Changes are a-comin'...

We have just been told that the weather system that is hitting the coast right now, will turn quickly to rain. The air has warmed up significantly from 8 degrees F last night to 34 degrees F tonight.

It did get cold! I kept Power all night and all day, but I would not count on it staying on much longer. We are having gale force winds, and with the ground as wet as it will be when it all melts, we will lose even more trees!

It was pretty while it lasted, now we will see the ugly side of it. The mud and the dirt! The road sand will all get splashed up on the windsheild, and we will have to wash our cars and filll the reservoirs.

I spent all day today inside in my snuggly robe. I did not even get dressed. I got up and built a fire in the wood stove, made a pot of coffee, and settled in to watch the birds and squirrels!

Sadie is a matted up mess right now. She will have to go to the groomer, but not until the snow all melts, and the mud dries up. She has had more fun throwing snow over her shoulder! Dumb dog! Even Lint has decided that he will stay inside for the duration.

I am so far behind in getting my things in the mail. Certain people's BD Presents came back, because I forgot to put a customs tag on it. DUH! Well It will have to go with the christmas cards now. This whole year has been a wreck for me. I am so hoping that next year will be the year of starting life over. I now have all my floors done, I have the walls painted, I have almost all of my unfinished projects finished, I have made every member of my family an afghan, so next year is for me.

I think I will reinvent myself. I really need to. Not making any promises, because I know how I am, but I will try. one step at a time. I may even put my Bio on Match.com just to see what happens! (eek!)

So right now I am laying on my tummy in my bed with the electric blanket on, the window opened 1/2 way, breathing in the fresh cold air, and typing away. Jay Leno is on, and soon I will be turning him off and turning on Classic King FM, and closing up the laptop and opening my book. I will read until I get sleepy, then if the electricity is still on, I will turn off the lamp and sleep until I wake up.

Hope you all are having a nice morning. Watch out for all the storms that are heading your way! They are nasty this month!

(OHMIGAWD! There is a model on TV right now wearing a 6,000,000 dollar BRA! WHY?)
That is just twisted!

Roaming...

You know you live in a small town when the airport closes because the one plane is frozen to the tarmac! This was taken from the road which is right at the end of the runway! When A plane takes off, you better duck!




Squash Barn taken from the OTHER side of the Prairie from the Cemetery that I usually shoot from. I love the contrast between the white and the red. I have been trying to get a good picture of this barn for years.




Yesterday while driving I was shooting from the car and this shows the hiway where the tree limbs had fallen on the wires, and they were about to fall on the road.




This just shows you how beautiful our island is. PUUUURRRRRTTTYYY Huh?

Most of the roads were still iced up and blocked by fallen trees and power lines. There are people up the Skagit River that STILL don't have power after 3 days. With record breaking cold weather this is really bad for them.

We are expecting an even worse storm than this one according to the CBS station in Seattle. Sposed to hit tomorrow afternoon and dump about 3-7 inches of snow, and then warm up and rain on Thursday. What this will mean for us, is that the new fallen snow will be heavy with water, and the trees will continue to fall and kill the power for even more people. Then the Ice storm and then the rain will have no where to go because the drains are all clogged with frozen solid snow! Could have more flooding on the mainland.

wonder what December will bring. Man I LOVE weather! I am a storm Junkie! AS long as I know I am safe and My family is too, then I love to sit back and watch Mother Nature do her thing.

I wanted sooo badly to sit out on the deck tonight in the 8 degree F cold and watch the stars, but the deck is as slick as snot and you know what happens when I head to the deck in November at night to look at the night sky! So I thought I would just stay in where it is semi-warm and enjoy. If you see any Northern Lights, let me know!

YES!!

Whoot! It snowed! ANd snowed some more, and then it snowed again. FOlks, this NEVER happens here. THe one time I remember it happening like this, it immediately turned to rain, and sunk a lot of marinas !



I bundled up, got in the car and put it in 4Wheel drive for only the 2nd time in 10 years, and damn near did not make it our of my drive way! THere was over 8" on top of my car, and a good 6 inches sitting on top of my snowman antenna ball!


antenna ball

The roads were pretty good once you got out of the COve and onto the hiway. The worst part was ducking all the falling tree branches and live wires. We hardly ever get any snow, and if we do it isnt often the wet gluey kind that this was. PERFECT for snowballs and snowmen and clinging to tree branches. I heard trees falling all night last night, but knew my house was safe.

THe scenery was absolutely gorgeous! looks like a fairy land out there. Tonight it has gotten down very low into the teens and all that wet snow is gonna freeze and the roads and trees are gonna be a nitemare! Poor Phyllis got called in to work at 530 this morning to drive the roads and make sure they were safe for the buses, and she didnt get home until 10pm tonight. I am sure she will have a lot on her blog once she wakes up.

I will post more pictures tomorrow, when the sun comes out, Then it should really be pretty. Everything will be closed, and people will be out sightseeing once the roads are drivable again.

THis is a major event for us here in the NW. We usually only get lots of rain. SO we are enjoying the heck out of this. I wish I was yound again,I would love to get out there and play in it!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

new

Rusty called me at 830 this morning screaming into the phone. "IT"S SNOWING!" I murfffed from under my pillow and stuck my nose over the window sill to see how much and all I saw was green.

"No it isn't;t!" I muttered, and she said yes it is LOTS of it, and big wet floppy flakes. It was not doing anything. SO she hung up and I re-buried my head for another few hours. The phone rang again at 1130, it was Phyllis, "IT"S SNOWING!" Once again I murrfed from under the pillow and stuck my nose over the window sill to see a few very tiny little flakes falling on the feeder.

OK, that means it is starting, so I got up to get dressed and get into Oak Harbor to get my insulin. By the time I was dressed the road was covered, so I said nope, not getting out in that, My Insurance lapsed on Friday, and I was going into the office tomorrow to pay it. SO I stayed home and watched it snow, and snow and snow! The birds were fighting over the suet blocks and scratching the snow off the feeders.

I saw several birds I have not noticed before, a tiny little olive bird that may be a warbler of some kind, and a Big thrush sized gray and olive bird. Huh! gotta look those up.

the big grey squirrels were Loving the snow, frolicking and running back and forth from the feeder to their trees. Lint refused to go out, said nope, No way am I getting my feet cold. Sadie ran out, hit the ice on the porch and slid right off the porch onto the grass. She was out until it started to cover the grass then she was ready to come in. Now I cant get her out to pottie at all. I have to throw her out and then slam the door really fast. Once out, she has fun, running and chasing snowballs, but she wont go out on her own. She came in looking like a snow-dog!

We have snow advisories posted until tomorrow morning, and should have another 1-4 inches by then. We have about 4" right now. SO COOL!!!! The bad part, is the weight of the snow on the branches is breaking them, and hitting the power lines and killing power in some areas. Keewee has no power, and she only lives about 20 miles down the island. We do though Thank Goodness.

I bundled up really well then took the wheelbarrow out and loaded it up with wood, and wheeled it into the garage. Then I built a roaring fire, and settled in to watch more movies. Did you know that snow storms block the signals from the satellites? I didn't until this afternoon. PAH! So I turned on classic King and listened to music all afternoon while I putzed with my Blog template.

I got reception back around 430 just in time for the local news, then the Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie. I laid down on the floor with all the animals and watched it with a box of Kleenex within reach. Good movie!

My tiny little Lopi Stove only takes two pieces of wood at a time, so I started the fire, and when it caught good I put one more piece in and the little thing GLOWED! The cats even got two warm! I only use 4 pieces of wood a day, and my house is so warm I have to open spare rooms to cool it down. Good stove, Tight house, NICE DAY!!!! And another one tomorrow. (I'm SO SORRY Dick!) :)

tis the Season!

snow


Why Do Christmas Caroles make me cry?  I have thought about this all day as I watched the Hallmark Channel Christmas marathon.  I LOVE the Christmas movies and the hokey Christmas cartoons, and the choir songs on all the movies.  I sat there with a box of Kleenex and a diet rite soda and snorfed all day long.  The Christmas carole that really gets me going is Silent Night.  It is and always has been my very favorite carole.

When I was a lot younger and a lot more sincere in my Church attendance, I would love the night services, with the Christmas lights on the altar, and on the Christmas Tree, and the really hokey lights criss-crossing the street on Pioneer way.  The town was really really small, and everyone waited until after Thanksgiving to even begin thinking about shopping or decorating their houses.

One of my favorite memories was sitting in the living room with all the lights out and just the tree lit, and listening to Christmas Caroles.  I was always in a choir, and I always had a Christmas show to sing in.  It has been many years since I have been in a choir.

Tonight there is a movie on the Hallmark channel called Silent Night, and that just brought the memory back again.  The song makes me cry.  I didn’t used to cry when I sang them, but now I do.

Maybe it is remembering my long lost childhood.  Maybe it is remembering the innocence of youth, and maybe it is just aging hormones.  I think it may be a combination of all of the above.  I do love the Christmas season.  

Happy Turkey...gobble gobble gobble

T'was The Night of Thanksgiving
(Author unknown)
Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep
The leftovers beckoned - the Dark meat and white
But I fought the temptation with all of my might.

Tossing and turning with anticipation
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
So I raced to the kitchen, flung open the door
and Gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,
Pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,
Til all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky
With a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.
But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees...
Happy eating to all, pass the cranberries, please.

May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump.
May your potatoes ' n gravy have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious. May your pies take the prize.
May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs.

Have a safe and Happy Holiday everyone!! FOr those of you that dont have Thanksgiving this week end, Have a safe and Happy weekend!!

Shamelessly stolen from RAIN...

I LOVE quizzes, and since Wanda stopped blogging and Leigh cut way back, I hardly ever find any any more. But today I stopped by Rain's place and she had this on her blog.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The West Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you're a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.
The Midland
Boston
North Central
The South
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

It is funny that us out here in the pacific Northwest do not have an accent per se.
I have a tendency to flatten my A's a bit, but I have no idea where that comes from. Some of the idioms that I use, I picked up from my Mother, who was raised in Oklahoma. But she did not have an accent either. (that is either with a Hard E)!

I could tell Canadians by their eh's and some of their idioms, but for the most part they sound like us too. I was amazed when I went to Virginia and discovered that they say about like the Canadians did...A BOOT!! Course that was 35 years ago. things do change.

We had another Windstorm come through and with it more rain. We are 1/100 of an inch away from breaking the all time wettest month EVER in Washington. Yep, we are gargling here. Even Lint stops at the door and peers out carefully before he runs outside. 50MPH until about 300 then it calmed way down, but there are more storms out there waiting to be swirled in by the jet stream. I think we are in for a really wet winter. Now if it would only get cold enough to turn it all into SNOW! ah well.

IE 7 gone...

I had to restore my computer to an earlier time tonight, as everytime I tried to open a new page, it would freeze up. TOTALLY! I would have to end task, and then turn everything off and back on again. THen it would kick me off, then when I reconnected, it would freeze trying to open IE7. SO until I get my 'puter fixed, I am back on the old IE. ANd Have given up on Blogger Beta for the time being. I know it was IE7 because the same thing happens when I try it on my laptop. It freezes, and it is really slow anyway!

I get so stressed out when I cant go where I want to go to. ANd when I keep getting booted off line I SCREAM!

So for the time being so much for improvements.... PAAAHHHH!!!

Tim

I received a letter from Tim yesterday and he was talking about the work that they are doing with Dept of Natural Resources. He says that he is getting used to the saw, that at first he was worn out using it because it is so big, but he caught on quick, and found that if he left the saw to do the work, it was a lot easier. They are way up in the Hoh Rain forest, thinning trees and cleaning up roads and windfall.
Tim says he feels really funny about cutting down trees in a National forest, but the DNR tells him that it needs to be done to protect the forests. They practice replenishment thinning, in that they take out only those that are diseased or too close to each other. They have to leave 12 trees in 100 feet, and the thirteenth they can take down as long as it is as big as his helmet. (at least I think that is what he said) He said that some of those trees are so big that if they were stumps, he could lay down and stretch and still not hang over the edge, and he is 6'5 with LOOONG arms too. SO those trees have to be awesome. He is loving his work there.

He is also starting to get the classes and treatment that he has requested , so he feels so much better about things now. I sure hope this works! Being a mother is sure the shits sometimes!

Donna came home for the first time in several months! Has not been home since the floors were finished. And naturally, I had not cleaned house, so she did not get to see it in it's best light. But it still was fine. She was impressed! New floors and carpets really do help make a house look nice!

I have to crawl under the house tomorrow, if I can anyway. I have a rat as big as a horse living and gnawing under my utility room. That sucker is LOUD! SO I bought some stuff guaranteed to kill them, that I have to nail in place on their run, and away from the pets. Then I guess I have to put up with the stink of decaying rat bodies until they are fully returned to the elements. YUCK!!

I Know, If I would quit feeding the birds and squirrels, the rats would go away, but I LIKE to watch the wildlife. I was even fine with the RATS until they started chewing and making noise, then I said ENOUGH!! You would think with a house full of cats that they would not want to live anywhere around here, but they are not threatened enough I guess. HMMMMM Maybe I should throw Lint and Loki under the house, close up the crawl space entry and not feed them. That should take care of the problem huh? HMMMMMMm Here Kitty, kitty...

Beta Blogger...yes or no?

How many of you with blogger have switched over? I am afraid to after hearing Joanie talk about the problems she was having. I dont want to lose my haloscan comments, as they are easy and you dont have to sign in to use them. I have been VERY fortunate with no S*A*ing in three years! I decided tonight to try to use Beta by making a NEW Blog. Uh-uh! Wont let you unless you have a totally different email too. JEEZ!!! All I wanted was to see how easy it was to use, and if I really wanted to switch my regular blog over. ANy input appreciated here. I did however upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 and after fighting with Google over which toolbar I was gonna use, I think I am going to like it. When I run adaware I usually have upwards of 30 critical objects to delete, today I only had 9 so IE7 is catching quite a few of them.

I wish I knew someone that could come tell me which programs I can safely delete, and which ones are tied to something else. My C drive is running out of memory, it has 15 GB and only a few MB left to use! I need to repartition the drive because D has 65GB and I only use it to store work on. I thought when I bought it that they were two different drives, but obviously not. I hate being IT challenged!!

Let 'er BLOW...

The wind blew in from the South  which is highly unusual.  Normally we get our wind from the West or the North.  This Southern wind means that the Low pressure system has gone ashore below the Olympic Mountains and is moving up the Sound.  This can be a bad thing for us.  The Olympics keep the weather off of us here on Whidbey Island, by splitting the systems that hit the Southern face of the Mountains.  It sends the winds around the Eastern edge and Around the Northern Edge.  Sometimes they meet in the middle.  This is what has happened today.  The Winds from the South are fierce, but it is the winds that will soon hit from the West that will bring us the danger.  When they come around the Western side and then turn and head East into the Strait, they meet the resistance of the mountains on both sides of the strait, and the wind gets funneled through the gap between US and Canada, and increases in wind speed.  Tatoosh Island on the North Western edge of the US clocked winds of 91 MPH.  That is about 30 miles as the crow flies from my front door.  

Yep, we got hammered!  We lost our power about 230 AM on Tuesday night,, and left is in the dark.  I could hear trees and branches breaking all around me, but nothing hit the house.  The alders in the back were bent way over in the force of these winds.  I am afraid of the dark, and my night light went out too.  I grabbed one of the 25 flashlights I had beside my bed and headed in to get the candles and the lanterns.  I peeked out the front door and it was BLACK out there.  I could see the lights of Port Townsend peeking around the edge of the big white monster they built across the street, so I knew it wasn’t EVERY one.

I got the candle lit (a big apothecary candle from Yankee Candle) and put it on the bathroom sink to give me light.  Then I pulled the covers over my head and tried to sleep.  The wind was whacking pretty loudly, and it made it hard to sleep.  I kept hearing garbage cans rolling down the road.  (Garbage day was Wednesday, so all the cans were out early. )  

When I got up the power was back on, so I jumped up and made a pot of coffee, and then it went out again.  I sat at my desk and looked out the front window, and read the latest Gourmet Magazine.  All the leaves are now off the Maple tree, and the Robins have found the tiny crab apples left on that tree, They were clinging with their little feet all hooked around the branches of the tree.  They would grab a tiny apple berry in their beak, and then try to swallow it all while trying to stay up right on the tree.  The back feeders are all empty, the wind has blown all seed onto the ground, so the rats and squirrels can find it easier.  The doves are happy too, as they like to ground feed.  

I had to get out the Coleman stove and lantern, and cooked my breakfast and lunch sitting at the dining room table.  There is just something about cooking on the camp stove that makes it taste so much better.  We did not lose our pump, so water was no problem.  I built a fire in the woodstove, and turned my chair around so that it faced the fire, and tried to relax.  The Phone kept ringing.  People checking up on each other.  I have a cordless phone everywhere but in my bedroom where I have an old fashioned Princess style phone beside my bed.  

I moved into the bedroom, layed on my stomach and propped my self up on my elbows, and was doing crossword puzzles.  Then it hit me, That this is not the fun that I remembered it to be.  We used to all gather around the fireplace with lanterns and play games, Cootie, Parcheesi, Scrabble, War, Books, etc. and roast hotdogs and marshmallows.  It was exciting!  We were camping in the livingroom.  I carried this tradition on with me and when we lost power when my kids were still home, We would camp in the livingroom too.  It is not the same when you live alone.  It is boring.  It is lonely, and when you are in dire straights, or feel that you might be, you want someone there with you.  At least I do.  So at 845 I glanced over at the lantern because it was sputtering, and then I noticed that my clock was flashing…HUH?  So I got up and turned on the lights…VOILA!!  Power.  I called Phyllis and said “Please tell me the power JUST came back on…”  Nope says she, it had come on about an hour before!  ARRRGHH!!

I got up, went around and turned on the needed lights, caught the last 15 minutes of JERICO, and came in to check email.  I had used my laptop until the battery had gone out, but I still had over 68 spam mail.  

I have rambled on long enough, But I just wanted to tell everyone that yes, we are fine.  Whidbey was the worst hit, but we are fine.  I guess it made national news because a long lost cousin called.  LOLOL  What  a way to get back in touch with family!  LOL

More storms coming,  so cross your fingers that this will dump tons of snow on us!  Now THAT is fun!!!

Somebody has a BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to you!

Happy BIRTHDAY dear CritterChick!
Happy Birthday to you!

I was gonna put a pretty birthday cake on here, but my memory is full, or something in my RAM, and it wont let me. :( Send Carl Please!!

Everybody slip over and wish Leslie a WONDERFUL Happy Birthday!

And they still are dumping...

Last night I went to bed thinking that today would be rainy, and windy, but it was just grey and drippy. Typical NW weather. Bob came over and finally finished the flower bed, so Now I can get these bulbs in the ground before they all rot.

Tonight the rain started, and it is raining, and raining, and raining, and the rivers are starting to flood again. The wind is s'posed to start about 4AM and go all day Monday, up to 65 MPH. Then MORE rain! And then MORE wind! The ground is saturated now, and with the winds, the trees will start to blow down. Our typical Douglas fir trees and Cedar trees, do not have a deep root system, they are very shallow rooted for being as tall as they are, and they all have a symbiotic relationship with one another...In other words, they all keep each other upright. When one goes down, another one will and another until all along the road, you have downed trees and downed wires. Why they do not bury these wires I have no clue, but they just spent tons of money replacing all the poles along hiway 20 in Oak Harbor. The poles will be fairly deep, but they have been known to blow over in these winds too.

When the wires go down, the lights go off, and if it is a strong storm, there will be downed trees everywhere, so it may be DAYS before power is restored again. We all live with our camping supplies in a closet, and water jugs all filled and ready. We will be fine, just terribly inconvenienced! They have really been touting this storm, and asking us to prepare for it so it will probably fizzle!

there is 1-3 feet of snow expected in the mountains down to 3000 feet, so all the cross state roads will be closed off and on. Then the next system is warm, so it will melt all that snow, and send the water into the rivers to flood again.

this ladies and Gentlemen is what makes the Pacific NW so beautiful and green. BUT it also makes the dumb shits that come up and cut the trees down and build their mansions on the lovely little river banks cry and moan about not having flood insurance.

I like living on my island! I am up high enough that a tidal wave should not ever get to me, and the water all runs down hill, so I wont flood, and the trees are all leaning away from the house so I am safe and secure. For the time being!

Tim called me Friday night and told me to stay home again, as the Hoh river was washing out some of the road that I would be driving on. So I did, and It probab;y wont be for a few more weeks until I can afford to drive over again. As he said, "Well Mom, you know where I Am and I have 3 hots and a cot and I am not going anywhere for a while." Yep! He's right.

I built a fire in the wood stove today, to take the chill off the house, and dry it out some. I usually have Sadie sitting on the top of my chair when I am crocheting, but all three cats and Sadie, were all stretched out and as close to the fire as they dared get. They are so funny!All with in a 3X3 area rug. Can't lay on that cold floor ya know.

If you don't hear from us in awhile, do not worry! We are fine, and may be without power for a few days. We may not, depends on the Fates I guess.

Ya'll have a great week!!!

why do widows live in FLorida?

THey grow on trees there!!!!



I think I just may move to FLorida....my palm tree died!

Change of pace....

smile

I just thought I would post something fun for a change. The rain has let up for a day or two gathering strength for round 3 on Friday. SO since the sun actually shined warm on the deck, I am in a fairly good mood.

(I think I suffer from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) )

I got this in an email from my friend Barb, and I thought why not. Most have seen it already, but I think it is cute. Rusty needs it, Donna needs it, and Brenda needs it.

uh, Lord?...What's a cubit?

I am telling you! We have had a few days of rain! I don't mean just a drizzle, it has dumped on us. The Eastern 1/2 of the state is still dry, but everything West of the Cascades is soaked and then some.

I woke up this morning after a terrible night sleep, and the sky was gray. I had been up at 400 and the moon was bright, and the stars were out. Not any more. It started raining again, and dumped water on more water. Then the sun came out and it was beautiful. The humidity was a very high 93 % and the temp was in the high 50's low 60's. Then the temp dropped like a rock when the sky cleared up, and it got chilly!

On the way in to the playhouse tonight, it started clouding up, and then as we were in having our meeting, it started hailing! BIG hail stones, then it rained like We hadn't seen in years! So hard and all while the hail fell too. Then we watched the water rise, up over the curbs in the parking lot, down the sidewalk and headed towards the basement steps where the lobby is. We grabbed kitchen towels and any kind of material we could find, and stuffed them under the door to keep it out of the lobby! Then it started thundering and lightning, and it was right over our head! We had all the weather in one day!

As I left the playhouse, and walked across the parking strip to get to my car, I stepped in a big hole all filled with hail and water, lost my shoes in the muck and fell right down on my knees. I am in the parking lot with just my socks on, trying to see how badly I am hurt, and cant find my shoes. I finally dug into the hole, and down into the mud and found them. I drove home with my shoes and socks off, and the heater on full blast on my feet. I started getting some feeling back in my frozen feet about half way home.

Coming around the OLF Field almost home, and ran smack into FOG! So yep, we had everything! Not all of the rivers have crested yet, and it is really serious flooding! Some of these rivers have never been seen this high. But then we have never seen this much rain either.

Sadie was up against the house as close as she could get and was staying dry. She was sure glad to see her mommie finally get home too!

Now on to the election returns. Just does not seem like elections without Wanda, does it? Maybe 2008...

Glub, Glub!

Washington State has been slammed with a very wet weather system. Coming straight in from Hawaii, and called the pineapple express. It is actually 4 or 5 systems all in a string, and loaded with tropical moisture. Last week when our weather was unseasonably COLD, this week it is unseasonably wet and warm.

We have had almost 7 inches of rain in 4 days. This is more than we usually have all month in November. We really needed the rain, but we need less of it, more often. Our ground dries out if it does not get rain daily, and then the rain when it does come just runs right off and into the streams and rivers, taking the topsoil with it.

right now our state is in a State of Emergency, and all of the Western side rivers are flooding in a 10 year flood rate. SOme of them are higher than they have ever been. Urban flooding is getting worse and worse every year, as more and more un settled land is built upon, and paved. THis leaves no where for the run off to go except into the streets and into the basements.

In the Mountains, we usually end up with tone of snow this time of the year, which piles up and saves all the water for the spring runoff into the reservoirs. Right now, we are losing all of this potential snow pack into the rivers and right out to sea again.

My backyard would support a flock of ducks. The birds are all hanging into the wisteria vines and the pussy willow bush, just to keep from drowning! THey run into the feeder grab a sunflower seed and run back to the bushes.

THe squirrels have found the suet feeders hanging on the deck, and they have robbed it down to the bare wire basket. The woodpeckers are still using the ones hanging off the eaves, but it wont be long until the squirrels find those too.

I am glad that I stayed home this weekend, as the rivers are all at flood stage, and I most likely would have been stranded. THe highway 101 around Crescent Lake in the Olympic National Park had a rock slide and was blocked for a day. No way around it.
THen 101 down south by Shelton had a mudslide and now it too is blocked, with a 50 mile detour around it. I will go next weekend, by then the rivers will all be full, and the roads all blocked, and another storm blowing in. Im serious!

The things Mothers do for their young!

It actually has stopped raining at this moment, but there is more expected tonight and tomorrow. Then it will clear up and the temp will drop and the snow level will drop in the passes, and we will start the cycle all over again.

As a side note, DOes anybody know what the logic is for still changing from daylight savings time back to standard? Why was it started in the first place? Let's get e referendum out there to keep it all the same now. The whole world is on a 24 hr day, and there is no need for it. It just screws up my sleep patterns, and for that alone we need to stop the MADNESS!

EVERYBODY GET OUT THERE AND VOTE!!!!!!!!

Rainy day...

I have done absolutely NOTHING today! I have sat at the window all day, watching the rain pelt the leaves off of the ALders. I have watched the wind blow, I have smelled the fresh air as it blows in off the sea, and I have drank a whole pot of coffee. Oh and I wrote a long email to A friend. That is the sum of my day.

THese November fall days are usually dark and stormy, and today is no exception. I was planning on catching the Ferry over to the Penninsula and going to see Tim today, but there were wind advisories out for the Strait, so I talked to him last night and told him I would not make it. I could just see getting over there and getting stuck because the ferry was not running for the return trip. It happens!

So instead, since I had no plans other than that I decided it was a rainy day and a great day to sit and watch it rain. SO I did. It rained and rained, and the 40 acre wood got wetter and wetter...