Snow is scheduled to start this afternoon and evolve into a blizzard by tonight, tomorrow and Friday – according to the most recent weather bulletin. So to add to our misery and apprehension, our water is frozen! No water! Why? No electricity to the pole and we can only hope our electrician will get here before the storm hits.
I was at Target on Monday and sure enough I was faced with another pickup parked stupidly.
I’m going to start a collection of these photos! Yes, I know some cars park like this, too, but the biggest percentage is pickups. And speaking of pickups I saw a headline on my IPad that listed the worst vehicles ever made and guess which vehicle was NUMBER ONE! Yup, the 2004 Chevy SSR! I laughed and laughed – wouldn’t you know. Rated as the worst because Chevy made it too cumbersome to be as fast as it was advertised to be. Well, that doesn’t make any difference to me of course but now this pickup will be more valuable than ever. And I still think it’s cute.
I haven’t gotten out to the shop and the longarm – too lazy maybe? I have my big Good News quilt top to put on but I’ve had some issues with the machine and I hate to be in the middle of that and run into problems. There’s also Bitcoin that needs to be quilted. I’m going to work on a charm project next, too. So many quilts, so little time.
So….I’ll keep you posted about the storm. It’s starting to snow here now. And we have water – whew!
So thankful you have water. We bought electric outdoor heat pad and heated water dish for our 3 wild cats that live in our little shed. We have camera set up so we can see if we need to trap any more coons or possums due to the cat food outside for wild ones!
Our snow started at 10:30am and let up after an hr and now 1:00pm and it is coming down hard again.
Am glad I can stay home and watch the birds and wild cats, they are yellow tabbies and knowing they are safe and warm in shed. Marie from Storm Lake,IA
I live twenty minutes southwest of Houston. We are expecting below freezing temperatures for a couple of days. Of course this is throwing all of us for a loop! We have one wild cat that has been visiting my back porch every night for food. Runs if it sees us. I am worried to pieces about it. There is a cat box on the porch and I put straw and a fuzzy cat bed in it, but I don’t know if that will keep the cat from freezing (if it even goes in it)! My husband has been working all day on covers for our bee hives. Hope those work. We lost a lot of hives in that severe freeze last year.
Stay safe!!! I just love your blog!!!
I don’t understand why everyone can’t park in the lines! I have a pickup and I can park in the lines. I find it very annoying like you.
Not happy with the storm coming. Worry about all those that are traveling. Guess a big prayer, for travelers, is in order.
Happy to hear you now have water.
My big kitty Beegera is happy with all the mice in my husband’s shop. He feels like he is doing something really big when he brings me a mouse!
Have a lovely Christmas.
Well – I feel like we have had a winter’s worth of winter already this year….and winter didn’t even start until today! We’ve cancelled at least 3 events (lunch with friends, birthday party, etc) so far this year and we have months to go! We were going to go to Rochester today to get some Christmas brunch supplies, do some banking and go to lunch but yesterday one of the grands were sick and needed day care today, so we did our shopping yesterday instead and I am glad we did as I am sure it was really crazy today.
I hope you get your water situation fixed! That will make your hunkering down even more stressful. The nice thing about being retired is – we don’t have to go anywhere, but I sure want my comfort items lol.
My beef with pickups – it doesn’t seem to matter how bad the roads are, most of them go whatever the speed limit is! I always just hope they go fast enough that when they pass me on the 4 lane, that they are WAY past me before they spin out into the ditch!
We are to get some of the nasty weather here in Upstate NY beginning Thursday evening. We are ready to bunker down and take whatever Mother Nature decides to deliver.
Stay safe. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas !
Where are you in upstate NY?
Shell Rock is getting the snow too, the weather man said 3 pm here, 5 pm in Waverly. Really? I’d like a weatherman who has a concept that we are only 5 miles apart. I bought my outdoor kitties a heated water dish, I have to fill it whenever I go out with the dog. But the bigger one was so big I was afraid we’d have drownings. I used to have a heated horse tank, but no horses, so I’m not heating that. But they are finding it, I have it in a protected spot away from the house, I don’t want any of those dratted coons to come to close to the house. Got a new auxillary electric box on my electric deck, so I can put it there. Take care, I hope the water gets back on soon.
Glad you have water again! We are expecting down to 8 or 10 degrees tomorrow in northeast Texas. No precipitation so that’s good. Just worried about extreme freezing temperatures and the power grid staying on. Please,Jesus, take the wheel! 😻
Good luck getting the electrician out before the storm! Hope your water gets fixed. Stay safe out there in Iowa!
No water and no electricity????? I hope that gets addressed quickly, especially with this storm coming in!
The wind is howling here, but it’s 49 right now. The real cold is due to come in this evening with tomorrow our coldest day. I will stitch, stitch, stitch!! Not going out in that kind of weather!
Stay safe!!
And yes, we have the crazy parkers out here, too. I always say if you can’t park it, you oughtn’t be driving it!!!!
Oh Mary if it is not one thing it’s another.
Glad your water is back!!!
We are melting here the last couple of days but now an ice storm headed in. R0s today and high tomorrow 9°. With freezing rain. Can hardly believe that could happen but old man weather has a say not me.
Shirley from Oregon
So glad you have water…always a worry about it freezing up for the animals. And fingers crossed the electricity staying on during this mega storm…storm starts here in central Wis tomorrow evening, predictions not as bad as first predictions…high winds tho. Stay warm everyone…
So happy to hear your water has been restored. I remember my dad leaving a 100 watt lightbulb on in the pump house when we had freezing temps. In NE Oregon, we’ve had below freezing temperatures for quite a while. We received a couple inches of snow, then freezing rain so it’s pretty slick out. It’s supposed to remain the same for another week or more. Brrr! Happy shortest day of the year! We will slowly start having more daylight each day.
No water and no electricity made me gulp. Been there way too many times. So glad it’s back on for you.
Whew, that’s a blessing of a prayer answered.
Lots of thing postponed or cancelled for the next few days. We moved our family Christmas from Friday night to mid-January. We just didn’t want to take any chances having family members think they could be on the road. Our kids are rather head strong 🙂 so we didn’t want to give them a reason to try. If you can’t beat em, join em!! LOL
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Beamer’s Mom – another reader said the same thing – her kids would insist of traveling unless she said Christmas was cancelled. I really wonder about the Christmas Eve program – I’m playing so hope I can get there. What’s M. getting for Christmas?
We are predicted to have the storm of the century here in Western New York, and after our recent bout of 80 inches of snow, I am befuddled as to what this will turn out to be. Businesses are steady closing for Friday and Saturday in anticipation of a layer of ice under snow. Since these are two big days for retail, I guess I’m not the only one worried.
Needless to say, our kids in Pennsylvania and Ohio are planning to come for Christmas Saturday/Sunday and I’m the only voice saying it’s too dangerous to travel. I will have to say, Christmas is canceled and my doors are locked, before they know that I seriously do not want them traveling. Bah Humbug! I told a friend I might have to find an apartment in Hawaii! This fighting bad weather is getting ridiculous!
Hi Carol, it sounds like the duration of the winds and brutal cold temps are going to be what deems this to be the storm of the century. Living near the Great Lakes is beautiful three seasons but come winter, it shows it’s power. Our news in Rochester said you should get snow but it’s the 68 mph winds I won’t like for either of us. Blinding conditions to be out in. Timing is not good for last minute shoppers and busy Friday night restaurants for fish fries so bottom line their sales will fall. It could be a Christmas to remember. We just need to be prepared and accept it will be as it will be.
Hi there, you are right. The wind will be wicked and we have to pray our trees stay upright. I’m bummed we don’t get to see our kids, but if our trees are still rooted, we’ll be warm with our generator, and we have plenty of food and lots of sewing, so we’ll just have to suck it up and celebrate Christmas in a few weeks or months.
Merry Christmas!
Wow…Glad you got your water on. We’re supposed to get the storm here in Milwaukee starting tomorrow. I went to two grocery stores yesterday and stocked up. I probably have enough food for 20 people. Stay warm. I’m sure your animals are safely tucked in!
Heavy snow has started in north central IA. I live along the highway and traffic is moving rather slow already. Will spend the rest of today wrapping presents and stuffing stockings. We’ll keep our fingers crossed on the weather. The snow isn’t the worry. Winds and cold temps are! So glad you have everything back in working order before the storm hits. Stay safe!
Doing without water has to be the worst. Glad it’s back on again. We just flew up to Vermont for the holidays. One daughter lives in our house, the other flew in for the week. I’m so impressed with all the readers doing the right thing for the wild cats that need care. They never chose this kind of life and if breaks my heart. Those that landed at your houses are lucky indeed. As soon as I got on the plane i read it’s going to get below freezing at night for 3 nights at our house in central Florida. I wasn’t prepared for this, but some neighbors are helping as best they can by bringing in some plants in pots and shutting off the sprinklers. I’m sure we’ll go home to a lot of sad damaged or dead plants plants in the yard. Here in VT we are prepared for anything, but not there. But we are safe and warm and everything is working (so far). Like the rest of you, bad weather coming here too.
Yea to electricity when storm coming.
Being without water is the pits! I hope the electricisn arrived. In our 20 years of country living in a log cabin , we never bought a generator because we had a fireplace and plenty of wood to keep the house toasty, but pouring water from huge buckets to flush the toilet was not fun. Our daughter arrived safely from Oregon, and she is heading out for a run ahead of the snow. She is an ultra runner so kind of intense about getting in her mileage. It is currently a balmy 11 degrees. Next week she plans to get in miles of cross country skiing. Your storm is headed our way late tonight. Schools up here in Madison are still in session so I expect their break will start early. Merry Christmas to you and all your followers.
So very relieved your water is working! Don’t want THAT problem in a blizzard. Down here in Winterset IA waiting for the same. Light snow earlier but nothing of consequence. Everyone stay safe and warm!!
Yep! Good ol’ country living. When you have no electricity, you have no water. I hate when that happens, but at the same time, I wouldn’t want to live any place else. So glad you have everything going again. It would be hard to get me away from the windows if I lived at your house. Just waiting and looking for the storm.
Hope you can solve your longarm issues soon. I remember you had it in the shop recently, too. Arrgh!! Not fun when things go wrong.
Stay safe and warm, you two and pets. Think of all the people trying to get somewhere for the holidays. Home is best this time of year.
Hi Mary, glad you have water and electricity again! Just sat down after clearing my kitchen area, sweeping so l could unroll my new roll of batting to cut out pieces for 2 lap quilts, a bit of an effort but done now. Put the remaining 23 metre roll in my laundry after clearing some space . Had a sit down with glass of water and 2 marshmallows to gain strength to go upstairs and pin the quilts out. Don’t know how you do so much every day Mary! We have had rain every day but looks like it will be sunny for Christmas day and the bar be que, take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
We were going to head to North Chicago today but decided it wasn’t worth the risk of getting stuck there as they normally get lake effect snow. Also didn’t need to worry about electricity going out here in the frigid temps they are predicting. We brought our cat indoors for the next few days instead of the garage.
My daughter in Dallas, Texas is expecting lows in the single digits. She said they have the firewood ready. Scary as all the plumbing is on outside walls and the homes are not that well I insulated. But her and her husband are from Iowa and know how to prepare.
Got the sleigh pattern sewn together except for the borders. Hope to do some more sewing tomorrow.
Stay safe all those who are in the path of the storm and Merry Christmas 🎄 to all.
Glad you have electricity and water! Without those, it’s almost impossible to do anything. Love following your blog. You are so down to earth and realistic………it makes me laugh.
Amazing that when we don’t have the basic things like water how it disrupts so much more than just loss of water. Hope the storm isn’t as bad as predicted but unfortunately they are better in predicting than years ago. Enjoy your truck and realize it makes you happy.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year
Lol! It looks like the white car is right on the line, causing the truck to park far enough away to open door without dinging the white car. They have started making parking space less wide as when we had our parking lot re-painted, they told us the new ones were smaller out here in CA. Having been in a head-on crash before, I will never own a smaller car – they crumple. The car I was driving was a 64 T-Bird – it was merely dented, the other guy’s small car was a completely crushed can. (He ran a stop sign showing off to a friend standing nearby & plowed right into me.)
We are warming a bit here today, finally in the mid 50’s. Heat bill was through the roof this year – keeping the people about to be hit by the cold in prayer.
Mary, I remember those freezing winters in the 60’s before we moved to California. Not boasting but we’re going to be 80 on Christmas. No snow and I miss seeing it, but not being in it. I love your red truck it’s so cute. And I have been so angry with pickups now during holiday shopping. It’s more than rude. My husband always parked away from the cars and made me walk. You stay warm and inside during this storm. Merry Christmas.
I’m glad your water is back on Mary! Today is my birthday and we cancelled plans to go out to eat this evening. Roads are icy and we have fog. Weathermen call it freezing fog, so we will try another day. Stay warm!
Paula – Happy Birthday to you!
I’m glad you have water and electricity! That would be awful with the weather that’s coming! It seems like the whole nation is getting miserable weather. Our son in Michigan was able to get a new generator,,,,he just didn’t trust his old one (he called this am). I said with two feet of snow and to mph winds,,,,,go get a new one! You have to keep your family safe! He listened to his mama 💕💕💕
I went to sew today and found out I have a lot of time ahead with Jack! Stupid! Stupid! Ugh! that’ll give me something to do during the cold snap.
Stay safe and warm!
Well Mary, I hope you stay cozy and warm. I hope everyone reading this the same. You taking photos of these bad parkers…… you’re making me laugh……. here is Florida, every other parked car is a disaster it seems!!!!! But I will agree with you, the pickups are the worst!!!!!!!!! I say do what makes you happy.
Will be thinking of you and hoping the service person gets the job done before the storm!
So glad you have power back.
We are expecting some ice here in Va, but extreme cold and WIND this weekend. We are not used to extreme wind chill. I worry about all the little animals.
Stay warm & well!
Stay safe & warm, Mary. My son and his family are in Rochester, MN. and he said it is frigid. Wishing you a blessed Christmas season. 🎄❄️🎄
Glad you got your water back Mary! All we are getting here is gusty winds and a lot of rain with this storm, no snow this time. I sure hope people really think twice before traveling to anywhere where there will be a lot of snow or ice! Hope all goes well for you and Rick and nothing else goes wrong! Stay safe and hope you both have a Merry Christmas!
Hoping Mary and all of her followers stay safe this upcoming holiday….in Brainerd Mn we have so much heavy snow from last week now covered in several inches of fresh powder….we had significant power outages last week because of the ice and heavy snow with many trees down, just from the weight. Now with the winds blowing our main concern is electricity…no power means no heat and no water with wind chill temps in the -40 degree range. My husband and I have food and many quilts for warmth…we’ll be good.
Brenda – just talked to Rick’s son in Greenbush, MN – wind chills are simply unbelievable there, too. Be very careful!
Thankfully your water is back! They say this “blizzard” is going to be really bad, I guess we will just have to wait and see! One day at a time! It will be cold but we will dress accordingly! Hopefully you can get to church to play for the Christmas service, it wouldn’t be the same without your music!!
Wishing you and Rick a blessed Christmas!!
So happy to hear water is all ok now. Our ex daughter in law was supposed to take our grandsons to MN. We are hoping she listened to our son and postponed. Prayers for them
Please if she didn’t. We had our family Christmas on 12/18 and the ones not traveling will come back on Christmas.
Hoping to quilt soon😀.
Mary, as you have told us many times…be still.
It’s brutal out side. The temp dropped 40 degrees in one hour this afternoon . It’s now about -20.
So glad your water and electricity issues are ok. I hope they stay ok.
Mary, two things about drivers that drive me nuts, those who can’t park decently, cars and trucks, and drivers who either don’t use cruise control or can’t keep their cars at a constant continuous speed. And in their only defense, some pickups have a horrible turn radius. My husband’s old truck took at least three attempts to park in a marked space. Those trucks you see could do the same thing, they all should go into reverse to straighten as they should! Here in mid-Michigan pickups are the most desired vehicles and the smart people park theirs way out in the parking lots where very few people park so their cars to get banged by other doors. Unfortunately, you will never change inconsiderate people, somewhere in their minds they are in the right regardless! Stay warm and in the house!
Linda – I’m with you – if I drove a $100,000 pickup I’d park away from everybody, too, just to protect my vehicle. They’re just too big to be parking among the cars.
well it id morning and we have gray skies,,,,,,,,