Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 9 August 2020

Got online to my e-mail account this morning to find 3,300-plus new e-mails!! Argh! That's what I thought. No idea what happened but it seems all my old mail (a scary amount at that) had decided to refile itself overnight. Lord know how..... I made short work of getting rid of it, but....

Am going to Brit friend's house for strawberries and cream in her garden this afternoon: But don't get excited; she has only two bathrooms.

Gran rescue successful. A load of washing put on, previous folded & put away, latest hung out, time to empty half of dishwasher, off to school run with Dau coming to advise best route & parking. Twins took my hands and escorted me to meet Teacher. (Who looks young enough to still be at school herself!!!) Back to make zucchini slice for their tea, listen to twins read to me, Miss8 wanted me to read to them, so one book about snow leopards and it was time for me to go home for a quick tea with OH. Friend phoned with news the movie “Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society” was on TV. We both enjoyed the book. For once I did not fall asleep in front of TV.

As we walked out of school, a boy called out to MissJ. She replied “Not Grandma, it’s Gran, ya dumbo.” The school library is being painted and Reception class were allowed to take extra readers home. MissJ was allowed 6; but she could not decide and conned her teacher into allowing 7. Dau is admiring her skills 1) reading, 2) managing her teacher. LOL Miss L is a step behind her twin in reading but still doing well. She just lacks confidence. Dau’s hand badly swollen – she had it in a sling to remind Trio not to bump.

DIANE & ANNETTE – In our paper this morn - a certain country has avoided a second wave by staying in the first wave. It was in the joke column and I’m sorry to say we both laughed.

AQ:  You are around your grandkiddies so much they'll have wonderful memories of you!   I loved the "Guernsey...." book.  I think I saw the film too.  

Diane: A bit worried about bjane.  You mentioned Cedar Rapids being hit badly by the deroche, which apparently had winds upward of 100 mph.  There was a segment on NPR this afternoon reporting that hundreds of building had been destroyed or damaged in Cedar Rapids; that the state's corn harvest has been devastated and that many thousands of people are without power or any way to communicate.  I'm not sure of the areas so badly affected or where bjane lives.....   Any clues?  And I wonder about her daughter too.  What's unbelievable is that the Governor isn't asking for the Feds to declare a state of emergency until Monday!!

Annette: Yes, I also heard that NPR report this morning. I also was very concerned.

BJane lives in Cedar Rapids. She was raised there and then moved to Arizona for many years, but then she moved back to Cedar Rapids. 

The NPR report here said that the winds had topped out at 112 miles per hour in Cedar Rapids and 70% of the city still has no power. HERE and HERE IS more information about conditions in Cedar Rapids right now. 100 National Guard troops have been deployed to help clear debris and get the power on, and the city is begging for federal assistance. They don't expect to have power until Tuesday. There are 2500 downed power poles.

I hope Bjane is safe and okay. 

A derecho storm is a hurricane on land. It's a massive, wide, very long-lived storm front with strong straight-line winds that are often as powerful as hurricane winds. The winds form a strange "bow-echo" squall line shaped like a backward "C".  Tornadoes can spin out of the supercells embedded in the storm. 

Derecho storms usually occur in summer and travel with a front of heavy, flooding thunderstorms. But they can happen at any time, and in the winter, they can create dangerous blizzards here in the Midwest. This derecho storm began in South Dakota and barreled 770 miles across multiple states in 14 hours, ending up in Ohio. The edge of the storm went over me, and it didn't do my roof any good, but I'm fine.

My stomach always turns over when I see that shape on my local radar. They're creepy storms because you usually can't hear them coming up in the distance. They're on you in minutes, and they can just snap huge trees right off at the base. A derecho can devastate a forest. As soon as I see one on radar, I put my flashlight and other supplies next to me. 

This particular storm killed 4 people, three in Iowa and a woman in Indiana, and it injured many more. I didn't see any report that would suggest that Bjane was a victim. An Iowa energy company said it was one of the worst storms they'd ever seen in terms of power outages, so she's probably without electricity. 

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Rosy: I hope the damage to your building can be repaired quickly and you will be safe. I'm sorry that happened!

Good Morning. Another sunny day here, but hopefully not as hot as recently.

Diane, those storms sound horrendously dangerous and scary. Glad you're OK. Let's hope that bjane has only lost her electricity, but is OK otherwise.

AQ -- Good that things went well on your rescue mission. Your daughter may have to struggle for a while with that hand, it sounds painful, too. Glad you got to see the film as we loved it.

Heather, hope things will look up for your son, after all his hard work. It's a worry running a shop normally, never mind at present in these difficult times.

I'm off to stock up my larder & freezer.

Annette -- all those emails sound like a waking nightmare!!!

Still summer here – Sat morning – so mowing going on outside – had to get OH to push the study window from outside as he had opened it before starting on front lawn and I couldn’t breathe through the grassy smell.

PAT – pleased you were spared the decision re visit, although weather sounds as if it would have been okay for staying outside! Sorry you still have the humid heat without any rain. We have some breeze with it here, so relatively pleasant.

LINDA – I hadn’t realised Sue was back from Wales – and is the nearby Son the same one who was also in North Wales at the time? (not being nosey, just like to get all my ducks in line) Well done seeing the bottom of the ironing basket – did you do the lurking shirt from outside or is that waiting for next time?

ANNETTE – I hate it when old emails start reproducing – have to delete more often from the server account then they won’t get sent again to my Outlook. I hope you enjoyed the Strawberries and Cream on the lawn – sounds very royal! I also worried about BJane – usually if somebody mentions a weather happening over her way, she comes on here to reassure us.

AQ – pleased school visit went well. Your Daughter and Trio certainly kept you busy! I attempted to watch that film when it was on TV here but couldn’t find my way into it so gave up!

DIANE – so maybe lack of message from BJane is due to power and communication outages. Thanks for the explanation of the weather system which hit Cedar Rapids. Sorry it further damaged the remains of your roof, but glad you were okay.

OH is indoors – this must have taken me a long time to write, as his battery must be used up – he will resume mowing later. I think J has been busy getting his finances tidied up – payday today.

We are obviously in a micro-bubble here. There has been heavy rain and flooding less than five miles away, and yesterday the motorway around ten miles away was closed due to flooding. But we are still waiting ... it's overcast and misty with something vaguely liquid in the air, but still very muggy. We need a good storm!!!

PAT - wishing you cooling rain without power outages, lightning strikes or any other nasty features - just rain to settle the atmosphere!