There's a storm rolling in up here.

Except that plants start to cry for water before they die on you. c.i.

The noise, CI, must be deafening.

General -- PHLllllllllpt..... Oboy, I'm so happy that you did NOT lose power. Must admit, even my neighbors two doors down kept their power. It was a willful act of God and I don't think she was happy.

<What should I do? The sky is falling.>

Yes, because I have an "emotional" attachment to them, in addition to the labor I put in them. c.i.

I understand! I have plants who scream at me and beat on the doors, "Let me in..." They're trying to get OUT of the rain!

Let me explain about my "emotional" attachment to my plants. When they are in bloom, the flowers bring the beauty of nature into our life. I have a great affinity to flowers of all kinds, and always enjoy my visits to botanical gardens around the world. To attest to this "love," one needs only see how many photos I have of flowers. On my visit to the waterfall in Puerto Montt, Chile, last month, I took a picture of yellow flowers that looked unusual. I have a copy of that photo in my album of photos I took during my vacation to that part of the world. c.i.

C.I. - I have seen some of your photographs and know you are an excellent photographer with a good eye for the right view. I wish there were a "links" section of A2K so that your links were easily found. I guess they're on your profile page?

Misti
Amen to that! Seems that I am related to everyone around here. Cousins everywhere. It was really nice of my cousin to do that for me. It wasn't the first time he's bailed me out and I'm sure it won't be the last ;-)

Blaise
That's a good idea. As soon as I get another batch of wine going, I'm gonna run him a bottle. Maybe I can get the cousin in Jamaica to send me some coffee to pass along to him as well, lol.

Piffka
So glad you made it through ok :-D Those oil lamps are just the best, aren't they? I'm glad you got your bath and everything else done before hand. Sometimes we don't realize how handy that electricity is until we lose it, which is when you start saying "I should have done this before, and that before the storm". Glad everything turned out ok ;-)

CI
I'm gonna do a rain dance for ya ;-) Let me know if anything happens :-)

Setanta
LOL. Gee, I wonder what else they might be growing over there

Gee willikers, Pifka. Many forums have a link section as a featured interaction in the Forum Index. We certainly do in Politics, Health and Medicine, and so forth. Bug ossobuco. She is the only active forum guide for that section. I could make such a thread and so could you, but neither of us could make it into a featured discussion that would put it to the top of the list.

Some of these link threads are slowly becoming valuable resources.

Yes, Roger, deathless prose. It is hard to search for some of these links... Ossobuco!!!

Gezzy -- My oil lamp is so great, I love it. I had some wonderful candle power going, too. But still, everybody in the family would wander around and... automatically... try to turn on the lights. It was so silly. We did have a nice time reading poetry by candlelight.

Piffka, there is a variety of kerosene lamp known as a "Mantle Lamp", not for sitting on a mantle, but for the fact the lamp uses a woven mantle which is heated to incandescence by the burning of the kerosene, or "lamp oil". The combustion is much more complete than that of the more common wick-type lamp, with very little if any soot or odor when properly adjusted. The light given off by one is the equal in intensity of a 75 Watt bulb or so, and much "warmer", restful, and far kinder to more mature complections than any electric light. The Mantle Lamps are pricey ... typically near or even well over US$100, dependendent on size and elaboration of decoration, but one with a nice milk-glass shade decorated perhaps by a scroll of tiny painted flowers twining about its base and neck, or maybe an intricate. multi-colored Tiffany-Type shade, will surely become an heirloom, and generations to come may enjoy its light and say "This was Piffka's ... she must have been quite the lady".



timber

gezzy, You ain't dancing the right dance. Still no rain........ c.i.

Hadn't heard of a Mantle Lamp. Our camping lamp has a mantle, but its fumes are toxic, I think, anyway, a lamp not to be used inside the house. I will start looking around. I love a good hunt.

I do want to leave some sort of legacy.

They're pretty safe, Pifka. There is not really that much radioactive thorium in one mantle. Probably not much carbon monoxide as combustion is really good. I'm just guessing, but it's probably safer than the number of candles needed for the same light output.

OH! I was thinking of the typical Coleman lantern. I bet the mantle lamp is the one with the brand name Aaladin, or something like that. I'm sure it's using the same type mantle though.

You got it roger ... and Aladin (sp?) is one of several manufacturors. The principle is the same as that used in Coleman and similar camping lanterns, but the chemistry is a little different. There are fewer combustion byproducts than with conventional "hurricane lamps", barn or carriage lamps and even candles. With no open flame, they are a tad safer in theory and likely in practice. They're really not new; one here is a hand down from my mother's great grandmother. It works fine.



timber

I've found a website for these lamps and also a couple for sale on eBay. I like the wall lamps. They are costly, but less so with the parchment shades.

A nice idea! Thanks.

I'd love to have one of those. I don't think I've ever seen one, but it sounds like something I'd like.

CI
Sorry buddy, I sure am trying to dance you some rain.

Out of curiosity, gezzy, what are you wearing when you do this dacnce?

Gezzy - it is raining here! Thank you!!!

Does one not rain-dance "sky-clad"?