More rain

I dumped another 4.50" of rain out of the gauge this morning. Had to go buy the newspaper because apparently the delivery guy decided I was the only one in the neighborhood who didn't need one today. So I took the camera along with me and took pics while I was out of our flooded streets.

We are currently rain-free, but there is more heading in our direction. And for those asking, the chickens are fine! They are high and dry. The little girls were upset because it rained all day yesterday and they couldn't go in the breezeway without getting wet! They don't like having their feathers wet. Thanks to everyone for being concerned about them!

 curve on our street that always floods

 intersection of the two streets in the subdivision.

 House on the corner of the two streets. Water all in their front yard. Proabably in the garage, if not in the house as well. Sooooo glad we don't live there!

 Neighbors crepe myrtle tree that fell over from water saturation at the roots.

end of our street. Driveway on left is our next door neighbor. This is where neighborhood kids were pulling each other on inner tubes with their 4 wheelers yesterday. The water goes all the way around the corner to the other street.

Rain, rain, and more rain

So we are currently being inundated with rain from Tropical Storm Debby who is sitting about 150 miles off the coast of Tampa. You notice I said sitting. As in not moving. At. All. Kinda like dejavu all over again. Hurricane Elena sat 60 miles off the coast of Tampa in 83, I believe it was. For THREE days. With Category 3 winds of over 100 MPH. It rained. And it rained. And it blew. And it blew. And people were flooded in their homes. Pinellas County was an ISLAND. You could not leave and you could not get to Pinellas County from anywhere in the Tampa Bay area unless you had a boat. They had sheriff's deputies at the county lines with barricades. Emergency personel only could get thru. I think Debby has bobbled about 5 miles in a 24 hour period. Yesterday we had no measurable rain here at the house. So far today, I have dumped 10.25" of rain out of my gauge. Yes, over 10" of rain in less than 24 hours. That's a FAT LOT of rain, I don't care where you live. And there is more to come. The weather forecasters are saying that Debby may not pick up stakes and move til sometime on TUESDAY! That's two days away. So lets see. Ten plus inches of rain times three days. That's THIRTY inches people! I know I've said I'll take all I can get, but seriously. What's that old saying about be careful what you wish for! Our street is already flooded in two places and there will be a third before morning. Good thing John's truck sits up high, otherwise he might not be able to make it out to go to work. Hopefully tomorrow the rain will let up some and I can go take some pics of the flooded road. For now, these will have to do!

 rain pouring thru the rain chain at the back door

 out lakeBACK property! Most people will pay a premium for lakefront property. We have lakeBACK at no extra charge!

4.75" of rain that I dumped less than an hour ago. I dumped 2" at 6:30 this morning. That's what we got overnight. Then I dumped 3.50" at 2:30 this afternoon and the 4.75" at 4:45. And it's poured since I dumped it. I'll bet there's at least another inch in there now. Stay tuned! Updates coming tomorrow!

Icy Blast

So we are experiencing an "Arctic Blast" as the local weather guys like to call it here in FL this morning. It is 20 degrees at our back door and all 7 of my birdbaths are frozen. The one with the dripper is the only one not frozen solid. I can't even get water out of the hose to de-ice the other baths because the water that is in the hose is frozen solid as well! It's supposed to start warming up today and by the weekend we'll see our highs back in the 70's. That's the one thing about FL. If it does get cold, it doesn't last.

See the icicle on the ground?!

What a difference a day makes!

Yesterday it looked like dusk all day. A few times it looked like night, the sky was so dark. Our weather guys were on TV nonstop from 8:30 AM til after 1:00 PM keeping us informed of the watches, warnings, tornado touchdowns and projected paths of them. There was one in particular that came ashore near Indian Rocks Beach, about 60 or so miles south of us and it marched right across the state, exiting into the Atlantic Ocean. That is unheard of here in Florida! I can't remember the last time we've had a day so full of nasty weather. Maybe in 2004 when we had the 4 hurricanes hit Florida that summer. It certainly was an event that doesn't happen every day. Our head weather guy said last night that we only had 4 days of rain in March. But in those 4 days, it was going to be at least the second wettest March on record for us and possibly THE wettest since it was still raining at that time. There is widespread damage in the greater Tampa Bay area, but thankfully any injuries that were suffered were only minor. There were no deaths reported. That's a very good thing.

I took a bit of a walkabout in the yard. We've got a lot of tree litter all over the driveway, front walk and in the front windows from the west winds and one limb down out in the back yard, but that's about it. Nothing that the broom, the leaf blower and a drag to the burn pile won't cure! We had 9.5" of rain here at the house. That's on top of the 7.5" that we had just gotten on Monday! We had 2" in just a 45 minute span. It was raining so hard, the gutters couldn't get the water off the roof fast enough and the water was just pouring over the tops of the gutters. One of our neighbors a few houses down lost two big pine trees in his back yard. One landed on his shed. Good thing it wasn't his house.

This morning, the sky is a brilliant blue and not a cloud in it. It's another good day!

Rainy Days and Thursday's

With apologies to The Carpenters! But we had a Rainy Day on Monday here this week as well, so either would have worked.

Spring is notorious for being dry here in FL with fire danger always high. We got 7.5" of much needed rain here at the house on Monday and I woke up to thunder and lightning this morning as well. We've had another 4" already and the weather report said we could see heavy off and on showers again all day today. There is the potential for some tornado activity and high straight line winds as well.

John just called to let me know he and his partner are stuck at a McDonalds up the street from the Wal*Mart that they are supposed to be servicing right now. Apparently there's been a pretty bad wreck at the intersection in front of W*M and power lines are down and there is no power in the store, so they can't go in to service it. So they are cooling their heels, waiting on a call from the receiver to let them know the power is back on.

Meanwhile, I'm high and dry. Snug as a bug in a rug! And loving the rain!!

Records...we broke 'em!

Now that Spring has officially arrived, we are getting data on our cold Winter. Seems there are quite a few records that we broke, or came damn close to breaking.

* St Pete- Average temp was 56.9 degrees. Coldest in 96 years of official record keeping. Second coldest was 1940.

*Tampa- Average temp was 55.6 degrees. Only 1978 was colder in 120 years of record keeping.

*St Leo College- which is close to me- Average temp was 54.8 degrees. Second coldest on record which was a blistering 54.6 degrees set in 1931.

*Brooksville- which is also close to me- Average here was 55.3 which broke the 1920 record.

So in short, it wasn't my imagination. It was C.O.L.D.

I saw a report the other day that said because of El Nino which is still holding strong in the Pacific, we could see more and stronger hurricanes this summer. Not looking forward to a repeat of the 2004 summer when we had 4 of the buggers go over the top of our house. May they all spin harmlessly over the water and do no harm to anyone.

Kyle again!

Got one more Kyle layout complete! This one uses the CTMH Sweet Home Workshop on the Go layout. In addition to the stamp set that comes with this, I used Star Power, Shining Star, Wishing Star and Whimsy Lowercase alphabet.

We got another 1.75" of rain yesterday, so our two day total is 7.25". We sure did need it! Today the sun is shining brightly. A Chamber of Commerce day, just like advertised!

Eye lerned gud!

Another layout for the books! Mom had a few school pics of Kyle, so I incorporated them into one layout. Problem was, I forgot my spelling lessons! And rather than start fresh, I just crossed through the wrong letters. Pretty ingenious of me, don'tcha think?!

This uses another retired CTMH paper pack called Independence. I figured it would make a pretty good background for school pics! The chipboard is CTMH Dimensional Elements-Borders and Deluxe Designs. I used CTMH Star Struck to stamp some designs on the chipboard. I got the layout from an old Scrapbooks, Etc magazine. I tear the patterns out of the mags, so I don't know what issue it's from.

And totally unrelated, but equally important. We've had two days of glorious rain! I dumped 5.5" out of the rain gauge this morning and we've had more rain since, and it's still raining. They say it should start clearing up later this afternoon and we should have a Chamber of Commerce weekend. I'm ready to get in the yard and start cleaning up all of the dead plants from the freezes we've had this winter. With the time change coming on Sunday, I'm pretty much assured we won't get any more freezes, so I can cut the dead away without worrying about it freezing back more. I actually put shorts on yesterday for the first time in over 2 months!!!

That's mah gurl

Savannah was in her glory yesterday afternoon. It was in the low 70's for a high, the sun was shining brightly and mom had the sliders open onto the back porch! She promptly hopped up in their kitty perch on the porch. She was preening, turning this way and that way and making sure every inch of her body got some sun on it! Sure hope she enjoyed it since it's raining catz (!) and dogz this morning. The wind is howling. What a difference a day makes! I think this may be Winter's last gasp for us. I'm going out on a limb and predicting that once this cold spell is over on Friday, that will be it on cold weather for us here in Florida until next Winter. They say we'll be back in the upper 40's to low 30's for lows and highs won't get out of the 60's for the next 4 days and by Saturday we should see a high of 77!! So change is coming. Our weather guy said last night that this Winter was the 10th coldest on record for FL. The records go back to the late 1800's, so over 120 years. And our average high temperature this winter was 51.7 degrees. That's a full 10+ degrees colder than normal.

Thatz mah boy!

Wackadoo Orleans! Savannah's normally my constant companion in the scrap room. This morning, Orleans decided to come in and keep me company. He's relaxed and chillin...which is not hard to do this morning. It's cold again. 26 degrees at my back door. Weatherman said last night that our temps have averaged 7 degrees below our normal for this time of year for both January and February. The days are getting longer and the sun's getting higher in the sky, so we won't see too many more cold days and nights.

Finally!

We made it to 68 degrees yesterday. John came home Monday with a scratchy throat. Sneezing, coughing, blowing. Sneezing, coughing, blowing. He laid about doing nothing on his two days off. Trying to fend it off. He wasn't too successful. So yesterday I went thru the house like a madwoman cleaning and disinfecting any and everything he had come in contact with. I even went so far as to put bleach in the Rainbow and vacuumed. I stripped the bed, washed everything. Washed his bath towels. We had a brand new house! Then he came home with his germie self and contaminated it again! ;) It's a bit on the chilly side this morning, but I've got the house open. For the first time since before Christmas. Run those germs out I say!

The cold...

may never end! They said that Tuesday would be the last morning of freezing temps and frosty ground. They were wrong! Then they said that Wednesday would be the last morning of freezing temps and frosty ground. They were wrong again! Now they say that today will be the last morning of freezing temps and frosty ground. I sure hope so. We have broken so many records with this infernal cold. We've not seen a high of 60 degrees since the new year started. That's now 15 days in a row of below 60. The last time that happened....records were not being kept. The Gulf of Mexico temps off the coast are below 50 degrees for the first time ever. Or since records have been kept. We've set a new record for days of temps below 32 degrees. The old record was 6 days back in 1977, which was the last time we had measurable snowfall. The new record? Eleven days. They say that we should hit 68 for a high today. That would almost prompt me to put on a bikini and cavort in the back yard. Or not! I might scare somebody!!

And on a more serious note. Please remember the folks in Haiti. Such a poor country to begin with and now this horrible earthquake and aftershocks. There is a large Haitian immigrant population here in Florida, so it's been in our news a lot the past two days.

How Cold Is It?!

Seventeen, yes, 17 degrees at my back door this morning. Tampa Airport, Where nobody still lives. Set a record low temp this morning of 26 degrees. It's 33 in Miami and 36 at Marathon Key. This is the coldest morning thus far in our almost 2 week long foray into Arctic bitterness. They say tomorrow we should start warming up and be back to our more normal lows in the 50's highs in the 70's by the end of the week. That will be most welcome! John's been wearing three layers of clothes every day, so I've been doing my favorite (NOT) job of laundry every other day. He says it's job security for me! So lucky am I!!

Even the dripper bird bath is frozen solid this morning! I have a stalagtite growing where the drop falls! And check out the icicles on the bird bath! They go almost to the ground! Poor birdies. At least their feeders are full.

Today would have been my dad's 78th birthday. He was only 61 when he passed away.

Wintry Mix

How's that for a blog title in the Sunshine State of Florida?!

That is part of the advisories this morning from the weather department. If you are driving, you need to be aware of ice on bridges just to the north of me. Let me repeat that. ICE on BRIDGES. That is almost unhead of! We had sleet here at the house at 6 AM this morning. There is snow as far south as Orlando. The last time we had measurable snowfall this far south was January 19, 1977. They say that places from where I am and north may not see 40 degrees for a high today. We have hit our high temperature for the day. It is only going to get colder. It's 34 degrees at my back door. Today and tomorrow are supposed to be bitterly cold for Florida with a cold north wind that is coming straight from the Yukon.

I think somebody north of me needs to shut the door!

The Big Chill

continues! Yesterday it was 24 at my back door. The "official" low at the airport (where nobody lives) was 27 degrees. That was a new record low for the date. We also did not reach our "Normal" low temperature for a high yesterday. Our normal low is 54 and our normal high is 74 for this time of year. Yesterday, the high was only 49 degrees. A lower high than what our normal low should be! That's just crazy.

This morning it is 20 degrees. I had to scrape frost off the thermometer to read it. They said last night that Sat night into Sun morning, we could see freezing rain, sleet and possibly SNOW!

Yesterday was also Ephiphany. Traditionally thought of as the day Jesus was baptized by Orthodox Christians. There is always a huge festival in the Greek village of Tarpon Springs, just south of us. Boys age 16-18 dive into Spring Bayou to retrieve a cross tossed in the waters by a high ranking Greek priest. Yesterday, the water temperature was 49 degrees. So glad I wasn't one going for the cross!

They say we are supposed to see warmer temps by the middle of next week. That will be nice!

They're so sweet...

When they're sleeping!

Savannah and Orleans piled-ass up in our bed yesterday. Probably trying to stay warm! Orleans is sleeping with his "stuffies" that he "kills" nightly and brings to me in bed, since I'm Alpha! Every morning I gather them up and put them back in the basket and he will generally take them back in the bedroom and leave them in the bed. It's a silly game we play! I rub him with them and tell him thank you for bringing me my "snack" and he maows you're welcome at me in his "hunter/killer" voice! Savannah is perfectly content to lay on the end of the bed in a tight little ball. If I'm in the scrap room, she's generally under the computer desk at my feet.

And an "extra!" CTMH Convention is in Washington DC this year and since John and I have talked about going to DC since we got married, we are gonna go and make it a vacation as well. The theme of this years Convention is "Picture This" and they have asked all Consultants to send a head shot when we register later today. So I had John take a head shot of me last night. Just as he went to take the pic, my eye started twitching and I rubbed it. He took the picture anyway! Now you know why I don't let him have the camera very often. At least with digital, I can delete them. Back in the Dark Ages, I can't tell you how many ass shots of me I paid for and threw away. I've told him for years, just because he likes my ass, doesn't mean everyone else does!

Still cold here. They said last night that we've got another front coming thru on Fri and temps in Tampa could reach 20 degrees this weekend. That means low to mid teens for us, since we are north and more rural than the airport in Tampa, where the "official" temps are taken. Why? I dunno! Nobody lives at the airport, so why is the official temp taken there?!

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

And I don't want to hear one thing from my Yankee friends! This is COLD by Florida standards.

Yesterday we never got to 45 degrees. That is not a good sign for the night ahead. My late Grandfather always said that if we didn't get to 50, we were in for a long, cold night. As you can see, it's a balmy 28 at my back door this morning. There was frost on both the newspaper tube and the mailbox when I went to get the paper. John and I rigged up some blankets to cover my Earth Boxes that have tomatoes, mustard greens and spinach growing in them so they wouldn't freeze. I even put the chick warmer light inside the blankets to help give them some additional warmth. They say that we won't get to 50 today either, so tonight will probably be a repeat of last night. And it looks like Thur may well be the only day this week we'll see 60 degrees. Highly unusual for us. We generally see cold for a day or two and then it warms back up. This looks like it will last all week. Last time I remember it being this cold for this long was wayyyyyyyy back in 1961. That was the year that the orange and grapefruit trees were exploding because of the sap freezing and expanding. THAT was a devastating freeze for my Grandfather and other citrus farmers in the area. I remember hearing the sound as another tree would explode. Sounded just like a rifle shot. Then the smell of the trees burning in the Spring as they were cleared so new trees could be planted. Lots of citrus farmers never replanted after that freeze. But Grandpa did. It was the only thing he knew. And because he was one of few who did replant, his citrus business grew by leaps and bounds. It ended up being a wise business venture for him.

Edit:

I went out once it got light and took a couple more pictures. Disregard the bird bath that has nasties in it because it's been too cold for me to clean it! This bird bath has a dripper on it. Otherwise, it would be frozen solid like the other 5 I have! Icicles should not be hanging from a bird bath in Florida!

The pretty before the cold...

And yes, I know, cold is a relative term! But we are expecting some cold for Florida temps for the rest of this week. They are saying that by Sat morning, we could see lows in the mid to low 20's. And for us, that's cold! Now by Chris, Deb and Jenn's terms in IL, that's warm! They are not supposed to see temps out of the single digits for highs the rest of the week. But by Fairbanks, AK terms, that's warm! Our weather guy was saying they were having high's in the -40 range last week. Since when is -40 a HIGH temperature?!

Anyway, I thought I'd best get a picture of my blooming cherry tree before the cold comes and kills all of the bloom. It will probably bloom again, but it will not have as much bloom or be as pretty as it is now. The bees and wasps have been loving it for about the past week! It is always one of the first things to bloom and I think the flying pollen collectors set their watches by it!

Fall in Florida...

Isn't a whole lot different than summer in Florida! Our grey squirrels know that the weather is supposed to change, so they have been devouring all of the pine cones. There are sharp little tips all over the yard under the slash pine trees. The two oak trees in the front yard have started dropping acorns, so the squirrels will soon be munching on them and burying them, never to be found again! And in the spring, I'll be pulling up baby oak trees that are growing everywhere but where they should be! We've had a couple of "cool-ish" mornings...if you consider a low of 68 instead of 72 low! I'll just be happy when it stays cool enough during the day that I can turn the a/c off and throw open the doors and windows.

My flamingo that I bought in the spring didn't fare too well! It lost it's pinwheel "belly" a loooong time ago! I have no idea where it blew off to. It's all moldy and nasty and has lost it's vibrant pink to a rather washed-out pink, so it went in the trash can this morning.

We had a much needed 2.5 inches of rain late yesterday afternoon. I was beginning to think we weren't going to get anything because looking a the radar, everyone around us was getting rain. Then it finally decided to open up over us. It rained almost 1.5 hrs.

I changed my front entry table last week. Put out my Halloween decorations. Also put a few things outside at the front door. I don't go too crazy since our subdivision is only about 20 homes and we are so isolated. We get the neighborhood kids and that's it for Trick or Treat.

Still working on Christmas projects. I'll share bits and pieces as I get them finished!

Go away Fay!

And it looks like she will, with not a lot of damage. Fay came ashore at about 4 AM today down by Everglades City, almost at the southernmost tip of the state. She is now slowly making her way northeastward. The weather people say we could still be in for some gusty winds and up to 6" of rain as the storm passes by us to the east, but nothing like was originally thought. It is perfectly calm outside now. No wind. No rain. Just another beautiful day in Florida!

The in laws opted to stay at home and John is working today. They were told to have all trucks off the roads by noon, but I'll believe that when I see it! So I'm working diligently on Christmas gifts!