A Wild Weather Weekend

Wow what a crazy weekend we had here. It all started on Friday. I took my sister to Knoxville for her chemo treatment. This was her third one so she is halfway through the treatments and doing great!!! The doctor is so happy with all of her bloodwork. While we were still at the hospital we noticed the skies turning dark and the wind really starting to blow. We knew bad weather was predicted for our area, which is about forty miles from the hospital, but we were hoping we could get back home before it started.

At about 1:30 PM I got a notice on my phone that my security camera at home had gone out. That meant the power was out. We were still at the hospital with about another thirty minutes to go before the treatment was finished. I figured the storm was probably hitting close to my house at that time. My husband was at work and of course I was so worried about the kitties. They were all inside but they get nervous. We finally left the hospital around 2:00 PM. I took my sister home. We ran into some torrential rain but we made it home safe. I took off for my house which is about another thirty minute drive.

The power was out all over town. The main road to my house was blocked because of broken power poles. I took another back road and came upon a car slowly backing up because of a downed tree. I turned around and took another back road and finally made it to my driveway. It looked like a war zone, there were lines and trees down everywhere. There was a large tree blocking our driveway. I had to park the car up the driveway and walk down to the house. I still had no electricity. When I have no electricity I also have no cell service except in one spot several hundred yards from the house. I guess that’s better than nothing. I have no water because we are on a well system. The water will run for only a few minutes after we lose power. I do have a generator but I wasn’t sure about starting it without Mark there. It is new and I had never used it.

Lots of Kitty snuggles went on this weekend. I think the kitties were glad to have my attention solely on them. It makes you think about all the things you miss by having your eyes focused on a screen. Thankfully the weather was fairly mild so it didn’t get too cold at night or early morning.

Kitty Kitty sleeping on my lap.

I did a lot of reading this weekend. Because I had no internet I wasn’t on my phone and I finished this entire book in a day and a half. It Starts With Us is the sequel to It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover. I know it sounds sort of backwards but you will just have to read it. Both books are great!!!

We did not get power back until Sunday afternoon. Forty eight hours without power. I went into town on Saturday and bought ice and filled a cooler with some of our items from the refrigerator but we lost almost everything. On Saturday night we got the generator going so we could have TV and internet for awhile. Mark had to work all weekend so it was just me and the kitties. It was a very quiet weekend. I am so thankful that no trees fell on our house or on anyone. It could have been so much worse. I feel grateful this is all the damage we sustained.

When I was at the hospital with my sister we were checking out at one of the desks and setting up some appointments. I looked up and spotted this writing by St Therese. I think it is very appropriate and I looked it up after I left and copied it. It’s very fitting for whatever you may have going on in your life. I think if we truly believe we are exactly where we are meant to be then what else could there be? Very freeing!!!!!

Did you have a wild weather weekend?

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Goodbye July, Hello Monday

Goodbye to July and hello August. I can’t say I am sorry to see July go. I love fall so that means that the end of July is bringing my favorite season closer.

July was a hard month for us. We lost our precious old Molly girl. If you didn’t catch that post you can read it here: Goodbye Molly Rose. She was fifteen years old, approximately, and she passed over the Rainbow Bridge on July 7th. I was just getting over Covid and still feeling weak and loopy from it. My brother underwent open heart surgery, but he is doing very well and that is such a blessing. My little mother in law suffered a heart attack and is still recovering from that so whew!!!! Yes it has been a rough month.

And now. July was an awesome month!!! Lots of great things happened!!! My brother is doing great and recovering wonderfully from his surgery. My little ma in law is recovering nicely and still feisty and waiting to go back to her room at the Assisted Living Center. Mark did not get Covid when I had it. I am feeling much stronger. And sweet Molly is running and playing and happy across the Rainbow Bridge. We were able to visit with some sweet family members from Texas. And while it has been hotter than Satan’s breath we have had some nice rain showers and everything is a brilliant green. I guess it’s all how you look at it.

I had a lot of fun this past weekend. I went out on Saturday morning to buy groceries and decided to make a slight detour to the farm market near my house. I knew their vegetables would be crazy good right now and yes they were and very plentiful.

***This is the long road leading to the Farm Market. Last year it was totally gravel and soooo dusty. It looks like they have put some concrete or something on it.***

***I have been craving okra I was so happy to see this.***

After I left the Farm Market I drove on over to nearby Tellico Plains, the downtown area. I went to the Museum Marketplace.
This is a thrift store and antique store with locally handmade items and just a little bit of everything. I only bought one thing this little powder box. I am not sure if it is pewter. It is heavy and old and I will probably keep my earrings in it. It just caught my eye and I had to keep circling it which usually means I need to go ahead and buy it. So I did.

***I am not really sure how to clean this if you have any ideas please let me know. It is heavy.***

This little group of music makers travel all around downtown Tellico playing in lots of different shops. Today they were set up
at the entrance to the Marketplace and I just had to stop and chill and listen for awhile. They have been playing together for ages
and they are just amazing.

I bought potatoes, cucumbers, okra and a huge cantaloupe. The prices are so much better than Walmart or anywhere else in town and so delicious and fresh.

I bought a spiral ham at Walmart and was planning to cook the ham and veggies on Sunday and maybe do spaghetti on Saturday night. Mark suggested I cook the ham after I got home on Saturday and we made sandwiches and then just reheated the ham on Sunday. That way we only had to do the veggies on Sunday. So that is what we did and it worked out great!!!

I cook okra the way my mama always did. I don’t know how you do yours but this is how we ate okra when I was growing up and I just love it this way. I wash and cut up my okra. I could’t help but laugh as I was cutting the okra. It is a little slimy and sticky inside the stalks. My brother Joe and I used to get the ends and stick them to our heads and pretend they were horns. HA!!! My mama never found that as amusing as we did. Anyway back to the okra. After I cut it I roll it in a little flour or cornmeal, whichever I have on hand, I used flour this time. Salt it. And then I put oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat and cook it until it is nice and soft. Then I drain it and put it in the oven and finish it by baking it. It makes it nice and crispy. I cannot stand soggy okra. It is so yummy this way. How do you cook okra?

It rained most of Sunday and I worked on the temperature blanket. I was a little behind but here it is through June. If you don’t know, I started crocheting the temperature blanket in January. You crochet a different color, which corresponds with the temperature, for each day. I used blues for the colder months and I have been using red and orange for the warmer months. The last couple of months have been totally orange and red. I think orange goes to 88 degrees F and anything above that I am using the red color. If you want to check out all the colors and the temperature chart just check out this blog post from a few months ago:
I am making a crocheted temperature blanket.