Saturday, September 4, 2010

Earthquakes & checking in

I heard the news about New Zealand on Thursday evening. I'm so glad Fran was able to reach Marion and could tell us she is okay.

Seems that our dear old planet is having a bit of rock & roll, with so many big earthquakes lately. A few years ago, we signed on for earthquake insurance for our house. We are less than 200 miles from the New Madrid Fault and the regional quake experts predict something to happen in the near future. Our house is brick, so all sorts of damage could happen.

WEATHER - We finally have some deliciously cool weather! Last night's low was 55°F and the high is 77 but the humidity is very low. Absolutely beautiful weather! A big thank you to Canada for sending it to us.

NEWS - Our son and his wife will be moving here some time over the next 3 to 9 months. DS accepted a transfer to his employer's office here. Their largest hurdle is selling their house in Atlanta in a slow market and bad economy. They are not planning to move house until it sells, so DDIL may stay down there to live and work until it does. Nothing is decided yet, though, and we will take it all one day at a time. Now,,, if I could only get her interested in sewing . . . but I won't hold my breath.

JANE IN NC -- How is your new dog Kit settling in?

Hugs to everyone.

Friday, September 3, 2010

NZ earthquake

Have just rung Marion to see how they are. They have electricity but no internet connection and all is fine with them. They have had aftershocks almost hourly since the earthquake and some of them have been very big (.7 and .5) so they are in and out of the house quite a bit. She said it is a beautiful sunny day, for which they are thankful - imagining how much worse it would be for the people of Christchurch if it was cold and wet. Only 2 people badly injured but the sewerage and water supplies are damaged, along with quite a few roads and buildings of course. Small towns between them and Christchurch have also been affected. They are very used to earthquakes over there but this has been a shocker. Christchurch is a beautiful city - I hope they find down the track that not much of significant importance has disappeared.

Marion says she will get in touch as soon as she can.......

Hugs
Fran

Earthquake

That certainly makes life's little annoyances seem pretty small at this point. I had not heard and thank you for posting this to the board. Thankfully, Marion is not right in Christchurch but her power may be cut off at this point. She's pretty faithful about keeping in touch. I must ask the newshound in this household if he's heard about it...must have. We have been absorbed in what may likely be a homicide here in town with a nurse who was taken from her home, blood everywhere, helicopters flying low overhead in the past day or two. Such awful happenings.

Rosey

Earthquake

Marion is the only DUG in the South Island and is in Rangiora out of Christchurch . She could have damage as there is a lot, not too many injuries mainly mild cuts and bruises . Lots of buildings really badly damaged. The centre of Christchurch is shut down , water, power and sewage . The power may be on later today. I must emphasise the news keeps changing minute by minute and we all know what the reporters are like. No tsunami as the epicentre is inland near Darfield. I must go as the computer is still playing up .New one on the list. Hugs to all Bee in a shaky NZ.

NZ earthquake

I'm pretty sure Marion is the only DUG on the South Island. Bee and TENNEH I believe are on the North Island. Fran in Oz would know for sure if she is able to post a note.

DUGs - please post when able and let us know if there's anything we can do! Well, other than send positive thoughts, prayers, energy your direction. :-)

Thinking of you and sending hugz,
Mary in Oregon

NZ EARTHQUAKE

I just turned on the radio so haven't heard anything since this morning. At that time they said that so far, at least, there was no tsunami warning. I don't understand why not considering the severity and proximity of the quake.

MARION is the one active poster whom I know is on the South Island. How about TENNEH? Since she mentions mountains so often I think she may be also. We have high hopes, good thoughts and prayers for you and your countrymen. My daughter, survivor of several so. CA quakes including Northridge, has told me that in addition to the major stress incurred in having your house jiggle and the pictures fall off your walls the aftershocks just serve to make that much worse and of longer duration. She said it's rough working with people all of whom are suffering from post traumatic stress. They tend to get edgy and crabby. Time and laughter are the cure.

Please, anyone on the South Island, let us know how you are.

Hugs heading to the southern hemisphere
Jane

Earthquake in N.Z.

I just read that there was a 7.0 earthquake near Christchurch, N.Z. I forget who in on the South Island, and who on the North. Hope you are both OK.
Let us know.
Sara in Fla.

Life's Litte Annoyances

I'm sure that vacuum cleaners were designed by men to irritate women. That snakey thing called a hose gets caught around corners and under the corners of beds and even if I had central vac I'm sure I'd find something annoying about it. Meanwhile, I know I have it better than my forebears.

Seam rippers rolling off tables or husbands who leave messes around everywhere they've been, expecting the invisible maid-service to clean them up while he's sitting at the computer. It never bothers him when I ask him to lift his feet so that I can vacuum beneath them but then his mother had a maid and he had two brothers, no women in the house other than his mother. My son pitches in from changing diapers to vacuuming the house. Different generations.

Earl is scheduled to hit Nova Scotia this week-end I think.
I'm just catching bits and pieces of the news as I vacuum !#*@&!

Rosey

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Phyllis, "Earl" "Fiona" and "Gaston"

In case some of you don't check the other board, Phyllis had a good idea with the seam ripper. Put a few dabs of hot glue on the round handle so it won't roll. Such a simple idea, but excellent. Thanks Phyllis!
"Earl" seems to be pasing by Fla. today, thankfully. I'm going over to the ocean later on today to see the waves. Lots of surfers out. If anyone you know lives in the outter banks area, or Va. Beach area, hopefully they have left town. If not please encourage them to. A catagory 4 storm is nothing to play with.
"Fiona" is predicted to go to the middle of the Atlantic and not cause any problems.
"Gaston" however is the one to watch as of this morning. It isn't getting a lot of attention now, due to the impact of "Earl" on N.C. but may come to Florida.
I'm going to do more dog training this morning with their new collars.
Sara in Fla.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Seam ripper woes

OK, I know this isn't as important as world peace, or cures for cancer, but geeeee.
I bought the Fonz and Porter seam ripper on Friday, used my JoAnne 40% off coupon, which made it $2.99. Used it once on Friday afternoon, the darn thing kept rolling off of the table onto the floor--about 3 or 4 times. The handle is round and cushy.
On Sunday evening I moved a pile of fabric, the ripper hit the floor again, and this time broke the sharp end off at the base. DH and I both looked for it, cause it has a sharp point and don't want to step on it. No luck.
I called this JoAnne's (there are 2 locally) and asked if I could exchange it, as I had only bought it Friday. They said yes. Took receipt, and broken thing back last evening at 6:30 and got a new one. It is still in it's box. I guess will have to put it up in the gadget basket each time I use it, or it will continue to roll on the floor.
Will try to be more careful in the future.
Rosey--we had some fresh corn several times in July, yum. Your's will be better since there were no chemicals involved. My local grocery had tons of it. So much so that I got tired of eating it! Now I'm on to South Carolina peaches.
The weather is finally cooling off-another yea. As in under 90 for 2 days straight. A cool breeze also. We think this is from Danielle who thankfully went by, just stired up the Atlantic Ocean some. Now we are watching "Earl" who hopefully will do the same. I actually went into the yard at 7AM and trimmed hedge, re-tied up vines on the posts of the pergola, etc.

A GF is coming over tonight to help sew with the indian costumes. I need the company more than the help, but help is always a good thing.
OK, someone else check in--inquiring minds want to know stuff.
Sara in Fla.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The funny thing about computers is

that when you do what you are instructed to do they work better. I've had this thingy sitting here from Bell, our telephone, computer server, for a year or so since we got onto high speed. It's a connector to make things run a little better. It's been sitting on my file cabinet collecting dust. Friend Walter (ret.AirCan.pilot) dropped in this morning on his way into town, installed it and guess what....I'm getting faster speed on my internet service. Wonder why that is...lol !

Marion, you live in such a beautiful place in the world, I can't imagine why it's so far down in the hemisphere and it takes most of us so long to get there. Maybe that's the secret of New Zealand's charm...if it was a lot closer, we'd all be living there. Enjoy the sun. We are starved for it here in Dec. & Jan. too....sometimes November too.

Our weather this summer in Southern Ontario has been nothing short of glorious. Mother Nature gets an A+ this year. About time, too, our last couple of summers have not been up to scratch...this year is like our summers always used to be when I was growing up at the beach.

How lucky can I be...a teacher one line over in his spare time is growing organic veggies...organic corn is a special treat because corn seeds are chemicalized in the seed itself before it's planted. Tonight, organic (unsprayed by chemicals) corn, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots...wow...a feast.

Again, the board postings are lagging and I hope more people join in and let us know what they've been up to. Otherwise, friendships may die into cyberspace.

Rosey