Hurricane Earl update 8:00 pm

2 September 2010

They’re saying now it will be around 3am this morning before Earl is supposed to be off of Cape Hatteras so it’s going to be a very long night! :( Just now the wind is beginning to pick up here. This is one of the tiring parts of going through these things, the waiting. It’s nerve wracking at times just sitting and wondering. Guess we have things at the ready, food and supplies, over 100 gallons of water stored up and all the hatches battened down so its just the wait. With it being night when it hits I wont be able to see or record any video. Probably could get some audio but who wants to hear that! Anyway we’re safe and just sitting around, going to get a shower soon and afterwards fill up the tub with water as well. Then I think its time for a gin and tonic! ;) even went back to the store to get the lemon!!

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Hurricane Earl approaching

2 September 2010
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Hurricane Earl Update, state of emergency

2 September 2010

This morning our county decalred a state of emergency when it began to issue evacuation orders for visitors in the outer banks part of the county. This state of emergency also suspends the sale of alcohol in the county, much to the dismay of many! lol well lucky we made our purchases yesterday!!

I suppose its a good thing they do this, I’m sure alcohol causes some stupid decisions/actions when it comes to hurricanes, but I’m sure many already have stocked up as we did!

Will have more pics and things on in a bit as we have a few more preparations to do before the weather gets bad, and Alison once again got an interview with BBC newcastle radio this morning! She’s a star now! They prerecorded an interview which will be braodcast in the morning on BBC  Newcastle radio tomorrow morning about 7:20 am UK time. Heres the link to the program for anyone interested to hear it!

Hurricane Earl is coming

1 September 2010
 
Just beginning preparations in the event Earl pass thru, which is looking very probable!
We’ve been out today getting stocked up; food, batteries and the necessary supplies (gin, wine and ciggies!)
 

Water storage in preparation

 Seriously though we are getting prepared, beginning to clear the yard and deck, storing water for the inevitable power outage that usually follows these things. I’ve learned from experience that having PLENTY of water on hand is the most important thing, After Isabel we had 8 days with no power, temps in the high 90′s and unberable high humidity. Believe me it was wonderful to be able to even wash up in a basin of water during those days, not to mention having a “flush” supply on hand! That year I did the normal “filling the bathtub” before the storm which I had never done and it was the best decision i made. But we cut it very close as the last day of no power we were down to the bottom of the tub! So this time in addition to the tub we have filled a few plastic totes with water in preparation. We’ve got about 50 gallons on hand so far and will fill some more tomorrow. I expect tomorrow will find evacuation orders issued for all the beach areas and probably Currituck as well, at least the Outer Banks portion of the county. We will monitor the track and strength and decide tomorrow if we are going to stay. As it stands now we will stay and hunker down. As is ususal today was a clear beautiful day, calm and hot. Calm befor the storm… check out our commentary if you’d like :)

Calm before the storm and More Calm before the Storm

The yard before the storm

Not sure what tomorrow and the next day will bring, but I am fully sure there will be a ton of debris on the lawn from the trees! not looking forward to that cleanup! Well thats it for now, more to follow, right now I have to go and get ready for an interview from the BBC radio show 5Live!! more on that later too!

Update – Wow! cant believe we just we interviewed by BBC Radio! 5 Live is the Radio station/programme. I posted a comment on their news story of the hurricane and I guess because we live in the area they wanted a report first hand, anyway I think it went well and they asked if they could possibly call again tomorrow when the storm is nearer. Alison is quite the reporter I think, me not so much LOL I get too nervous! 

Coincidence or Premonition?

14 July 2010

Personally I don’t believe there are any coincidences in life, but that’s not the purpose of this post and I’m not about to argue beliefs here

my scribbles at 8 years old

The things I scribbled in one of mom's books This is just something I wanted to share with any readers of this site when I was going through some of my mom's things a while back.

I remember as a kid always getting in trouble of sorts for being a bit mischievous in various things, one of which was seemingly a regular occurrence, that of taking a pen or pencil and adding my own content to her books on any blank pages I could find! :-o I did it rather frequently and I guess I never learned my lesson or maybe my mom didn’t want to stifle my creative talents. ;) Anyway even before finding this I had a recollection of writing  some words in some book at some period in time, those words being “cotten candy” As it happens when going through some boxes of books a few months ago I came across it again and for reasons to be explained in a minute I felt to post it here and let readers ponder if it was a sign of things to come. Here’s a scan of the page.  I will have to tkae a guess as to what age I was when doing this, guessing around at least 8 years of age as the writing is in cursive and It wasn’t until the third grade I think that we started using cursive writing. Could be a year or two later as it’s not to bad but still looks like early stages of cursive. Not so important what age really but suffice it to say I was young. Appears I didn’t know the correct spelling of cotton, but its what I was meaning to write as there is a drawing of it below the word.

"cotten candy"

"a premonition of things to come?"

Here’s a closeup of the page and rotated to see the words.

Ok so what’s so important about a kid writing a drawing about cotton candy in a book at a young age. Well as said earlier it could be coincidence I guess but I do have a remembrance of writing it. maybe at the time I had had some cotton candy somewhere or wanted some! Anyway to get to the point, when I met Alison online her screen name was Candyfloss. I hadn’t a clue what it meant until I asked her and as it turns out candyfloss if the British word for, you guess it, our American cotton candy!!

Now when we found this book when going through the boxes I showed it to Alison and of course we saw it as something more than a coincidence. Destiny and fate was before me from an early age! and though I remembered writing it I was sort of gobsmacked to see the drawing beside the words, scribble is more scribble highlightedlike it I guess, could be some extra terrestrial or just some random curves and lines. But it struck me instantly that it reminded me of a map of Cyprus! Ok its not quite exactly proportionate, but in a cruse way it resembles the outline  of the country that Candyfloss was living in when I met her!!! I admit it could be anything really, but still to this minute I see it as Cyprus and another sign that this was meant to be. Just for the records, here’s the outline of Cyprus

Cyprus

Map of Cyprus

yes granted it is very disproportionate, but still the basic shape is there to me and it struck me from seeing it that it looked like Cyprus, even a boy’s crude drawing.

Judge how you will whether its coincidence or a signs of my my future, but I always knew there was something out there I was supposed to do or someone to meet, and until I met Alison that feeling was always with me! Now I know why and what it all meant, whether anyone else believes it or not, I do! :)

Love you Mrs G xxx

In Memory

22 June 2010

Miss you mom.

One year it’s been, time has gone by so fast but still feels like yesterday. Thinking of you, love you

Chester and Alison

Welcome to America Dimitar and Goran :)

19 June 2010

Just a warm welcome to the USA and of course Food Lion ;) Glad to have you here and working with you!

Dimitar and Goran are students from Macedonia here working  for the summer. They seem great guys and and very eager to work and learn. Havent had a lot of time to speak much with them but soon hope to learn more about them and their country. And Welcome to North Carolina!

International Space Station Streaming Video

5 February 2010

From http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/isslivestream.asx

Valentine’s Day countdown!

5 February 2010


Valentine's Day countdown banner

and that many days to our 1st wedding anniversary! :)

Snow!

31 January 2010

Some pics from yesterday’s snow here in Grandy NC

Fun but cold!!