Saturday, February 18, 2017

Rainy Friday

Rain Drenched Front Garden
 
On days like today, I am reminded of the lyrics of the song, "It Never Rains in Southern California" by Albert Hammond:

"Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours"

Today, it poured!  We received more than a month's worth of rain in one day!  There were mud flows and flash floods, downed trees and power lines, some 110,000 homes and businesses without power,  sink holes including one that swallowed at least two cars, freeways that had to be closed due to flooding and cars that stalled because they ran out of gas while waiting to get off the closed freeways as well as cars that got stuck in flooded intersections on surface roads, several accidents, and, sadly, at least two fatalities:  one man came in contact with a downed power line and another man was found dead in a submerged car.

I was glad I was able to work from home, today, and didn't have to go to the office.  One of the freeways that closed due to the flooding is the one that I normally take to and from office and the flooded area is close to my neighborhood.  The commute home would have been a nightmare!

Instead, I sat by the heater and did my office work.  The lights flickered every so often, but I didn't lose power.  The rain was fairly slow in the morning, but in the afternoon, it poured down in buckets and there were strong winds.  Every so often, I'd go to the front window to cast an anxious eye on the eucalyptus tree in the front yard which was swaying due to the wind gusts:


Eucalyptus Tree: Still Standing!
  
There was a little fast flowing stream of water down the road by the curb - I tried to take a picture, but it's not very clear, as the rain was running down the window:

The Little "Stream" by the Curb





I know those of you who live in areas with frequent rain fall will be very amused, but we've just had 4 years of drought and it's like we received all the rain from those 4 years in one fell swoop, this year! 

There was about 2 inches of standing water in the back yard, near the covered patio area:


Pool of Standing Water in the Back Yard
The poor plants are probably wondering what is going on!  First they were dehydrated and now they are practically drowning! 

The rainy weather made me want a big, cooked brunch:

Friday Brunch

I pulled out the last packet of 3 rashers of bacon from the freezer and cooked them.  Then, I grated the remaining half of the potato (leftover from making those home made chips) and made hash browns with it.  Finally, I scrambled the last egg from the carton of 6 eggs I bought in January (on the 7th).  Then, sliced the orange I had picked, yesterday.  I served only half of a rasher of bacon to my plate, as that was plenty for me.  The remaining 2 1/2 rashers are in the fridge for some other meal.  The bacon grease, too, was saved in a jar and kept in the fridge to use as flavoring when I make something else.  I couldn't finish all of the orange; I ate half of it and kept the other half for later.  I had it after dinner, which was the leftover pasta and chicken from last night.

In the afternoon, I had a cup of tea and a piece of buttered toast.  As I mentioned in one of my responses to a comment on Thursday's post, the rain made me want tea and crumpets, but since I didn't have any crumpets, I had hot, buttered toast, instead!  :D

I had several phone calls from family and friends, today.  My aunt called in the afternoon to see how I was faring with all the rain, then two cousins and a friend called, too, to check on me.  Later, I video chatted with my daughter.  It had rained in Berkeley, too, she said.

Today, I am grateful for:
- The rain!
- Being able to work from home.
- Thus being able to have avoided being stuck on a closed freeway on the commute home.
- The eucalyptus tree didn't topple over or break!
- Family and friends calling to check on me.

The rain has ceased now.  But there is more rain in the forecast for tomorrow!

Saturday's To Do List:

- Finish all the unfinished items from Friday's to do list!
- Attend my friend's memorial service and dinner, if it is not raining too hard and the intersections are not flooded!
- Make a dessert to take to the dinner as my contribution.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend?  

 

26 comments:

  1. Bless, I just read an article from the BBC describing the same incidents as you did in your opening paragraph and I was worried about you! A weatherman said that in the next week, your area should be receiving enough water to power Niagara Falls for 157 days. That's... concerning. I wish you would reconsider going to the memorial tonight as it doesn't sound to me like the conditions are going to be very good. But you're in a better place to judge. Stay safe! I hope you don't lose power!

    Greg and I are supposed to go to a new-to-us State Park today and do some hiking but I woke up with a headache (allergies) and I'm not sure if we'll go. We'll see. I certainly have chores to do at home that I ought to tend to, including the dreaded tax return. Ugh.

    I hope you have a nice weekend, no matter what you do.

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    1. Aw, Nathalie, very sweet of you to worry about me! I got through the storm without any damage to the house and garden. Today, it is dry. There are some clouds, but no rain (yet; it's 11:15 a.m.) and the sun is trying to shine through the clouds. But I won't take risks - if it does rain again, and hard, then, I will stay home!

      I hope your headache goes away and you are able to enjoy your walk if you do go. If not, have a restful day at home.

      I used to do my own taxes, but I've been getting them done professionally for the past several years. Yes, it costs $$ but, it's one of life's little luxuries I budget for. :)

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  2. Man! It does pour! Hoping everyone out your way stays safe. You made a very nice brunch and I loved that you saved your grease.

    Hugs
    Jane

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    1. Thank you, Jane. We are having a dry morning, today, although it's quite cloudy. Gives us a chance to dry out a bit. I haven't watched any news yet, but clean up crews will be busy!

      You know, I used to think that everyone saved their bacon grease, but apparently not! Of course, not the healthiest of fats, but a little bit of it gives a nice flavor to other dishes, I think. :)

      Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

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  3. Mama Nature showed her strength didn't she. As I read this it is a beautiful spring day in thw west of the UK where I live - washing on the line drying, my beloved but aged cat finding sun spots to snooze in, whilst we furiously start to spring clean the cottage in which we live, and which we are hoping to sell in the next couple of months.
    What a contrast! I think you have my weather, and I yours.
    You clearly mastered a day in a deluge, and thoughts of buttered toast with tea have made me hungry.

    Stay warm and dry

    V jealous of your apples in the garden
    Siobhan

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    1. Yes, she surely did! She said, "You want rain? I'll give you rain!" :D No apples in the garden, unfortunately; but oranges (1 small tree), lemons (3 trees), guava (4 trees, 3 of 1 kind and 1 of another) and pomegranate (1 tree) in season. I had a peach tree, but it died in last summer's heatwave and so did the loquat tree that I had grown from seed. I wouldn't mind an apple tree though and have been thinking of planting one.

      It sounds like you are having a lovely spring day! Enjoy it. Hope your cottage sells as soon as you put it on the market and at the price you'll be asking, if not more. Will you be moving to a new place, then?

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    2. Hi Bless
      Selling our 200 year old cottage, where we raised our two children because, after 30 years as a Social Worker I am just too sad/tired/disappointed to continue: problem is I am almost 17 years away from a pension and am not sure I want to do anything else work wise. Selling this cottage and hoping to buy another about forty miles away in a place called the Forest of Dean.

      After a break I may go back to paid work, but v grateful that my home of over 20 years is able to give me a last gift of financial freedom.

      What about you?
      Siobhan

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    3. Social work can take a toll on a person, can't it? Especially after 30 years. I'm glad you are able to take a break. See how you feel after the break and then decide what you might want to do. :) Your 200 year old cottage sounds lovely. I'm glad it will give you the financial freedom you need at this time.

      As for me, I am currently working and would like to continue to work for at least another couple of years before I retire, health permitting, of course.

      I looked up Forest of Dean and it looks like a lovely place. I shall read up a bit more about it. I hope you are having a good weekend.

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  4. Pictures of the heavy rains there were even on our local news last night! One particular shot was of a parking deck that looked like a gushing waterfall. We get a lot of rain and sometimes hard rains but nothing like that!

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    1. Yes, I saw that on the news here, too. The parking structure at the Glendale Galleria shopping mall, I believe. Not too far from where I live. I wonder if they engineered the structure that way so that the water would have a way to flow out and not pool? If so, then, clever design and it apparently worked!

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  5. Oh my goodness! I'm used to rain here but not like that. I'm relieved you were able to work from home and are safe and sound. I hope it drains away quickly and dries up for you soon. X

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    1. Thank you, Jules. I haven't seen the current rain fall amounts, yet, but we got a LOT of rain, yesterday! The water has drained away from my garden and neighborhood, and the sun is trying to shine through the cloud cover, but more rain is in the forecast! Be careful what you ask for they say, because you just might get it! Well, we asked for rain after 4 years of drought and oh, we are definitely getting it! :D

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  6. Glad the drought is over but sorry that you got so much rain in one day. That is it good.

    You do eat very healthy so I think the hot buttered toast was deserved. Your tree grows such nice looking oranges. I am sure they taste better than what the store sells.

    Looking forward to hearing about the Memorial service for your friend.

    Quiet weekend here. I am managing to walk a little further each day and I am so grateful for that blessing. Before BPPV affected my balance I walked for miles. The vestibule therapy I had really helped me. Isn't it a good thing that we do not know what life has in store for us. Church service and visit with friends at the coffee following.

    SandyExpat

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    1. Yes, a lot of rain in one day - a bit too much, actually, all at once!

      The oranges from the tree are certainly fresh! Oranges don't ripen any more after they are picked. So I leave them on the tree until I need them and then, pick only one or two at a time and try to eat them that day or the next.

      I am glad to hear that you are managing to walk a little more each day. Church service and visiting with friends afterwards sounds lovely. Have a blessed day.

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  7. What a crazy climate we have - all those years of drought and now you have more water all at once than anyone can cope with! So sorry to hear of the fatalities. Our winter has been classic in some ways, so much snow and always a major fall. Preferable to the same amount of rain falling for hours each time. We've had so many overcast, gloomy days that even the slightest glimpse of sun has been a joy, and a whole day of it exhilarating. Today the sun is shining and the temperature is up to an amazing 7C and to think it was -15°C yesterday morning when we woke up! We were out in the town picking up a few items and people were in a good mood. We decided to stop off for lunch at "Timmy's" (Tim Hortons) before the last errand at the hardware store.

    Have you ever had a toasted teacake? I like them even more than crumpets, and of course they are not a Canadian thing. Back in the late '70s, when we had lived in Canada for about 5 years, I was on a trip back to the UK with our small son and my mother took us to meet my grandmother and great aunt in the very formal Palm Court restaurant in a large department store. We had tea which arrived in a silver teapot with bone china cups, and toasted teacakes. Suddenly I realized that I was now a foreigner, a North American thinking that this was really cute! (At the time any local cafe in the sticks where we lived, only served tea in rather thick cups and saucers.)

    It's still sunny and I'm going to phone now to see if my friend is in, and maybe take a walk round there while DH is puttering happily in the basement.

    Bushlady

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    1. It's all or nothing, at times, isn't it? Feast or famine; drought or deluge! Glad you are having relatively mild weather. Spring is on its way! Your busy season, with the maple syrup making and so forth.

      I don't think I've ever had a toasted tea cake - I've read about them, but never had any. I just looked up a recipe for them - might be something to try making, one day. Tea drunk from a bone china cup is one of my daily pleasures. My daughter and my friend tease me about it, and I've already broken one of my good cups (daughter bought me a replacement, though), but it makes me feel good to drink my tea from a pretty cup. :) It does mean I have to be extra careful when I wash them, because the ones I inherited from my step dad's mother are eggshell thin!

      Hope you have a lovely chat with your friend and enjoy your walk. Take care, Bushlady.

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  8. Such a relief to know you and your dear daughter fared well during the downpour and nearby flooding. I had to do a quick Goigle search for a definition of "rasher." It's a term I've never heard before. When we refer to bacon in our area we call them slices. But I see that a rasher can mean one slices or multiple slices. Interesting! :)

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    1. Thank you, Carolyn. Rasher is the term I grew up using when referring to a slice or piece of bacon. Maybe it is British English? As a former Crown Colony, British English is what we spoke. When I came over here, I had to learn a whole new way of spelling!

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    2. Yes indeed "rasher" is certainly British English. After all these years I can easily switch back and forth between the American and my homeland. It really is a different language and when you add on the regional accent and the speed it is spoken. I quickly learned to speak slower here in America. 😀

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    3. Thanks for helping to clarify that! :)

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  9. The first (and only) time I took a trip to Southern California, it rained every day for two weeks. Not torrential like you're getting now, but wet all the same. And all I could keep thinking of was that song.
    I hope you continue to stay dry and safe.

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    1. Oh, Live and Learn, that must have been so frustrating! Winter is our rainy season, so if you visit again, come in the early summer, before it gets too unbearably hot.

      It has been cloudy all day and drizzled a little bit in the afternoon/early evening, but, so far, it hasn't rained.

      Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

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  10. My goodness that is a lot of rain! I am so glad none of it made your way into your home and that you were able to work from home and not have to be out in all that. You r brunch sure looked good my friend! Be blessed!

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    1. Thank you, Debbie. We are not used to getting a whole year's worth of rain in just a couple of months!

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  11. Gosh! A month's rain in one day! So glad you were unscathed. No wonder there were so many problems - it was to be expected after such a long dry spell.

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    1. When it rains so much at once, the ground is unable to absorb the rain and it just creates a mess! But, yes, I was nice and safe at home!

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