WHEN THE FUTURE DOESN'T QUIT PERK YER COFFEE...

EDITION OF TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2026 [PetPowellPress] This would have been written longer and spotlighted lots of animals and people who are helping them but, the weather forecasts got to me. I didn't get soaked, I got emotional. Mood raindrops and road-coatings.
I'm sure those things occur in spring -- maybe summer -- but, seriously, who was in the mood for threatening weather Tuesday?
That photo? I snapped the picture of our FauxFlock on Tuesday morning. Collected through the years and from our assorted residences, the chicken and the ducks have their own stories. They like bing next to that backyard Oak.
In warm weather, during a "walk," one of our Always Happy Dogs will walk over and nudge one of the big birds with a happy canine nose. The Chicken and Ducks seem to enjoy a muzzle nuzzle. The dogs are happy just to say hello and move on into the yard. It's a happy life.
Of course, they don't have to depend on a reliable coffee machine.
Here's some personal whining.
My oh-so-reliable coffee maker stopped working this weekendm after years of dependability. My never-drinks-coffee-ever-spouse Martha helped me order a new coffee machine online and it arrived within hours and I assembled it Tuesday morning.
I swear I followed the directions, but the machine produced a cup of coffee and when I sipped that first cup, it burned my tongue off all the way to down past where my tonsils used to be until the 4th grade.
I'll try again Wednesday. I really don't know why anybody would design a coffee-maker without a heat control.
Also, I can't put comforting Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream in every cup of hot java I'm going to drink. I'm willing to try, of course.
-- OFFER 21ST COFFEE-MAKING TIPS BY EMAILING [email protected] AND SUGGEST ASSORTED ICE CREAM FLAVORS, PLEASE. ---