Post Pax

Live Oak thinned by the Ice Storm

It's been a week now since Winter Storm Pax graced us with it's presence down south. Remember, we had ice and freezing temperatures. And then today, the high is supposed to be 79 degrees F. It's 77 now and is a nice change, for sure. I love winter weather, as you know, but even I was ready for a little warm up.

Day one of the ice storm and just minutes after losing power, I was actually having a good time. I jotted these notes down so that I could remember them later, when posting about it. But now, I've decided to just give you a few bulleted points. I'm so over this storm.

ice in trees

pine limbs breaking all around

freezing rain

Cliff went to work

home alone

power went off about 11:30 a.m.

phone battery low

put on car charger

started a fire in fireplace

hungry, want something hot....it figures

heat dumplings in fireplace

lunch ready soon

I'm having a ball

Pioneer Woman

We were without power for six days. Yes, we lost everything from the fridge. It took me a few hours to chunk everything and then wash the fridge/freezer from top to bottom. I put a spit shine on that thing like you wouldn't believe. My yard still needs a little work. With this gorgeous weather, clean up will be a breeze. Mama is still without power. Hopefully, it will be restored this week. We still have a large pile of debris to remove from her yard. And we're already getting quotes to repair her roof.

So much going on!

The carpet installers were just getting started good when the ice storm hit, and now that our power is back on they are back and hopefully finishing installation today. I'm so ready for that to be over, too. Although I am happy about getting new carpet in the bedrooms, having people in my home making a mess, causes me stress. I like things neat and tidy and organized. I'll be spending the next couple of days putting things back like they were, I'm sure.

I'm done with this story. It's time to move on.

What's new on the horizon? Well, let me just tell you. We will be adding on an exercise room. I'm so excited. We met with the contractor yesterday. Yay! This time, I won't have to deal with them in my house so much.....until they bust through the wall to make an opening from the family room to the exercise room. I better stock up on Advil for that one. We are planning to use the same contractor that did our kitchen remodel, so there should be some good stories to come out of that. They're a hoot.

I see Spring quickly approaching around here. Soon, it will be time to start a garden and pull out the lawn mower. Good days ahead for sure.

Does this post feel disjointed to you or like I'm rambling? Oh well, I'll shape up before the next one (no pun intended)....it's an exercise post. Ha! And....and.....my spell-checker has gone MIA. I hope you don't find any misspelled words. I hate that! Just be forewarned, ok.

And in case you were wondering:
I ran my first 9 mile trail run Saturday. I'll have that post ready soon.

Until then,

Laurie

Be Careful What You Wish For

The Oak outside my kitchen window. The limbs,

heavy with ice, are dragging the ground. This was early in the ice storm.

 

I know, I know....I was wishing for more winter weather in the form of snow and 20 degree temps, but not ice and not power outages and tree limbs down and messes to clean. For crying out loud, not that!!

Winter Storm Pax..........akin to a hurricane in that we were left with downed limbs over power lines, through roofs, on roofs, around the yard, across roads.....we were left with no power and no water. And like any disaster, we also experienced neighbors, friends and family checking on and helping each other, sharing food if they saw a need. Or offers of a hot shower (if they were lucky enough to have power and water) and some help in cleaning up the debris.

A few differences....it's cold (a wet cold, the worst kind) instead of 150 degrees Fahrenheit with 100% humidity. We do have ways of staying warm, though - be it a fireplace, lots of blankets, space heaters that use kerosene (dangerous by the way) or warming centers set up at the elementary school. We don't have to worry so much about the food going bad since it's in the 30's outside, unless the outages linger. And we won't have to deal with the gargantuan mosquitos the size of helicopters that arrive a few days after a hurricane.

We have a mess to clean up. I had a beautiful oak tree just outside my kitchen window that is now riddled. It had many huge limbs to break off, one of which landed on my roof. There was minor damage. Mama, however, was not so lucky. She had a pine limb about the size of a half dollar come completely through her roof into one of the bedrooms. She's fine...a little upset that she had to leave her home. But with all those pines around her home, it was way too dangerous to let her stay there. She is at my sister's home and a good thing too because she along with everyone else in our town not only lost power and water, but her phone service.

Here, I will leave you with a few of the pictures I took from inside the house looking out. I wouldn't dare go outside to take them for fear of being impaled by a flying pine or oak limb. We will be busy cleaning up for the next few days. Hope everyone affected will be safe and warm and that their electricity will be restored soon. I will post more about Winter Storm Pax, I'm sure. It's a rare occasion for us. The story needs to be told.

***These photos were taken with my cell phone, so the quality is not the best.

More of the Oak.

Still more......

The beauty of this in real life is far better than this photo shows...

Broken limb from the Oak ....

Another view, and very minor damage.

Seed pods on a crepe myrtle.

The quality is lacking here as I had to zoom way in to get this Cardinal.

 

Just so pretty.

And pretty still.

 

 

So, I guess the next time I go wishing for more winter weather....I'll need to be more specific. Ice is pretty, but so dangerous. We are not equipped in the south for this type weather, really I don't know who could be. Snow is one thing, which for us can be crippling. But ice, that's a whole other ballgame.

 

More later,

Laurie