Pictures!

I know...finally, heh? So, it was cold and dreary and I used my 2 megapixel camera. Yes these were shot in color - they just look black and white because of the ice and clouds. My favorite is the Redbud tree comparison. Usually it stands proud and tall at about 15 feet...now it's pitiful at about 6 feet. The hardwood trees all remind me of a Dr. Seuss story - I think it's the Lorax one - where all the trees are so droopy and sad looking.

1/2" of ice atop the fencing


Redbud tree before

Still have Power and Heat, thank goodness

I can't say enough about the Harrison REMC crews. Last September they busted butts to get the county up and running after Hurricane Ike wiped out power lines and poles, and they're doing the same now. Most of our county now has power, while Louisville, KY still has more than 170,000 households that have no power and no heat. Yes, this county is small - less than 40,000 in the whole county. But it is large in square miles and rural.

Rick worked yesterday and today. He's working inside as a carpenter on a school in Milton, KY. Last night he said it was scary driving through Madison, IN - the main road is a corridor of beautiful trees. Now those trees are heavily laden and encrusted with ice - limbs snapping at any moment, limbs hanging to the ground with the weight of the ice. He made it home safe and called me today to say all is well on the site.

It seems that the Kelly house is still full :) Erin says it'll be another two weeks before she expects her power to be on and Kevin says he thinks it'll be at least a week for his place. Wow. Thank goodness for Mom's place, heh?

I've been busy working. Being self-employed does have its advantages - one of them being portability. I took the laptop and customer files with me to Florida and was able to complete a project while down there. Now I'm almost finished with a project and ready to take on new ones. I have 6 outstanding quotes, 4 of which will come to fruition. It's just a matter of funding - isn't that the lament everywhere?

So, why am I not in Florida you ask? I wish I had a straight answer for you. A part of me says "go, go, go now you fool!" while another says "it's nice to be home, to cook like I want to, to sleep in my own". Hmmm. Honestly, if the weather turns bad again I will probably go down to stay with Mom in the camper. Rick has already said he would stay home and go to work, making sure the pipes don't freeze. I will keep you updated.

Glad to have Power and Heat

Well, we've been home since Monday evening and it certainly has been an adventure.

We left Alabama early Monday morning. After watching the news and weather stations, we knew that an ice storm was headed toward southern Indiana/Louisville and we wanted to get home before the storm hit.

We got home early afternoon. And it was cold! Very cold! We got out of the truck and wondered why we came home!

We had an uneventful Monday night, with temperatures dropping and sleet.

Tuesday was snow and dropping temperatures with occasional icy rain and sleet.

Tuesday night, late, we lost power. I know this because we awoke to a very chilly bedroom.

We bundled ourselves up, lit some candles, found the flashlights and wondered what we were going to do next. Just how bad was this going to get?

At about 5:30 a.m. Rick drove down the road to get some coffee and to get an idea of what were in for. He comes home with a thermas full of coffee and some interesting information. The only store/station open is our little Marathon station that sits in the middle of Georgetown. Everything and everyone was without power. Everywhere. Huge trees were down and blocking the road. Limbs were snapped off and hanging on power lines.

At about noon we started calling friends and found one who had heat and power. They had room for us. So off to the Kelly house we go. Turns out Mary (mom) is in Washington state, so we kids snuggled in for the day. By kids I mean me and Rick, Erin and her son Jack and daughter Maresa, Kevin and Tina. More were expected to arrive by evening. Erin made a pot of potato soup. Rick took Erin's kerosene heater and headed home - our main concern was freezing pipes. We still had water, but the house was getting colder and without some heat source we knew we were in for trouble.

Rick calls at about 4 p.m. - hey, we have power! Yeah! Now, we're in a different county than Erin, Kevin and the rest. It seems that still today Erin and Kevin and all are staying at the Kelly place.

Louisville, KY still has 174,000 households without power.

Ice is caked on electric lines, weighing down trees, coating fences. At least 1/2 inch thick and in some areas a good 3/4 inch thick. We're losing trees left and right - large limbs are snapping with great force and crashing into roofs, onto power lines, onto vehicles.

For those who remember the blizzard of 77-78, this is much worse. Much worse because it is cold and icy and affecting many more people. Today alone 3 people in Louisville died from carbon monoxide poisoning - they didn't have the gas generator vented correctly. The death count is up to 10.

Yes, we're very glad we have power and heat. If it wasn't for the fear of frozen pipes we would head back to Florida and crash at his sister's place, again :)

Traveling and Business and Friends

My goodness, we have been busy!

The cold hit in December, with our traveling north to Warsaw for the holidays. Had a great time with family. Tammy cooked Christmas dinner - rib roast that melted in your mouth! Yum! We played games with the kids - pictionary. We laughed, we giggled, we had a great time.

Came home and Rick went back to work in the cold. The job for the next few weeks was putting on outside doors at a newly built school. Which meant that he was working outside, in the freezing cold and wind, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for three weeks. My poor husband was frozen every night, chilled to the bone :(

Finally, he comes to me and says "we're having a lay-off for two weeks starting the 15th. Let's go south and warm up!"

I told him that he was responsible for the details and I would gladly come along.

Today I'm sitting in the kitchen of a friend's home near Birmingham, AL. It's getting chilly outside, about 50 or so. But warm enough for me :)

We first went to Port Orange, FL to visit with his sister and BIL. I sat outside, on the lanai with my computer and worked while catching some freckles :) Initially it was a bit chilly, 50 to 60 degrees, but the sunshine made everything worthwhile! Alyssa and I went in to Daytona Beach and we drove on the beach in her cadillac; that was fun :) Then we went to a marina that rescues sea turtles - did you know that sea turtles can get as large as 8 feet long and weigh 1800 lbs? Wow. She showed me a beautiful light house on the point, long and tall and painted brick red. We didn't go in because time was running out and I needed to 'work' on my computer :) But we had a delightful day out, with opportunity to get to know each other. Being married to Rick for 18 years I finally got to spend some time with his sister - and I truly enjoyed myself.

Alyssa and I also found the local bead store, Imagine That!. I found some terrific matte blue beads, not sure what they are but the striation caught my attention. They're round, about 12 mm (I know, large for me!) and they were cheap. I think I'll stitch up some herringbone tubes and string them in between the 5 rounds. Then Alyssa found a strand of square, glass, pinkish/blueish/grayish beads. They're very pretty, looking almost ceramic. She grabbed them up and says "Char, do you think you can make something with these?" Of course I gladly said yes. My first project upon getting home will be to design her a necklace with these. Yes, I'll scan the finished project and post a picture before sending it off to her :)

We left on Tuesday and made our way to the panhandle. Mom is in her RV at DeFuniak Springs, just north of Destin. The 5 hour drive to Defuniak Springs was uneventful and boring - picture I-10 as a tunnel of pine trees for 4.5 hours of the drive. Blah! The cold followed us, so the first night in the camper was brisk - it got down to 35 degrees. Yes, she has a heater, thank goodness. The next morning we all realized that the camper is simply not made to hold three adults comfortably. Our original intent was to sleep in her outside room (a wonderful screened in 'room' attached to the camper), but the weather did not cooperate. Love you Mom, but we agreed it was too close for comfort :)

Rick and I rented a cabin at the resort for the next three days. It faced King Lake, a fishing lake known for large bass, and by Friday the sun was out and it was over 70 degrees. Yes, I caught a few more freckles while working on my computer. Rick met a fella in the cabin two doors down. He was from Iowa and had a boat so the two of them spent all day Friday on the lake. It doesn't matter that they didn't catch anything. All that matters it that Rick finally got a chance to fish in Florida :)

Mom joined us for all meals, whether we cooked in at the camper or took her out for lunch and dinner in town. We had a good visit. I think the last time I spent time with Mom was in Indianapolis sometime in September, so it has been a while.

We left DeFuniak Springs Saturday morning and headed north toward Birmingham, AL. We thought we were in for another 5 hour drive, but we were pleasantly surprised when 3.5 hours later we were rolling into the neighborhood. Dan and Karen live in a suburb of Birmingham. They're friends from Indianapolis and I haven't seen either one of them for about 4 years. Rick has spent some time with them at their cabin on a nearby lake, and at their home. He traveled for work last year and was able to fit in some visiting time. So it is a real treat for me to be here to spend time and catch up with the two of them.

So, that's how I ended up sitting in the kitchen of a friend's place near Birmingham, AL. We'll head home Monday. Rick is relaxed and warm. I am happy to know that my business is portable, and I did catch a face full of freckles :) We'll both be ready to tackle the world come Tuesday. Until then? We'll gladly talk and eat and drink coffee with good friends.

Until next time....bead happy, bead on!