Brutal cold, so let's go shopping!

This photo of the New River was sent to Ray's Weather Center by Lynn Townsend yesterday. The river is only a few hundred yards from my house.

"Sections of the New River in Todd appear to be frozen pretty thick. These ice chunks are not on the banks of the River they ARE the New River right now. It will be interesting to watch how much thicker these ice chunks get with such cold temperatures still in the forecast for sometime to come."

It warmed up to about 30 degrees yesterday, and I was working at Hands Gallery. It was wonderful to get away from the house for a day and see some people. But, we got more snow last night and plunged back into the deep freeze today. The high at my house was 14 and it's 4 right now, with -10 wind cill. Looking ahead to next week I can see that there will be some warming, and by then anything above freezing might make me want to put on shorts and a t-shirt and plant my garden! (NOT!)

I decided to put some more things on sale in my Etsy Shop. The above piece was originally $98.00, but it can be yours now for only $60.00. I plan to add at least one piece each day until I get some things cleaned out.

Counting my blessings

At least we don't have it this bad. Thanks, Diane, for sharing this!

Cold but snuggly

It's been FYBO cold all weekend and I didn't stick my nose outside the house. It looks like it will continue all this week. Saturday the high was 16 and yesterday it got all the way up to 18. Today I decided that I was being way too much of a weenie and I was going to get out of here and go to town, by God! There are people that live in North Dakota that get out in these temperatures all the time! I'm a Mountain Woman! No big deal!  (These are the things I have to tell myself to psych myself up to do things I really don't want to.)  At 1:00 it was 17 degrees and little sparkly snow flakes coming out of clear blue sky. Not bad. I bundled up, went out and started the car, dashed back in and un-bundled. Waited ten minutes, bundled up again and headed out. Again, my PO box was stuffed full, and I had a package waiting that had been there since before Christmas. (Every time since then the PO has been closed when I was there.) I had a long list of errands to run and was looking forward to crossing them off my list. The closer I got to Boone, the worse the weather got. Snowing harder... black ice on the road... Realllllly windy... I went to the grocery store to re-stock the necessities (read: chocolate) and came back home. It was just too ccccooollllld and my face was feeling stiff by the time I loaded the groceries in the car. (I did buy other things besides chocolate 8-)  ). So I'm staying in for another couple of days, until I have to work at Hands Gallery on Thursday. The other errands can wait, but it felt really good to just get out of the house for a short while.

I've not been a slacker during my isolation. I've been cleaning my house from top to bottom and working a little in the studio. I have a tray of "kaizen" (Japanese word for continuous improvement.) pieces and parts that I've been making into acceptable jewelry. These are things that 1) hadn't sold and needed to be reworked, 2) parts I made that I didn't know what to do with, or 3) unfinished projects. In the near future I'm going to tear the studio up, throw away, clean, organize and then start working on new things. That's my plan, anyway.

2010

Another year is over and I'm feeling a little melancholy today. How did 2009, or the entire decade of the new millenium for that matter, go by so quickly? They say it's a function of getting older - that time seems to rocket past in the blink of an eye. I don't make resolutions. It's too much pressure and I'm really more into eliminating stress than causing more. Therefore, the clicking over of one number to another really doesn't matter much to me. I was asleep by 10:30 last night because I knew that the ball would drop and the calendar change-over would happen even if I didn't stay awake to see it. I woke briefly around midnight because my neighbors insisted on letting me know that it happened, despite my lack of enthusiasm, by setting off fireworks. I mumbled "Happy New Year" to the cat, rolled over, and continued with my good night's sleep.

One reason for my less-than-enthusiastic mood is that I'm getting cabin fever already. The foot and a half of snow that we got on December 18 is still on the ground and, in my road where it's been driven on, is a solid sheet of ice. There's a steep little hill over a culvert that needs to be negotiated to get to the paved road. Durng the three (count 'em, THREE) times I've ventured out since 12/18 I've had mini heart attacks each time I've driven it, zig-zagging my way across, and praying that the car stayed where it was supposed to. Apparently it doesn't bother any of my neighbors as much as it does me, because no one has done anything to try and eliminate the ice.

The Christmas ice storm and power outage was very depressing. Not only was I missing my family, but sitting here alone in the dark really put me over the edge. I'm now entertaining thoughts of moving somewhere else because I feel really isolated. I managed to get out (one of my three trips out) last Tuesday and went to Raleigh for an overnight and belated celebration with my Dad and my Sister. With a stop at the Super WalMart in Wilkesboro on the way home to re-stock, I made it back before the next snow storm left us another couple of inches.

Our local weather man says we're going into the deep freeze for at least the next week. We won't make it above freezing and hardly into the 20s with over night temperatures in the single digits. (He actually said "we'll be like the forgotten lima beans on the back shelf of the freezer by the time this is over".) So, since it will be a balmy 30 degrees today, I think I'm going to get some of my frustrations out by taking a shovel up to the glacier in the road and chip some ice. If I know I can get out of here, even if it's FYBO cold, that might help.

Power's back on

My power went out shortly after yesterday's post and was out for over 24 hours. So, I spent Christmas day by myself, reading a book while it was still daylight and going to bed at 8:00. I have gas logs to keep the house warm and, even set on low, the living room never went below 74 degrees. Thats a lot warmer than I usually keep my house, but it was only 68 in the bedroom. I have a battery-operated radio, but couldn't get the local station to come in. Turns out that they were offline, too, until early this morning. Here's some facts: 27,000 people lost power, and it might be Tuesday before everyone gets theirs back. Trees are down, making many roads impassable. There's still ice in most of the trees and they're still falling. We're in a State of Emergency. They're saying this is the worst tree damage and power outage since Hurricane Hugo in 1989. And last week we had the most snow since 1993 - there's still 5 or 6 inches on the ground in most places.

I'm trying to find a two-day window to go see my family, since they're calling for more crappy weather next week. Right now I'm looking at Tuesay... we'll see.

I was not dreaming of an icy Christmas!

So far the power is still on, but it keeps blinking. There are trees and limbs down all over the place, and it sounds like rifle shots going off outside.

It's 28 degrees. I only need 4 more degrees to (hopefully) bring this to an end. I don't think I'll get home to Raleigh today, as there are trees down across the roads, according to the radio, and who's going to clean that up on Christmas Day? I'm missing the holiday with my family for the first time in my life and it's been rough. At least I'm not overseas fighting a useless war and I still have a warm house and can bitch about it on this blog to all of you. I hope your day is happier than mine.

Day five, and I GOT OUT!

Woo Hoo! I managed to escape the prison of my house today! It was not an easy task, to say the least, but I managed to get out and back home safely. Yesterday, my neighbor got her pickup stuck in the middle of the road (No 4-wheel drive, no chains, bad tires and no weight in the back. What was she thinking? But, then, she's from Florida, so I guess that explains a lot.) and this morning it was still there, so I didn't make my 9:30 dentist appointment. Another neighbor got her truck out by 10:00 and the dentist said they could still see me if I got there by 11:00, so off I went, slippin' and slidin' up the little hill (with big drop-offs on both sides) and finally reached black pavement. Whew! I don't do well in these situations. My car has all-wheel drive and does very well in snow, but ice is another matter. My palms get sweaty and my heart pounds and I really don't like it. But, I did it.

When I got to the dentist's, he said I needed a crown, of course, and all that drilling put my heart back into palpitations, but it really wasn't too bad. He was quick. I think everyone in his office was anxious to start their Holiday vacation, and here comes this woman at the last minute. Then, I almost passed out when they told me how much it cost. I know my credit card is gasping it's last breath at this point, but whatcha gonna do? Merry Christmas, Dr. Bridgeman!! (I know, a funny name for a dentist - BRIDGEman. We have a meteorologist on one of the Charlotte TV stations named Larry Sprinkle, too.)

I went to the Post Office - my box was absolutely stuffed, and I had two packages waiting - and returned the movies I'd rented last Thursday. Got some groceries, went to the bank and then came home. Coming down the little hill is not as bad as going up it.

The freezing rain forecast for Christmas Eve has not changed, so I probably won't go to Raleigh until Christmas Day, if the temperature rises enough. Just taking it one forecast at a time, and my family wants me to be safe, so it will all work out.

I want to thank all of you who read this blog for hanging with me since I started it last May. It's been an adventure, that's for sure. I hope that your Holiday Season is glorious!

Mwa,
Zoe