Neverending winter
I’M TIRED OF WINTER! Once again, we are predicted to have sleet and freezing rain starting tomorrow night. I’ve never in my life seen so much foul, freezing weather in our state, which normally averages a daytime temperature of around 50 degrees.
Yes, we have a day like that thrown in now and then, but by far most of the temperatures have been 40 and lower, with overnight lows well below freezing. It’s getting to me, so many cold days, that I just want to punch cigars! I’m so very ready for spring weather!
Labels: Musings
Will winter ever end?
It looks like another round of freezing rain and sleet is headed our way. I’m really sick of winter weather. We have average winter temperatures of around 50 degrees F. normally. Not so this year.
We’ve had more freezing temperature days and below freezing nights, along with wintry precipitation, than I can really remember in years. Yes, it’s winter and it’s supposed to be cold. But this is Arkansas, and we just don’t have those weather events, especially as they go on and on, repeating themselves week after week.
I’ll be so happy when Spring time comes. Flowers, butterflies, gardens. This winter season seems so long and depressing.
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Colder than usual winter
We can’t seem to get away from the bad weather lately. I live in a state which isn’t known for terrible winter weather, but this year we’ve been hit with ice and snow repeatedly, with many people winding up without power.
Because we normally have very mild winters, I’ve had to add extra layers to my windows and doors to keep the cold at bay. I’ve taken my best selection of fitted table cloths, sheets, and blankets to give the windows extra draft protection on the worst days and nights. It helps, though it may look a little crazy.
Labels: Musings
Great gift
Probably the best gift you can give those you love, and yourself, is to be clean and dry, protecting your health and that of your loved ones. Maybe, your Christmas gift to your family this year is drug abuse rehab.
Those who love you have broken hearts. They fear for your very life. Do them, and yourself, a favor. Take care of your body. It’s the only one you have. Life is far too short already to cut it off any sooner.
Enjoy this Christmas season with clear eyes and a clear mind. You deserve it. And they deserve you.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING
It's Thanksgiving Day in the United States! A day to gather family and friends around a table laden with delicious foods. It's almost decadent, the amount of calories we take in on a day of feasting such as this. I guess it's one of the few days of the year when we go all out, spend maybe hundreds of dollars, to set out this much to eat all at once. I daresay, most families could probably eat for a week or two on the amount of food that's prepared for this day.
It's all done in love and fellowship, though, and if your family is like mine, at the end of the day many of the foods will be divided out and sent home with the attendees. It's a way of sharing the bounty that stretches through the coming days.
There will also be foods that will be carefully packaged and stashed in the freezer for meals later on. Those will make prepping the future meals faster and easier.
There will also be many families who will take all their fresh leftovers to a shelter or mission, to give some joy and fellowship to those who don't have a home table to gather 'round.
Think on these things: We are blessed beyond measure and often don't realize it. We go through our daily activities, sometimes mumbling and complaining, not realizing how bad it really could be for us.
Let's carry the attitude of gratitude with us daily, throughout the year, and the heartfelt sharing, as well.
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Vacation longings
There's no place like home, but when work or school or whatever it is that stresses you out gets to be too much, it might be time to hit the dusty trail and point yourself toward new horizons...at least for the short term.
Maybe a camping trip would be a good getaway. Maybe you know somebody with Ocean Isle beach nc real estate that would let you camp right on the beach.
For me, even a couple of days and nights at a new venue would help ease the stress quite a bit.
Where do you like to go to relax and unwind?
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Fake fire for heat
The weather here has gotten suddenly very chilly! We went from temperatures in the 100s to temperatures in the low 50s. Now, I know that's not exactly frigid, unless you're like me and don't like cool weather!
So, this has got me to thinking about what I need to do to get ready for really cold weather. I can only use electric heat in this house, although my Sis is giving me a kerosene heater for backup in case the power goes out.
The next best thing to a fireplace in this little house is a DVD I have of fireplaces. Maybe I should be looking at mantel designs, too? That way, I can put a mantel around my TV screen! Yeah, ok, so I might not exactly do that, but it could make me feel warmer if I watch a fire, right?
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Internet outage
I guess the strong storms we've had lately have really done some damage, even though you can't see it around here. My internet has been out since Friday night (August 12, 2011). As I sit here, I wonder how I really managed without it!
Oh, I know. I used real books and real magazines. I interacted with friends and family face-to-face instead of on a social networking site. I did cooking and crafts and other projects, and actually got them completed. I didn't have the internet to burn my days up and occupy my nights.
It might not be a bad idea to actually turn it off a few days a week so I can get more done. Today, I've taken care of the animals (which I would do anyway), baked a loaf of white bread and a loaf of cornbread, put beans on to cook, and done some writing. Last night, I read completely through my most recent issue of Mother Earth News.
When is the last time you turned off your internet, or it went out due to weather? How did you occupy yourself?
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2011 tornadoes
I wanted to share with you that our lives were personally touched by the tornadoes that ripped through a small town not far from us in central Arkansas. Relatives lived in the path of that destruction, which nearly wiped their small town from the map. They didn't entirely lose their home, but there was considerable damage.
Many homes in their neighborhood were totally destroyed, and some people suffered injuries that had to be covered by disability insurance. Others lost their lives.
The very frightening reality of this is that we never know when that sort of storm may strike. While there is a "tornado season", we have, in fact, had these destructive storms all throughout the year.
I suppose that no matter where you live, there is some kind of destructive force of nature to contend with.
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Poor reception
I love living in the country. One drawback, though, is the lack of cellular towers and the fact that hills and trees often inhibit my cell phone signal. Those of you who live way out probably understand this, too.
I use my cell phone instead of a land line. In fact, I use it a lot. I talk to my kids who are grown. I text them. I even use it for my clock and alarm clock so I can get up for work in time in the mornings.
However, my sister, who lives in another city, complains that she is never able to reach me by phone. I'm not really sure why, but this bothers me since our elderly mother lives next door to her and I wouldn't be able to learn quickly if something is wrong with her.
It might be well worth it for me to get a cell booster antenna to make sure I don't miss any calls from Sis. She knows my work number, so she can call it if anything happened while I'm there. But I don't want to miss a call or message from her because of some technology glitch between her service and mine.
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Container gardens and soil
I have brought home 400 pounds of topsoil in bags, 160 pounds of potting soil in bags, and 80 pounds of cow manure in bags. Why? For use in my gardens and containers.
I will be mixing the three components and adding my own compost, then putting the mixture into the beds. I have a kit to build one new bed, so it needs filling. I am going to use discarded 5 gallon vegetable oil jugs for my container gardening. I can line them up quite neatly since they are square shaped and grow a lot of veggies in them.
I'm figuring to lay them on their sides since they are about 12 inches deep that way, which is sufficient for most things. I'll cut the sides out of them so that they become containers.
Our ground is pretty rocky, so it's really difficult to get a good spot for a garden here. Although digging in rocky ground constitutes great ab workouts, it also means finding and tossing a lot of small and large stones out of the way. As soon as you think you've got them all, you find more. So, containers and raised beds are really the only way to make gardening work here.
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Safe work environment
No matter where your child decides to work, even if it's just a part time job at a burger joint, he will no doubt see a number of osha signs on the premises. Where I work, we have them for everything you can imagine.
We have them on the CO2 tank, warning of the dangers of a leak. (We also have a CO2 sensor.) We have them above every fire extinguisher. We have them on the entry doors, announcing no smoking. We have them around the various cleaning chemicals.
It's important to heed these signs. They were developed over time to keep workers and customers safe.
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Nasty cold weather
Hasn't the weather been crazy lately? It has in our part of the country. we have gotten a few rounds of snow and ice, none of which has been blizzard-like, but still more than normal for us. Our average winter temperature hangs around 45 to 50 degrees (F) so all the cold precipitation has really thrown us for a loop!
I watched the weather online to see the upper east coast also buried in snow, with flight delays, traffic snarls, and even lives lost due to ambulances not being able to reach the sick and injured. That's when you know that the weather really is dangerous.
In that kind of weather, it doesn't matter if you live in a small house or one of the luxury new york city hotels, everything comes to a standstill.
So, what are you doing this winter to be prepared for really bad weather?
Labels: Musings
New laptop or new hard drive?
As I was posting about the hot weather in the previous post, I mention my laptop. Naturally, my thoughts began to stray about different issues. Things like "Should I just bite the bullet and buy a new laptop?" and "Maybe I'd be better off just looking at external hard drives."
My laptop is still operating pretty well and it satisfies my needs, but I have a lot of pictures and other data that might need to be stored someplace besides on my actual laptop. An external hard drive would fill the bill nicely, I think.
Do any of you have experience with these devices?
Labels: Musings
Need a laundry room
Here I am, at the laundry mat once again. It's not my favorite place to visit and I hate plugging quarters into those machines, then just waiting. But, it's necessary if I'm going to have clean clothes.
If I could, I'd add a small room to my small house just for a laundry room. In fact, I may bring the idea up to Son-in-law. He and Older Daughter own the house and they might be willing to take in part of the back deck if I help with the cost of materials.
I couldn't do the construction myself even with the help of hgh supplements. Not at my age! Son-in-law has become quite skilled at carpentry since they started renting out houses, so he could probably get the job done alright.
The house is too small to have a washer and dryer inside, although the bathroom could probably be remodeled to accommodate just a washer. I don't know. I'm just musing now, I suppose.
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Spring around the corner?
In my part of the country, we are pretty well over the hump where winter is concerned, although there could be more ice or snow in the next few weeks. It's not likely, though, that we'll have a major winter storm after February is over. To tell you the truth, I'll be so glad when Springtime finally arrives!
My thoughts have already turned to garden planning and getting the soil ready to receive plants and seeds. I don't do as much gardening as I did in the past, but I do plant the things I really love. Herbs are at the top of my list, of course, then peppers, tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. See, it's just some small stuff but these are the plantings that give me the most joy and the most bang for my buck.
Gardening, getting out in the fresh air, digging in the dirt - this is just about the best fat burner around. if I didn't have to go to work, I'd spend a lot more time working in my yard and garden than I do now. At least, though, maybe this year I can install more raised beds for my garden plants and have them under better control.
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Freezing conditions
Wow, what a week! The first week of the year has been filled with icy roads, snowy lawns, and several days of sub-freezing temperatures. And it's not about to let up, or so it seems. Predictions are for more of the same starting tonight!
There have been a lot of people without power the past couple of days. Those who have all-electric homes have been hanging out at places like McDonald's, the Mexican restaurant, the Chinese place, and the pizza place. School is without power, too, which means a lot of parents with kids needing something to do besides sit home in the dark, cold houses.
Some folks are fortunate to have alternate heat and power sources, or a motor home or camper to stay in. Not everyone is so fortunate, though, and if they didn't take care of the antifreeze, then they are looking for someone to do motorhome towing to get their RVs to a repair shop!
Ah, well, Spring is just around the corner. Right?
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Unseasonably warm weather
The weather is getting cooler, at least in most places this time of the year. If you're like me, cold weather really isn't your favorite stuff. For us right now, the weather is unseasonably warm. We are even running the air conditioners in our vehicles. It's just plain weird.
It's deer season here, which usually means frosty mornings and windy, overcast, chilly days. This year, though, it's like riviera maya vacations it's so warm!
Tell me about the weather in your area. Is it normal? Are you warmer than usual, or colder?
Labels: Musings
Accomplishments in small bites
If you're going to do something, do it right the first time. That's what my Mom always told us anyway. And, she was correct. If you do things right the first time, you don't have to go back and redo them later or fix what you messed up.
That philosophy works in all areas of life, whether it's lesson planning, your job, maintaining your automobile, or researching for the best appetite suppressant. If you make a plan of action for a project, you will be more likely to complete it and complete it well.
- Set goals - decide what you want the outcome of the project to be.
- Set a deadline - tell yourself when you want to be finished with the project.
- Set tasks in order - figure out the various tasks needed to complete a project, then decide the best order for them.
- Focus on one major project at a time - don't try to address and complete a range of projects. Doing that will just water down your focus and make you feel like you're just putting out fires instead of working toward a goal.
- Eat an elephant - Eat him one bite at a time. Tackle your project in small, manageable steps.
Write your steps down along with the time frame for completion. Track it on a calendar.
Labels: Musings
Youth
One thing I loved about homeschooling was that my kids were with me nearly all the time. The only time I wasn't right with them was when they were at youth group at church.
The church we went to had a nice place for the youth. It was the old sanctuary, which means it was pretty big. They had ping pong tables, a pool table, and other game tables as well as an altar area where they had youth services. Many of the youth learned to play musical instruments, so they became our youth praise team.
They took a few trips a year to Christian youth rallies where they could have liberty to pray and praise. A lot of youth got saved at rallies like that. I think it was because they were away from worldly peer pressure and could let their spirits soar to heights they'd never reached before.
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