Brrrr....

It was 11 degrees at 8:00 a.m. this morning.  It's now 23.  As I was driving to Southern Valley High School to substitute for one of the science teachers, I was constantly scanning for ice on the road.  I didn't want an incident like last year when I exited the highway sideways.

It did not look too cold out as I was driving along, except for the ice that is still on the outside mirror of my F350.  The sun was peeking through the clouds.  It looked beautiful.

Okay, it's not technically winter yet, but we have had a late start on the cold weather.  Last year we had snow at the beginning of October and the year before that at the end of October.  This is the end of November and we have had only three minutes (literally) of snow.

My daughter in Katy, that's near Houston, Texas, has actually had a fire in the fireplace already this year.  Her vegetable garden is still producing an abundance, so don't feel too sorry for her.  The poor thing did have snow last year--I saw the doctored photos myself.

Soon we will be hopping over what the snowplow plants on our curb.  The girls will be slipping on the sidewalk dedspite warnings to be careful.  I'll be looking at the frost patterns on the windows.  But it will be warmer this year than last under the house (see previous post concerning the crawling cold air).

Until later...

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

Can Cold Air Crawl?...

Not anymore!  The crawl space under my house needed a new cover, a cover to prevent the now cold air from crawling in.  So I finally did what I had planned last spring.  I made a super duper crawl space cover.

But you are only seeing half of the picture.  The underside is even better!  I didn't want water leaking in or cold air whistling through the cracks so I...

insulated it and surrounded the insulation with upholstery grade plastic, the really thick stuff.  If you look closely at my left hand, just above the ring finger, you will see something that I am famous for--blood when working.  I always manage to gouge, cut, scrape, poke, stab, or saw myself.  You can't see where I managed to have the cordless drill with screwdriver bit installed plow into my thumb.

I also made a useful, but not pretty, handle for the cover.  The lid fits fairly tight and I know I'll need the handle to lift the lid with.



Right now, outside temperature is 40, under the house 59.  I also replaced the battery in the remote underhouse thermometer and installed a vertical piece of 1/4" plywood (salvaged from the dump) in front of the hole that actually has to be crawled through to get under the house.

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

Some Salsa on the West Side Story...

Yesterday was a very unusual day, in fact, the week has been strange since Wednesday morning.  I'll start there.  I normally get up at 6:30 a. m.  I know that is late but, hey, I'm semi-retired.  Anyway, I woke up and it was dark.  That's not unusual right before the time change from Daylight Savings to Standard Time.  I use my phone for an alarm, reached over to see the time and...IT'S, OH MY, 7:23!  I have to leave at 7:35 to go do some semi-work.  Out of bed, put head under faucet, brush some teeth, get dressed, and out the door.  I made it to school on time.

My phone had been set on silent so as no to disturb anyone on Tuesday evening, but I forgot to reset it to the annoyingly loud whistle that I use for phone ringing and alarm beckoning.  I'm just slightly hard of hearing.

Thursday morning finds me up at the right time and arriving at school at 8:15 a. m.  While walking through the commons area, I see the teacher forwhom I am supposed to substitute.  I inquire about subbing for her and she says that I will sub for her----at 11:30----I'm 3 hours early.  I look at my pocket calendar,  Guess what time I had written there.  11:30.  Oh, well.

Friday I was still reeling from confusion, but nothing unusual happened.

Saturday, that's yesterday,  I used up the final part of my tomatoes with just a few tiny ones left over.  And, what did I make?

That's right, salsa.  It was my first attempt at that.  I was going to do that earlier this season, but got sidetracked.

I had to show you what the last of the tomatoes looked like next to the 5 pints of homemade salsa.  Do you have any idea how long it takes to dice 10 cups of tomatoes from tomatoes that size?  By the time you cut out any bad spots, cut out the stem area, finely dice them, well, much longer than I thought.  Now the jars have to age.  I made that up.

So, that is half of the title for today's post.  And the other half?

Until yesterday, I had never seen West Side Story.  Have you ever been to a local high school play/musical?  It was terrific.

Some highlights:

• Maria (played by local singing wonder Caitlin) has a terrific voice.  I was truly impressed.
• Tony (played by Elvis, a genuinely nice & talented young man) was superbly done.
• Bernardo & Riff (played by twins Joel & Reid) as the opposing gangs' leaders did a fine job.
• Clarice (played by the multi-talented Makayla) really had to act to play the bad girl type since that is just not her.
• Doc (played by Maclane, a medalist in the recent state cross country event) looked & sounded quite the white-coated type.
• Officer Krupke, Ms. Glad Hand, & her assistant (played respectively by Sarah, Kyla, & Cheyanne) added some female charm to a large cast.

I could go on for each and every member if I thought you would read it.  But I have to mention just one more, my personal favorite of the entire cast...

• Anita (played by Heidi), with her black wig and comedic flair, showed some great talent.

Of course, all comments are the highly regarded opinion of this author.  Yours may differ.  Write about them in your blog.  The show included dinner (for a price, of course).

I almost forgot to mention the hard work of the show's directors, teachers Senja Stephens and Pam Breinig.  They did a great job.

Until the next time...

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress

That Corn Is NOT Dead....

And, we are not suffering from a drought!  Corn looks like this when harvested.  In fact, it has to dry ouy before harvesting to be taken to the ethanol plant.

Having said that it is supposed to look like that, that doesn't apply if you want to eat corn-on-the-cob.  And who doesn't like hot corn dripping with artery-clogging butter?

Anyway, the corn harvest is nearly finished here in Nebraska.  The weather has been nearly perfect for the crop gathering.  The farmers have been BUSY in the fields, taking advantage of the good weather.

 

          

 

Is it any wonder that Nebraska is called the Corhusker State?  I guess the above provides some hint as to why.  And speaking of those Huskers, Go Big Red!

Nebraska--Less People, Less Stress