -- on both counts.