Papa takes down a branch (February 27, 2021)

 One of the elms lost a branch during the winter storm.  Papa used a rope and a chain saw to finish taking it out of the tree.

Our painted lady butterflies emerged from their habitat (February 28, 2021)

We raise butterflies in an indoor habitat every year.  When they emerged on February 28 we couldn't release them outside because the temperatures remained below 54 degrees at night and there were no flowers for them.  I set up an indoor garden for them in the master bathroom in hopes the weather would warm up in time to let them fly free.

One painted lady hangs out near the five cocoon shells from which they emerged.  Insect Lore says to offer them orange slices.  Sure enough, the butterflies liked the oranges.

Butterflies taste with their feet but take in nectar with the proboscis.  

 

The bees are all right (February 26, 2021)

The winter storm temperature dropped as low as zero degrees at Cornerstone.  We couldn't check on the bees as the Zoomer could not have navigated the mile-long dirt road through the snow.  Besides, we didn't want to open the hive and let icy air inside.  Honeybees have been in North America for about 14 million years.  We trusted that the hive would know how to survive.  We read online that when it's extremely cold, bees cluster and vibrate to keep the temperature at 95 degrees.  When we drove up, we were heartened to see bees at the entrance.

 The winter storm killed much of the flora at Cornerstone.  To ensure the bees wouldn't starve, we gave them sugar water as a nectar substitute and a pollen patty, as they need pollen for protein.  We continued the weekly sugar water feeding for four weeks, until March 20.

COVID vaccines (February 21-25, 2021)

I registered at the UT Health and Austin Public Health websites on February 21 after finding no appointments available at local grocery stores or pharmacies.  I consistently got the "No appointments available" message when periodically checking.  But late at night on February 23, I found an open appointment for February 25.  I got lucky by logging in just as appointments were announced. My wait for an appointment wasn't as long as it was for many.  At least one friend drove as far as Dallas for a shot after finding an open appointment there.

Tom got his second shot on February 23, about 43 days after his first Moderna shot.  A 28-day interval is optimum, but up to six weeks later is okay, says the Centers for Disease Control.  Lack of vaccine supply and the winter storm contributed to the delay.

 I texted my friend Cheryl as soon as I secured an appointment.  She immediately went to the APH website and signed up for the same time and place.  We had to drive to far South Austin. Bottom line: we got jabbed and neither of us fainted.  APH is on it.  They sent me an appointment time and place for my second shot, which will be on March 25, exactly 28 days after the first Moderna shot.  Perfect!

We finally have water again! (Monday, February 22, 2021)

With below freezing temperatures and snow predicted, we turned the water off at the street on Sunday, February 14.  We were ready to turn it back on Friday, February 19, but by then the city water pressure was so low that thousands of us were without.  We finally had water again on Monday, February 22.

 Einar is back to normal, in his carrier on the deck.

Sunday at Amon's (February 21, 2021)

Sword fights

Loading the Nerf gun

Nerf gun battle teams

Brownie helps the seeker in hide and seek

 

Day # 5--Finally venturing out (February 19, 2021)

Sunshine, melting snow, and probably empty cupboards brought us and lots of other people out after five days of snow, no electricity for days for many (only 18.5 hours out for us), and by Friday, no running water for most of us.  The Costco line was long.

Sorry, Otis, but HEB is almost totally out of pizza.  Back to chili and chips again.

Almost totally out.  Literally the last six boxes of pizza.  Tom and I would have agreed it was Real Good, but we didn't even try to convince Otis.

 Instead, we tried Domino's.  The line to place an order was an hour long, so we called it a day.  Love the Cookie Monster Santa jammies with camo jacket.

Day # 5 (February 19, 2021) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYDER!

Five days in.  View from our bedroom window.

Einar left Monday and came back on Thursday, when I lured him inside with cat food.  I didn't let him back out because temperatures were still below freezing. By Friday, he was adjusting to being indoors.

We turned our water off at the street on Sunday, February 14, after filling the bathtubs for flushing water and some bottles for drinking water.  We briefly turned the water back on Tuesday to refill tubs and bottles.  We were going to turn it back on Friday, but alas!  Most of Austin was without water, including us.

With no idea when the water would be back on, it was time to harvest snow to refill the tubs at least.

Now the snow was our friend.

We filled the ice chest several times.

But the back steps are still very icy.

We had electricity and natural gas, so melted snow for washing dishes.  I learned that a pot full of snow equals about 1/4 pot of water.
 

Day #4 (Thursday, February 18, 2021)

Einar disappeared on Monday and returned on Thursday, very hungry.  Because below freezing temperatures were predicted for the next few nights, I lured him inside.

He wasn't happy about losing his freedom to roam.

Zephyr ventured out for the first time after Einar came inside.

Before the snowfall, the tomato plants were blossoming and producing.  No more.

Hopeful that I would drive him to McDonald's, Otis cleared snow off the car.  As it turns out, no McDonald's were open.  We figure their employees couldn't get to work.

Icicles on the ligustrum.  So hardy it remained green even after days of ice and snow!

Trophy icicle from Papa's truck.

 

Day #3: no electricity! (February 17-18, 2021)

Icicles on the power lines

We lost power at 6:59 a.m.  We were fooled into thinking it was restored at midnight, when it briefly flickered on.  But no full restoration until 1:30 a.m.  During the 18.5 hours without, the temperature in the house dropped into the mid-40s except for the kitchen, where we boiled water for heat.  Thank goodness we never lost natural gas.  

We closed all the doors to the kitchen and hung a shower curtain in the doorway to the living room.  We were able to keep the kitchen at about 63 degrees.

Luckily we had a solar charger on hand to keep our phones charged.  We were pleasantly surprised that it worked on a window sill under overcast sky.

And old-fashioned candle light for reading.

Papa fell asleep by the boiling water, the warmest place in the house.  I was up to keep adding snow to the pots as our water was off.

Otis watched the Portland Trailblazers' game on my phone while snuggled in a sleeping bag. We high-fived and danced around the kitchen when the power came back on at 1:30 a.m.
 

Snow day #2 (Tuesday, February 16, 2021)

Sidewalk outline in the snow

Speaking of sidewalks, when I lived in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1975-76, residents were required to shovel the sidewalks in front of their homes.  No such requirement in Austin, and we don't have a snow shovel.  Neighbors seemed to be fine trudging through the snow.

Icicles on Papa's truck for the first time in the 20 years that he's owned it.

Flip flops in the snow.  Because it's Austin.  And I don't feel like putting boots on.

We filled bathtubs and jugs with water then turned it off at the street on Sunday, February 14, because freezing weather was predicted and our house is on pier and beam.  Our pipes are exposed.  Papa turned the water on for about 15 minutes on Tuesday so we could refill the bathtubs and jars.

Sunset on Day 2 of the snowpocolypse.

 

Snowy in Portland too

Valentine's Day in Portland.  As Micah said, "It's stupid snowy here."

 Micah by firelight in the snow (February 12, 2021)