I'm not from Western Tennessee, so I figured I'd better start an all-inclusive thread. Wolf is posting in the Western TN area....didn't seem right to secede from the rest of the group....

Hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year. Don't make too many resolutions....the guilt from breaking them is worse than never having made any.

 

WHAT?

They have a central TN thread, so I figured I would see if xenophobia worked for the Big River end of the state.
We just folks, you don't gotta be skeered...

 

I have heat in the van, have to get up the money to get the gas tank dropped and cleaned out, perhaps a new fuel pickup, will require a truck one to be modified for that, but at least I don't have to freeze in it. I am gettin good at quick fuel filter changes, as they fill with rust, I have to stop, pull the doghouse back and swap out the filters, noticed the fuel pump leaking while changing the latest one, so dad removed the factory lines, chucking the return line, the leak slowed, but still there, bad fitting, need a new pump. Seems like every repair is met with a new problem to solve, my 10 MPG could be blamed on the leaks at the tank and pump, but when I get the tank hoses and pump replaced, I wonder whats next.
A new year, hope to have a dependable vehicle before it's over.

 

It's going to be the best day of the week today....hopefully everyone is ready for the cold snap tomorrow.

Stay warm, Tennessee.

 

Supposed to get down to 9 here tonight - I'm thinking about what I can do to keep Rufus warm and may mount a light bulb in the end of his kennel for it.

My next online stop is the national weather map to see what the overall weather pattern is for the next week or so. If we have a blizzard driving south, I want full advance warning.

UPDATE: This is a very large weather system pushing due SSE from Canada and beyond. Looking at the sequential images from the NASA GOES satellite the center of the cold air mass is making a beeline straight for us, and pushing warm southern air and clouds south and away in both directions, east and west. At the top of the images I could see some clouds that point to precipitation possible, these are following the center of the weather mass.

It almost looks like the arctic has burped a huge mass of cold down our way and into the central USA. What seems to be the dividing line between the major warm and cold fronts is located far south of Louisianna and Florida.


This one just might be memorable...

OKAY: Rufus now has the only dog house in the neighborhood with 60 watt convenience lighting. It should be enough, he's a Labrador

 

My thermometer said 0 this morning. Hope everyone stays warm. Haven't been over here in awhile, figured I would check in. Did everyone have a good CHRISTmas?

 

I used a hammer this morning to break the ice in Rufus's water bowl, but he's as sparky as ever.

I put hot water in it from time to time

 

I took my dog's water bowl in and filled it, sit it out and he looked at it then looked at me and walked away. Put a heat lamp in his house and he won't stay in it. Take the lamp out, and he goes in!?...

 

They have better cold protection than we do. Not only fur, but also fine underfurring.

Rufus has been the "YARD DOG" now for so long he is adapted to it, but my border collie is an inside the house pup - she doesn't like getting chilly, but she has longer fur.

"We become how we live"



Regardless of all the above, I don't want to see the day that I go outside and find Rufuss not moving....

I know it will happen someday, but I just don't want it


I definitely don't want it to be MY FAULT


It's strange and heartbreaking. We know that every one of us has a limit to our time here, but we don't want to see it end


We miss one another,and I don't know why that is either.

 

I know what your talking about. My dog is just an old mixed breed, but he's the hands down best that we've ever had. He's very protective of my kids and lady. When I come home, he walks around my truck and moans and whines until I open the door. Then he lays his head on my leg and just looks up me. If only I could find a woman that loved me half as much! Lol

 

My sidekick, Alvin.

 

My sidekick is an indoor kitten, aptly named Storm. He is 7 months old and goes plum crazy running around the house every now and then.

It was down to about 8 degrees at its coldest on the estate...but evrything seems tohave weathered this arctic blast so far.

Hope everyone stays warm.

 

It is one of my beliefs that Pups are Angels sent to us to teach what love really is...

Alvin looks a lot like Roofie-doo.

Rufus
* Kinda hard to catch an image of that MACH-3 tail of his

~Inside Rufies barrel...

 

We've had Alvin since he was a pup. One of our neighbours found two puppies in a box at her house. They were so small that we had to bottle feed them. They were covered in fleas, thought it was dirt, then it moved when we tired to wipe it off. The little girl was weak and we nurtured her, but she died in our hands. It was horrible. Alvin grew and eat and eat! He's overweight, but we don't even buy dog food anymore. He eats our scraps and three of our neighbors feed him scraps! My dad even brings leftovers for him! He doesn't care much for dog food anymore! Probably not the healthiest dog, but he's VERY intimidating is what people that he doesn't know say. And he thinks all the neighbors are his responsibility. He lets us know when anybody comes up the drive that we share.

 

I'm pretty sure Rufuss was the one I saved. When he was born, I came home from a job at an RV service area, and heard puppy noises from the front porch. Two of his siblings had frozen to death in the february cold because they got lost in the blankets and their mom didn't find them.

One of them was barely alive, and I stayed up all night once I moved them to the tub in the front bathroom feeding drops of diluted milk to it from my fingertip, until it was strong enough to nurse on its own.

No other pups were lost, and I am pretty sure Rufuss was that one.

I taught Rufie to howl when he heard sirens coming... It tells me when police or fire units are in the area responding to alarms long before I can hear them myself.

He also alerts me to anyone or thing that sets foot on the property.

60 pounds, even though he looks skinny. I pay strict attention to how much he is supposed to eat, and it has kept him very healthy and quick!