Round here rain makes flooding

I wanted to share the pictures we took of the flooding that happened over the past few days.  It started raining Friday night and didn't stop until Monday evening.  During that time we had over 13 inches of rain.  Some areas close by had almost 20 inches.

Needless to say we got to see God's power in rushing water up close and personal!

That is a log that was washed across a pasture by a small creek that flooded.

Mailbox stopped it from reaching the road.

Small gravel slide

There is a road here somewhere, notice the road sign way down there.

It was dry when they parked it!

It is almost ready to launch, oops no motor!

That is not a lake behind Mr. Fix-it, it is pasture land.

Walked through this to get to bridge, not smart. Rose about 6 inches in the 2 minutes we were on bridge.

White caps in the pasture.

It was an adventure for all of the bus drivers to get kids home, but they made it with only a few not being able to be delivered!

We had torrential rains and central part of the state where Abby is had tornadoes.  She called from her closet at 8:00 pm Monday night to tell me about the weather.  She was getting a hand held radio last night because the sirens were going off yet again.

This has been a year for extremes so far. Record snow and cold temperatures in February and now record rainfall.  Let hope we avoid the record heat this summer.

Even though it rained on Easter, it was a wonderful day of worship and family.  God was rocking in Church that morning!! Wish I had pictures.  Here is one of all of us dressed up for church, oldest daughter has a dress on (may be why we have had record rainfall and flooding).

Have a blessed day and though the sun may not shine here today, I know it is shining somewhere!

Atmospheric Pressure

I could tell something was up yesterday when Jim sent me a text at 6:05am, just after he had dropped me off at my office, to say his computer wouldn't turn on.  So I called and asked this yes or no question, "Is the cpu's blue light on?" His response, "Well my monitor light is orange, my speaker light is green.." At that point I say, "I don't need to know about those lights, is your cpu light blue?" Finally I get a yes/no response - NO. 

This is how we are, I am a "bullet point person"-just give me the facts. He is all about the details.  Makes for interesting conversations sometimes.
I did say my husband could fix almost anything - not computers, but that is ok, that is one thing I can fix.

So this was the start of my day(sometimes it is not good for a wife to be the tech person for husband at place of employment)!  We then had 4 other machines that had power supplies go out, a monitor that died, nasty viruses on two machines, a piece of paper in a cd drive, a printer that decided it was playing possum, Jarod's phone reset itself and he lost all his info, projector bulb popped - though in replacing this we fixed a smartboard.

You could just tell something was in the air.  The weather forecast was for severe storms and the skies were dark as we headed home. All we got at our house were big rain drops and just a few of those - but as I sat outside doing DBS lesson I could hear thunder towards the south.  Found out later via Facebook that Farmington was hit with golfball to tennis ball size hail.

This is a picture my friend Lynn took - that would hurt!

My evening got better with great discussion at BSF, it is so wonderful when God puts a group together.
Though, when I got home from BSF, Jim said he had been on the phone with Abby - no electricity, rain so hard she couldn't see the house next door and the tornado sirens where going off. Dad to the rescue, told her to get in the hall and wait it out! That was all she needed!

So as you can see, atmospheric pressure effects more than just the weather!

What day is it?

It has been a hectic several days. My co-worker (Jarod or he is also known as Dude Looks Like a Lady because that is my ringtone for him and he no where comes close to looking like a lady!) and I spent 4 days last week learning about Window 2008 server, my brain was so fogged by Friday afternoon, I didn't even know how to get back to the office, which was right across the street!  Are we sure we want to go to a Windows environment from Novell!

We left out Friday afternoon in the RV to go to Lake Dardenelle State Park and visit our youngest.  Her sorority was having a Think Pink Luncheon on Saturday.

The wind was blowing so strongly that I wasn't sure we would arrive. Jim's hands wouldn't unclinch for over an hour.  Needless to say all we hooked up was water and electricity at the site.

Bell, our daughter's cat that came to live with us 5 years ago, she is now our cat.  Love to cuddle, but on her terms, when she is done, she will let you know.  Lisa calls her psycho kitty - it fits.

It was a packed weekend with luncheon, shopping, attempting to print labels for wedding invitations, licking envelopes and the boys playing golf.  I will be posting some pictures, just got a new camera and am learning how to use it.

Jeffrey is showing Kaylyn what a great provider he will be!

Springtime and Remodels

We have been very busy the past few days.  I haven't had much time to knit or write a note. I am about half way finished with both the cowl and the shrug.  Hopefully I will get some knitting time this weekend, we are going camping and visiting our youngest daughter.

Last Thursday we got to go to opening night of the Naturals (minor league team for the Royals).  Jim and I went with a great friend of mine and her daughter and had a wonderful time. No better way to spend an evening than watching baseball and visiting with one of my best friends.

 I love Springtime and baseball and this had been a great year for it, we were able to go to opening day of the Razorbacks, opening weekend of the Royals and now the Naturals. I see a few more games in our future this summer!




We spent the weekend at our oldest daughter's, Abby, house in central Arkansas.  It was bathroom repair and remodel weekend.  She had the bathroom mostly dismantled when we got there Friday evening, but I do have pictures of during and after.  My husband had to replace a small section of subfloor because when he was removing part of old flooring, the subfloor gave way and we could see the crawl space of the house. It is a wonder Abby didn't end up in the crawl space before now.  It was a little more involved than we had planned, but my husband, Mr. Fix-anything, was able to put in supports, a new subfloor and have it ready for me to tile by 11:30 pm Friday night.  We finished the tile at about 1:00 am Saturday morning - I had to climb out the bathroom window to get out of the bathroom.  Abby has video and Kaylyn is threatening to put it on Facebook. 

Did I mention this was the only bathroom she has....(thank goodness for store bathrooms).
We were able to grout about 1pm on Saturday and had it all put back together by noon on Sunday.  Our future son-in-law was eager to help his future sister-in-law, so he learned how to lay and grout tile.  Quite a weekend, my husband also fixed our daughter's mower, made a few screens for her windows, and fixed our younger daughter's car battery. I also ran the weed-eater and sprayed foundation for bugs in between tiling and baking.

Besides tiling, I baked cinnamon scones for breakfast Sunday morning and then a batch of chocolate chip cookies for the girls to split.  I wish I would have thought to take a picture of the scones, they were a big hit.  I will post the recipe below. For dinner Saturday night, I made an orzo pasta salad, Abby made zucchini boats and the son-in-law cooked the steaks. I will try to get her to send the zucchini boats recipe, delicious!

Well after we got home at about 8:15 last night,  I realized I am not as young as I used to be and it takes more than a couple of hours to recuperate after a weekend like this.

I hope to have the energy and time to write this week.  I just praise God for the talents he has given my husband and that we have the opportunities to help our children~~


Cinnamon Scones
Scones dough:
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 c. fat-free half and half (I used skim milk)

Cinnamon filling:
2 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/3 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl combine all ingredients for cinnamon filling. Mix until evenly blended and set aside.

Scone dough: In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbles the size of small peas.  Stir in half and half until just moistened.

On a lightly floured surface, gently knead dough 5-10 times.  Pat dough into a 1/2 thick square.  Evenly sprinkle half of the dough with the cinnamon filling (reserving 1Tbsp for top of scones). Fold un-sprinkled half over the sprinkled half to cinnamon filling is in the middle.  Cut into 8 evenly sized wedges, place on baking sheet, approximately 3 inches apart. Brush tops with some half and half and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.  Bake until golden brown, about 13-16 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

My husband and doctors

Well, Tuesday I was escorted to the doctor by my husband, like a reluctant teenager. I first have to say that I haven't been to a primary care physician in over 11 years, I just don't get sick enough to go to the doctor.

Monday afternoon I noticed my lymph nodes on the right side of my neck were sore, that prompted me to head to the mirror to check out the tonsils, of course, I had pus pockets on the right one.  I didn't do much Monday evening, but had no fever.  My wonderful friend, Lisa, picked up pizza for us for supper so I didn't even have to cook. When I woke up Tuesday, throat was worse, completely covered with white spots.  I wasn't running a fever, but my body didn't know that, aching everywhere.  I rode to work with my husband and started the day, throat and body feeling worse.  Finally I decided I might go to the walk-in clinic (very good and sweet people there).  I asked my husband to bring me the car, thinking I would drop him off at his office and come back to my office and contemplate some more about going to the doctor.

My husband picks me up and proceeds to go directly to the clinic stating, "This is the only way I know you will go!"  It isn't that I don't like going to doctors, I just think I have to be dying before it is really necessary.  Good thing I went, I have strep and am on antibiotics.  Jim as thrown away all our toothbrushes and styrofoam Sonic cups that I like to drink out of.  Hopefully I will be well soon, didn't even feel like knitting much Tuesday.

Rainy Monday Morning

What a beautiful weekend in the central US. We spent Friday and Saturday in Kansas City.   We toured the Federal Reserve Bank (saw oodles of money being counted) and shopped at Country Club Plaza Friday. Jim and I had coffee at Starbucks while the rest of the group went to the movies.

We went to a KC Royals baseball game on Saturday and the weather was perfect, not to hot, gentle breeze.  We went with the Arvest Junior Bank Board member from school, good group of kids!  Best part was the company and the bratwurst with grilled onions and peppers, I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

We returned home Saturday evening so we were able to go to church on Sunday.  Then out in the yard to uncover and admire the signs of spring (cleaning a foot of leaves out of the flower beds).  My Irises are starting to bloom, they should be open in the next few days. The creeping phlox is in full bloom and adds color to the front of the house. On a sad note, I think the extreme and extended cold we had this winter killed my Rosemary bush.  It has been in the ground for about 13 years, in the past we always spoiled it in the winter by covering it when it got too cold, but this year we forgot.  There is one small shoot that is still green, but there is little hope.  I have already purchased another one to plant in its place when I work up the courage to pull the old one out.

After being 80+ degrees yesterday, it is only 46 degrees today and raining. I wish I was home curled up under a blanket knitting.  I had to settle for a little knitting at lunch today. I wanted to show you what I am working on now.  One is called the Honey Cowl. This is what I take with me in the car and to work on at lunch. With this one, I cast on 150 stitches, so it isn't as long as the picture shown with the pattern.  I am using NaturallyCaron.com Spa yarn.  I love how the yarn feels.  I made one in a purple already.  A lightweight spring cowl.

I am also working on the Aynia Shrug.  Basic stockinette stitch with a small lace border.  I am using Quince & Co. Chickadee yarn in Egret.  I hope to finish it in the next few weeks, though we will be busy this weekend remodeling our oldest daughter's, Abby, bathroom.  I hope to post before and after pictures of that project too.  It should be interesting, there will be 4 of us in house and no working toilet for 2 days!