Slow Days

Sometimes I just need a break. Last week was one of those times. I would have warned you all that I was going to take a hiatus if I had known I was about to need one. Life is occasionally quite impromptu and you know, as in life, so in blogging.

The weekend was exciting. Crazy, gorgeous dump of snow, cancelled birthday parties and then a frantic/worried/bizarre day which we spent huddled over our sweet late-guinea pig Jenny. I never could have imagined that it would be possible to be obsessing worriedly for an entire day over the aliveness or deadness of an animal but that's what happened. They are so very small and she was clearly very sick or else dead....we were rather avidly hopeful. Alas, by this morning I could firmly say she was gone and we said our goodbyes including a custom dirge, Nib wrote and sang "Jenny, come back your friend, you are gone away Jenny, poor, poor Jenny, she did die." and a little postmortem portrait tribute from Dee complete with little stick figure legs poking out of her tiny crayoned body.

This morning after we dropped A off at work the boys and I marched bravely to the pet store after praying for a new friend for our remaining, lonely Sarsparilla. It broke my heart this morning to be greeted by silence instead of the usual friend whistles and tweets and find Sarsparilla moping in her little wooden shelter at one end of the cage. We are the proud new owners of a fluffy black and white piggy and I am pleased to tell you that Sarsparilla appears to have taken her in and is already back to making some of her usual noises. We've named the new little fluff ball Chamomile.

Pom has finally pushed through his two, giant from teeth and is the proud owner of opposing ivories. I heard him gritting them together in that horrible, scraping way all babies experiment with just this morning. Heh. I hope his sleep and irritability improve a bit now that he has put the big chompers behind him for a while. Maybe his body will give him a rest for having started a bit early.

Its slow times at our house. Planning the mythical vegetable garden, roasting beef slow and slower in the oven, drinking vats of milky tea, snuggling the baby and forcing the trimmings from the fruit trees in the yard as I slowly hack away at pruning.

Happy Hurricane!

Somehow it is Wednesday already and we are busily clipping towards the weekend which suddenly is inches away! Nothing like having a hurricane over the weekend to make time really fly!

A view down our street.

Hurricane Sandy was mostly, luckily for us, a very exciting story. We heard the most terrific wind I've ever experienced outside our house Monday night but besides a few trees down we have had very little to disrupt our daily function. A was off work and spent some extra time playing at home with us, we did some yard work we meant to catch up on anyhow and we have spent some time yesterday and today calling friends to be sure all our folks are safe and sound. We even miraculously managed to keep our power through the whole storm. I am still shocked that that happened. I carried a candle around with me all evening and went to bed with one on my nightstand, just waiting for the lights to go out but we woke up in the morning with the bedside digital clock blinking merrily at us (there were lots of brown-outs in the night so it went on and off and on and off) but still very much there and alive.

The new ocean-front in our fair city.

We had no major property damage and have been checking to see if anyone we know needs a place to stay or a hot shower but so far people are just toughing it out, waiting to see who will be in it for the long haul.

Halloween festivities have officially been postponed by our mayor to make sure they can get downed wires taken care of before kids take the streets. Still weighing what to do about that personally. Our waterfront was pretty walloped and is quite damaged and flooded I hear but here, one mile in from the shore our own street is pretty sound, we all still have power and the extent of the damage is just trees down in yards. We might check around with neighbors and see if people feel like letting the kids troop around or if we will all wait with the rest of the city. There's some merit to both options. Will see what I find out later today.

Siding off the side of our house that the wind blew down against our front door.

I am off to call and email more friends as I work my way down the list of people I am checking on. Lots of non-answering still...several I am still wondering about and still lots of hot water and food to share if people need the help.

Storms and Sniffles

Spending a rainy day in today. There's a terrific wind outdoors bending the tops of the tall trees in the neighborhood. We were out this morning with our homeschool co-op pals and as we drove home the road was littered with fallen leafy branches blowing around in circles. We are supposed to get a big rain to boot but so far we've seen nothing but clouds and a lot of big gusts. We've got a crazy level of humidity today which makes me glad that I pre-baked dinner last night to make co-op day easier on myself.

The nice thing about stormy days pre-rain is that they always bring really interesting light. Fascinating to watch how different colors look in the changing palette we have coming in through our windows. These are lipstick pink chard stems....kind of a late summer echo of the rhubarb stalks. Great colors, right?

Baby Pom is sniffling away from a little cold. Although he is being very resolute in spite feeling stuffy and having a very pint-sized and tragic, little cough. I think we will spend tonight nursing in the rocker and propping him up on a stack of pillows between sessions. Time to get out the Vicks and drink extra cups of tea after the sun goes down to keep up with the milk demand.

Snapshots of The Big Storm 2010

Big local road....kinda occupied.

View of the average road shoulder at the moment.

 

Road itself....not a dilapidated bike path.

 

Our small local stream...well flooded beyond it's banks.

But on the upside...all this spring rain means the 

miniature daffodils by the front door are blooming!

50-60's all the rest of the week! Wooohoo!!!

Closed Off To The World

Saturday night we went to dinner at my aunt's house, driving across the state in pelting rain and lashing wind...watching the trees bending and the sea frothing as we drove along. We cozied down in the den together when we arrived and had a snug evening chatting, eating and watching the small ones push plastic dinosaurs and hot wheels along the rug under our feet.

And then, after all that nestled down warmth in various forms we arrived back at our own little condo unit to find the whole complex dark and our next-door neighbor packing his wife, baby and dogs up to take them off to someplace with electricity. We've been without power now for well over 24 hours and it looks like it will be a couple more days. The most generous estimates are saying Wednesday evening we might have our lights back on but, we are expecting a more gradual return than that.

It was quite impressive on Sunday morning when we got up and tried to drive to church to actually survey the damage from the storm. Trees are down everywhere...powerlines strung like spaghetti, tree to fallen tree and splintered limbs and bark littering most roads in the area. We saw many trees that were far to large to wrap arms around that had fallen across roads into yards and even one that had gone through the roof of a local town. We never did make it to church...every road we tried was closed off by downed trees and broken utility poles and sloppy loops of electric wires flung this way and that. And then this morning when I tried to take A to work, we gave up when we ran into multi-tiered stripes of yellow caution tape, and whorls of orange traffic cones cluttering all the roads in to the main drive. I parked the car and waited with hazard lights blinking as close as we could manage to drive in and A hiked the rest of the way in, just for extra merit badge points and then hiked back out in the spitting rain. One more day together after all.

I have never seen a storm like this in my life, honestly. The mayor of a local town sent every resident an automated telephone call the let them know that help was coming to aid in power return, road clearing and the like as quickly as possible but that the residents should know the work would be significant...this has been, he said, the worst storm in 50 years, no small potatoes to remedy. A nearby family lost their home when the fire department couldn't reach their address because of too many of the roads were impassible. Rivers are all flooded beyond their banks, fences have blown away like so many kites and lawn furniture is drifted in piles where the wind left it. Its not the right time of year for this to technically be called a hurricane but, it sure seems to fit the text-book definition.

So, we have no light or power or heat...this afternoon we're here, at the library to charge up our phones, communicate with the outside world a bit and make sure that we're snowed under by email however long this power out keeps up. Handily, the outages aren't everywhere and the library is still lighted and warm. Its awfully nice to have laundromats, hard working power company employees and friends who are willing to lend a little fridge space for our orphaned food (shout out to Nutmeg!).  This afternoon we picked up another bundle of wood for the fireplace kielbasa and a wedge of Gruyere to have for dinner, toasted over the coals and then eaten on A's good homemade bread. Should be a cozy end to the day.

Just a little trip back in time for a few days, a slower pace of life. I don't much mind. As long there's a laundromat around the corner.

This Week, We....

 

Had the biggest snowstorm of the winter...

 

(Here's our patio garden under wraps...turn your head sideways for correct perspective. Sorry! *wince*)

 

 And so we took the kids to a local estate-cum-extensive park for a little late afternoon/evening sledding...

  

 (Cute man in snowstorm)

  

Three cute men, sledding...

  

 The snowman we built just before hustling off the car in the dark.

  

 Aunt Sheila came by and saved the day. Elbow grease, homey homemade lunch, listening ear and much anticipated playmate about covers it. (and doesn't she have a chic haircut?)

 

My house got very clean. *grin*

 

 

See?

 

 We made hearts and painted them.

  

 We wore out one little valentine.

 

We met the newest calf at our local dairy farm.

And we made it more than halfway through The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. He's riveted and every time we have to stop there are tears. Makes his mommy's heart go pitter pat.

Just another fabulous week here at the the homestead. Looking forward to another!