"Hurriquake"!

When it rains, it pours quakes!  We have Hurricane turned Tropical Storm Hilary passing through our area and we experienced a 5.1 earthquake, with the epicenter in a city called Ojai, which is several miles north west of me.  Apparently, some people are calling it a "hurriquake" on social media!  It is considered a moderate earthquake and, apparently, there were some "pre-quakes" on Saturday and there is a small possibility that there could be a stronger aftershock to follow, in which case, what we felt today would be considered a pre-quake to that one.

It's been raining all day with the heavier rain falling in my area around 6:00 p.m.  Power went out for about 2 1/2 hours.  I had just finished cleaning the kitchen and had made some toast for tea when the power went out.  I cleaned the litter box, quickly, before it got too dark.  Then, I lit some candles and played the piano until the power came back on.  

According to the news, several areas have experienced some localized flooding.  Some of the intersections in my neighborhood have flooded, too (one badly enough to be on the news!), but, they usually flood whenever we have any measurable rain.  

They are forecasting high winds, later tonight, but, so far, things have been fairly reasonable.  Just a lot of rain.  

Hopefully, the forecasted high winds won't do too much damage and hopefully, the power will stay on.  

Thank you, everyone, for checking on me.  

Quick Update While Waiting for Hilary

Hurricane Hilary has now been down graded to Tropical Storm Hilary, with 60 miles per hour winds.  It is almost 2:00 p.m. as I type this and the eye wall of the storm is still in Mexico, in the Baja California area.  It is supposed to cross the border over to southern California around 3:00 p.m. and reach the Los Angeles area around 5:00 p.m. and that's when we are expected to experience some strong winds.  According to the news weather reports, however, the eye of the storm is supposed to pass to the east of us, so, we won't be in the direct path of the storm.

It has been raining here since about 7:00 a.m., a steady rain and my water collection buckets are already almost full!  It hasn't been very windy, yet, but, one small branch from the bottle brush tree in the back yard has fallen (it fell on the Asian pear tree, but the Asian pear tree itself is OK).  

My internet service went out for a short period of time, earlier, but, it is back on, now.  I thought I'll post an update while I still have internet connections!  The power has stayed on and I am hoping that would be the case later on, too, when the storm reaches us.  There have been several wireless emergency alerts over the cell phone, warning about floods and urging people to stay off the roads unless absolutely necessary.  We are under a county wide flood watch alert currently.

My plans for the rest of the day include watching the news on TV and doing a bit of cleaning and crocheting.

I'll try to post an update later in the evening if I have internet service.

Currently, I am grateful for:

- Rain for the garden
- No strong winds, so far
- Having electricity
- Having internet service
- Having phone service

My joyful activity this morning was chatting with my daughter.

Hope you are all having a lovely day!

Anticipating Hilary!

The Buckets are Ready to Collect Rain Water!

I live in southern California, in a semi-arid part of the country, where we are used to earthquakes, wildfires, and droughts, where normally, August is a scorching hot and dry month, where the regular rainy season doesn't start until October and the average annual rain fall is just under 15 inches, although, often, they bring about flash floods and mudslides, especially in the burn areas.  Hurricanes are something that happen in other parts of the country, along the Gulf Coast and the Atlantic, mostly.  So, when the news announced that a category 4 (winds of 130 miles per hour) hurricane named Hilary was forming in the Pacific, off the coast of Mexico, and it was headed towards parts of southern California, it was very unusual.  According to the news, the last time the southern California area experienced a hurricane was back in 1939!

Even though Hilary is expected to downgrade to a tropical storm by the time it reaches us, they are forecasting heavy winds and lots of rain.  Some areas are expected to receive a year's worth of rain in just a couple of days!  Hurricane-turned-tropical-storm Hilary is expected to reach the Los Angeles area on Sunday.  We are told to expect heavy rain, strong winds, some flooding, downed trees, and possible power outages due to downed power lines.  Catalina Island (part of Los Angeles County) is being evacuated ahead of the storm.  

My initial concern when they forecasted rain was the window air conditioner unit I had on the window sill.  There is a shelf attached to the outside of the wall on which the unit rests, but, the front of the unit rests on the window sill and when it rains, water drips down from the top of the unit onto the window sill and wets the wall.  I've already had water damage to the wall, earlier, and had the plaster repaired several years ago.  I don't want any further damage to the wall.  Gardener M returned from his vacation, yesterday (Friday) and I asked him to take the a/c unit down for me, even though I haven't used it at all this summer!  We already have some bags of mulch and some bricks on the patio overhang to hold the roofing panels down; M return later, today, to add a bag of mulch and two leftover bags of gravel to weigh down the roofing material over the front walkway, as well.

I hope the trees in the garden won't suffer any damage, especially the eucalyptus tree in the front!  I was waiting until fall to get it trimmed as it provides some shade during the summer!  I hope none of the other trees will have any broken branches, etc. 

I picked all the Asian pears that were on the tree although they are small and not quite ripe (Asian pears will not ripen once they are picked), mostly because one of the branches already broke from the weight of the fruit:

Asian Pear Harvest

Hopefully, without the weight of any fruit, the rest of the branches will survive being whipped around by the wind!  Next year, I'll know to thin out the fruit on the Asian pear tree as well as the peach tree.

I set out the row of buckets to collect the rainwater; I just hope that they won't end up getting blown all over the yard!  

I pride myself on being prepared for emergencies such as earthquakes.  This is the first time I'm expecting a hurricane, but, I think my usual emergency preparedness will suffice.  I have bottled water and ready-to-eat food, candles, flash lights (torches) and spare batteries for them.  I will keep the computer and my cell phone charged and I am charging the two phone chargers my daughter bought for me after our last power outage.  I am hoping that the power doesn't go off, but, if it does, I should be able to manage.  As long as the roof doesn't blow off or a tree doesn't fall on the house, I should be fine, I think.  I don't expect the house to flood, although the garage might get some water in, partly because the side door is warped and there is a gap under the main, overhead door.  

In the meantime, I did a load of laundry, just to have everything caught up.  And I will do a bit of cooking in the evening.  

This morning, neighbor S's daughter N called me and brought over some goodies for brunch:

Cinnamon Rolls from N

N said her parents are away; a cousin had come to stay the night with N and her sister and had brought some cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  N thought I would enjoy some and I did!

Today, I am grateful for:

- M's help with preparations for a hurricane turned tropical storm
- My regular state of preparedness
- N bringing me treats for brunch
- Asian pears from the garden (even if they are not ripe) 

- Inquiries from blog friends to check on me

Today's joyful activity was enjoying cinnamon rolls for brunch!  

Have you ever experienced a hurricane?  Or, even a tropical storm?  Are you prepared for any type of emergency?  Do you have extra water, flash lights, batteries, etc.?

August Grocery Shopping - Part 1

I put in an order for groceries this morning and picked it up in the afternoon.  This is the first grocery order for August; the last time I got groceries was on July 28.

I am happy to say that I received everything I ordered and paid for, that the items on "buy 5 or more and get $1 off each" sale where included at the sale prices (I actually ordered 8 items just in case they claimed they didn't have an item; this way, even if they left off 3 items, I would still have a qualifying number of items to get the discount!  LOL!), that Ricky loaded everything in the car and didn't leave anything out (I asked him before I left the parking lot!) and, Jennifer had told him to give me $10 off my total due to the earlier mishap in July!  Woo hoo!

Here's a list of what I bought:

1 doz. large eggs = $2.99

16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, reg. price $4.99; on sale with digital coupon = $3.49

1/2 gal. milk = $2.39

1 loaf sandwich bread = $1.79

1 box, 16 oz. saltine crackers = $2.69 

1 cucumber = $0.75
1 iceberg lettuce = $1.89
1 bag, 12 oz. frozen green peas = $1.25
3 lb. bag onions, reg. price $2.99; with coupon = $2.32
2 cans, 15.5 oz.@, chick peas reg. price $1.19@, on sale @$0.79 = $1.58

4 bananas, 1.23 lb @ $0.65/lb. = $0.81
2 mangos, @$0.95 = $1.90
Red seedless grapes, 1.82 lb. @ $1.61/lb. (reg. price $3.49/lb) = $2.94 
1 bottle, 64 fl. oz. apple juice, reg. price $2.69, with coupon = $2.24

10 lb. bag white sugar = $7.99

2 jars (16 oz.@) peanut butter* reg price $3.99@, on sale with multiple buy deal @$1.79 = $3.58
1 jar, 16 oz., roasted peanuts, reg. price $3.49; free with coupon! = $0.00

3 boxes, 13.5 oz @ cornflakes/cereal*, reg. price $4.89@, on sale with multi buy deal @$1.99 and $1 off 3 boxes coupon. for $1.65@ = $4.97

1 jar 30 fl. oz. Miracle Whip *"mayo like dressing" per receipt, reg. price $7.29(!); on sale with coupon and multi buy deal = $4.99

1 bag (20 oz.) frozen pork and vegetable gyoza/pot stickers = $4.99

1 frozen pizza*, 20.6 oz., reg. price $6.49, on sale with with multiple buy deal = $3.99

2 packets (5 oz. each) chocolate wafer cookies @ $1 = $2.00

1 container (48 oz.) vanilla ice cream*, reg. price $6.49, on sale & multiple buy deal = $3.99

2 bars 4.25 oz@ milk chocolate @$2.00; reg. price $3. = $4.00

(Don't you like how I put all the treats at the end?  LOL!)

* Starred items were the participating items in the "buy 5 and get $1 off each item" multiple buy deal.

In addition to the above groceries, I also bought :

5 cans of cat food at $1 per can for a picky Dancer and that is not part of my grocery budget (it comes from the Pet Supplies budget)

And a package of 4 boxes of facial tissues, store brand, for $5.99, and that, too, is not part of my grocery budget (it is from the Household supplies budget.) 

In addition, there was $0.91 sales tax for the cat food and facial tissues, which also doesn't come from the grocery budget, because groceries are not taxed.  

My order total (with cat food, facial tissues, and sales tax) came to $71.43 after the $10 off was applied.

The total for the grocery portion only came to $59.53

My August grocery budget is $100 plus $51.25 carried over from July = $151.25

Spent to date = $59.53

Balance left in the budget = $151.25 - $59.53 = $91.72

I baked the pizza and had some of it for dinner; brunch was some of the grapes and I had some ice cream and more grapes for dessert.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to order groceries online
- Free curbside pickup with minimum dollar amount of purchases
- I received all the items I ordered, nothing was forgotten, the sale prices were honored, and I received the $10 discount to make up for earlier problems
- The availability of groceries
- Being able to take advantage of sales

How is your August grocery shopping coming along?

Mid Week and Mid August!

A Very Fluffy Granny Square

This is the fluffiest of the granny squares I've made!   I've completed six squares now and have started on the seventh.  I'm still planning to make nine squares and then, do a border right round.

We had a touch of rain very early this morning, around 4:00 a.m. and it lasted for about three minutes at the most!  But, the day itself was sunny with a high of 92F.  This was the temperature in the family room at 7:00 p.m. 

86F/30C

I was comfortable with the ceiling fan on.  But, I'm glad I didn't decide to bake anything today!

I spent another relaxed day, crocheting granny squares, watching a few online videos, chatting with aunt C, and watching the news.  Later in the evening, I watered the back garden and picked a few fruits:

Passionfruits and Mini Asian Pears

The Asian pears are tiny, this year!  There are plenty of fruit on the tree, but, they never got bigger, for some reason.  Maybe, next year, we will thin them out and see if that helps.  

The passionfruits are not quite ripe, but, they have started to wrinkle up for the heat, I think.  I picked them to see if they were ripe, but, they are still ripening:

Not Quite Ripe Passionfruit

I still cut them open and scooped out the pulp and made a very refreshing drink, adding the pulp to a glass of water and stirring in a spoon or two of sugar to sweeten it.  I did not strain the seeds as I don't mind the seeds being in the drink.  I will leave the rest of the fruit on the vine to pick later.

Neighbor T's daughter was at the house when I went outside to collect the mail and we chatted for a bit.  The charity had finally picked up the items she had left out for them (they picked them up, today).  She asked me if I had found anything I wanted and I told her that I had been tempted to take the storage boxes, but, didn't because I really have all what I need.  She said that another neighbor had texted to ask if they could have the storage boxes, so I guess the boxes went to someone who really needed them.  

Still later in the evening, I video chatted with my daughter.  She used her cell phone to video chat, instead of her laptop!

Brunch was a piece of my homemade bread with chicken curry.  In the afternoon, I made some banana nice cream, with a frozen banana, a spoonful of peanut butter, and the juice of an orange.  It was a very refreshing treat on a warm day, without the same guilt as a bowl of ice cream!  LOL!  Dinner was the last of the frozen gyoza.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Ceiling fans and the electricity to run them

- Water for the garden
- Fresh fruit from the garden
- Phone calls and emails from family and friends
- My yarn stash

Today's joyful activities included crocheting and being in the garden.

Plans for tomorrow include ordering some groceries.  They have their "Buy 5 or more participating items and get $1 off each" sale, again!  I think I'll order at least 6 items, this time - that way, if they are out of one item, I might still qualify for the deal!  

How was your Wednesday?  What are your plans for Thursday?

Someday My Bread Will Rise

No Knead Bread!

I made another batch of no knead bread, today.  This time, I used yeast that was only one year out of date (expired May 2022)!  I proofed it as the recipe called for and it worked very well, getting nice and foamy.  I weighed out my flour and mixed up the dough and it rose well, it being a warm day.  Then, I divided the dough between a loaf pan and a round casserole dish as usual, covered the dishes with cling wrap, and kept for a second rise.  Again, the dough rose quite well, but, it touched the cling wrap.  So that, when I went to take the cling wrap off, air bubbles burst and the dough deflated a bit.  Oops!  I kept it to rise a bit more without the cling wrap, but, it didn't work that well.  Anyway, I baked it and it turned out well enough:

The Round Loaf

It's crusty and the bread itself is tasty and not too dense.  As I told my daughter, the best thing about it is, I know exactly what went into it - all purpose flour, expired yeast, water, salt, two teaspoons of sugar, and the butter I used to grease the pans!  

I had the piece I cut off with chicken curry for my dinner, today.  Brunch had been the leftover piece of French toast from yesterday.   

It has been a very relaxed Tuesday.  I went to bed at 5:00 a.m. woke up once around 8:30 a.m. to feed Dancer, and woke up for the second time at 10:00 a.m.  I brought in the emptied trash bin and it was already quite warm outside (about 85F/29C).  We eventually went up to the 92F/33C, today.  I replied to blog comments, visited other blogs, checked the new grocery ads that came in the mail today, did a few things around the house, and baked bread.

Later in the evening, I video chatted with my daughter and while we were chatting, she noticed that there was smoke coming out from the side of her laptop, where the charging cord was plugged in!  The same thing happened to me, with one of my old laptops, I remember!  She quickly unplugged her computer and turned it off!  She will be shopping for a new computer, this week, either after work, tomorrow, or on Friday, when she has a day off from work!  We are very grateful that the computer didn't start smoking when it was plugged in to charge overnight!  

Today, I am grateful for:

- My daughter noticed her laptop was smoking before it actually caught fire or something bad happened!
- We were able to video chat before the computer started smoking!
- The expired yeast still worked!
- Homemade bread (even if it is a bit on the flat side!)
- Working appliances 

Today's joyful activity was making bread!  I still can't make a proper loaf of kneaded bread and my no knead bread doesn't rise as much as I'd like it to, but, I am enjoying trying to make bread from scratch!  

Do you make your own bread?  If so, do you make kneaded bread or do you make no-knead bread?

A Change of Plans on Monday

 

Purple Granny Square

I was supposed to have gone for a flu shot, today, but, the pharmacy called to let me know that they had not received the shipment of the vaccine intended for those who are 65 years of age and older.  They thought they might get it sometime next week and didn't want me to have a wasted trip.  So, today's appointment was cancelled and I decided not to go to the pharmacy just to redeem my $5 off coupon.  I suppose I could have gone, but, I chose not to.  Maybe I might go tomorrow, instead, or just let the coupon expire.  Our county's Covid data (now published once a week on a Thursday) showed that the testing positivity rate had gone up to 10.52%.  I might go back to self-imposed isolation and not venture out unless I absolutely had to.

So, there I was, all dressed up and no place to go!  Instead of getting a flu shot and shopping for treats, I stayed home and video chatted with my step- aunt (my late step-father's sister).  She is in her nineties and had been in and out of hospital, but, still tending to her garden and cooking and as sharp as ever, although she claims she is getting a bit forgetful.  I promised to call her more often than I have been doing.  

Later, I posted my meal plan for the week and crocheted another granny square.  I've completed four, so far, and started on a fifth one.  

In the evening, I took the trash bins to the curb for collection, tomorrow, and walked for a bit.  Then, I checked on the garden and picked another handful of ripe tomatoes.  This year's tomatoes are the size of cherry tomatoes!  

Brunch was French toast and that finished the loaf of bread I had bought (there is still a small piece of the loaf of no-knead bread I had made, though!)  Dinner was leftover baked chicken with the last of the boxed rice/wild rice mix to which I added a little bit of frozen green peas and frozen corn.  I didn't feel like having the tabouleh, so I might have it for brunch, tomorrow, instead.

By the way, this week is the All House Cleaning, which marks the end of yet another 8-week cleaning cycle.  It's when we go through each room or area of the house and declutter, tidy, and clean.  I dusted and tidied the living room today (it is the tidiest room to begin with).

Today, I am grateful for:

- The pharmacy calling me in time to let me know that the appointment had to be cancelled.
- Being able to video chat with my step-aunt.
- Tomatoes from the garden
- Weekly trash collection
- Warm days and cool evenings

Today's joyful activities included crocheting and video chatting with family.  

Plans for tomorrow include tidying up the dining area and the family room.  I also want to water the back garden.  

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?