Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 10 December 2017

Thanks all and Hi SheilaFE (so nice to see you!).  All okay and at a televised meeting with local fire folks, etc. about procedures, progress etc., one official said (in response to a question) that there was no expectation that it would spread into our immediate area.  Friend's neighborhood, much closer to the front edge of the fire, was evacuated tonight - just in case - as it gained a lot of ground last night. Spoke to UK family today and heard about snow.  Stay warm all of you and be careful on the streets and sidewalks.

AQ: No fast moves there please!  

Have been cleaning the house the last two days. Yes, counter-intuitive I know, but the windows are all closed and Lord knows nobody is venturing out unless they absolutely have to and I had to do something constructive!  Cleaned my room yesterday, top to bottom, and worked on the kitchen today while watching non-stop coverage of the fire, etc.  Horrified at cobwebs lurking in the living room (tomorrow's project) - I wouldn't be surprised to find the Adams family lurking somewhere in the dusty gloom....

Well, crikey, Annette. If you're going to clean house, you can come stay with me! The Adams family were staying here, but the spiders in my house ate all of them! 

Seriously, I've got spiders that would curl up the hair on the back of your neck.

Stay safe.

Nice to see you, Sheila! AQ: I hope your back is feeling much better. Hello to everyone!

Diane: How's your new heater working out?  There was a mention of bad weather in Indiana on the national news this evening.  

Hi, Annette. The new heater won't keep the house warm, but it keeps me warm when I sit beside it. I have to remember not to use the microwave while the heater is on. My electricity system in this house is very old, and using both the heater and the microwave will flip the circuit breaker. I had to wander around in the cold and dark last night and reset the breakers. My Dad had never labelled them in the electric box, so I used many powerful and descriptive sweary words while I was trying to get everything back on again. 

I got a little snow here. They had more in northwest Indiana; I think it was lake-effect snow around Lake Michigan (Great Lakes). You folks in the UK received much more than I did. Looks like ForestBoar received a lot!

Good. Morning,  All. They're showing the fires in Santa Barbara on tv right now.....

Keep safe Annette - you're going to have a sparkly clean house by Christmas, at this rate!!

Diane -  Goodness, keep yourself warm.

Crisp and white here, with a moon still in the sky at the moment.

Today's pic:

Snowman built by my grandsons (with help from Daddy) yesterday!

Good morning everyone. I can't tell what the outside temperature is as whatever it was was cold enough to knock out the battery.

Annette: Trying to charter a fleet of jumbo jets!

We ended up with around 9-10 inches. No sign of gritters yet, plus have several hours to dig out the car, pathway around the house for buggy size at some time. One problem is that we are around 790ft high which means we always get the worst going. (positive thought, a lot of the rest of the country will be well under water if we get flooded!) I thought we were planned for this as we cook in bulk and freeze portions, so we have food for a good week to 10 days plus we freeze a number of milk containers as well. However cat food is in the shed at the end of the garden and indoors is in short supply.! That’s the first operation to carry out today. Our one fear is a blackout as we have had several brownouts and a blackout will leave us a problem with hoists as, although they both have batteries, their life is limited. However the first thing of the day, coffee, operated smoothly! Car NOT going anywhere today.

The snow has finally arrived in the south-east.  I knew it would when the BBC weather forecast said it would only rain with perhaps a little sleet today ... why do we believe these forecasts?!?!?!?  It's been snowing quite hard for a couple of hours now, with quite a covering on the grass - but nothing like ForestBoar or Lindy's grandsons.  Don't think my car is going anywhere today either - and somehow I don't think my golf will happen tomorrow either.

Keep safe and warm, everyone.  Special thoughts for Annette - it sounds pretty scary in her part of the world.

Not to make light of your situation ForestBoar, but you must get your priorities right!  Best get down to that shed asap, or the cats will give you a hard time.