How Big Are Those Pancakes?

I forced my passenger to indulge at IHOP on our way to Kansas City last week. Although, his vegetarian meal of bowls of bagged salad and over-ripe fruit didn't look too appealing. I, however, truly enjoyed my eggs, bacon and pancake. I say, "pancake" because that was my concession to Weight Watchers. It was sooooo satisfying to taste that warm, buttery, syrupy, cakey delight. I think my pancakes are probably better, but I would probably eat the whole batch. Anyway, as we got back on the Interstate, I felt REALLY guilty and I'm pretty sure I felt my thighs expanding.

Spooky

This character is wired to the post of the Railroad Crossing sign near my house. He's been there for about 6 weeks. I don't know who put it there but I'm surprised that no one has removed it.

It Really Blows Here

Seems like all I have to post about is the wind. Maybe you can see why, now.

Just Another Day in Paradise

This is the view from my patio a couple of weeks ago. I had been working at the kitchen sink and happened to look out the window. I thought it was a grass fire and since the wind was blowing (again) 30 mph, I wasn't sure whether to get out the garden hoses or start hauling my photo albums and other treasures to the car.

It was a scary sight. Amid all that smoke is a sunflower processing plant which could provide a lot of fuel for a fire.

Here you can see a little hint of it.

I eventually found out that it really was just smoke. The fire, which started in a cornfield, was nearly two miles away. A cigarette is the suspected source. The firefighters had it pretty much under control until it caught a pile of railroad ties. The newspaper said that a ditch was dug and the ties were pushed into it to finish burning. Evidently, if they were buried they could continue to smolder.

My Treasures

Have you ever noticed that photographing children is as difficult as herding puppies. It's a miracle if you get them all facing the camera at the same time. This bunch of rowdies are all 4 and under. As you can see, some aren't used to sitting in one place very long and some are hams for the camera. I picked the third photo down as the 'successful' one.

and more wind

The last time I posted it was about wind and today it's still about wind. Today was a doozy, we've had sustained 35 mph winds with 50-60 mph gusts. I'm so tired of listening to the house creak and moan and wondering what's going to blow away.

The Interstate was closed for a few hours from here to the Colorado border because of high winds and reduced visibility.

I'm hoping it will slow down now that it's dark but the National Weather Service is issuing severe thunderstorm warnings.

The cornfield down the road from me was harvested last night before the wind really kicked up. That freed a lot of dried shucks to decorate my fence. The bright side is that the wind will blow out of the north before long and they'll go back where they came from.

I think this may be a good night to sleep in the basement. I'll relish the quiet.

Wind Damage

Back in August, I took a 'me' day and drove out to Colorado Springs for the day. Spent a few hours at the Flea Market, ate lunch at Olive Garden and drove back home with my treasures. I arrived to find that we'd had 70 mph winds while I was gone. My vinyl fence didn't stand up too well.


Several sections were blown out and one section I was lucky to find in the railroad ditch to the south.

Some of the posts on the west were bent over.


We put up this fence in 1999 and it's withstood similar winds, so I guess the posts have reached the end of their life. I'm going to replace them with steel, but all the contractors are booked up. The 'fence guy' said he couldn't get to it until next year.

My plan is to get as much of the work done as I can to save $$$ and make it a job someone might be able to do in one day. Then I hope to beg one of the contractors to do the 'small' job. If I can get them to set the new posts and pour the concrete, I think I'll be able to put the rest back together.





I've reattached the panels that blew out and taken down the panels that were attached to the posts that need to be replaced.




Purchased a diamond blade for the saw and cut the concrete on both side of the posts.



Smacked the concrete really, really hard with a sledge hammer. Actually smacked it many, many times,





The cuts helped everything to break away neatly.























The new steel posts are painted and ready



Now I'm waiting on the guy with the tractor to come pull out the bent posts. I've only called him 3 times and he was to be here yesterday at noon. I truly don't think that I have it left in me to dig them out by hand.

Hybrid??

I spotted this unusual vehicle at the local truck stop this morning. I wish I'd been able to stop and ask if he manufactured it. It really looks like a clever idea. Someone was a big thinker. There was too much traffic to get a better picture and I have a phobia about getting run over while taking pictures.

What's this for?

Hey! What's going on here? (They are standing on a stool)



Nothing

Just making bubbles.

See what we made.



The grandsons wanted to know what that egg beater was for. It was a cold day, otherwise I'd have put them outside with a bucket of water and the dishsoap.

p.s. That's what my kitchen looks like with 9 extra people in the house. It's just wonderful!

Tongues

Did you ever notice how important tongues are? Somehow they have a direct link to intense concentration and even balance.

Last weekend I attended the Marble Days Parade in Bonner Springs. Moon Marble Company makes it's home there.

This isn't exactly the picture I have in my mind when I think of men in kilts, but he was enjoying himself.

I loved the colors of this lady selling paper flowers.

People from the Renaissance Festival participated. They had some elaborate costumes.

This long-legged fellow put on quite show- high fiving the kids and dancing to the music.

July 12, 2010

Biggest hail I've ever seen.



My mother tells me that I've seen bigger, but I was about 4 years old, so I don't remember very well.






My "new" camper that I've had for 3 months was totaled by the insurance company.




Ordinarily the metal roof on my house would not be covered for cosmetic damage, but the hail caused the edges of the panels to lift up at the seams. So they totaled the roof, the siding on the north and east sides of the house, all of the guttering and downspouts and other things I don't even know how to fix. All told it was a whole lot of money. It would seem that I should be happy, but I would rather not have to spend the time getting estimates and finding someone to do the repairs. For that matter, I wish I had some good advice about what I really need to get replaced. Then, too, I can't forget that someone has to come up with the deductible.

I really should count my blessings, I wasn't going to insure the trailer but decided that I would just through the summer. Guess I won't have worry about having time on my hands for a while.

The Joys of Home Ownership

I've been away from home for the last two weeks. We evidently had some serious wind during that time.

My fence had several sections blown down or torn loose.

Several brackets that hold the rails for the pickets are broken and, of course, I can't get them anymore. I finally took one to a metal shop and they are going to make some for me.



My yardlight had a broken bulb. My son-in-law designed the tower so that it could be lowered to change the bulb. I didn't think I could handle the weight of it so I asked a friend to come out this morning to help me. He said to call when I was ready to set up. He must have forgotten, as it is still in this position tonight. I think I'll go turn off the breaker so the dog doesn't have it shining in his house tonight.

Then there was the heavy park bench blown over and some metal sheeting on the shop loosened. I'm truly glad that I still have a roof on my house.

reVitalized Victorians

We spent today in Cripple Creek. There are four 1880 something Victorian houses that the town gave to Habitat. They were moved to make way for a new casino. Habitat has been working on them for close to five years and our group is trying to finish the touch up work. The historical society wanted them saved because they were just a few of the homes that had survived two fires that nearly destroyed the town.



The houses were moved up the mountain, gutted, straightened and additions made to make them large enough for a modern family. I was told that at least one of them was leaning and you could see daylight through it.



I learned to apply a stucco finish that I might like to use on the foundation walls of my own house. (This is not me, please don't tell her I used her picture!)

I took my camera today, but left the memory card in the card reader. These were taken with a point & shoot. I hope to get better pictures tomorrow.

Hit & Miss

I'm sorry that my posts have no theme or flow. Internet service is so weak, I throw things up here when I get a signal. We arrived at our build site Monday morning to this hole in the ground.




By the end of day 2 we had a good start on setting the green blocks. They are styrofoam and concrete will be poured inside to make the walls.

Sunday, we did a little sightseeing. This 100+ year old gazebo set on a man-made island in a little lake at Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. They used a rowboat to reach it up until the 1930's.


Across from gazebo clings this stubborn tree.

About a block past the lake, we encountered this sign............

and turned around to return to the car! I'm practicing my FIRM, LOW voice.