As that first day of the storm went on, the house got colder so I started the fireplace. We have a stove insert in the fireplace to make it efficient but of course the electric fan wouldn’t run, would it? I remember thinking the power would come back on any minute. By this time the temperature was dropping all day and I was going after more wood. I ended up going to town with one gallon milk jugs to get water at my mom’s for the animals. I had barn animals and cats and a dog, Red.
I moved the couch perpendicular to the fireplace and opened the stove doors. That first night got dark so fast and was so very long. The countryside was pitch black – no yard lights anywhere except 3 miles away in town. I had an oil lamp and a couple flashlights and the light from the fireplace – otherwise the house was dark and cold. I remember using the toilet sparingly and not flushing until I had water to replace in the tank.
Everybody wonders why I didn’t go to my mom’s house in town where it was warm and light. Could I really leave a golden retriever and 8-10 cats alone in the house? Uh, no.
I did have a transistor radio and it was high school football playoffs so I listened to the game but then those batteries wore out, too. I have never again been without an ample supply of batteries since 1991. The wall land line still worked but who would I call? To say what? Still no call from my husband – this was before cell phones – I had no way to reach him but surely he knew what was happening since he worked for a local trucking firm? He didn’t call.
Day 2 in tomorrow’s post.
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And guess who has moved into the barn? Yup, it’s Tim and I’m happy to have him in the barn unless he’s mean to Barney. He’s twice as big as Barney – I’ve never seen such a muscular cat – solid muscle and the cleanest white – how can he be that white and clean? And he loves me! Bumps his big old head into me as an act of love. So where has he been living since last February until a couple weeks ago??? With Mortie?? I ask Mortie every single day where she came from!! Still no answer.
So I’m sure it’s been Barney who has killed two small rats in the past week. The dog toy is for size –
Got this card from a friend yesterday—
This is the quilt I’m attempting to make. I started with the center star – here it is, only 5”x5”.
I have to get this right because I need to make 8 more star blocks. When making a medallion quilt, each row must be perfect so the next round can fit correctly. This will be a challenge for me. Plus I didn’t want pink and brown so it’s hard to transfer quilt pieces to different colors in my mind’s eye. Have I bitten off more than I can chew here? I have several perfect spots for square quilts – this one measures only 45” x 45”. Oh my, all these pieces!
Remember when I told you about my friend Ginny in South Carolina who broke her ankle and it was also her birthday? Well, she wants me to thank those of you who filled her home mailbox with greeting cards! She is now home but in a wheelchair since she cannot put any weight on that ankle for 3 months. THREE MONTHS????? Yikes!
Tomorrow is our church’s annual business meeting and budget proposal right after morning service with potluck following. What’s better than church potluck? But it will never be like it was 30-40 years ago when nearly every woman in church was a farm wife and cooked everything from scratch. So much good “real” food!!! Tomorrow there will be packages of Oreo cookies, donuts from Casey’s and pasta salad from HyVee, what do you want to bet?
P.S. With real sadness in my heart, the Toronto BlueJays just lost the World Series – IN Toronto. I am so sorry for them. It was such a great series – just not the outcome I hoped for.
Mary, You and Deb were talking about the Halloween blizzard of 1991. Near the twin cities of Minnesota, we got blasted but kept power. No trick-or-treaters could possibly come and nothing else moved. On my front steps, I had a pumpkin, by 9p.m. you couldn’t even see a bump where the pumpkin sat. It was absolutely beautiful and so peacefully quiet – well, I guess until morning when I had to grab the shovel.
It’s too bad the Blue Jays didn’t win the series. The Dodgers won last year too – a little greedy?
Today, our church served a Swedish meatball dinner with lots of homemade desserts as a fund raiser. One couple contributes an amazing amount of lefse which, of course, I dove into. Great food, great time. On Monday, we will go to a neighboring church which calls their meal ‘soup and pie’. They make 3 kinds of soups and parishioners donate the pies. No dieting this week.
There is a quilt retreat for me this week. On Wednesday, I will be driving to a lodge about 30 miles from Canada. Very remote – no tv, phones and internet are questionable so there’s nothing to do but sew.
Have a great week everyone.
Janet – I remember how you were buried in snow!! But it’s that,power thing that made this storm so unbearable. Yes, greedy – why should I think that but I do. And lefse! I tried making it once and everyone remembers my comment – “I thought lefse was thinner than this!” Obviously I couldn’t make it and haven’t repeated my attempts. I wish I was going with you on your retreat.
My daughter married into a family that are die hard Dodgers fans, so they were all jumping for joy. I live about fifteen hundred miles away and general don’t watch sports.
At one church I went to, the youth pastor would bring 12-18 cheeseburgers from McDonald’s, and that would be his family’s contribution to the annual meeting potluck. He knew that the youth attending with their parents would enjoy that.
Lisa – well, now that’s an idea I would support – the kids would love it – except McDonalds is 30 min away. Now that I think of it there were little kids at the potluck but no teenagers.
It was an exciting world series this year, but I’m sorry the Dodgers won.
I’m fortunate that, so far, I’ve never lived anywhere with much chance of being snowed in for days. Have been through several 2-4 day power outages, though, when the utility cut off power to the grid for safety in wildfire season. We were fairly well prepared for it, with lots of battery powered lights, and propane for our cooking and hot water. Weather was such that we didn’t need either A/C or heat to be comfortable. The major inconvenience was no connectivity to the outside world – phone or Internet, and no electricity for the sewing machine.
Potlucks, seems like fewer and fewer people bring home cooked food. I usually do, but if pressed for time, I will bring something already prepared.
Mary, I didn’t realize your quilt blocks are so small. They would be challenging to piece! It will turn out very pretty.
Our congregational business meeting is in a few weeks and I am on the committee that supplies soup for it. Others bring desserts which are usually brownies and homemade cookies and some supply crackers and Italian bread. All our 9 soups are homemade ( mine is bean and ham) and only one is store bought and that’s cause no one makes as good a soup as Paneras Autumn Squash one. We all look forward to this fellowship.
Kathy – I’d like to share some bits of our meeting with you – I’ll email you later
Why not turquoise instead of pink for those star points? I am a BIG turquoise lover and I think it works with everything. I have a gorgeous piece of light and dark turquoise and brown paisley print. It might be a reproduction prints as my best friend deals exclusively in those in her shop. From the scrap I have, it looks like it started it’s journey as a 1/2 yd cut. Given the size of those star blocks, I would think there is PLENTY left for all those starpoints in the medallion. If you’re interested, it’s yours. email me and I’ll send a photo to you and I can drop it in the mail tomorrow (with the correct amount of postage)!
Marlene – you are sweet to offer – but turquoise was never in my plan actually – it was all tans and blacks so I can use it in my living room which is still primitive – woods walls and rock fireplace. But …. Yes, send me a picture in case I go down another path. This is so hard I don’t know if I want to attempt it. The next step is paper piecing and I hate paper piecing!
Love your fabric choices for your wall hanging. It will be beautiful!
Your wall hanging will be beautiful when it is finished. I really like making medallion patterns. Have you tried making a black and white copy of the cover picture. I’ve done that so I don’t get distracted by the colors of the original quilt. I’m only working with lights , mediums and darks. I’ve had good luck doing it that way. You get the same look as the original but in your color scheme.
Marie C – what a great idea! I’ve never tried it but I’m going to. I sometimes do it on my phone but I need a copy in front of me – thank you! Man, I learn something from my readers on a regular basis!!!
Amazing World Series!!! Games 6 & 7 ending with a double play to get the win. Just what the Dodgers needed! So exciting!
Love your blocks. I think the colors are looking good! That’s a big rat! Happy to see Tim back in the barn. Maybe his other family are snowbirds and have left for the winter. Have a blessed Sunday
Sally – OMG!!! If that’s the case I’ve got a good idea where his summer home is – a mile south, 1/2 east. He is the most magnificent tomcat I’ve ever seen!
Mary, It was just a thought with winter weather heading your way. We get a lot of snowbirds here in the Las Vegas Valley. They should be arriving soon and filling up the RV parks. Our current temps are 81*-83*. Maybe Tim’s mystery is solved! I love seeing all your cats so comfy cozy in your home! Sally
I agree with you about potlucks. I grew up in a suburb of Washington, DC, but church potlucks consisted of everyone’s best and favorite homemade dish. They were wonderful. My dad didn’t attend church much when I was a kid, but he always came on the “dinner on the grounds” days!! The church I grew up in was really big and there was table after table after table of delicious food. I miss those days and I still take homemade food to a potluck!!
Susan – I can’t imagine such a large potluck but it’s my favorite “event” – I love the variety and I can just have a spoonful of many. We have a separate table for desserts and salads – today it was full and I loved it. I took my very favorite almond bar. One of my best memories was a breakfast when I got up very early to make my grandma’s Danish Puff and the kitchen ladies kept it back for themselves instead of wasting it on the kids who would take it and throw it away anyway. Haha! I considered that a real compliment.
Spent yesterday putting away my Halloween , which is my favorite holiday, decorations . Was sad I only got 3 kids for Trick & Treat. Around here the churches do T&T in their parking lots out of everyone’s trunks. Safer for the kids now-a-days but couldn’t help but remembering Halloween when I was a kid going door to door in our neighborhood. What fun we had ! Started working on a quilt for my daughter’s boss who loves the Kansas City Chiefs over her favorite and mine, The Buffalo Bills. I plan to put a secret message in the quilt “Buffalo Bills ARE #1” but the fabric will be all based on The Chiefs. Will see how long it takes for him to find that!!!! We play them today for the 4:00 game in Buffalo, so I hope we kick their KC butts. GO BILLS !!!!!
Barbara – watching the game now!!
The Bills won:) Yippee. We Bills fans certainly are a scattered bunch, but we’re loyal:)
So glad the Bills won!!!
My cooking and what I take to potlucks have changed in 25 years. When I had a family, I cooked and baked and canned. I made everything from scratch. I now love Duncan Hines cake mixes and Jiffy mix cornbread. I never had a mix in my house when I had a family.
My son and grandson from Atlanta visited in September and went to the Iowa/Iowa State game. (My son is an ISU alumni.) My son’s lifelong childhood friend came by before their visit to drop off something they needed to get into the corn growers tailgate party. He had spent lots of time at my house when the kids were growing up. He said something about my son and grandson enjoying my good cooking. I had to confess I rarely cook any more. I told him I went to the coffee shop and bought scones for our breakfast. He was surprised and gave me good compliments about my cooking. It touched my heart he had a memory of getting good food at my house.
Mary the Marie’s quilt is beautiful. Never give up! The end result will be worth it. I like your fabric choices. I wish that reproduction fabrics would come back. I don’t always appreciate the brights which are so popular today.
Did you major in journalism in college? Your writings are just too good!
I was hoping the Dodgers would win because my grandson is a big fan of the team but I thought both teams played well. With extended innings, great defensive plays, thrilling hits, great pitching , it was an exceptional World Series. Too bad both teams could not share the title! A true fall classic which all baseball fans hope for every year!
Karen – It was an exceptional series all the way around – things like the dead ball that I was not familiar with for one. A great World Series!
I’m looking forward to your post tomorrow about November 2, 1991. Here’s my story about a storm here in Michigan. I was 17 years old, it was 1978, and I babysat for 3 kids (ages 5, 8 and 10) overnight. Their mom was a nurse at the hospital and worked 3rd shift. They would be in bed when I arrived and I would get them up in the morning, have breakfast, get them ready for school. It was a great job until one night I went to work and it snowed all night. It snowed so much that I couldn’t get any doors open to the outside. Of course, everything was shut down and I was stuck – for 4 days, with these kids, inside the house. I was beside myself trying to find things to do and keep everyone semi happy. Fortunately, we didn’t lose power!! On day 3, the 8 year old threw a GLASS pop bottle at the 10 year old. Barely missing hitting him in the head, breaking things in the house. I lost it, yelled at him, telling him that if it would have hit his brother, he could have bleed to death before we could get any help. At this point I was desperate and pushed until the outside door open and told them to go outside and shovel snow for a bit. On day 4, the mom was finally able to get to my parents house and my brother brought her to her house on snowmobile and took me out of there on snowmobile. I was never so happy!!
I love the quilt you are making. The blocks are small! It will be pretty in the end. I did a challenge with my local quilt shop a few years ago. We got a brown paper bag with 3 fabrics in it and had to make a quilt that was at least 40″ x 40″, using all 3 of those fabrics. Mine were civil war era looking, not my cup of tea at all! I decided to design a medallion quilt starting with a basket in the center. Fortunately one of my good friends had a stash of fabrics that would work for this project and didn’t care if I used some of them. Through this project, I learned so many lessons. Designing something isn’t easy. Pieces have to be precise or they don’t fit and quilters who write patterns earn every penny they get from the sales. I have to admit that I took the advice of Gwen Marston and if the row was a bit long, I just cut it off to fit. I’ll try to find a picture and send it to you.
Diane – what a nightmare! You must have had enough food for all that time but how could you keep 3 kids from fighting and arguing? Ugh – I would classify your story as a nightmare!!!! Thanks for telling us.
Hi Mary, are those star blocks 5 inch square? Wow! Precision cutting and sewing! Took a few minutes to realize it was a storm in 1991 you were describing, no power is tough, especially when you are in the electric recliner armchair! Hard work getting out of it,especially when you have to go to the bathroom! Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Sandy – oh, I’m so sorry – I didn’t stop to think you wouldn’t know this was a bad storm. I love your funny about getting out of your recliner – hahaha!!
I can relate to you having no heat or electricity and no husband home to help. Reminds me of the harvest days when my kids were still in school and I would leave North Dakota with them in mid August to get them back to Kansas and enrolled in school while my husband stayed in North Dakota to finish cutting crops. No cell phones back then and a twelve hour drive. Most trips went well-a few trips didn’t. I could write a book.
Looking forward to seeing your progress on your quilt. Fun to see your color choices.
Seems many potlucks end up with store bought food anymore. Not just at church-see it at both my guilds too, family reunions, etc. Some people either don’t have time or don’t care to take the time to cook.
Cindy K – you really should write a book about all those years so your kids will know after you’re gone. When my mom turned 90 I gave her a beautiful leather journal to write stories about her youth and she wrote lots – fun to read her memories. Yup, no cell phones and when he arrived home finally, I divorced him – there was lots in play besides no phone call but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.
Since I’m from W WA, I really didn’t care who won, but there I was screaming and yelling like I was watching a football game 🙂 It was a fabulous, exciting series. But glad it’s over——football — 🙂
Dorothy – where do you live???
I am also sorry that the Blue Jays lost. They sure made the Dodgers work for their win. It was a terrific series. I’m sorry to see that rat. You now have an extra barn hand with Tim back, so hopefully they will take care of things for you.
Ginger / didn’t we see just about everything in this series? It’s been so much fun except the 10th inning – sigh. I’m not much of a football fan so now what?
I’m excited the Dodgers won the World Series, sorry Mary that you wanted the Blue Jays to win and they didn’t. The series certainly had some interesting things happen.
I just got off from FaceTime with my daughter in MN. We watched the last 4 innings of the game as I don’t have a TV here in Japan. She propped her phone up and we yelled and screamed at the TV together. I have the balcony doors open and my neighbors were all routing for the Dodgers (bet you can guess why) and I was yelling for the Jays. I’ll have to go over and bring cookies as that was the bet. The 1991 snowstorm that hit the Twin Cities was really bad and I remember starting the trick or treating sitting on the front stairs of the house and then going in and watching the last couple of kids looking like snowmen.
I’m sorry the Bluejays lost too. It was a very good series….except the ending. I love the quilt you’re working on. I just took my son and daughter-in-law’s king size quilt to be quilted this week. Should be ready the first of December. It has only been 4 years since I started it.
I’m also very sad for the Blue jays. I think their team played just as well as the Dodgers, but there were a few mis-managed plays. On the other hand, I’m glad it’s over … back to football! I love the fabrics in your new blocks. It’s going to look great!