in the Caribbean) who visited most of Eastern Canada on Saturday night. As you can see by the photo of the damage of the recently completed deck Mother Nature showed no mercy when she snapped off the trees half way down. The tree doing this damage was one of eight on that side of our house, including one that serves as a clothesline pole. The windows for the first time since we’ve built near the water are a mess! The salt spray and bits of trees are stuck on them and they will require power washing to be able to see out through them. We had a front row view of the drama – felt like we were on the deck of a ship with the waves crashing on the beach below our rock wall.The wind and rain actually began on Saturday morning while I was cleaning out the ‘old house’ across the road (more on why later) and with just one 5 sec. power flicker in the evening things went along pretty smoothly. I was up to the bathroom at 1 a.m. and the electricity was still on but I awoke again suddenly at 1:10 a.m. to complete darkness – not a glimmer. Thus started the saga of powerlessness. It was not reassuring to reach the power company recorded message of estimated repair time of Tuesday Nov 6th at 11:30 p.m. when the storm was predicted to be over. Just now at 5:30 p.m. we have had power restored. Apparently the two small communities on either side of our hamlet and us were the last places in our area without power restored.
Our EMO preparations of house design with propane range top and fireplace kept us fed and warm during the night and the rain had stopped by this morning and the wind subsided over the day with the sun coming out to raise temperatures to 17 degrees or so. The solar gain we received managed to make the house cozy and before we had to contemplate another night without utilities the power came on so the lanterns didn’t require lighting. We are actually - except for no sports network according to the sports nut – all set up for these kinds of emergencies. I can live with reading and scrapbooking so did not feel the pinch as much. The generator is a nice touch although it's not quite big enough to run the whole house. With the technology coming along for wind power it won't be long before we're hooked into that which will completely solve our energy deficiency problems.
So why did I spend 2.5 hrs. on each Saturday and Sunday cleaning out junk, treasures and garbage from the house we deserted last year? Well, we have accepted an offer on it and if the deal goes through (keep your fingers crossed for us) it will close on November 30th. With the market so slow we were disappointed in the price by at least $10,000 of our hoped for target but it makes no sense to leave it empty and the price is hardly likely to go up. It will be nice to have it all settled before the winter heating season kicks into high gear. And the best part is that these folks loved the place the way we did when we first saw it 20+ yrs ago and plan to fix it up for a vacation then retirement home. It’s too nice to let go to ruin. So my next three weekends are all scheduled, as it’s a job you have to do in stages due to the physical nature and aggravation factor.
Of course this means that it’s now time to think of returning to work in the morning and it feels as if I’ve been on Survivor since Friday. At least I won’t have to sneak into work in my pajamas to take a shower in the a.m. To cheer myself (and you) up I'm including:
The Riddle of the Day
Arnold Schwarzenegger has a big one.
Michael J. Fox has a small one.
Madonna doesn't have one.
The Pope has one but doesn't use it.
Clinton uses his all the time.
Bush is one.
Mickey Mouse has an unusual one.
Liberace never used his on women.
Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his.
Cher claims that she took on 3.
We never saw Lucy use Desi's.
What is it?Answer below! (this is pretty good )***************************
The answer is: "A Last Name."
You didn't think I'd post a dirty joke, did you?
