http://oleandlena.areavoices.com/2011/02/27/so-do-you-think-noah-bought-flood-insurance/
Love, Lena
THE ADVENTURES OF OLE & LENA A Stud & and Hot Dish
Showing posts with label flood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flood. Show all posts
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Day the River Flowed Backwards
http://oleandlena.areavoices.com/2011/02/23/the-day-the-river-flowed-backwards/
Love, Lena
Love, Lena
Monday, February 21, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saturday, June 20, 2009
An Update
Things are looking up a bit - at least some things. We're gradually losing our "lake front" property. The water is receding very slowly and the forecast is for a whole day of sunshine and no rain today. Our driveway is no longer under water so it's easier to get in and out now.
You can't imagine how nerve wracking it is to watch that water come so fast and there's nothing you can do about it. And then there's all the politics that go along with it - "they" won't allow us a dike because it's not "practical." I'd love to know what their definition of "practical" is. It's especially difficult to watch this governmental body dishing out all their rules and regulations and making decisions that allow other households that aren't in the floodway getting all kinds of help and we, who suffer from this every time there is a heavy rain or spring runoff get nothing. Legally, we can't even build a dike at our own expense because of our proximity to the river. Why did we build here, you may ask? When we bought this property back in 1972 it had never been under water. In the last 10 years there have been 3 major floods and our house has been a little island. Fortunately, our house has stayed dry, but you can't imagine the mess we have to clean up every time this happens. Oh well, griping doesn't do any good so I'll quit.
I had my second mammogram yesterday. I was brought back to the radiologist's office and offered a big long explanation that involved words like "biopsies" and "tumors" and "cancer" and all those scary words. Then they did a second series of x-rays and I sat and waited for the results. After an hour of all kinds of horrible things going through my mind I was called back again and the word "calcification" was explained to me. Apparently calcifications can range anywhere from malignant to benign and anywhere in between. So that's the latest word - I have some calcifications that they want to watch very closely and will be going back for another x-ray in 6 months.
Okay then. I guess I have to spend the next 6 months with "that" thought hanging in the back of my mind.
On the Big Brother front - I talked to him several times yesterday. The doctor has postponed surgery until next Tuesday due to all the swelling still around his eye. His broken shoulder still has not been casted - I suppose they're waiting for decreased swelling there also. His son arrived in El Paso yesterday and will stay through the surgery. I'm so glad there is someone there with him. After my experience with Ole in the hospital twice last summer, I know that you need some kind of a patient advocate in order to survive in a hospital these days. Someone who can ride herd on what's going on and look out for the patient's best interests - not the hospital's. Nephew sent me a picture via cell phone yesterday. I was horrified at how awful Big Brother looked. He looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder and then someone beat the tar out of him afterwards. Look out for those 10-foot ladders, Folks.
Since the water decided to recede Ole headed out for the Back to the 50s weekend at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds last night. He had intended to leave on Thursday and not come back until Sunday. But due to the water factor he'll be back tonight. I, on the other hand, stayed home doing the sump pump watch, etc. Lovely Daughter and Lars had intended to go with him if he had gone for the weekend, but due to the short trip they decided to stay home. So Lars and Lovely Daughter came out last night and Lars made pizza for supper. He's quite a pizza aficionado - it was SOOO good. Then we watched the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It wasn't at all what I expected. It was a very long movie, and one of those that I'm glad I didn't spend my money going to a theater to see.
Speaking of movies, have any of you watched Slumdog Millionaire yet? I watched it a few weeks ago and thought it was TERRIBLE. Whoever voted that in as best picture of the year - well, their taste is most definitely only in their mouth!!
A few entries ago I promised you some pictures of my backyard this year because the peonies and irises were outdoing themselves. They hadn't been this beautiful in years despite the horrible winter we had. Unfortunately the heavy rain beat me to it and kind of messed up the flowers. Lots of them are on the ground, etc., but I did take a few shots this morning to share with you. Please keep in mind they aren't as spectacular as they were a week ago.
In this picture you can kind of see the "lake shore" behind the flowers. Under normal conditions you wouldn't be able to see any water in this picture at all.
You can't imagine how nerve wracking it is to watch that water come so fast and there's nothing you can do about it. And then there's all the politics that go along with it - "they" won't allow us a dike because it's not "practical." I'd love to know what their definition of "practical" is. It's especially difficult to watch this governmental body dishing out all their rules and regulations and making decisions that allow other households that aren't in the floodway getting all kinds of help and we, who suffer from this every time there is a heavy rain or spring runoff get nothing. Legally, we can't even build a dike at our own expense because of our proximity to the river. Why did we build here, you may ask? When we bought this property back in 1972 it had never been under water. In the last 10 years there have been 3 major floods and our house has been a little island. Fortunately, our house has stayed dry, but you can't imagine the mess we have to clean up every time this happens. Oh well, griping doesn't do any good so I'll quit.
I had my second mammogram yesterday. I was brought back to the radiologist's office and offered a big long explanation that involved words like "biopsies" and "tumors" and "cancer" and all those scary words. Then they did a second series of x-rays and I sat and waited for the results. After an hour of all kinds of horrible things going through my mind I was called back again and the word "calcification" was explained to me. Apparently calcifications can range anywhere from malignant to benign and anywhere in between. So that's the latest word - I have some calcifications that they want to watch very closely and will be going back for another x-ray in 6 months.
Okay then. I guess I have to spend the next 6 months with "that" thought hanging in the back of my mind.
On the Big Brother front - I talked to him several times yesterday. The doctor has postponed surgery until next Tuesday due to all the swelling still around his eye. His broken shoulder still has not been casted - I suppose they're waiting for decreased swelling there also. His son arrived in El Paso yesterday and will stay through the surgery. I'm so glad there is someone there with him. After my experience with Ole in the hospital twice last summer, I know that you need some kind of a patient advocate in order to survive in a hospital these days. Someone who can ride herd on what's going on and look out for the patient's best interests - not the hospital's. Nephew sent me a picture via cell phone yesterday. I was horrified at how awful Big Brother looked. He looked like he'd been put through a meat grinder and then someone beat the tar out of him afterwards. Look out for those 10-foot ladders, Folks.
Since the water decided to recede Ole headed out for the Back to the 50s weekend at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds last night. He had intended to leave on Thursday and not come back until Sunday. But due to the water factor he'll be back tonight. I, on the other hand, stayed home doing the sump pump watch, etc. Lovely Daughter and Lars had intended to go with him if he had gone for the weekend, but due to the short trip they decided to stay home. So Lars and Lovely Daughter came out last night and Lars made pizza for supper. He's quite a pizza aficionado - it was SOOO good. Then we watched the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It wasn't at all what I expected. It was a very long movie, and one of those that I'm glad I didn't spend my money going to a theater to see.
Speaking of movies, have any of you watched Slumdog Millionaire yet? I watched it a few weeks ago and thought it was TERRIBLE. Whoever voted that in as best picture of the year - well, their taste is most definitely only in their mouth!!
A few entries ago I promised you some pictures of my backyard this year because the peonies and irises were outdoing themselves. They hadn't been this beautiful in years despite the horrible winter we had. Unfortunately the heavy rain beat me to it and kind of messed up the flowers. Lots of them are on the ground, etc., but I did take a few shots this morning to share with you. Please keep in mind they aren't as spectacular as they were a week ago.
In this picture you can kind of see the "lake shore" behind the flowers. Under normal conditions you wouldn't be able to see any water in this picture at all.
Well, People, I had better get my backside off this computer chair if I'm going to accomplish anything today. My project for today is to get some carpets cleaned and then it will be a contest to see which cat urps up on them first. Seems every time I clean carpets somebody vomits within 24 hours. I really want to replace my living room and dining room carpet with laminated flooring like I have in my kitchen. Then it would be a piece of cake to keep things a bit cleaner with all these animals in the house. So far I haven't been able to talk Ole into doing that though. It would be so nice to just have some large area rugs that could be washed.
Enjoy this lovely day, everyone.
Love Lena
Monday, April 27, 2009
I am still alive - I think!!
First of all, thank you to all of you who have been concerned because I haven't posted for such a long time. Let me assure you, I'm okay - just needed a bit of a sabbatical from everything. Unfortunately there were some things I just couldn't get away from and had to deal with so I had to pick my priorities to try to keep my sanity. I'm sorry, but Tales from Frostbite Falls didn't make the top of the list. I just want all of you to know that I truly appreciate your concern.
Let's see now - I think last time you heard from me the "Waters" were receding and my car was acting up and being naughty. Both of those problems have been fixed, or are in the process.
We've just gotten started on cleaning up the mess left from the flood. Ole and I have spent many days hauling junk, raking cornstalks, wheat chaff and river reeds into piles and burning them, removing logs, dead trees, railroad ties, oil drums and fuel oil barrels. And that's what's on the outside. The river is finally completely back in its banks, but the ground is still pretty squishy so all the cleanup has had to be done manually because the ground is too soft to drive a tractor on. You'd get stuck in a heartbeat. What remains now is to get the river silt and muck cleaned out of the storage building and out of Ole's shop. And it stinks. Bad. Like rotten vegetation on a warm day. Yuck. But we will survive and it will get done. I just say thanks on a daily basis that our house didn't go under like so many others in our area.
My car issue is also solved. My van has been replaced by a Ford Expedition - a full-sized SUV. Metallic gray with lots of bells and whistles on it. Yes, I know it has a reputation as a gas guzzler, but according to the computer it gets 20 mph on the highway and 16 in town. That's better than the van did so I consider it a step up in many ways - comfort and economy.
Then, along came a dog issue. This is very unpleasant to write about and has disturbed Ole and I to no end. As many of you know Lovely Daughter had to leave her doggers behind when she and hubby moved into town. Beau and Daisy were used to being with us most of the time anyway. We took them with us this winter when we traveled and we were so proud of the way they behaved. A lady and a gentleman in every way. Neither of these dogs has ever bit anyone - ever. Daisy is 8 and Beau is 6. That is - until two days ago.
Ole and I were out in the back yard with both dogs and we were expecting an old buddy of Ole's to arrive. The doggers of course heard him drive up and went barreling around the corner to the front yard barking with Ole after them. Now this old friend has been around both of these dogs before many times, wasn't scared of them, and has big dogs of his own. Beau went charging toward him, jumped at him and grabbed his upper arm but fortunately didn't get through his jacket or break the skin. Ole went flying after Beau, pulled him by the collar off of the friend, took his cap off and started swatting Beau across the behind with the cap. That's the only thing these dogs have ever been hit with is Ole's cap - more humiliating than painful. That's when Beau turned around, grabbed Ole's calf just below the knee through the blue jeans and bit him hard enough to leave scratches and a large black and blue mark. Then he twisted somehow and got ahold of Ole's right hand, the one holding the cap, and left four very deep puncture wounds above his thumb. The blood was running fast and furiously by the time Ole let go of his collar. We cleaned up the wound as best we could, soaked his hand in Epsom salts and then went immediately to the clinic where he received treatment. There was talk of stitches, but after further conversation the doctor decided not to stitch in case it became infected.
Lovely Daughter and Lars were in a town about 100 miles away helping a friend move so they weren't available when all this was going on. I called her and told her that Beau couldn't live at our house anymore and that she would have to pick him up when she returned home. It's unfortunate that they are leaving on a week's vacation tonight and had to find a place for the dog on such short notice, but neither Ole nor I felt we could keep the dog for that long if we couldn't trust him. So they took him home on Saturday night and this afternoon when Lars was going to run some errands and was going to put Beau in the crate, Beau turned around and bit Lars, too. Didn't break the skin but definitely left marks.
Now what do you suppose would cause a dog to turn like that? It's almost as if a switch in his brain has been flipped. I have noticed that since we got home from our winter trip that he has become more aggressive and more difficult to control, but Ole is the last person I thought he would ever get after.
So Beau doesn't live here anymore, and yes, there is a big empty spot for both of us as we're used to having two dogs around. But Daisy is the one that's suffering the most at this point. She's truly missing her buddy and having someone to boss around. We can tell she's very insecure so we're trying to give her lots of extra attention. I suppose it will take a bit of time before she adapts.
Let this be a lesson to all of you - NEVER bite the hand that feeds you!!
Love Lena
Let's see now - I think last time you heard from me the "Waters" were receding and my car was acting up and being naughty. Both of those problems have been fixed, or are in the process.
We've just gotten started on cleaning up the mess left from the flood. Ole and I have spent many days hauling junk, raking cornstalks, wheat chaff and river reeds into piles and burning them, removing logs, dead trees, railroad ties, oil drums and fuel oil barrels. And that's what's on the outside. The river is finally completely back in its banks, but the ground is still pretty squishy so all the cleanup has had to be done manually because the ground is too soft to drive a tractor on. You'd get stuck in a heartbeat. What remains now is to get the river silt and muck cleaned out of the storage building and out of Ole's shop. And it stinks. Bad. Like rotten vegetation on a warm day. Yuck. But we will survive and it will get done. I just say thanks on a daily basis that our house didn't go under like so many others in our area.
My car issue is also solved. My van has been replaced by a Ford Expedition - a full-sized SUV. Metallic gray with lots of bells and whistles on it. Yes, I know it has a reputation as a gas guzzler, but according to the computer it gets 20 mph on the highway and 16 in town. That's better than the van did so I consider it a step up in many ways - comfort and economy.
Then, along came a dog issue. This is very unpleasant to write about and has disturbed Ole and I to no end. As many of you know Lovely Daughter had to leave her doggers behind when she and hubby moved into town. Beau and Daisy were used to being with us most of the time anyway. We took them with us this winter when we traveled and we were so proud of the way they behaved. A lady and a gentleman in every way. Neither of these dogs has ever bit anyone - ever. Daisy is 8 and Beau is 6. That is - until two days ago.
Ole and I were out in the back yard with both dogs and we were expecting an old buddy of Ole's to arrive. The doggers of course heard him drive up and went barreling around the corner to the front yard barking with Ole after them. Now this old friend has been around both of these dogs before many times, wasn't scared of them, and has big dogs of his own. Beau went charging toward him, jumped at him and grabbed his upper arm but fortunately didn't get through his jacket or break the skin. Ole went flying after Beau, pulled him by the collar off of the friend, took his cap off and started swatting Beau across the behind with the cap. That's the only thing these dogs have ever been hit with is Ole's cap - more humiliating than painful. That's when Beau turned around, grabbed Ole's calf just below the knee through the blue jeans and bit him hard enough to leave scratches and a large black and blue mark. Then he twisted somehow and got ahold of Ole's right hand, the one holding the cap, and left four very deep puncture wounds above his thumb. The blood was running fast and furiously by the time Ole let go of his collar. We cleaned up the wound as best we could, soaked his hand in Epsom salts and then went immediately to the clinic where he received treatment. There was talk of stitches, but after further conversation the doctor decided not to stitch in case it became infected.
Lovely Daughter and Lars were in a town about 100 miles away helping a friend move so they weren't available when all this was going on. I called her and told her that Beau couldn't live at our house anymore and that she would have to pick him up when she returned home. It's unfortunate that they are leaving on a week's vacation tonight and had to find a place for the dog on such short notice, but neither Ole nor I felt we could keep the dog for that long if we couldn't trust him. So they took him home on Saturday night and this afternoon when Lars was going to run some errands and was going to put Beau in the crate, Beau turned around and bit Lars, too. Didn't break the skin but definitely left marks.
Now what do you suppose would cause a dog to turn like that? It's almost as if a switch in his brain has been flipped. I have noticed that since we got home from our winter trip that he has become more aggressive and more difficult to control, but Ole is the last person I thought he would ever get after.
So Beau doesn't live here anymore, and yes, there is a big empty spot for both of us as we're used to having two dogs around. But Daisy is the one that's suffering the most at this point. She's truly missing her buddy and having someone to boss around. We can tell she's very insecure so we're trying to give her lots of extra attention. I suppose it will take a bit of time before she adapts.
Let this be a lesson to all of you - NEVER bite the hand that feeds you!!
Love Lena
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