Rain! Wind! and Tornados! Oh My!

Friday a little after noon.

We have had wild weather around here lately. Putting it mildly! Today is in the low 40s and very gloomy, light rain all night. Yesterday turned out kind of nice with some rain. But Wednesday afternoon and night it was bad. When there is severe weather in the area that is all the local TV channels broadcast.
Just after this we lost the satellite and then the power. It is heading towards us - we live just above the "on" in Bloomington. After the last photo we went downstairs to the basement. Took lanterns - good thing 'cause power was soon out.

Predicting it would be in Nashville in about 10 minutes - and they were right on the button

Round dots are rotation - downstairs we went. First time ever for us.

 Four tornados touched down around us – none in Brown County though. One was in Columbus – mostly trees and signs damaged. In the area where we always go to Menards and Wal*Mart a big restaurant sign came down and hit a car. In Bloomington many, many trees were uprooted and just plain shattered. A little town just south of there got hit pretty hard, several homes etc. lost.  These pictures are from Bloomington - it was a mess there.

Broken tree

Our power was out for 12 hours, until around 10:30 Thursday morning. Luckily we had some left over coffee that we could heat up on the stove as soon as I found matches to light the stove. For awhile we sat out on the back screen porch “communing” with nature. That got old quick for me – I remain a city girl. Who likes her civilized living.
Supposedly the bad weather is over and we are heading into a heat wave – really? Predicting over 90 for the race Indy 500 Sunday.
Not long after the power came back on we had to trek over to Bloomington to meet the new heart surgeon – appropriately named Dr. Hart. He is younger than Dougie Howser! Just kidding but he is young. He is associated with Bloomington Hospital which is associated with Indiana University. It’s a bigger hospital than the one in Columbus. Very nice guy – spent a lot of time with us and answered a lot of questions. Surgery is scheduled for June 2nd at about 7 a.m. We have to be at hospital at 5:30 – ick – it is still dark out then! If all goes as planned he will be home in five days. Doesn’t that sound like awfully quick? Doc says he is excellent candidate for bypass as he has no other health problems and doesn’t smoke or drink. Up till then he can pretty much do what ever he feels like doing – i.e. driving, going to market, climbing stairs [slowly] walking around outside. But the pills he’s taking are slowing him down some. So actually a lot of TV is being watched. But that’s okay as there is a big soccer game on Saturday and the two auto races are on Sunday.

Was just watching a doe and her tiny fawn across the street. The dog over there was barking at them and she, the doe, just stood her ground stamping her front feet daring the dog to come closer. Dog finally got smart and left. Then they just calmly walked back into the trees.
Everyone around here has been so nice – offering to do anything we need. Especially driving if it is storming – I still hate these roads. Even people we know just from the restaurant and Menards have been calling.
That’s about it for now – all is well.

Driver Updat and Pretty Pictures

Wednesday early p.m.

Well the Chinese Fire Drill continues. But first off The Driver is home now. He came home yesterday afternoon. He is more or less feeling okay. Very tired and weak. He is taking a lot of meds to keep his blood pressure low – so low in fact I questioned it when I heard it – 86/58 – didn’t know you could even walk around with it that low! And also taking meds to keep his heart from pumping so hard – something to do with oxygenating it. Guess I’m going to have to learn a whole bunch of new things.
He now has a new heart surgeon – named appropriately enough Dr. Hart (not sure of spelling yet as we haven’t met yet him.) Yesterday before he left hospital doc who was going to do surgery came in and told us he was leaving the hospital so there would be a new surgeon. But I’m getting ahead of myself – early in the a.m. the nurse came in and told him he might be transferred to Indy! instead of going home! What?! And surgery would probably be Friday. Well that got straightened out – no transfer. And he could go home. By the time I got to hospital he was spitting nickels. Then doc came in and told us he was leaving but everything would be fine and the surgery was set up for next Wednesday with new doctor. No problem. So he came home. All of his prescriptions had been faxed to the CVS here in town (the only pharmacy in town). Went to pick them up on the way home and of course they weren’t ready yet. So about an hour later I went back to get them. Oh Oh they didn’t have one of them, not in stock. And according to pharmacist he needed it that day. But I could drive back into Columbus (20 miles east of us) to pick it up there – an hours round trip from home! Oh but the pharmacy in Columbus closest to us didn’t have it either, would have to go clear to other side of town to get it. Luckily we have a VERY good friend who lives in Columbus who said he would pick it up and bring it to us. Thank goodness.
Then we got call from new heart surgeon. Would we mind meeting him on Thursday in his office in Bloomington (20 miles west of us) then he would reschedule surgery to hospital in Bloomington! EGAD! So that’s where we are now. Will meet new Doc tomorrow and reschedule. Bloomington hospital is bigger and associated with Indiana University. So maybe all for the best.
To other news. Had a big storm blow through here.
Lots of trees down and our power was out for a couple of hours. In Columbus where Bill was there was a tornado sighting so all the hospital patients were wheeled out into the halls away from the windows. It didn’t touch down though.
I spent the time the power was out out on the screen porch watching the wild turkeys and big fat raccoons eating the corn. Driving back and forth to the hospital I had to be careful – this is the time of the year the turtles wander around. Seemed like every few feet one was crossing the road.
Thought I’d include some pretty things from around here. Everything is blooming. We thought the peonies hadn’t made it through the winter but they now have blooms on them.

Out around the pond several bushes are coloring up and the daises are growing fast.

One of the clematis just after a rain.

A couple of weeks ago Bill redid our house sign out front. The other one was getting pretty weather beaten. Everyone around here names their house - so why not.

And I put up some wallpaper in the den. The couch and chair keep banging the wall and chipping the paint so maybe this will help. If not - will put up regular chair rail I guess.

Enough for now - will keep this updated. Spring is here and summer is coming - with all its new life and growth.

How Fast Things can Change

Its been awhile since I updated this – partly because I was lazy and not motivated and then the world turned upside down. In the past few weeks we’ve had wild weather – its been in the 90s with 70% humidity and its been in the high 30s. Its been windy, still, hot, cold, wet and dry. Something for everyone. It has finally stopped raining long enough for the water in the fields to be absorbed and the creeks to go down so the farmers are finally able to plant their crops.

Flowers are blooming all over the place – took some pictures of them but haven’t uploaded them yet – maybe later.
Most of the time lately Bill has been busy working on his carved wood faces and leather masks. I’ve been working on his web site - it is still very much a work in progress.
http:www.woodspiritsandleatherartstudio.com
But to the real news
Bill had a heart attack last week – sometime between Tuesday and Thursday night. He wasn’t feeling real good for about a week. Went to the Doc Thursday afternoon – had an EKG everything looked fine – Doc and Bill both thought it was probably a peptic ulcer acting up. Got prescriptions and went home. By 10:00 he was much worse – constant burping and burning pain in chest – not heart attack like….Anyway drove him into Columbus Hospital 25 miles away and they checked him in. Did some blood work and came into room and told us he had had a heart attack! WOW – Friday morning they took their machine and looked around inside. One artery is completely blocked and the others 70 to 80% blocked. So he is going to have bypass surgery – probably right after Memorial Day. In fact they will probably send him home today or tomorrow to wait for the heart to heal a little before the surgery. I’m a little nervous about him being here so far away from everything. But according to the Docs – the damage is done now and he should be fine. The heart is pumping strong with no unusual flutters or anything.
Well will keep this updated from now on – want to get this posted before we loose power again. Its been going on and off all night as the storms pass through here.
The Jeep was supposed to go into the garage for some extensive work this morning but think I’ll keep it here as I don’t want to be driving the Ford in heavy rain.
I’ll be heading over to the hospital soon to see if he really is coming home today – they need to get his meds set up – yesterday they gave him a new nitro paste patch and his blood pressure hit the floor and he practically passed out. Don’t want that to happen here! Or they will have another heart attack victim. At least the ambulance is just about 2 miles down the hill from us.
More later -

Frost Sunhine and Web Pages

Friday a.m.Stayed up late last night finishing a book by John Sanford – just started to reread his “Prey” series from the beginning. Then got up at 4:18 this a.m. In fact both of us got up and sat on the couch like lumps watching the news from Indy – ALERT no one was killed overnight! Made the mistake of going back to bed around 6a.m. – should never have done that – woke up with a headache and really didn’t feel like doing anything constructive.
After a gloomy start the sun came out and shone brightly the rest of the day. Thought about going down the hill a ways to see if I could find any mushrooms but it is still way too wet and the ground is pretty slick. And it is still really cold out – stayed cold all day.
Got some wallpaper border yesterday to put in the family room kind of like a chair rail. The couch and chair keep hitting the wall and chipping the paint. Will see how it works. Maybe I’ll try my bottle of 5 Hour Energy before I get started with it. I’ve only had the bottle since last summer – till now haven’t wanted 5 Hours worth of Energy.
Bill wants a web site for his leather/wood work – we are going to talk to a web builder next week to see how much it would cost – but have a feeling we will be doing it ourselves. After all it’s just a hobby not a job. Trying to figure out a way to incorporate it into the bead site and make that site all inclusive. Don’t know lots of work involved.
I wrote that first part yesterday then couldn’t get on line later in the day to publish it. So here it is now. Maybe more later.....
Yesterday ended up being sunny most of the day and the predicted rain for last night didn’t show up. And today is supposed to be nice.
Today is going to be mostly NASCAR watching for me. Lots of practice, qualifying and a race tonight.
And we are going to build our own web site for Bill’s “hobbies”…..worked on mock ups most of yesterday and drove me crazy. Things kept disappearing! Even entire pages! Grrrrrrr. I’ve forgotten so much since I built my pages.

What is that? Oh my gosh it is sunshine!

 

Tuesday p.m.

By Gosh By Golly we had SUNSHINE today for about six hours. Poured heavy all night and drizzled till about noon – then – blue sky, puffy white clouds and sun. Are we blessed or not? But………tonight it is supposed to go down to almost freezing! And by next week it is supposed to be in the 80s – And we are living in Indiana why?  They said on the news that during the month of May we will gain 54 minutes of daylight – gee that much longer to be gloomy – sure hope not. Check out the very dark sky behind the trees. 

Went into Columbus today. All the creeks and streams (what’s the difference?) are up to the top of their banks. Lots of fields flooded. Could get bad ‘cause we are supposed to get a couple more storms before the weekend.

While in town noticed the gas is now up to $4.29 But did find coffee for less than $8.00.

During one of our brief periods of sunshine Bill got his "Ferrari" [riding mower] out and took it for a drive.

The grass has been cut and new mulch is down and we even have some pretty red flowers on the deck.

This afternoon I noticed a hummingbird checking out the empty feeder so now have filled two of them and put them out back. When I went to put them outside I discovered four deer out there licking the salt and eating the corn. One of them looked very pregnant.

And this guy came to visit – never saw a bird like him before. Wonder what he is? 

Bill is still busy with his leather projects – he is now working on a couple of masks. Just in the beginning stages though.

 Got a new scanner – ordered it online from HP and had it in two days – no charge for shipping. Think I’ve figured out how to use it most of the time. And also loaded a couple more of the old programs that I use for stained glass projects.

Not much else going on today. Really weird - can't get online at all with AOL - can get online with IE but can't update this blog. So now I'm using FireFox and all is working fine.

Gloomy Weather for Days and Days

Monday a.m.

It continues to rain here – we’ve had gloomy weather 18 days out of the last 20! And rain 17 of them. And today it’s only in the mid 40s. Enough already.

its been like this for days

Do have to mention a funny incident on the one day the sun came up. I came out of the bedroom and got blasted in the face by a spotlight – what the heck? Wow it wasn’t a spotlight it was actually the sun shining through the windows. That’s how long its been since we’ve seen it. And it only stayed out part of the day.

Yesterday and today we’ve been going around the house turning on all the lights inside in hopes of lifting our spirits some.
Got a perm Friday – and I actually drove MY car to Bean Blossom to get it. First time I’ve driven the Mustang in almost a year. About the perm - now my hair is curly and quite short. About the salon - it is a small place, family run, been in business in a converted old home for years. A dog and a couple of cats have the run of the place. They sit in the empty client chairs or jump up on your lap when you’re under the dryer. Joys of a small town. Four other ladies came in while I was there for their once a week styling and I think I was the youngest customer there. Perm turned out great.
The deer have started to come back, mostly for the salt lick. They are still a little skittish about coming closer to the fence for the corn. And I think all the rain keeps them away too.
Went into town the other day and had to put gas in the Jeep it’s up to $4.17 a gallon here – and this was last week – Gosh knows what it is now. Sure glad I don’t have to drive for a job anymore.
Plumber came back to try to fix my shower – put in a new piece – still doesn’t work. Don’t know what to do next. They think it might be the fault of the water heater. What happens is – if the water gets too warm and I turn it down just a hair – very quickly all I have is COLD water. This happens in some of the other faucets too but not ALL the time. Just hope it gets fixed – not fun.
Bill has been busy with his leather work. Will take some pictures and post them later.