April Ends in Blizzard

After staying up for 36 hrs straight due to television coverage of Will and Kate's Royal Wedding, I went to bed on Friday night listening to the howling wind of a blizzard. My main concern was the boys who had been gone on a week-long youth retreat in the city and were due home around 10pm. But Nelson was talking care of it and I needed sleep.


Midnight - I found Nelson in the kitchen. He'd just brought the boys home. With white-out road conditions and 60kph winds, it had taken him 2 hrs - instead of the usual 30 mins - to drive into town and pick up the boys from the drop-off point. But his work cell phone was buzzing with alarms and he had to get back out to check well sites. I went back to bed.

4:30 am - I woke find the power out. Nelson still wasn't back. Instead of going back to bed, I cuddled with a blanket on the recliner and soon fell asleep.

8:30 am - I woke when JJ wandered into the living room. He asked if I'd phoned SaskPower to inform them of the outage. No, I hadn't. But I did then. Smart kid.

10:30 am - Took this photo:

Noon - Nelson finally came home. When he reached his farthest site, it'd been too dangerous to drive back. He'd slept the rest of the night in his truck then continued his work as the weather cleared.

The house was cold enough to sit under blankets for warmth. Nelson brought out the emergency candles for heat and then went to bed.

4 pm - Storm ended although still windy. I wanted to take my daily walk out to take photos of flooded road but couldn't bring myself to walk through the drifts and freeze without a warm house to come back to.

5:30 pm - Nelson awoke hungry. I was going to serve cold ham sandwiches, but he had other ideas. Although we can't drive our motorhome anymore the appliances still work - on propane. Nelson got the stove working. He threw a frozen pizza in the oven and boiled a kettle of water one of the 2 small burners. Yum, pizza and hot ramen noodles for supper. Was going to make tea but tummy was warm and full.

7 pm - Power finally came back on and we settled in to warm up.

 8 pm - I realized if I wanted photos I'd better get going. I went and took these:

Wherever you see snow on the road it's really ice. And slippery when you're wearing rubber boots!

Although the water had receded off the road surface, the ground was still plenty mucky. And with the water level still high, there's a good possibility of rising over the road again as this new snow melts.

Do you see how there's a handful of icy snow at the bottom of each branch grouping? Well, those patches of ice are a couple inches above the water level and they waved back and forth with every gust of wind. Quite pretty, actually.

The wind was still howling when I went out on this photo journey and after being out for only 10 mins or so, the index finger I use to snap the photos was aching from cold. I was wearing those little magic gloves as I do when the temperature is so cold in the winter, but it was only at 0c tonight which is the freezing point.

Yet, the wind whipping across the water has a dangerous beauty to it. In this photo below, there's nothing hanging from the fence on either side of the post - just icicles that have been dipped like candles in the water with every splash.

Here's one last pic of the icicles on the corner post.

I sure hope this is the last we've seen of snow this spring. What will tomorrow bring?

Stay tuned as I have some good news to share in my next post.

Will and Kate's Royal Wedding

There are so many different sources of information to have on hand during the Royal Wedding of Kate and William, I've decided to write a post to keep them in one place.

The Official Royal Wedding site has plenty of photos and background information.

Did you know there's a Royal Family Facebook page? Clicking on 'Like' at the top of the page will show that you're 'attending' the event and you'll receive updates throughout the day. The Facebook page also shows how to submit a video blog to send well-wishes to the happy couple. And they want to know how you're sharing their special day.

Can't watch it all on TV? No problem. The Royal Channel is live streaming the event on it's YouTube channel. Not only can you see it live, but there's access to oodles of videos about anything royal.

My Monday Inkwell Inspiration post was called Royal Coach and Carriage.  It has photos of many processional coaches and carriages you may recognize from tv and photos. You'll see at least one at the royal wedding when the newlyweds leave Westminster Abbey in the 1902 State Landau just like Will's mum did all those years ago.

If you want the ceremony timetable, there's a free download of a very nice pdf copy of the Official Programme which includes an official photograph and route map. If you have the ibook app on your iphone, ipad, etc, then you can download the free Official Programme. Just go to your iphone (it's a free download) and search for Official Programme. This is a very nice digital keepsake.

The information I really wanted to know was the little details like ... when will Prince William leave Clarence House and head to the church? Or when will the Princess Catherine be kissed by her handsome Prince on the balcony of Buckingham Palace? Well, here's the itinerary which lists everything except the actual ceremony but that's in the Official Programme. What you'll find below is when the congregation begins to arrive at the abbey to the Royal flypast while the newlyweds are on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. I've emboldened the really juicy stuff...

Of course, these are all London times. Here in Sask, we are 7 hrs behind which means 8:15 London time is 1:15 am here. Official TV coverage starts at midnight on my local channel and yup, I'm already watching TLC for wonderful shows with background information.

8:15 a.m. - The congregation begin arriving at the Great North Door of London's Westminster Abbey.

9:50 a.m. - Governors-General and Prime Ministers of Realm Countries, the Diplomatic Corps and other distinguished guests arrive.

10:10 a.m. - Prince William and his brother and best man Prince Harry leave their father's residence Clarence House.

10:20 a.m. - Members of foreign royal families begin to arrive at the Abbey. Middleton's mother Carole and brother James will leave the Goring Hotel.

10:25 a.m. - Junior members of the British royal family leave Buckingham Palace.

10:35 a.m. - William's uncles Prince Edward and Prince Andrew and his aunt Princess Anne will leave the palace with members of their families.

10:38 a.m. - William's father Prince Charles will leave Clarence House with his wife Camilla.

10:40 a.m. - Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip are the last royals to leave.

10:48 a.m. - The bridesmaids and page boys leave the Goring.

10:51 a.m. - Middleton and her father Michael leave the hotel.

11 a.m. - The marriage service begins.

12:15 p.m. - William and Middleton will leave the Abbey in a carriage and return to Buckingham Palace followed by other senior members of the royal family and escorts from mounted cavalry in full dress uniform.

12:30 p.m. - The newlyweds arrive at the palace.

12:40 p.m. - The other royals, both British and foreign, arrive back at the palace.

1:25 p.m. - The queen, William and Middleton and their families appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

1:30 p.m. A fly past by aircraft from the Royal Air Force and World War Two planes from the Battle of Britain Flight.

Sigh.

I hope you enjoy the ceremonies. I know I will. Come back here after and let me know your thoughts on the whole affair, okay?

Video: Driving Through the Flood

It took a long time to upload, but here is the video I filmed of our Apr 24, Easter morning flood.

The first part shows how we got the car across. The van's low and the water's rising. We needed it on the other side in case we had an emergency in the ensuing days. 

The second part is where I film from inside the truck - twice. First going to church, then coming back. Let's just say it was easier to film than drive the truck. On Sunday afternoon the guys went out and marked the edges of the road so we could see where we were going. But that was after this video.

Sask Farm Flooded Out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbDJjSPI54g



For the beginning of our flood watch, see my post before this one, Operation Wading Boots.

Stayed tuned for more fun when we take the paddle boat out for a spin.

(And please forgive the lack of a smooth transition from normal to zoom on my little Lumix because I have to stop filming to zoom in and then start again. I lose 5 seconds every time I shut down and start again.)

Operation Wading Boots

My new blog header is the scene that greeted us on Easter morning (Resurrection Day). Camera in hand, boots on my feet, I walked straight down the driveway and stopped at the corner where we turn onto the road. That's where I'm standing in this photo, looking west:

I turned to the north and took this photo of our road. Or at least where our road was supposed to be:

Since our van is very low, we needed to get it to the other side before the water level rose any higher. Nelson called the crew into action as spotters. For this dangerous work, Nick donned Nelson's waders. The boys were primed with purpose.









They walked down the road while Nelson drove the van slowly behind them. He left it parked in a safe zone and walked back. It was Easter morning and we needed to get ready for church.

We then hopped into the truck and drove across. I filmed this epic crossing and will post it here shortly. Once across, we switched to the van and went to church repeating the scenario on the way back.

The rare photo opportunities of this temporary lake beneath the western sky is amazing. I marvel at the blessed beauty of this spring.

And look... more snow! There is still lots of snow hiding on the north side of buildings, under trees and in the shadows to keep the water running for many days yet. I stood near our apple trees to take this photo. The road and driveway on the right.








More photos and videos on the way.


So, what's the weather like where you are? Did you get caught in the tornadoes? Live where you're crying for rain? Let me know and I'll pray for you.

Water Covers Our Road

After weeks of waiting through a roller coaster of temperatures, the weather has warmed enough to set off the final meltdown. Here's the sequence of events...

Thurs, Apr 21st at 8 am - The water is one foot lower than the road on the right of the photo. Note the level of water on the fence posts.

Good Friday, Apr 22 at 1 pm - The water is level with the road. A rural municipal councillor stopped at the farm about an hour earlier to say the flood was running over a road a mile away and would reach us soon.

A mere 3 hrs later, the water had crossed the road, aided by the powerful prairie wind and damage had already begun to the road's surface.



4 hrs later the wind dropped at the 8 pm sunset.  The air filled with bird sounds and rushing water.

7 am this morning, Sat, Apr 23rd, we heard the water rushing across the road as soon as we went outside. More water, more damage. Where the dirt had washed away, it left huge rocks - as much as 8" across - lying just beneath the surface.

7 pm tonight, we jumped into hubby's 4WD and went to check the water at 2 different culverts within a mile from home, but our road was the only one under water. We'd been red-flagged sometime during the day. With some places more than 6" deep, the drive down our road was scary. But JJ couldn't wait to get out of the truck and experience the water for himself.

As usual, the wind dropped which allowed for some spectacular photos. Normally if I took a pic from this spot, you wouldn't see a drop of water.

Tomorrow is Easter morning. Resurrection Day. Amen!

I wonder what the water will be like when we head out to church. Nelson thinks the van can make it across, but I have my misgivings since the van is low and the water high. I guess it depends on what happens overnight. We'll see...

HAPPY EASTER!