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Posted on 04/01/2025 6:11:07 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Heh, 83 deg. here yesterday, 32 deg. forecast for next Tuesday early am. The plants will have to stay “in”.
Hey Pete, thanks for the recipe. When I have fresh thyme in the garden (hopefully later this year), I will have to give this a try. I love thyme!
The soups I made for last night’s Lenten dinner were a success. The Chicken Corn Chowder started at 4.5 quarts with 1.5 left over. The Split Pea With Ham went from 3 quarts to 1.5 remaining. There were 3 other soups & a smaller crowd than usual so I was glad quite a bit of my soups ‘disappeared ‘. I don’t mind the leftovers - bought a 12-jar box of wide-mouth quart canning jars to use for storing/freezing soup & they work well.
We had almost 2” of rain in a few hours yesterday. Cell phone went off for tornado warning which mentioned T-storm with rotation and included the next town over about 8 miles away. I’m sure the creeks are overflowing big time and rain is forecast for the next three days.
Both good soups for a lenten Dinner! (I made Chicken Corn Chowder yesterday for lunch but it was Progresso. (Made and added squash dumplings.))
Paul, there are all sorts of stories on tornado damage today. I hope that it weakens as it heads east.
I just now saw your reply. Still no power. Have gas for a little while more, but we will likely need to go get more before long.
There was a confirmed tornado in the area. I don’t know how close to us, but a warehouse had a whole wall cave in and trap somebody. They got the worker out after a couple of hours. That’s scary.
Yes, our generator is out in the driveway. We have been talking about upgrading to an automatic whole house generator by Fall. This will kick that purchase into high gear.
We walked the neighborhood about an hour ago. Some tree damage, but thankfully not on houses or in driveways or the road. One neighbor’s basement sump pump isn’t working and the generator they had wasn’t working, so the neighbor across the street has lent him his smaller one. Apparently he had two, so how lucky is that?
I’ve offered to keep some food in our garage fridge/freezer if they want but they haven’t taken me up on that yet.
We expect more rain and storms in a few hours, so I think I’m going to head out for gas in a few minutes. There’s only one gas station near here that has the right kind. They may be out. Say some prayers. So far we’ve dodged a bullet, it I hope the power is restored soon. No wifi either but I’m tethered to my phone for now. It keeps dropping though.
We have enough creature comforts to get by. One ceiling fan is operational (for air movement) and two sets of outlets, enough for charging things and a couple of lamps. Microwave works, but not the oven, and we have a gas stove top. Plus there’s always the outdoor grill if we need to go that route.
"The epicenter of the rain and floods should be in the mid-South:
"By Thursday, "there is a 'high risk' for excessive rainfall for western Kentucky, the Missouri Bootheel, northwestern Tennessee, and extreme northeastern Arkansas where widespread, life-threatening flash flooding is expected," the weather service said."
At some point I would like to get a Generator, if not whole house, at least to be able to occasionally run the freezer and refrigerator and charge phones and things.
I think one problem we will be having very soon are electrical transformers. How many of those were blown out in this storm. The large ones used in substations are manufactured in China and are already on taking 5-6 months to deliver.
Thanks for that map. It looks like I’m in the 4-6” area.
These temps are fine. When it gets below 10 degrees, and the power goes out, it’s just as much a problem as it is when it’s high 90’s. Winter storms here can be dangerous in that regard.
When we bought this house, we noticed that one of the previous owners had invested in a transfer plug/switch from 4 breakers, so when we remodeled our kitchen, our contractor was an electrical guy too, so he helped us figure out which circuits to put on the plug for the generator. So we chose the blower for the heater, one ceiling fan for air circulation, 2 outlets, the microwave, and the fridge. Like I said, creature comforts. We have a wood burning fireplace and can still bring sleeping bags/ blankets into the family room if that’s ever necessary.
Eventually I’d like to have the washer and dryer available, so we are moving towards a whole house automatic generator. Because we live in a very wooded area, we have pretty frequent power outages. Usually they are resolved in less than 12 hours, but they happen several times a year. I think this is our second power outage for 2025, and I expect we will get more. It happens every couple of months. Right now it’s been 18 hours.
As I just typed that, the power suddenly came back on! Time for me to go turn off the generator.
The forecast rain total 10-15" area is now a bit south of us, but does not include most of Round 1. It was raining there almost all morning.
We have 3 more days of "in the yellow" severe weather risk. Full info. for the region from NWS Paducah, through Saturday night, here:
Thank you, I’m so happy to have power and wifi back!
Hooray for electrical workers!
Ah, my “introduction” to the “mid-south” was as a wide eyed 10 y/o with my family visiting @ the Giant City Lodge... in a big t-storm!
Ugh! Ice is the worst! We’ve had winters like that. I admire your fortitude.
Beau’s BFF moved to Alaska a few years ago, and Beau is as tough as old shoe leather and even HE doesn’t want to move THAT far north.
I told him I’m not moving any farther north than I can reasonably grow tomatoes, and no further South than the Mason/Dixon Line. Too. Many. BUGS! ;)
Thanks, Pete. Kew Gardens is on my Bucket List.
Also hoping to visit The Biltmore after repairs from that freak hurricane are made - they really got hit hard. :(
https://www.cnn.com/travel/biltmore-estate-damage-asheville-helene/index.html
“Plus there’s always the outdoor grill if we need to go that route.”
We had an ice storm in 1976 which left us without power for nearly a week. I was 16 at the time.
Dad grilled everything an anything so food wouldn’t go to waste. He had coolers buried in snow to hold milk, eggs and other perishables.
The worst part? I was a 16 year old girl - without a PHONE FOR A WHOLE WEEK! I still can’t believe I survived! *SMIRK*
Hope things get fixed for you quick! (I didn’t read further if so!)
Now that everyone here is safe/recovering from wild weather, I made this for supper, tonight:
Sheet Pan Pork Chops with Apples and Sweet Potatoes
https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/sheet-pan-pork-chops/#recipe
Apples from storage, pork from the neighbor, taters & onion from the store, but Maple Syrup from Beau’s own two hands.
Serving with a green salad and homemade applesauce.
I have yet to go here, but If you are looking for something to do over a weekend in St Louis....
I have yet to go here, but If you are looking for something to do over a weekend in St Louis....
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