Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara
Sharing the Good Life
Yesterday evening I was sewing and noticed it got really yellowish looking outside. Look at these clouds!
Then, I turned around and saw this:
Not sure what’s up with the eyes . . may be some strange weed out there he’s eating! 
As long as he’s not munching on chicken, I’m not going to worry about it though.
Are we in for a rough afternoon around here! One of my blog readers from Kansas began writing me . . get in the basement, get the chickens in the basement . . NOW! It wasn’t long before the tornado sirens began going off. For those who have never heard them, here’s what they sounded like at my house about 10 minutes ago. Excuse the flip flopping sound as I’m running back to the house without turning off the camera. I had on Vince’s crocs! I tried my darndest to get those chickens to go inside the coop but they would not — too busy watching to see what I was doing. I tried dandelions, clover, honeysuckle (those are their favorite treats). Nope! Vince told me to shine a flashlight down in the wooden box but that didn’t get them in either. They’re on their own til this passes.
But another friend in Kansas has it all in perspective. Here’s what she wrote me:
If we get hit by a tornado, I am gonna be so pissed. I just scrubbed my floor!
We’ll be fine . . this is pretty standard spring/early summer weather for our area. I’ll continue to sew unless the power goes out and then I’ll have an excuse to take that nap I’ve been wanting all day!
If you like hot weather, come visit me on June 18! Accuweather says it’s going to feel like 119º .
Hot! I’ll say 119º is worse than hot! The only good thing about weather extremes is that when they happen, there’s a better chance of seeing Joe Bastardi on TV! I like him a lot!
In Kentucky, my air conditioner guy told me that the air conditioners are only able to keep the house 20º less than the outside temp. Basically, he was saying: Lady, stop calling me! There’s nothing wrong with this darned air conditioner. It’s doing the best it can!
I hope he meant the a/c can bring the house temp down 20º from the real temp and not the “feels like” temp. One of my blog readers works for Accuweather and during the winter I was begging her to take away the snow and ice. Dare I ask her to give us an early Fall? Ida?? Can you help me out here? I’ll never ask for any weather favors again!
I’m just joking. I know that Accuweather can’t really do anything about the weather but it’s fun to joke about it.
I’m writing this tonight (Wednesday) but you’ll see it tomorrow morning (Thursday).
I’m always the one who is the chicken and making Vince and Chad go to the basement. Vince had a meeting at work tonight and I was sitting upstairs minding my own business. Chad, who always complains when I make us all go to the basement, called from school and said “MOM! Get in the basement . . there’s a bad storm coming your way in about an hour!”. The weather hadn’t gotten real bad yet and Vince got home and said “Why aren’t you in the basement?” and insisted we rush to the basement so . . the night before I leave on a trip when I have a million things to be doing, I’m sitting downstairs, waiting for the storm to pass.
To complicate matters, the closest TV station is in Joplin and their tower was taken out with the tornado/storms last Friday so we were getting feed from a Springfield station but that has stopped and we now have a screen that says “Technical Difficulties”. Really? Guess it doesn’t really matter because we’ve lost the satellite now.
The city will sound the tornado sirens when it’s time to run to the concrete room so we’re still safe (I hope). I actually think the worst of it is going to stay at least 10 miles south of us but with tornadoes, 10 miles is too close for comfort. 80 mile per hour winds, tennis ball size hail . . please stay at least 10 miles south of me!
What do you grab and bring with you to the basement when you know there are already tornadoes on the ground with this storm? Most of the time I’m more prepared but tonight I wasn’t. We grab heavy shoes (in case the house falls apart and there are exposed nails . . like we’ll be needing shoes .. always trying to be optimistic); car keys (don’t ask me why I brought those . . the car would probably be gone or have the garage roof down on it); purse with wallet/cash, camera, cell phone, flashlight . . that’s all I can remember.
Vince decided he had a few minutes to spare so he ran upstairs to take a shower. My luck, as soon as I got buck naked, the walls would fall. I’ll just wait on my shower!
I’d really like to get to bed early tonight but that may not happy if Mother Nature keeps up this party.
