Greetings, All: Well, it's beginning to get cool here in the Mid-Atlantic region. I do love this cool, fall weather. Of course, we have some warm weather interspersed with the cool weather, but that's okay. I can deal with warm, not hot, and cool, even cold. I really don't mind the cold weather as I feel alive and I have more energy than in the summertime, which can be so very hot here in North Carolina.
It was a pretty hot summer, and quite dry, except for Hurricane Irene who barrelled through our small town in August. (I mentioned this in my last blog, but I think I need to elaborate.) It was pretty scary for a while. The winds did not stop blowing for over 24 hrs. We were without power for over five days. We have a generator but it won't run the whole house, just the refrigerator, freezers, washing machine, dryer, etc.; the important things, like AC, were non existent. I had to use my son's large floor fan, trained directly on my body, in my bed, to get any kind of relief from the heat, which was pretty intense. Our stove didn't work so I found a small Toastmaster cooktop in the attic, with two burners, and we used that. We had drop cords running all over the house, which made it pretty hard to navigate. I, being pretty clutsy sometimes, was constantly tripping over them.
We were very fortunate. We didn't have any damage except a lot of hugh tree limbs in our swimming pool and lots and lots of pine cones and downed tree limbs all over the yard. Our lot across the street was a total mess. It's full of pecan trees and it looked like most of them had lost most of their branches. I do know we lost thousands of pecans from this storm, but that's okay. There's still debris sitting on the side of the roads in our town from Irene, and over a lot of the state as well. I'm so tired of looking at a 12-ft. pile of debris sitting on the lot across the street. One day........
It got up to 82 degrees in my home, which was pretty unbearable, as I'm used to keeping my home temperature at 72 degrees. My granddaughteer suggested we all, she, her three children (her husband's in Iraq) my grandson, who lives with me, and I, get into her jeep and go to a hotel for a couple of days. This is exactly what we did. We went home, hurridly packed inside our boiling homes and got the heck out of Dodge. We went to another, bigger town, about an hour and 15 minutes away. I think we got the last room. Thank God, AC!!!
It felt so good to lay down on a nice, plump mattress and just enjoy the cool air and being away from the constant drone of the generators (ours and our neighbors) and the chirping of the cicadas. I love nature, but enough is enough.
That first night, we went to eat at the Cracker Barrel, three adults and three (adorable) children. The food was pretty good, although I didn't have much to choose from, being a vegetarian. That's okay; I ate lots of good vegetables and had a glass of water. We all went back to the room, had baths, etc., watch a little TV and went to bed. We were supposed to have two queen-sized beds, but had two regular beds. My grandson and I slept on one, and my granddaughter and her THREE children slept on another. I don't know how they slept, but I do think they could sleep on a bed of nails.
The next morning, we all slept in, until at least 8:00, piled in the car and went to get breakfast, I don't remember what we ate. After getting back to the room, my granddaughter and her children all got their bathing suits on the went down to the indoor pool. My grandson and I stayed in the room; he watched TV and I read. Not long after, the swimming- pool group traipsed back into the room saying it was just too cold to swim. It had gotten very cool during the night, which felt great, but definitely not swimming weather, evern in an indoor pool.
Although I had paid for two nights, hoping to stay three, the kids started getting restless so we packed up and left. I surely dreaded having to come home to a hot house, but as the weather had turned cooler, it was actually cool in my house with all of the windows up when I got home.
On the way home from the hotel, my youngest great granddaughter, 7 mos. old, decided she had to fill her diaper, to overflowing. She went so much it was all over her, her car seat, her clothes, and her hands. We stopped the jeep. My granddaughter took her out, seat and all, and set her down on the side of the road. I got some distilled water, doused some tee shirts and cleaned her car seat out while the baby was washed and had her clothes changed using some baby wipes and distilled water. I don't know what we would have done without the water. We bundled all of the offensive clothes and diaper up and laid it in the ditch and drove away. What an adventure! It will be quite a while before I'm ready for another.
All in all, it was a good summer and a super-good fall, so far. Until next time, be blessed, Nana
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Summer's End
Greetings, All: It's been a while but a lot's been happening here in the Mid Atlantic region. Of course, hurricane Irene just barreled though and left a lot of devastation in its wake. We had a lot of downed tree limbs, pine cones and detritus on the ground, and especially in the swimming pool, which is now avocado green. I suppose we'll just cover the pool, drain, clean and refill it next summer. It's too much to even consider fixing at this point in time.
It's' been a good summer and a fleeting one. My main goal this summer was to have an organic vegetable garden. I went on line to Seeds of Change and ordered tons of organic seeds. When the seeds came, I got my neighbor to plant them for me, as bending over for any length of time hurts my hips and legs.
I decided not to have the conventional row garden, and planted the garden in small squares. After the garden was planted, I went grocery shopping out of town and when I returned and glanced at the garden, I saw our yard man walking all over my newly- planted seeds. I ran outside, screamed at him, and asked him what in the hell was he doing, walking all over my organic seeds. He, of course, was shocked, as he said he didn't know there were seeds in the ground. I had told my husband earlier that the garden had been planted and to please be careful when he had his tomatoes planted in the space that I had left him. He said, when questioned concerning the stomping of my seeds, that he didn't know there were seeds there. What, are you deaf, I said. Actually, he is a lot deaf.
It took me quite a long time for my ire to be assuaged, but I finally accepted the fact that the seeds probably wouldn't come up and most of them didn't. I did have some carrots, corn, squash and bush beans, but not many and they hardly produced any vegetables. My garden was a failure, after all of the time, money and effort that had been put into it. After a while, I just didn't care any more. One thing we did have was lots and lots of Roma tomatoes. These had been started indoors from seed and after they got their second set of leaves, then their third set of leaves, and had reacthed a height of approximately eight inches, I planted them outside my kitchen door and they thrived. They grew to six feet and produced and produced and produced. In fact, I had my last tomato sandwich for lunch today. Oh well, maybe next year.
I've spent most of the summer inside, as the heat really does a number on me. I've never been able to deal with heat. Any temperature over seventy-five makes me feel like I'm going to lose my mind - really. When I was a teenager, I remember trying to mow the grass in the front yard, using a push mower, and nearly passing out when I was finished. I don't know why, but my body temperature gets too high with a certain amount of exertion.
I have enjoyed spending time with my great grandchildren this summer. They're growing up so fast, it's hard to believe they're eight, two, and seven months now. They're such beautiful and wonderful children. I sound like a true grandmother, don't I?
I have tried to sew a couple of dresses for the girls but find that my heart just isn't into sewing any more. I makes me nervous and I certainly don't need that. I think my sewing days are long gone. It's a shame, because at one time I really loved it and did a pretty good job making clothes for my children, myself and my granddaughter.
I guess I'll just grow old making jewelry and reading. I really love to read. Right now, I'm rereading a book by Rosamunde Pilcher entitled September. All of her books are good, set mostly in Scotland. The best book I've read by her is The Shell Seekers. If you're a reader, don't forget to read this one. You won't be disappointed.
I'm still making jewelry but have branched out into other aspects. I'm working in metal now. I like to hammer metal into shapes, stamp it and use it for bracelets, earrings, rings, etc. I really enjoy doing this and I feel it might be an inherited talent, as my Dad customized cars and was a welder, as well. I could hammer and stamp all day.
I certainly am dreading winter this year with the gas prices being so high. My husband and I are going to try heating our home partly with wood. We have a fireplace insert with a fan that will heat at least one half of the house so we'll use part wood and part propane. Propane has gotten almost cost prohibitive. We spent around $2,000.00 last winter for fuel, not counting the electric bill to run the house. Our electric bill this summer has been at least $450.00 a month. Of course, the pool counts for some of that and I've kept the AC at around 74 degrees. I don't know how people are going to live if things get too much higher.
Well, it's time to go beddy bye, so I'll close until next time. Be blessed and safe, Nana
It's' been a good summer and a fleeting one. My main goal this summer was to have an organic vegetable garden. I went on line to Seeds of Change and ordered tons of organic seeds. When the seeds came, I got my neighbor to plant them for me, as bending over for any length of time hurts my hips and legs.
I decided not to have the conventional row garden, and planted the garden in small squares. After the garden was planted, I went grocery shopping out of town and when I returned and glanced at the garden, I saw our yard man walking all over my newly- planted seeds. I ran outside, screamed at him, and asked him what in the hell was he doing, walking all over my organic seeds. He, of course, was shocked, as he said he didn't know there were seeds in the ground. I had told my husband earlier that the garden had been planted and to please be careful when he had his tomatoes planted in the space that I had left him. He said, when questioned concerning the stomping of my seeds, that he didn't know there were seeds there. What, are you deaf, I said. Actually, he is a lot deaf.
It took me quite a long time for my ire to be assuaged, but I finally accepted the fact that the seeds probably wouldn't come up and most of them didn't. I did have some carrots, corn, squash and bush beans, but not many and they hardly produced any vegetables. My garden was a failure, after all of the time, money and effort that had been put into it. After a while, I just didn't care any more. One thing we did have was lots and lots of Roma tomatoes. These had been started indoors from seed and after they got their second set of leaves, then their third set of leaves, and had reacthed a height of approximately eight inches, I planted them outside my kitchen door and they thrived. They grew to six feet and produced and produced and produced. In fact, I had my last tomato sandwich for lunch today. Oh well, maybe next year.
I've spent most of the summer inside, as the heat really does a number on me. I've never been able to deal with heat. Any temperature over seventy-five makes me feel like I'm going to lose my mind - really. When I was a teenager, I remember trying to mow the grass in the front yard, using a push mower, and nearly passing out when I was finished. I don't know why, but my body temperature gets too high with a certain amount of exertion.
I have enjoyed spending time with my great grandchildren this summer. They're growing up so fast, it's hard to believe they're eight, two, and seven months now. They're such beautiful and wonderful children. I sound like a true grandmother, don't I?
I have tried to sew a couple of dresses for the girls but find that my heart just isn't into sewing any more. I makes me nervous and I certainly don't need that. I think my sewing days are long gone. It's a shame, because at one time I really loved it and did a pretty good job making clothes for my children, myself and my granddaughter.
I guess I'll just grow old making jewelry and reading. I really love to read. Right now, I'm rereading a book by Rosamunde Pilcher entitled September. All of her books are good, set mostly in Scotland. The best book I've read by her is The Shell Seekers. If you're a reader, don't forget to read this one. You won't be disappointed.
I'm still making jewelry but have branched out into other aspects. I'm working in metal now. I like to hammer metal into shapes, stamp it and use it for bracelets, earrings, rings, etc. I really enjoy doing this and I feel it might be an inherited talent, as my Dad customized cars and was a welder, as well. I could hammer and stamp all day.
I certainly am dreading winter this year with the gas prices being so high. My husband and I are going to try heating our home partly with wood. We have a fireplace insert with a fan that will heat at least one half of the house so we'll use part wood and part propane. Propane has gotten almost cost prohibitive. We spent around $2,000.00 last winter for fuel, not counting the electric bill to run the house. Our electric bill this summer has been at least $450.00 a month. Of course, the pool counts for some of that and I've kept the AC at around 74 degrees. I don't know how people are going to live if things get too much higher.
Well, it's time to go beddy bye, so I'll close until next time. Be blessed and safe, Nana
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