DUCKS for THEE in 2023

flowerbug

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I think the birds like the cherries when they are "past it" and have little black bugs in them.
I know that when I used to buy cans of tart cherries they Were ~$4.00/each
Don't even Know what they cost Now!

dried tart cherries that we like to buy are between $7-8/lb, we buy them in four lb packages. i could eat them all the time, they have so much flavor, but i've gotten away from eating them recently because we've switched to apples instead. fresh apple slices that i cut up a few times a week and then we both snack on them through the day or not as desired. i can use them for breakfast or dinner or a snack, etc. add peanut butter and i'm good. :) (it's actually working very well as a weight control measure for me)...

the dried cherries i was using in my morning oatmeal and also added peanut butter (no other sugar added) and that would hold me for almost the whole day until dinner. Mom uses the dried cherries in a snack mix she makes for giving away and people really like it. dark chocolate chips, roasted almonds and dried cherries.
 
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ducks4you

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WELL, we had a derechio last Thursday. OUR power was out until 4:30PM yesterday, 2/3 of the town got their power back on Saturday. NO deaths or injurires, some minor property damage, LOADS of trees and limbs went down.
We had a larch that split close to the bottom of the trunk and it took out of a pine just east of it.
We also had a huge limb on a too big maple in the south yard. It hit my old cattle fencing by the street.
ALL of my power tools are electric, so I couldn't use a chain saw on them.
We had Nothing hit the house, Praise GOD!!
My good friend on the board, M., called and told me to drive around town Thursday afternoon to check on everything and everybody. She didn't want them "hating on me."
Rumors spread like a dry field on fire. Looks like we will be having a town side hot dog roast, probably in September, bc it should be cooler.
I will have pictures up soon of my tree damages.
3 families went to work IMMEDIATELY clearing the streets, picking up limbs and transporting to piles. One family, who recently bought ~70 acres on the south side of town, took the lion's share of the debris. I plan to pile mine up in my north pasture wood trash pile starting today. Realistically, it will take a couple of weeks to clean it all up.
Regarding my Mayorship, I have kept several promises. Saying you will do something and not following through is pretty commonplace nowadays, but I am striving to do better.
Previous mayor left the paperwork for our Engineer incomplete. I got signatures and stamps from our Clerk, who is stepping down, and I signed paperwork and I snail mailed it 2 day service last week.
Our Engineer has pulled some strings to file it late. We probably won't spend any of the ~$6K on recommended street projects, but he works hard for small pay and I Said I would get it done.
Board cancelled the credit card, and getting completed minutes (that I had to write last month) approved by the bank for the new debit card has been a struggle. I may still have to correct a copy and again have my Clerk sign and date it before the bank will even talk to me. They are talking to our employee, our Treasurer.
BUT, I promised to get it done, so, this week...
I also promised to get envelopes to our water billing clerk who was totally out.
I WANTED to use our new STAPLES account bc of the rebates, but I ended up having to buy some, to be reimbursed later. She had them to send out the water bills on Friday. Another promise kept.
One more to go...gotta synthesize our current Water Supervisor's page long job description and get it posted.
I am promising MYSELF to have this up by Friday.
more...
 

ducks4you

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I got 4 thank you cards written and ready to mail, as soon as the post office opens this morning.
They are addressed to the three families that stepped up basically IMMEDIATALY after the storm went through.
Again, a follow through, but these people have done this before and I don't think that anybody ever thanked them, so I am doing so.
I wrote one additional thank you note to the asst water supervisor. Last month we had a leak by our water tower and he repaired it.
This weekend, with the power out, her made sure to have our generator hooked up to propane to keep the pumps working and the water going out to the town.
It is worth a special thank you.
 

ducks4you

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Now, MY place.
DH left his grill out to take the brunt of the 60mph+ storm on Thursday. I freed it from the limb covering it and found all but one piece.
I moved it to the west side of the house and that's where it needs to be stored when not in use. It is aluminum and now has a few small dings in it from being blown over.
Our house came with a generator.
We never would have KNOWN that we had access to natural gas, had I not wanted to plant my drawf magnolia in the front yard.
DH had the lines to the generator converted to natural gas about 12-15 ??? years ago.
I don't think it was ever meant to power a fridge, 3 freezers, fans, the barn light AND the AC.
It was struggling, but we slept with the AC in the bedroom only, and all fans off.
Doggies joined us.
The generator is great BUT it produces a LOT of heat and the kitchen was really hot.
During the day I had the back door open.
Yesterday we had a stiff west breeze and that helped a lot.
We left a few times and opted to turn OFF the generator, in the case that it might have a problem while we were gone. DH checked the oil twice, and it had turned from amber to dirty.
I bought fresh oil on Friday and we plan to change it out next weekend.
We have never had to run it this long. Plans are to purchase an additional generator in the next year.
ALL freezers, DD's and ours, stayed cold and we lost no meat.
Power was off from 1:45PM Thursday (where I watched the storm blow in from my north garage door,) until 4:20PM Sunday.
Yes I am irritated by Ameren!!!
They send out postcards asking if you want tree limbs cut down that might damage lines. I made myself available 2 summers ago and suggested a limb from my pine tree.
They refused to cut it, even though I told them to cut it and leave me to remove it.
10 miles up the road a horizontal tree limb that Should have been trimmed, brought down a whole line of customers.
I think they also had to replace about 10 wooden power poles, judging from the ones with dirt, not grass around them.
Seems like the guys who had to fix the lines should supervise the ones sent out to trim trees.

Apparently our town is on 3 grids. Go figure!!!!
So many people in town had power before we did.
We have new neighbors across the st. They have family just south of C/U/Savoy, so they went to stay with them while the power was out. We chatted briefly yesterday, but it looked like they had to throw away the entire contents of their refridgerator/freezer.
more...
 
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ducks4you

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I will get some pictures up this week. We were truly blessed to have a generator that works and have no property damage.
Thank you Lord!!! 🙏🙏🙏
That larch was looking suspicious and there is some hollowing out in the trunk, so it was a goner, anyway.
The top 1/2 of a maple to the west of the house came down. You can see that the bigger pieces were dying.
I am happy that one branch, which was threatening to fall on my fence and bend it, is now 15 ft east of the fence on the ground!
DD's both spent the whole weekend at a cabin in Southern Illinois, where they have gone before. Youngest DD Really needed the vacation and they both had a great time hiking and visiting wineries and sitting around.
She has offered to buy me a gasoline chainsaw, so I am taking her up on it.
I cancelled the additional family 4th of July get together yesterday.
Too much mess to have family that doesn't have any mess--just couldn't handle it.
DD's are coming over, as usual, but we live with their mess and they live with ours.
I think you understand.
 

baymule

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What a lot to deal with, but you sure are stepping up to take on responsibilities. Townspeople might go into shock! You have a mess of paperwork to clean up from neglect from your predecessor, paperwork to get done to get you caught up, then you can move forward.

Glad your generator held up, y’all made it work with limited resources. I’ve lived in hurricane country most of my life and know what it’s like to be without power for weeks. Hurricanes are a summer/fall event when it’s hot and mosquitoes are thick, so not very much fun. I feel for you.

You will get it all done, you are the type that wants things in order. You go girl!
 

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