Posts Tagged ‘Weather’

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Texas Weather

April 23, 2009
Damage from the storm. April 18, 2009.

Damage from the storm. April 18, 2009.

I mentioned in my last post that we didn’t get to see our granddaughters play softball because of the Texas weather wouldn’t cooperate.  We knew before we got to Houston that the outlook wasn’t very favorable, but we weren’t prepared for Texas weather.

It rained most of the day on Saturday.  But in the afternoon the wind picked up and the rain started blowing horizontally.  There was no warning from the Weather Service, but I have rarely seen such rain.  Seabrook, Texas, (where we were) got about seven inches of rain in a little over an hour.  Streets were flooded and I thought I would have to convert our car into a boat.

And then there was the wind!  The picture above shows the backyard of our son after the storm.  That heavy propane grill was blown over — it took two of us to put it back.  If you look carefully at the picture above (it can be enlarged), you’ll see the leg of a chair that went through their fence.  It was later reported that a tornado touched down a couple of miles from their house — I’m glad we didn’t know about that at the time!

All in all I now have new respect for the slogan ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’ — or at least the weather!

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Posted in Weather | 21 Comments »

Do They Know Something I Don’t Know?

February 23, 2009

frontdoorroses

I was surprised to find the box in the picture above leaning against the front door Saturday afternoon.  Betsy and I were busy working with our new computers and we didn’t even hear the mailman come to the front door.

I recognized the box as soon as I saw it — I didn’t even have to read the name.  I’ve been a customer of Jackson & Perkins for many years, and I knew that we had just gotten a bare-root rose which we ordered for our garden this year.  The reason I was surprised is that Jackson & Perkins does a good job of getting roses to the customer at the proper planting time.  And quite frankly, I was expecting to be planting roses anytime soon!

Rose Spellbound, Fairfield Glade. June, 2006.

Rose Spellbound, Fairfield Glade. June, 2006.

This rose, Spellbound,  is a replacement for a plant we’ve had in our garden.  The picture at the right shows Spellbound in 2006, the year we planted it.  But two years of drought had reduced it to a single blossom on a weak stem last year.  Since we like Spellbound when it’s healthy, we decided to try again with a new plant.

So I was delighted with this sign from Jackson & Perkins that spring is near.  The only problem is that we got the rose Saturday afternoon and it snowed Saturday night!  Oh, well, at least Betsy was happy.

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Posted in Garden | 27 Comments »

Tennessee Weather

February 19, 2009
Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. February 18, 2009.

Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. February 18, 2009.

Mother Nature put on quite a show here in the Glade yesterday.  We had rain when Betsy and I made our weekly run to the grocery stores in the morning.  The rain was steady, but not too hard.  However, shortly after we got home, the sky got darker and the tornado-warning sirens went off.  A few minutes later it started to rain and hail.  That’s when I took the picture above from our small front porch.

I stayed on the porch for a few minutes to watch the rain and hail and to see if the water was washing away parts of the rose beds (it wasn’t).   The hail seemed to come in waves — lots of hail for a minute, no hail at all, and then lots of hail again.  As is usually the case, the hail was mostly small pieces of ice — less than about a quarter-inch in size.

A large piece of hail. February 18, 2009.

A large piece of hail. February 18, 2009.

I was about to go back into the house when I heard a ‘thud’ above my head and this large chunk of ice (right) bounced off the roof and landed on the driveway.  I was quite surprised by the size and by the fact that I only saw one piece ice that large.

I was also very glad that I had a roof over my head at that moment!

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Posted in Weather | 26 Comments »

Our Woodpile is Shrinking

January 22, 2009

woodpile01

Our woodpile is shrinking.

This cold snap, and an earlier one in November, have put a dent in our woodpile as you can see from the picture above.

We usually have a fire in the fireplace when the temperature drops below 40°.  We have a fire because a certain blonde in my life likes fireplace fires and also because it helps warm the house.  In the past we’ve had fires mostly in the evenings while watching TV, but it’s been so cold for the past week that we’ve tried to keep the fire going through the night.  I’m not sure if it will help us make up for TVA’s rate hikes, but the heat usually comes on only in the early morning about dawn.  When we get up we get the fire going good again and the heat usually goes off for the rest of the day.

We get our wood cut to length, but I usually split some of the bigger pieces.  That gives me something to do during the day.  I can get even more exercise by carrying the wood from the woodpile to the garage.

We try to maintain a two-year supply of wood so that it has plenty of time to age before we burn it.  So although this year’s pile is dwindling, we still have plenty of wood.  But in spite of that I sure would like things to warm up.

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Posted in Home | 25 Comments »

Waterfalls Have Water!

December 29, 2008
Water tumbling down the escarpment near Grandview, Tennessee.

Water tumbling down the escarpment near Grandview, Tennessee.

Betsy and I traveled to Chattanooga yesterday to spend some time with son Jeff and grandchildren Landon and Avery.

To get to Chattanooga we took the back way down off the Plateau and on the way we saw something that we haven’t seen in a couple of years — water coming down the escarpment.

We’ve been in a severe drought in this part of Tennessee for the past two years and most of the waterfalls and cascades have been dry or nearly dry.  However, we’ve had quite a bit of rain over the past two weeks and our rainfall total is now close to normal for the year.  Lakes and streams are higher than they’ve been for quite some time.  It’s a good time for waterfall enthusiasts!

Betsy and I were so excited to see water cascading down the escarpment that we stopped on the way back home to get the picture above.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 17 Comments »

What’s That Strange Light in the Sky?

December 20, 2008

Saturday morning Betsy and I woke up to a strange light in the east.  At first we were confused as to the source of this light, but we finally discovered that it was something called ‘The Sun’!

Sunrise in Fairfield Glade. December 20, 2008.

Sunrise in Fairfield Glade. December 20, 2008.

One reason for our confusion is that we have had six days of rain and overcast skies.  Now don’t get me wrong — we really need the rain and I’m glad it finally came (better late than never)!  But after six days of clouds it was certainly nice to see something else in the sky.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last.  About an hour after taking this picture the clouds were back, and the rains returned after that.  But it was nice to see the sun even briefly.

To see pictures of sunrises and sunsets from all over the world, click on Sunday’s Sunrise/Sunset Meme or on the logo below.

ssslogo1

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Posted in Glade | 14 Comments »

We Got Some Rain!

December 11, 2008
Water going over a falls down the hill from our house.

Water going over a falls down the hill from our house.

I’m happy to report that the front that brought all the wind I mentioned in my last post actually brought us some much-needed rain.  It started to rain about nightfall Tuesday, and as far as we can tell it rained all night.

When Betsy got up to put out her bird feeders Wednesday morning, she could see and hear water running down the edge of the fairway behind the house.  We also had water running down the roadside ditch in front of the house.  It’s been a while since we’ve seen either of those things happen.

We saw the  waterfall  in the picture above as we were on our way to the grocery store (Senior Discount Day at Kroger!).  This little waterfall is down the hill from our house and has been dry for months.  It sure looks a lot better with water!

All in all I have to admit that the rain makes all the aggrevations caused by the wind very worthwhile!

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Posted in Weather | 8 Comments »

A Windy Day on the Plateau

December 10, 2008
The flag at our house in the wind. December 9, 2008.

The flag at our house in the wind. December 9, 2008.

Yesterday was very windy up here on the Plateau.  We had been warned that an approaching front would bring wind and (hopefully) some rain.  We could definitely use the rain.

The wind arrived in the early morning, as you can tell from the photo above.  We could hear the wind chimes clanging and every once in a while there was a ‘thump’ as something hit the house.  But we were taking everything is stride until suddenly the power went out.

Fortunately it was light enough in the living room for us to do our daily devotions without any electricity.  Surely the power would be back on by the time we finished.  We finished our devotions, but the power was still off.  I don’t think we realize how much we depend on electricity until we lose it.  Fortunately I love to read and that doesn’t require electricity as long as it’s light enough.

After about an hour the power came back on, so we powered up the computers and printers and reset all the digital clocks, the coffee maker, microwave, etc.  Things went well for about 20 minutes when the power went out again!

This time it was off for only about a minute — just long enough for us to have to power up the computers and  printers and reset all the digital clocks, the coffee maker, microwave, etc.  Soon we were back in business  — and after about five minutes the power went out for a third time!  It was only out for about a minute — just long enough for us to have to power up the computers and  printers and reset all the digital clocks, the coffee maker, microwave, etc.

Fortunately the power remained on for the rest of the day and the wind has now died down.  Now if we would only get some of that rain!

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Posted in Frustration | 9 Comments »

I CAN Enjoy Snow

December 8, 2008
George playing in the snow with his children. January, 1977.

George playing in the snow with his children. January, 1977.

I was going through some old pictures yesterday and came across the picture above.  I’ve taken so much grief from Betsy about not liking snow that I thought I would post it in my own defense.

The picture was taken in January, 1977.  (You can tell from the hair that it was taken many years ago!).  At that time I was living in Black Mountain, North Carolina.  Black Mountain is in the mountains of western North Carolina and is absolutely beautiful.  We didn’t get much snow at all, so when it did snow it was quite an occasion.

The two children are my daughter Kelly (age 5) and son Bob (age 8).  We had just finished making the snowman and were getting ready to welcome their mother when she came out to admire our work.  (Bob always has had a tendency to overdo things!!).

We had lots of fun after that snowstorm.  Perhaps my current dislike of snow has less to do with the snow and more to do with the increasing years.  NAH —  that’s not possible, is it?

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Posted in Weather | 9 Comments »

Why Betsy Feels Jinxed

December 6, 2008
Betsy pointing out some snow on the roof of our cabin on Mount Nebo.

Betsy pointing out some snow on the roof of our cabin on Mount Nebo.

First of all let me say that Betsy and I got back last night from our trip to Arkansas.  We had a wonderful time, but it’s good to be back home.

Now, why does Betsy feel jinxed?  You have to remember how much Betsy loves snow.  She looks forward to it every winter and never feels she sees enough.  It snowed all day Sunday at Mount Nebo State Park in Arkansas — we arrived Monday, a clear, sunny day.  It did snow back here in the Glade on Monday, but of course we were in Arkansas.

It gets worse.  We went to Mount Nebo in February of this year and it snowed in the Glade while we were gone.  We didn’t have any snow while we were at Mount Nebo, but while reading the comment book in the cabin we rented Betsy discovered that they had 12 inches of snow three days after we left!  I thought Betsy was going to cry.

We’ll stick fairly close to the Glade for the winter, but if we don’t get at least one decent snowstorm I may need to take Betsy to northern Michigan so she can get her ‘snow fix’ for the year!

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Posted in Betsy | 8 Comments »

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