I suspect many of you know that Friday Smiles is hosted by Annie (at A Stitch in Time). Let's visit her and the other wonderful ladies who also share their smiles each Friday.
It's been a difficult week here. On Monday afternoon my neighborhood experienced a power outage when a transformer blew near my home. It was so loud I jumped from the noise. The house shook, too. For one tiny second, I actually understood what the Ukrainians were experiencing, except they were putting up with it all day and all night, every day and every night. For nearly 16 hours of bitterly cold and windy weather, the fur babies and I were without power. We huddled under covers in the dark until the electricity and heat were finally restored Tuesday. It took forever for the house to begin to heat up again.
Of course, before we could warm properly, we were hammered with winter storm Quinlan Thursday morning from the west, then caught the back side of the storm last night. We haven't been above freezing for days.
One thing I found interesting this week is the story of the Russian Cryptophones. The Russians were so proud of this new encrypted phone system they developed in 2021 that was guaranteed to work in any and all conditions. However, the secure phones no longer worked around Kharkiv because the Ukrainians were able to hack the system. The irony, which I found smile worthy, is these phones require at least a 3G or 4G system to communicate and the Russians blew up or destroyed several 3/4G cell towers near Kharkiv in an attempt to disrupt Ukrainian communication and to keep Russians from learning the truth about the war. When they did, the Russians left themselves open to attack on their highly encrypted cell phones. This is how the Ukraine soldiers were able to track Russian troops and kill at least two of their (Russian) generals.
And now some serious thoughts on Ukraine.
My thoughts exactly!
I sincerely hope your week wasn't as difficult as mine. I know my problems are NOTHING compared to what Ukrainians have experienced this week and today.
Thanks again for visiting and spending a bit of time with Bleubeard and me this Friday. Now PLEASE visit Annie and stand with Ukraine.
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21 thoughtful remarks:
Elizabeth! I cannot even imagine what you (or the people in wars) go through.
In Germany we have power lines in the earth, hence I never ever had no electricity/heating, never.
WHAT?! HAHA, YAY to Ukraine! It was not in our news (or I didn´t catch it) - this is hurray-worthy!
Thank you, too, for teaching me about the Dogecoin! Hilarious how some things take "a turn"!
IKEA, LOL.
And yes. Many have left Russia, I feel sorry for the people, but there is no other way.
To the Ukraine! I sure "stand" with them. As many a Russian does, too. Let´s not forget about that...
An interesting read. That article is something that doesn't reach our news programmes usually.
I am glad to say that I do not know anyone personally who is supporting Putin.The stories coming out of Ukraine are so socking and sad. Like most of the world, I am praying for an end to the hostilities, but it is hard to stay positive.
I was sorry you had such a couple of freezing days without power. That must have been awful for you. Under the bedcovers was probably the best place to be. Hope it warms up a bit for you soon. Kate x
Sorry to hear you’ve been without power but glad to hear it’s sorted now. A cold house takes a lot of heating.
Hugs,
Annie x
That’s too bad about you being without power. And having that storm. It sounds like a tough week. And being without heat for whatever reason is not a good thing. I had heard about the captured generals but not the story behind it. That’s was really interesting. That goes to show you how sometimes I do never gets down the line correctly. Nor do people always have good ideas. Well god for the Ukrainians but not for Russia. So they sabotaged themselves. I hope things improve and your weekend is better than your week. Hugs Erika
Storms are bad enough without losing electricity and heat, too. Glad your power was restored. I think your latest storm, didn't know it had a name, is on it's way here for the weekend. Heavy rains turning to snow with high winds. Hopefully, we won't lose power. 🌻
Sorry to hear about your power cut. We don't realise until it happens how cold the house can get. One would not expect this type of behaviour in this age but Putin is a very strange man. He changed the law in Russia so that they could not vote him out as president and that in itself shows what kind of person he is. I fear he is very dangerous and has no respect for human life. Hope you manage to keep warm until things get better. Sending warm hugs, Angela xXx
The news in Ukraine sure gives one pause. My life is so easy.
Well, that sounds like an awful week -- a very cold and uncomfortable one. I hope all settles soon and that it warms up for you and that power stays ON!
I hadn't heard about the Ukranians cracking the Russian phones. Thanks for that. It's so sad, distressing and truly tragic, these events. I cannot believe how courageously that Ukraine is fighting back. The news gets worse and worse every day.
I hope Squiggles is doing better. Let us know.
What a bad week :( It's hard when the weather is bitterly cold and you have no power. Knowing that others elsewhere are worse off doesn't improve our own situations. There's plenty of bad to go around :( I hope winter may finally be over for you soon and that you don't lose power again.
We have alternative heat just for things like that. It is a must in this day and age. I hope you are warm now.
How horrible to be in a house without heating. Brrr! In bed is the best place to be. I hadn't realized that you heat your house by electicity. Perhaps you can look out for something to use when the power goes, like a little pot stove that you can burn any old rubbish is. It's good as a stand-by. Or an open fire and keep some fire wood for emergencies. There's nothing worse than being cold. Because electricity is so expensive here, we try to be as little as possible dependent on it. Our stove is bio fuel and the cooker and oven are both bottled gas, as is the downstairs hot water. (solar panel upstairs) And we have a gas lamp for emergencies. We can run our internet off our mobile phones.
But those poor people in Ukraine! They must be really cold. And frightened. It's unimaginable. Yes, I had heard the story about the encryption too. It sounds like the Russian army is ill prepared. But the man /monster at the helm is clearly mentally ill so anything might happen. They are now talking about chemical warfare. Horrible!
I had not heard of the Dogecoin.
I hope you get warm soon.
Take care,
Lisca
Thinking about the Ukraine is really unbearable, and getting worse every day. Cold. Hunger. Constant danger. Inability to escape. And existential fear that your country, your family, and your life are hanging by a thread.
I'm glad your power is back!
BEST... mae at maefood.blogspot.com
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I'm so glad your power is back on Elizabeth, I know what it's like from my recent experience with storms.
Interesting to read about the crypto phones, they don't seem to know what they're doing do they? Great that the Ukrainians were able to take out a couple of the generals. I read the headlines online, but I can't bear to watch the news at the moment.
I hope your weather warms up soon.
Hugs,
Axx
Having lived with wintry weather some years ago, I had forgotten how cold a house gets when the heat goes out, and how long it takes to warm up again. So sorry you had this to deal with. Winter woes!
Sorry you had a bad week and hope you are all warm and safe now. Take vare, hugs, Valerie
I thought that paper came from you. I didn't want to write that down though because I wasn't 100% positive, so I just skipped commenting on it. But thank you. It looks lovely here, and I couldn't have done it without your paper. Thanks!
I'm so glad you have power now. That must have been horrible to be without power. I lost power, once, for 26 hrs but it was in the summer. This is when one wishes for a wood fireplace and the oil lamps. We have to laugh especially during these uncertain times. I am hoping the U.S. generals are right and that Russia will not be able to take Ukraine. It is very typical of Russia to put out wrong information so I am not surprised by that at all.
I'm sorry to read of your power outage. It sounds as though we have a similar system-we have gas heating that requires electricity to make it work. When they wanted us to evacuate it was the fear of power failures that was the problem so we were able to prepare chargable lamps and to get some flasks of hot water ready. Of course that wouldn't have been the case for you as that sounds like a nasty overload problem with no warning. We are going to look into a small portable gas ring but suspect they may not be for indoor use. I think our evacuation warnings are going to be ongoing over the years. I hadn't heard about the phones in Ukraine. I feel so sorry for anyone in Ukraine and can't imagine how I would feel if my sons and grandsons were being asked to stay and fight.Take care, hugs, Chrisx
Sounds horrendous what you had to go through. I cannot imagine being without any heating or lighting and ... just thought ... my computer! But as you say the poor people of Ukraine are going through so much more. `It is heartbreaking to watch the news on tv these days and I must confess that I am, at times, tempted to turn it off to avoid upsetting myself. Small price to pay for what they are enduring though.
Hugs, Neet xxx
Sorry to read that you have been without power but pleased that it is now sorted.
Saying a prayer for Ukraine.
All the best Jan
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