So...here are a few pics taken from a couple days before and then some taken during the outage. We DO have a fire place to keep warm by....that is a huge blessing as so many people do not have an alternate heat source and even gas heat requires electricity to run. We still don't have water....(not sure where it is frozen at b/c we emptied the lines of all water when the electric went out in hopes to avoid frozen and/or busted pipes). I also consider myself pretty innovative when it comes to redneck survival tactics. I actually cooked a hot meal over the fire in our fireplace. I like cast iron skillets, and those are versatile enough to lay (literally) right on the burning logs/hot coals. The only thing was that I'm not so wise in cooking HEALTHY meals this way. Maybe chicken breast, but as those were frozen rock solid, that didn't seem to be an option. Instead, we had sausage, made-from-scratch biscuits, gravy, and pork-n-beans. (by the time the biscuits and gravy were done, the sausages were getting cold and we didn't want to wait on eggs, so just heated up the beans....dear hubby's idea-we had his sister and her husband here so needed to stretch the meal a bit further) It was really rather tasty. AND we didn't catch anything on fire, lol!
Without further ado....the pics.
Someone had to keep us laughing! Before you think J's sis is TOTALLY crazy, these are those LED tea light candles. No real flames, although the flash from the camera made it look that way. I took one without the flash, but it was just too dark.
Fine dining by candlelight
Hey! You can see my "Tomato Red" wall in the background....we don't have stuff back on the walls, yet, though. Also, to the left is my yellow wall.
Junior just being Junior
Coloring by candlelight while waiting on dinner
Chestnuts (I mean sausage) roasting on an open fire......
Ah....this is the ice, yesterday before noon....before the lights went out. Yep. That's about an inch on the power lines. We received another inch+ over the evening and nighttime hours.
These are VERY tall trees....normally.
Close-up of our Wedding Tree
This was taken last Sat. I actually had a day where I was able to get some things accomplished at home like painting, laundry, etc. J said we just HAD to go see these eagles down the road. Well, when we got there they were gone, so we stopped off at this dried up creek bed and played/froze! It was fun, though! Here are just a few pics we took....
The above is J and Junior kicking around some Arkansas sand (aka silt...very fine and pretty!)
The girls in their "cave" LOL!
J gives a science lesson on the ages of some of the dirt layers. The girls are fascinated....for a minute! :0)
We found a few REAL caves, although didn't go exploring....this one appears to belong to a LARGE animal, which I don't care to disturb!!!
This is a trip we took to a local nursing home last week with our 4H group. The kids had made crocheted hangers and cards, and handed out baggies of chex mix. It was a WONDERFUL time and genuine connections were made by the girls. We are looking into the "Adopt a Grandparent" program.
These lovely ladies didn't want to play cards but INSISTED on WATCHING a card game....so the ballerina and her friend aimed to please!
Junior gave out LOTS of hugs....some people requested seconds, LOL! We realized how much hugging our family does on a daily basis, yet these folks may go weeks/months with one single hug. What a priceless and effortless gift to give.
Trying to enjoy some warmer weather with friends a couple of days before the ice storm came in.
Poor Dash got caught with no shoes!
So. Those of you who endured/are enduring the ice storm....what did you do? If nothing else, I pray you are all staying warm!!!
Blessings,
Jerri
8 comments:
Jerri, I'm so glad you have power back. I spent the day before the storm making a big pot of soup & bread. I stored all our food in two ice chests so I wouldn't need to get in the fridge. We cooked on a two burner camp stove & played board games by oil light. I also filled all our thermoses with hot water & refilled them every 10 hours or so until the power went out. We had hot chocolate & hot tea during the evening!
Did you have much damage? We've lost so many trees. Our trails are impassable - all of them are destroyed. We checked them Wed. & had to crawl through them there are so many trees & limbs down. In my yard I lost three redbuds, a very huge elm, a full gown dogwood & many branches. It will be a long time before I can take my daily hike through the woods again. The elm was near our deck & took the redbud with it that the birds love to perch on as they eat at my feeders. It was so sad, after it fell this morning, the birds didn't know where to go.
Thanks for posting pics!
Oh, Jenny! I'm SO sorry about your beautiful trees and WONDERFUL trails!!! Are the trees total losses, or can they be trimmed down and let grow again? Our trees seem to have bounced back for the most part. I have a very stubborn Dogwood that has a mind of it's own, LOL! The trees we have lost through our pasture are not issues for us. We just cut/split them and use them for firewood. We've never had to actually cut down a tree....not sure we would ever do that, anyway. I hope this spring brings back some of your lovely trees and birds! I know how hard you have worked to add to nature's beauty and how much you enjoy it. We all enjoy it when you share it with us, too. Take care!
We will have to cut the elm & redbud in the back yard to the ground. I am really sad to lose them. Two redbuds in the front yard lining my driveway will have to be cut to the ground too. I think they may grow back from the roots though. You can't hardly kill them & they reproduce almost like rabbits. The one dogwood broke off at the ground so it's gone too. We lose a lot of dogwood every few years I've noticed. They seem to come back well but this was a very beautiful one, the way it grew out over the yard & always bloomed so beautifully.
The trails are mostly broken limbs but some of the limbs are so huge it will take a chainsaw to clear it out again. I'm hoping a lot of those will stand back up as the ice melts. I was so upset walking through them that I didn't notice what was broken & what was just weighted down with ice.
Do you have a Facebook page? I posted some pictures there.
Jerri, I'm so glad you had a heat source and you were able to cook!! And I LOVE the red wall!! REALLYY. Now, what can I paint red??? Hmmm... (shhh, don't tell Fred.)
The nursing home pictures are so sweet. I'm still debating getting involved in 4H. I get so overwhelmed at time already, though, with the kids still so small...may have to wait on that.
When did you take that picture of me?? Yes, Dash always gets caught. I'm getting much better at paying extra close attention to that rascal!
I hear we're in for some rain, but maybe we can get together again after all the wetness passes.
Yes, I am so glad we had heat, too. So many people didn't! (Like your sis!) We're survivors. I don't think I will ever have a home without an alternate heat source after these ice storms the past few years.
4-H can be all consuming if you let it. We pick and choose, but I wouldn't be able to do all we do with little ones...NO WAY! It's great and there are so many talented and highly intelligent kids....and homeschoolers! :0) It's really an amazing opportunity. They are starting a horse club soon. ;0)
Hee, hee....I'm good at getting the pics I want when you aren't looking! :0D
We DEFINITELY need to get together soon...I'm going through Wendy withdrawal and so are the kids!!!! ;-)
I'm glad you like the red wall! Unfortunately, it looks more like the color I wanted it than it does in "real life light" LOL!
Love the red wall!
As far as the food goes...I knew I smelled something good drifting in on the north wind...Biscuits, gravy & sausage...my kind of eats!
We also lost many (many) trees, but am cutting them back close in hopes that they recover. The maples I expected to have damage, but the cherry trees I will miss if they don't come out after the severe cutting back. One of our live oak trees lost a limb that we cut & split almost two rick of wood from. Was a massive limb and I hated to see that old tree take a hit.
We only had 13 days with no power, and am happy to say we came through fine (with some innovation).
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