Monday, May 23, 2011

some yum yum for the tum tum.

CHICKEN...it's whats for dinner!

Bacon Chicken Ranch Pizza..to be exact!
If that picture doesn't have your mouth watering, maybe this one will...
This is the best pizza of all time!
I love ranch. I love chicken. 
And who doesn't love bacon!!
To try it for yourself click here
Now, what good is pizza for dinner
without brownies...not just ordinary brownies
BUT EXTREME brownies!! See below for why!
And THAAAAANK YOU, BETTY
If you're ready to kick that diet to the curb for some deliciousness 
click here

Saturday, May 21, 2011

beads...BeadS...BEADS

I finally have a hobby: making beaded jewelry! It is super fun, relaxing, and easy! So far, I have made 9. I have made 1 long necklace, 2 medium bracelets, and 6 earrings. Some have mulitple strands, some are separated with crimp beads, some are a little crazy, and all are just so FUN! It's a little tough to see how awesome they are in pictures, but here they are anyway:

Thursday, May 19, 2011

day in the life of a cat 2.


Name
Jacque

Nicknames
Jacquey-Jacque, spy man, Adventure kitty

Age
3

Owners
Stephanie and Brandon. Though given my status as a secret undercover agent for the Cat Intelligence Agency, the term ‘handlers’ is probably more appropriate.

Catchphrase?
I could tell you that, but then I’d have to eat you…

Favourite habits?
Scaling vertical objects, free running, paw-to-paw combat, killing things. Not necessarily in that order.

What constitutes a perfect evening for you?
I like doing a stake-out around door corners – amazing what you can spot if you sit still long enough. I like watching NCIS, CSI, and Covert Affairs too – I’ve got quite a few good ideas from them, though their fitness and agility levels are laughable compared to mine.

Favourite food?
Ideally something that’s still warm. I quite like Taste of the Wild though - crunching keeps my teeth sharp.

Defining moment of your life?
Getting loose outside for the first time the handlers left the back door open. Never been so embarrassed in my life, and freaked the handlers out too. That’s when I knew I had to do more CIA training…

Any enemies?
There’s a nasty brown, black and white impuss-ter who makes incursions into the safe area through the handler's gate at night. I suspect there’s a mole in the garden, but I’ve got him tailed. 

If you could do one thing to make the world a better place for felines, what would it be?
Putting me in charge. I’m cleverer than most humans I know. And I can, of course speak - I just choose not to.

If you could meet a celebrity who would it be and why?
I could give that Daniel Craig a run for his money – call himself a secret agent - doesn’t even have the latest fiber-optic hyper-sensitive whiskers! 

Biography
I was one of a litter of six, I do have a twin but it’s generally agreed I got all the brains. Even at six weeks I was leading an expedition behind the washing machine, and less than a day after I came to my new home I was already looking for optimum escape routes. I live with my brother Bach who can be too much of a sweetie, so not much good as a field agent, he is somewhat good in a Code K9 (that’s ‘dog on the grid’ to you). Though he can be useful as a sparring partner to practice my paw-to-paw combat on (the handlers have a pic of that in my top secret file). 

day in the life of a cat.


Name
Bach

Nicknames
Bach-o, Bachy, Bach-a-lach, Bach-Bach-Bach-Bach...(said in the voice of cadbury bunny)

Age
3

Owners
Stephanie and Brandon have overall responsibility for ensuring that my every whim is met. I tolerate them and  often reward them for their efforts by allowing them to cuddle me for a brief moment before leaving. I always leave as much cat hair behind though as a reminder of my presence.

Catchphrase?
I don't meow I chirrup. Therefore my most often uttered phrase is "right now".

Favorite habits?
Lying on my side in the middle of the floor inviting tummy tickles which are in fact an elaborate trap to allow me to bunny kick arms of baldies who come too close. I also enjoy lying on my side in the hall, bedroom and living room. Except when it's laundry day then I like to lie under the comforter on a freshly made bed. I also sit in the closet and paw at clothes. Never the cheap stuff though, I prefer to ruin as many expensive shirts and pairs of trousers as possible. 

What constitutes a perfect evening for you?
Given that I am the bigger twin to another cat I enjoy the fact that whenever I go into a room I get dibs first. A perfect evening for me would be to fall asleep face down in a bowl of food prior to staking out the kitchen where either more food will magically appear. After eating I might roll around on one of my mom’s shirts, try to claw at the sofa or perhaps a play mouse may arrive for an evening game of “chasing the mouse noisily around the house before leaving it inside the bed for my owner to find in the morning.”

Favourite food?
I enjoy eating dried food most of all. Specifically the expensive food that’s hard to find in town and meant to be for my Uncle Sam but I love more than anything. In truth I am probably the greediest cat of all time so will eat almost anything. Except the ground up moosh they call "wet food" my owners got for my pudgy gut. I just left that.

Defining moment of your life?
Realizing that I am the strongest cat in the world and can get anything I want. All I need to do is push you out of the way or sit on you whichever is easier at the time. I am pretty much the king of getting what I want when I want it.


Any enemies?
My brother Jacque "thinks" he is the alpha male of the house and regularly attempts to beat me up. I have to be on my guard against random punches. I get him back though by waiting till he’s asleep and sticking my teeth in his substantial behind or on his neck.

If you could do one thing to make the world a better place for felines, what would it be?
More people like my owners. Stephanie has been known to sit on the floor for the whole night instead of disturbing me when I’m on the sofa. That’s the bigger sofa they got to accommodate more than two people. I don’t think she minds though, she loves us so much.

If you could meet a celebrity who would it be and why?
I would love to meet Matt Damon, he has mad fighting skills and I believe I could learn a lot from him for better tactics against my brother.

Biography
I was born outside a little house with 3 dogs in the middle of town. I was the only cat who had a twin of 6 it was clear from an early age that I was meant to define myself apart from the other cats and dogs and so probably needed to live somewhere with central air conditioning rather than live outdoors. I choose Stephanie because when she arrived at the house she was as clearly revolted by the sight of my make-shift home as I was. Unfortunately I smelt like the dog and poop for a good 2 months until eventually I’d shed all my hair everywhere. I live with my brother Jacque and sister Diamond (the dog). I’ve know Brandon for 3 years so I don’t think I’m considered a step kid anymore, well except when I’m sick on Brandon's side of the room. I thought it was funny.  

Worth the money.

Yesterday I happened to go in the local Fred's store I never go in this store so imagine the excitement in my find and find a cat toy for $5. It was PERFECT, it has a mouse on a bouncy spring and a ball to push around! I couldn't wait to get it home for the kitties to play with. Here is some of the fun they had...

They were beyond THRILLED about their new toy. I believe they were telling me Thanks mom!!!
BEST $5 EVER SPENT!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

in it, to win it.

Mississippi & Louisiana are in the fight to win against the Mighty Mississippi!
Our crest at Natchez/Vidalia has been lowered another 6"

We will now crest at 62.5' on Saturday, May 21!
YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!


As promised, I am showing pictures courtesy of a friend 
on the Vidalia Convention Center sand boil.

This last picture is of a wreck on the bridge. Apparently a woman slowed down on the bridge trying to be nosy and the car behind her ran her into the side of the bridge...
The above picture is why you do not slow down or stop on the bridge just to get pictures.

Our current river level is 61.91'















a record has been broken.

photo taken by: mark coffey

The record of 1937 (58.04') is no longer a record. The river is moving swiftly at 58.25'! This picture to the right was taken yesterday I believe and it shows the boat ramp Under-the-Hill is now almost completely under water. Because I can't go get any pictures I have to rely on others so it is hard to give descriptions of what the picture is. So I will just post them for you to see.



photo by: natchez democrat
Silver Street at its lowest dip is under 7+' of water.



















photo by: natchez democrat
United Animals Nation and the Humane Society have constructed a temporary shelter for animals affected by the flood. Is this not an awesome example of teamwork?











Tuesday, May 17, 2011

you can float just about anything on the Mississippi.

As of right now, the Mississippi River at Natchez sits at
61.54'. 
[4 days till crest and another 1.5' to go]
The mainline levee's are working wonderfully but the main problem is erosion of the riverfront at Natchez Under-the-Hill and a sand boil that formed under the north hesco wall surrounding the Vidalia Convention Center, it is possible I may get pictures of this later today. 
There is water inside the Hesco wall at the Convention Center
BUT there is no need to be alarmed, they are pumping the water out,
only enough to equalize the amount of pressure on the inside of the wall 
until the boil can be fixed.
This boil has nothing to do with the mainline levee
And water would need to be another foot higher inside the wall to reach inside the Convention Center.
These pictures were taken yesterday morning
near the Natchez port

U.S. Coast Guard at Port
U.S. Coast Guard at Port







This picture shows you the water inside the wall of the Convention Center












This picture below is Silver Street in Natchez . Take note of the top of the guard railing on the right side of the screen. You could see this railing in one of the first few post I made on the flood, now it is almost completely covered in water.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Guest Blogger

Hey. I'm Bach.
I wanted to tell you a little bit about my life with my mommy and my now daddy (of 5 months) and of course with my brother. This is him..
Hi. I'm Jacque.
See we use to live with mommy and my brother and our other two brothers at mom's parents house
 Hello! My name's Sam and this guy next to me is Rosco (don't mind him if he doesn't say Hi, he is very shy..)

But five months ago everything changed, mom married this man (she calls him Brandon and says he is our new daddy now).
We like Brandon for the most part
He doesn't let us get away with as much stuff as our mommy does.
Mommy use to stay at home with us during the day but now she leaves us every day to go to this place she calls work. We don't like work. We miss mom terribly when she is gone and can't wait for her to return home. But we manage to find some things to do while she is away, 
Things like this,
















AND This,

And a LOT of this.


















We LOVE to help mom when she makes the bed. It is the most fun to run around in the sheets
 My brother Jacque gave up on lookin for me

SO, mom decided she would find me!
and she did!!!
 Well I have to go now. My mommy is going to bed and me and Bach...wait mom would kill me if she knew I didn't use proper grammar, Bach and I love to lay with mom at bedtime. 

Meowly yours,
BACH
 

God told Noah.

God told Noah there's going to be a floodie, floodie. God told Noah there's going to be a floodie, floodie. Get. those. animals. out of the muddie, muddie! Children of the Lord.
Vidalia riverfront gazebo. photo by: Eric Grantham
Vidalia riverfront, formerly the mat field. photo by: Eric Grantham



Saturday, May 15, 2011. The question is: {W}here do {w}e begin?
The MS River at Natchez = 60.69'
By 8:00 a.m. this morning [60.62']
the river was 2/10 of a foot lower than the
 prediction of [2.2"]
HOORAY!!
photo by: eric grantham

this picture on the right is the inside of the hesco wall surrounding the Vidalia convention center. there is only minimal seepage as of may 14 a.m. this is pretty good considering there is 6+ feet of water on the other side of that wall.
 
 

     Are you ready for
                             some good news?
                                                 >insert intrigued enthusiasm here<
   
Our crest has been lowered!!!
            we will now crest at 63.0' on May 21.
To alleviate the levees further south and including New Orleans. The Morganza Spillway was opened on May14 [this allows the MS river to divert into the atchafalaya basin]. Click here to see it happen.  The opening of the spillway sent enough water to fill a football field 10' deep every second, across the heart of cajun country. Once the spillway was opened an estimated 15,000 acres of farmland were under water in south-central Louisiana.
            
photo by: Fayla Guedon





this photo is Promise Hospital on the Vidalia riverfront on May 13. 









U.S Coast Guard
almost completely under water
you can barely see the fence surrounding it. 
               

what goes up, must come down.

 The Pictures I am posting today, my mother took on their way back from Jackson, MS today. They decided to take hwy 61 and check out the water levels there. These are the pictures she got between Vicksburg and Port Gibson. There are a few where the water is a mere 3' from the side of the highway north of Big Black River.
As of now, the river @ Natchez is at 58.54'.






Friday, May 13, 2011

row, row, row your boat...

...gently down the stream.
Blogger is FINALLY alive!
I have been anxiously waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Blogger to be fixed so I could post pictures of the river.
Without further a-do here they are!
This photo is taken of the Vidalia riverfront under the bridge.
photo by:Eric Grantham
 I believe this building on the left is Riverpark Medical Center..in Vidalia
photo by: Eric Grantham

photo by: Eric Grantham








photo by:Eric Grantham

  Vidalia Riverfront area.
photo by: Eric Grantham


  











A look at the Vidalia Riverwalk... or swim as the case may be.
photo by: Eric Grantham
    The bridge lights are out at night! This makes for a very dark drive across the bridge at night...
photo by: Eric Grantham
The MS river at Natchez is now at 60.03'! The crest date is still May 21st at 64'. So the looming question is:
Will the river crest at 64' before May 21st?
with the river rising almost a foot a day, it seems we may reach our mark before another week is up...
...only time will tell.
A major thanks to Eric Grantham (city of Vidalia employee) for allowing me to use his photos!!

Here are a few aerial shots of the Vidalia riverfront, vidalia/natchez, and silver street/isle of capri.

photo by: Fayla Guedon

photo by: Fayla Guedon

photo by: Fayla Guedon