First Sunday of April

[Colliemom]

Good morning at o’dark thirty. Woke up at 5:30, couldn’t go back to sleep, so said heck with it. Gives me time to have some breakfast, take a shower etc. and get ready to head to church.

Chilly 18° out there this morning. Supposed to be a nice day heading into the mid 40s and warmer as the week goes by. The latest storm front has moved on. We just had rain and a short burst of snow/rain. But the eastern UP got anywhere from a foot to as much as 20 inches of heavy wet anow.

This storm sure was a doozy. Leaving a trail of death and destruction behind in 10 states. Even spawning tornadoes along the eastern seaboard.I don’t think I’ eever seen such fury as this storm had. Glad that all of you are safe and no damage. Scary times. Shirl, so you have a shelter or place that those of you in the upper floors of your building can go in in bad weather? Some of you may we member, Roberta Kallay. She was recently widowed and came with us to Indiana to view the covered bridges and Shipshewana. She is a member of Samaritan’s Purse, crew leader I believe. These past few years she has been assigned to many disaster areas around the Midwest and south. Currently she is in tbe area of MS where those two towns were hit hard. Yesterday they had to take shelter from yet another tornado warning in the area.I can sympathize with the people in Little Rock, Arkansas as they were hit with an EF-3 tornado, same as we were here. And we had two deaths.

I spent yesterday working in my basement, converting a bedroom into a storm shelter. Rearranging some shelving in the closet to store emergency supplies. Still a work in progress. Will post pictures later. Got the yad birds delivered to neighbors as well. Forgot to take a picture of them The neighbors down the road with the 5er, whom I sent a copy of my Severe weather post too, are busy now getting themselves ready like that too. They bought two backpacks one for him and one for her for the RV, and are in the process of packing stuff into them. They are also evaluating how they want to set up a little storm shelter in the crawlspace of the house just in case. We are both generator equipped in case of powe outages as well.

Guess I had better hit the shower and get moving here. Have a nice day everyone.

[Shirlv]

Morning Sue and All, 46°sunny and very windy. Spent scary 5 hours last evening under a tornado watch. I don’t think the windowless laundry room is a match for a tornado. I had my cell charged and a folding chair sitting by the door. If my cell issued a warning I would go to the first floor hall. Doubt that will stand up against a tornado either. We do what we can. Going to be a lazy day, no special plans. Be safe

[Othersharon]

Good morning all. Been a crazy couple of days here. Yesterday started out sunny and warm but by a little before 3 pm it all fell apart. The storm moved in with strong wind and temps dropped fast, rain came a bit later. Fire sirens were going off all over and from reports I saw the fire companies and utility companies were busy with downed trees and utility poles. Luckily only minor fires. We had power surges but never completely lost power. My yard is a mess of tree debris from the trees around my property. I managed to pick up some of the bigger branches but lots of little ones to rake up when the yard dries out a bit. Supposed to have a fairly nice week with sun and warmer temperatures. I let Buddy out yesterday afternoon not thinking to check the yard and he managed to find some styrofoam that must’ve blown over the fence and the long and short of it is that he managed to throw up a couple of times. So had that to clean up and worry if he was okay. He seems to be fine this morning and we even played a bit outside. Kinda dumb of me not to think of it. I think that’s the first time I’ve had bigger objects in the yard. Paper, yes but not what it was yesterday. And he will chew anything and everything he can. His eyes seem to be healing well but we still have another week before sutures can come out. Surprised that he’s doing well with the cone. He doesn’t like it but isn’t fighting it. So that’s been my last few days, just trying to keep him happy and surviving his recovery. My son invited me to dinner this afternoon so won’t have to cook today! Buddy will have to stay home since their one dog doesn’t want to make friends with Buddy or any other dog. Although he gets along with their older dog. Hope everyone survived the storm and are staying well. Glad Bill and Carol were able to make it home. Enjoying hearing about plants and gardening! We’re a ways from thinking about that here! But it’s fun to hear about and dream! So that’s about it for me, same stuff just different day! Hope everyone survived the storm and are feeling good. Stay safe.

[OregonLuvr]

Morning all. Crazy weather and so much devastation. I know I was not prepared for our devastating fire. BUT who knew. I had 5 minutes warning to get out. Grabbed my dog and a change of clothes because I just knew we were leaving so the firemen could put out the fire. Well, that didnt work out so well. It was an unprecedented firestorm. If we hadnt had the winds I think we might have been okay. The fire was so hot it melted the water lines so the fire department had no water pressure and also had to evacuate the scene. 2570 people lost their homes/businesses and community. Samaritans purse came and sifted my home, or the ashes to be more explicit. Didnt find much worth keeping. So, you just start over the best you can. I wll be here 2+ years now and home is where you make it. At least they only lost 3 lives which in itself is incredible.

Had a fun day yesterday. Met Laura in Eugene and I have been looking at getting a new car. She is a "car guru". Mine will be 14 years old and if I am able to drive another 10-15 years then it would have been really old. So guess this will be my last car. And since I cant take my money with me i will spend some LOL So we went to the dealership where I had decided on the make and model. Drove the car similar and I really liked it. They didnt have any AWD in yet I put a deposit down on it but it is still on the slow boat to Tacoma WA. Might be a while before I get it but that is okay. I am pretty conservative, I have had mainly grey, sand, silver colored cars. I ordered the RED one. It isnt a bright red, more of a wine color. And I didnt want the beige seats (not with a dog) where everything shows up. So I am getting the ebony leater seats. I of course had to upgrade the trim to get everything I think I need so I got the middle trim. A bit more money but think I will be happy. They also took several hundred dollars off because it is missing a couple of chips of course. But they will retrofit it when they come in at no cost to me. Not real important chips, the back up notification beep chip and the blind spot lane assist. Well I have been driving for a super long time without that so think I can wait on the chips. Also gave me a $3000 dealership discount. They asked how I knew about their dealership and I pointed to Laura, said she has bought cars from them before. She gets a check for $50 I was happy to hear that.

Time for some breakfast and get busy around here. Think it is time to dust before we ever get any sunshine and it embarrassingly shows up, not holding my breath for sunshine.....but maybe next weekend. I am staying away from the nurseries. I usually dont plant until around Mothers Day when frost warnings should disappear and the soil should be warm by then. Enjoy your Sunday.

[MandysMom]

So, Karen, are you holding back on make and model, until your spiffy new ride arrives? I'm thinking about a new car, as my PT will be 13 in fall. Almost any new car will get better fuel economy than the PT, but it is reliable and only has 37,000 miles on it.
It's sunny and 58° here. I'm so feeling sad for all those affected by the terrible weather.
Between sessions of Church conference yesterday and after, I got in a total of 62 minutes on treadmill. Today may only do 30 minutes.
Have a safe week everyone.
Velda

[BarbaraRose]

Good morning gals!

Karen, so what kind of car did you buy? I always have had brightly colored cars. Makes it a lot easier to find in a parking lot! So many cars are white, black or gray/silver and they all look alike to me. I guess I like to stand out from the crowd! I will probably always buy used cars. Besides the cost of new cars, I don't want to deal with all the bells and whistles on them nowdays. I just want a plain old car with just a few extra conveniences.

Sue, is there a window in your storm shelter? You would need to figure out a way to cover that up to protect from flying glass. I don't think you are allowed to permanently block off a window in case of emergency. So just a temporary way to put up a piece of thick plywood on it, or even sticky clear film on it (to hold the shattered pieces from flying around the room), if the glass blew out. Another project for you!

Shirl, any area that has concrete walls, no windows, and lots of plumbing in the walls makes for a good shelter, like a laundry room. That is why so many people go to their bathrooms (because of the plumbing/pipes/tub), during storms and many survive even when the rest of the house is demolished. An inner hallway on the lower floor, next to or under stairwells works too.

I spent a good portion of my day yesterday writing on my autobiography. I have a long way to go yet, tho. If I work on one chapter/subject per day, it should get done this summer. Will then need to organize, edit, and proofread it a few times after that. I picked up a book at WM the other day called "2000 Questions About Me". It will give me lots of ideas of things to write about too. Just short questions for short answers in the book, but I can elaborate on some of the more interesting questions/ideas in my autobiography.

I also worked on the coasters. They are more of a challenge than I expected tho. Will look nice once they are done tho.

It is sunny with barely a whisper of a breeze and expected to get to the middle 80's later. Then another system comes thru tomorrow with dropping temps and high winds for a few days. It was warm yesterday too and I had to turn on the AC for a bit in my bedroom. With no breeze blowing thru, it gets stuffy in here pretty quickly. I am grateful for not having the bad storms in my area like everyone else has been experiencing. Even a couple small tornadoes in SoCal last week, one in L.A. and one up near Santa Barbara. Just did some roof and tree damage. Very rare tho out here.

I should be getting my new computer/blue-light glasses tomorrow. That will help with eliminating headaches and eye-strain while I am reading/writing on my phone and laptop.

Just finished watching church on YouTube and had breakfast, so time to get dressed and get moving on something constructive around here.

Have a good day!

[Bethers]

3 working days a week is plenty lol. Sunday we're closed so Ty and I have the place to ourselves. He's happy because I've been able to have him off leash by the rig and in the botanical gardens because it's all fenced in. But I only do it when we're closed. So after 5 or so pm and all day Sundays. That means we had a nice walk/hike mid-morning (we slept in ) and there's a trail to a view in the gardens that we took. Came home and I'm working on laundry. I'll only use the washer and dryer when we're closed do it's another good Sunday thing to do. Especially since the washer takes longer than I'm used to. Or so it feels today. 3rd load with my comforter and a throw is in now. Soon, hopefully, I'll take the load of sheets, etc out of the dryer and put that last load in. Ty is enjoying that he gets to trek in with me without his leash. First trip here stated to wander on the very short walk back and I told him he won't be coming with me anymore if he doesn't stick with me. He about faced immediately. Smart boy.

Check the general room for a new post with some of Shirl's plants.

[Redetotry]

It is sunny here but not so warm as I would like. Sue you mentioned Roberta who works for Samaritan's Purse and used to be on the forum. Tina and I met up with her several years ago when she was staying at park near me. I see her posts on FB now. She really volunteers a lot of her time.
Karen congratulations on ordering a new car. Red cars must be the thing, we also bought a ruby red car this time after only having white for many years. My 2015 Sienna van is white and only has around 48,000 miles on it. DH bought a new Rav4 and the technology for the radio and all the apps are really bad. They finally told him they couldn't do any more with it and some things he would just have to do without. I like it ok but I personally prefer driving my Sienna. I feel cramped in the Rav and I don't take up a lot of space. I'm still working on that 10 pounds and have 6 more to go.
My new computer and printer is going to be set up for me on the 11th. I hope I can figure out how to use it!
Sharon I'm sorry you have so much to clean up from the storm but glad you didn't have worse damage. I hope Buddy continues to heal well and can soon be rid of his cone.
Beth, Sounds as though you and Ty are getting used to your new place. I could never let any of mine off leash or they would be chasing anything that moved.

[OregonLuvr]

Good afternoon. I thought I put the stats on my new car but guess not. It is an SUV Buick Envision, AWD We played with the infotainment screen and it looks pretty easy to get around on PLUS it has buttons down below if you dont want to use the screen you can just use those and can see on the screen or above the buttons.
3 YEARS ONSTAR PREMIUM PLAN:
- REMOTE ACCESS PLAN
- SAFETY & SECURITY PLAN
- UNLIMITED WIFI DATA PLAN
- SEE ONSTAR.COM FOR DETAILS
• SIRIUSXM CAPABLE, TRIAL
INCLUDED W/SUBSCRIPTION

I wont get it for a few weeks but that is okay I am not in a hurry. After looking at MANY different brands I came back to the Buick and the funny thing is, it was the first one I looked at but did not drive LOL I drove the Subaru Forester and thought I would really like it but I did not like the way it drove. I will post a picture when I get it. Okay now you all are up to speed ha ha

[chalet05]

Shirl, what lovely plants! I love that you have room for them! Beth, what a great place to spend Sunday and after hours for both you and Ty! So many bad storms in so many places! Hope everyone is out of the 'warning' areas. I talked with my Kansas aunt the other day - wish everyone getting too much rain could send it to the Kansas farmers! They had a dry year last year and not doing well so far. Wait until I get there to visit and it will pour! They used to tell me I needed to visit more often! Barbie, thank you for getting those Amazon links to work for cat items! Never had a problem with that before!

Finally filed my taxes this morning - not hard to do, but I still owed a bit. I've been using free OLT.com the past few years. My taxes are pretty straightforward and no constant messages to upgrade. Matching what is left to pack with what empty boxes and containers are left. I'm so far along and still have this month so I could almost talk myself into going to Kansas before the move if it weren't for the weather. My cousin's daughter will be getting her white veterinary coat early May and they will be celebrating. She asked my aunt if I would be there. Plus my grandson will leave for Africa soon after. Hmm, something to think about.

Karen jumped in before I could tease her! Seeing the Buick ads recently, I wondered if that was a possibility. Now the wait! Glad you had a good visit with Laura.

[JudyJB]

My last two cars were red minivans, and I liked that it was easier to find them in a parking lot! When I traveled for work in the 90s and early 00s, I always requested that rental car companies give me something, anything, that wasn't white because I lost a couple of cars and had to walk the parking lot while clicking the panic button to find them!!

I was going to go to Los Alamos today, but changed my mind in the middle of the night because I found out that the White Rock visitor center RV parking with hookups had a problem in that if you left, someone could take your spot. So I called them this morning, and the visitor center said there were only 3-4 cars there for last week or so, and that was out of 14 spaces, so no need to worry about driving out to museum and not getting a spot when I returned. And almost no Uber in town, but there is bus service. So, i will head off tomorrow to the Los Alamos History Museum and then get a camping spot for the night. Tuesday, the Bradbury Science Museum will be open, so I can see that then.

Feeling really lazy, but I might go out and try to replace the battery in the tire minder in my left front tire. Think I might be able to manage enough energy for that!

[Acadianmom]

I think I said rabbits at 12:05 before I talked to a cat the other night. It is 85 and overcast today. Thank goodness the wind has gone somewhere else for a change. After seeing all the tornado damage in Mississippi and Arkansas I think I'll be more motivated to go in the old house when there is a tornado warning. I should put a folding chair and a light in the middle bathroom. There is also an interior walk-in closet I could go in.

Beth, sounds like you have a nice place to walk. It gets boring walking the same old road all the time.

I like to watch Saturday Nigh Live and last night I went to sleep while it was on. Then I woke up at 1:00 and couldn't go back to sleep until after 5:00. I hate when that happens.

Barbie, "2000 Questions About Me" sounds like an interesting book.

I mixed 2 gallons of weed killer yesterday and went to Maurice to spray the driveways so I could see them and not end up in a ditch. The guy that cuts hay there had mowed the field. I'm glad about that because the weeds were getting tall again. I thought about loading the mower and going to mow again but my neighbors borrowed my trailer. So I mowed the yard in front of the old house and the corner lot across the road because I'm tired of looking at the weeds. I'll go finish mowing in a while.

After I sprayed the weed killer yesterday I went and had supper with my son. His girlfriend had gone to Baton Rouge. We went to Panda Express. I hadn't eaten lunch so I was hungry and ate my whole order. I should have brought 1/2 home because I was miserable. Next time we will go to a real Chinese restaurant.

Gas has started to go up here again.

I see the outside cats scratching so I need to get some flea drops. I can only get the medicine on one or two cats at a time because as soon as they smell it they are gone.

This morning I used a recipe for hamburger patties in onion gravy to cook lunch. Instead of hamburger patties I used stew meat. It turned out good. One more package out of the freezer.

Anita, I saw a woman in a Sling on my way to Lafayette yesterday. At least I think it was a woman. lol

Karen, I'm glad you didn't leave us hanging. lol My friend had a Buick Enclave and I always liked it.

Martha

[Colliemom]

Barbie, to answer your question, no there is no Window in that room. That’s why I decider to use it. It’s at the midway point of the basement, along the back wall. There are two rooms on either side. I have three windows in this basement and all have a plastic window well covers over them, so any flying debris will hit them first. The mechanicals room is on the end of the basement, so well away from there, and I can shut the doors to that area. This room I am using does not have a door, but that can be taken care of if I want. So I think it’s a perfect spot. Just painted the inside of the closet today to cover the areas where I removed some shelving brackets!




This is the rest of the basement. No window along the wall where those shelves are due to porch on front of house. Workshop and storeroom are through the door at the end, both have a window. There is one window at the other end and mechanicals room is at that end. So pretty snug down there.

[BarbaraRose]

So your basement must be mostly underground. That is good. Our basement was a walkout on the backside. So during storms we went to the laundry room and under the stairs in there (if it wasn't piled with junk! ). There was also an old tiny well-pit made of concrete blocks down there and lots of piping. But it was full of spiders and very cramped. We chose the laundry room instead.

Dave stopped by with an electrician friend of his to look at my outlet. He is going to fix it for me. He said the problem was most likely from plugging in the fireplace heater. I didn't know this, but all these places are only 15 amps, not 20.

Am also having an issue with the Autobiography webpage I am working with. I have been writing stuff on my OneDrive (I think that is the "Cloud") on my Chrome laptop so I cut and pasted the first chapter onto their outline which worked fine, but now I want to add next chapter and it won't let me do it. I have been in contact with the lady who runs the website and she doesn't know why it won't open a new page for a new chapter. So I guess I just keep writing on my OneDrive until we figure it out, or I will need to find a new site to do my autobiography on.

It is getting warm in the house again. There was a nice breeze a little while ago but that has died down again. I think I will just use a fan instead of turning the AC on again. Tomorrow, the temps drop down so I won't need to worry about it until next weekend when it starts warming up again.

Need to find some dinner...

[snowball]

did really good got up and watched conference fixed lunch and killed some time conference on for the last session and did my best to stay awake I should have picked up the dish cloth that I'm knitting and worked on it... but nope didn't and missed part of it ... so aggravating but I can watch again on different sites...
fixed supper was going to do a snitchtel but when I bought the pork chops because they were thin and I wouldn't have to pound them out too much... didn't realize that they were bone in so didn't do the German dish just floured them and fried them .. baked potatoes and corn then opened the veggie bin and saw the asparagus I planned on having... ops
told mom today that I was going to Utah so brother is coming to get her she isn't happy with the news... can't understand why she can't stay home... I can get it the brain says I can and the bod says no way but brain isn't listening to bod
Karen sounds like a neat car...
love your plants and all the space to put them Shirl
It sounds like you landed in a good spot for the next few months Beth
glad you got the help you need... that is a lot of difference between 20 and 15 and not to know it... glad that it wasn't worse...
you will probably find peace of mind with your room Sue...
stryofoam ??? wow .... but glad he is ok
you all take care
sheila