Same old, same old

Same weather, different day.  Actually Thursday night we had such terrible thunderstorms that we had a flash flood.  Hubs, Bear and I were headed to Toys R Us to get Bear his birthday present...shHH don't tell
I'm just a little bit excited about giving it to him!!!...So back to the story...
We headed North on our road to find that both drainage ditches on the sides of the road were flowing over, it actually took out the end of our driveway.  We get about 200 feet up the road and see that the water has covered the road.  A man is walking around in galoshes and the water comes up to within 2 inches of the top of his boots. 

No way we were going through that.

So we head South.  We go about 1/4 mile and see the road is once again covered but it's not too deep, maybe 6 inches.  So we head South, and then head back North on the next road over (our roads here are pretty much a grid).  At one point there is a farm on the right hand side that's about 4feet about the roadway with an embankment.  The water is bubbling out from the bottom of the embankment from this field.  It was so surreal. 

So we make our quick trip and by the time we return the water has receded. 

Come Friday at lunchtime I see a state trooper (we live in a rural area, state troopers are unusual in these parts) with lights and sirens on, then I see the firetrucks go by.

I think nothing of it and go on with the day.  Hubs comes home and says "Why is the road closed?" Turns out a township truck was driving down the road and it collapsed under him.  The same part that we drove through the other night.  Apparently the water ran over the road so hard, and it has a drainage pipe under it, that it pulled all the rocks and dirt out from under it till it collapsed.

We are so lucky and grateful that we made it safely through.

We are also so thankful that we've been so fortunate.  All of our neighbor's basements have flooded.  We've been very lucky with the grade of our land and our drainage that only our barn flooded.  Thankfully the barn is equipped with a drain (that couldn't keep up) and it only made it about 2 inches deep in half the barn before it ran out. 

The Lord has spared us from these trials in our own home, but it means that we, more than ever, must serve our neighbors.  We have been lending our dehumidifier out, Hubs has helped clean up, and we're always willing to come clean.

The rain has been so bad here that the RV dealership down the road is having a "Noah's Ark Sale".  Hubs has joked about building an ark. 

Praying for sunshine...

But I have been crafty again!!! To help a foundation for a family struggling in the NICU.  I'm making two quilts and two sets of cloth wipes. 

I love having Bear napping in his crib, I have so much free time.

Cloth Wipes Begets...

Family cloth.

I made a bunch more 8"x8" flannel squares to use.  Initially I was just planning to use them for myself because I doubted Hubs would ever be sold on the idea.

But much to my surprise he was!  So now we use cloth wipes instead of toilet paper, any extra dirty ones we use the diaper sprayer to clean off and throw them in the diaper pail.  Come wash day they go in with the diapers and get nice and clean.

This was less about the Eco-Friendly aspect and more about the cost savings aspect.  I used more of the flannel I had left over (I told you I had a LOT of it, I probably still have 2 yards left) so it was only a matter of using some time to zig-zag the edges.

So far it's been an adjustment, but our toilet paper with a small amount left on it is still hanging on.

Oh, and don't worry, we don't expect guests to join in with the family cloth. 

I've been neglecting my blog for something so much bigger...

THE SUN!!! It has made it's appearance for the past 3 days....

I took time to mow half the lawn last night, put Bear in the swing yesterday and today, we went for a walk in the park yesterday and my laundry smells like sunshine!

And back to the rain we go with a thunderstorm tonight and rain everyday in the rest of the weeklong forecast.

For your viewing pleasure...
My cute cats, Hubs and Bear (well they're technically in the photo)

Wow, I'm a slacker.

I have been neither crafty nor cheap this week.  In fact, the amount of pajamas I've been wearing probably isn't classy.

This weather has got me in a major funk.  Yesterday was raining (for about the 100th day in a row, literally, it was 40 degrees) so Bear and I headed out to replace his cloth diapers.  I ended up spending $111.  Hubs was livid!  He said I had just bought diapers and that this certainly wasn't cost effective anymore.

Then I told him that I sold the other diapers, and a few other things to cover the cost of the new diapers.

Then he was okay with it. 

So maybe that was sort of frugal.  Instead of just blowing money and saying "charge it" I actually took the time and made the money first.  I am $15 short, however I have one more thing to sell, for $15. 

Yesterday finally cleared up so I took up our new mower and got to work.  The grass was about 8" tall and (probably to the joyful screams of our neighbor) I finally had a chance to mow.  Unfortunately it looks terrible because the ground is so saturated that the mower left "ruts" in the lawn and I didn't finish it.  I only had an hour and we have about 2.5 acres to mow. I did the side next to our neighbor who takes very good care of his lawn so it would look better. 

Our ground is so wet here that when you step on the driveway (it's gravel) water oozes out.  The ditches on either side of the road are almost full to the top and some roads are flooded over. 

Thank the Lord with joyful praise that there isn't a cloud in the sky today.  However, the next nice day we're supposed to have is next Sunday.  Not this Sunday, May 8, NEXT Sunday. 

It's got me in such a funk.  It's such a pain to get out of the house, yet sitting in the house when it's dark and damp gets me depressed.  I just want some sunshine and some warmth.  Despite the cloudless sky, it's 40 degrees out, and we still have frost. 

Where did spring go?  Can someone please go find it and bring it back?!

In like a Lion...

Whoever wrote that old saying of "March comes in like a Lion and goes out like a Lamb" really needs to get a new animal picture book.

March is going out like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.  We got snow.  The road and driveway were COVERED last night but I guess they plowed and salted.  The lighting is horrible because it's that dreary and overcast outside.  And yes, our garbage can is still there from yesterday.

Hubs, Bear, and I all got the Plague this past week.  I'm still coughing (my chest feels like a baby rattle) but Hubs and Bear seem to be on the mend. 

I'm still working on my knitting WIP.  Slow and steady win the race.  Right? Right?!  Slow and steady.  The tutorial has already bound off their 8" long washcloth and started a new one using the Purl stitch.  Mine knit is about 3" long (and that's being generous).  I just don't seem to have the rhythm down.

April is going to be a month of accountability.  With the Plague there was lots of whining and moaning and "I'm too tired to cook" (with a huge draw on the oo of cook).  There was lots of restaurant meals totally blowing our food budget.  We even went out for pancakes.  Seriously??!!! Pancakes cost like $1 to make for both of us and we blew about $11 going out to the local grocery store.  Our one grocery store chain has restaurants in it.  Sit down, full service restaurants.  Does anyone else have these?

I'm still working on our "How our home runs" Binders.  I managed to get the section pages started and a few labels put on.  But the insides are mostly blank.  Our bills have run amok for right the moment.  We forgot about the electric bill.   But thanks to some quick consigning of outgrown baby clothes and hand me down gear we didn't use, we paid it in plenty of time.  Our taxes are complete and we're awaiting an ample tax refund to help us be credit card debt free.  Slow and steady wins the race.

Hopefully a few more days and I'll finally be back to me.