Saturday 2-27 Dancing with Don Moger and Friends

 

Foggy Day

We had a dreary day with fog. In the afternoon the wind came up and blew a lot of leaves on the back porch. According to our Echo Show it got up to 78 degrees.

Larry started the day by going to town to pick up a few things. His first stop was Walmart, Walmart is still struggling on restocking items from the winter storm last week. They are still limiting people to one bread item. Then he went across the road to HEB. He hadn't been in HEB in awhile so he picked up a few items we can only get there: seasoned pork loin, Rhodes frozen bread loafs. He said that the HEB was well stocked and no limit on bread products. Its nice to have two different stores to do your grocery shopping.

 

 

Shopping at HEB

I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 39 minutes and 5 seconds, which put me in 6th place in my group. I did a few Sudoku games and Jewel games.

While I did my games Larry worked on a paper project with the Cameo. He found the file on the project and downloaded it. Then he separated the pieces to be cut. Next he cut the pieces out. Before assembling the pieces he watched a video. After watching the video he assembled the pieces.

We attended two virtual square dances. The first was Don Moger and Ross Howell C1/C2 at 12:00 for an hour and a half. Don and Ross called three tips of C1 and three tips of C2. We attended the C1 session. We had 66 participants. Ross called two tips and Don called one. We had a great time.

The second one was Don Moger's Saturday Night Fever at 6:00 for an hour and a half. This week Don invited Steve Kopman to come and call with him. The dance was 4 tips of A2, 2 tips of C1 and 1 tip of C2.

 

 

For dinner I cooked coconut shrimp. Larry knows I like shrimp so when he was in HEB he picked some up, we hadn't had any in a very long time. They came out good. 

After the last dance we watched a couple documentaries on Amazon. The first was Blazing Barriers, which was a movie made in 1937 about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). It was about to young hoods who joined the CCC to turn their lives around, away from the life of crime they were headed for. It was a good movie. The second one was The Ship Sinkers, which was about a company of people who are called to sink old vessels. The vessels are sunk to make artificial reefs for divers and fish. It was a very good movie because it showed the process the vessel goes through before it is sunk. Then I started the second season of Tin Star. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me in third place in my group.     

Friday 2-26 Wonderful Friday

 

View of Lake Belton from the house

We had a wonderful day even though it was overcast. It got to 59 degrees and we had no rain. 

Last night I took a loaf of bread out of the freezer to thaw. It was suppose to take eight hours at room temperature. But when Larry woke up it wasn't starting to rise so he put it in the microwave with the light on. By noon it was ready to bake. It only takes 20-25 minutes. We had fresh bread to munch on for the rest of the day.

 

 

Freshly baked bread

Larry started the day out by continuing working on a paper crafting project. I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Free Cell Mini of 5 Games. It took me 12 minutes and 30 seconds to complete, which put me in 22nd place in my group. I did a few Sudoku games.

We attended two virtual square dances. The first one was Joe Uebelacker's Weekly C1 at 10:00 for an hour. We had 9 participants. Joe is still learning virtual calling so there were some problems. He called some complex moves and confused me and at times it was very frustrating. Di Green and Terry attended the dance and helped out a bit by dancing with their backs to us. She helped Joe by giving him suggestions on how she calls.

The second one was Di Green's Weekly C1 Workshop at 2:00 for an hour and a half. We had 52 participants. Di went through Tally Ho, Linear Action and reviewed other moves. We had a great afternoon dancing to Di and our virtual square dancing friends.

We watched YouTube videos. In the evening we watched two documentaries on Amazon. The first one was The Greasy Hands Preachers. It was about motorcycle enthusiasts around the world and how they find a happy life. It was a good movie. The second one was Rainman Twins, which was about amazing identical twin girls who are autistic savant. It was a very good movie. Then I finished watching the first season of Tin Star. I ended up doing 26,500 steps, which put me in third place in my group.  

Thursday 2-25 Rainy Day

 

Overcast Day

It was overcast all day. By late afternoon it started to sprinkle. The rainy weather is suppose to be hang around for a few days. The temperature got to a nippy 50 degrees.

Larry worked on making Easter cards. I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Pyramid Mini of 10 games. It took me 35 minutes and 28 seconds to complete, which put me in 19th place. I did a few Sudoku games.

We attended two virtual square dances. The first one was Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00 for an hour. He asked if we would be interested in adding a four couple tip to the dance. The dancers said yes, so next week he'll add an extra tip at the end of the dance. We had 30 participants. Dayle did a great job of calling and cued when necessary. We had a great time.

The second one was Jeremy Butler's Weekly A2/C1 at 6:00 for an hour. This week Jeremy invited Ken Burke to come and help him call the dance. We had 26 participants during the A2 four tips and 22 participants for the C1 tip. Jeremy and Ken called two A2 tips a piece and called the C1 tip together. We had a fun time.

 

Get a partner and dance

After the last dance we watched a movie on Amazon called Useless, it was about a teenage girl who has to cope with the lost of her mother. Her uncle gives her a horse that had been abused by its first owner. The girl trains the horse to compete in barrel racing. It was a slow moving movie and wasn't that good. Then we watched a documentary called Champion Barry Sheene: Profile of a Legend. It was about Barry Sheene and his motorcycle career. It was old but very good. Then I started watching Tin Star on Amazon. It's a series about a former British detective, who brings his family to a tiny, tranquil town in Canada called Little Bear to start a new life. It's ok. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

 

 

Relaxing in front of the television

   

    

Wednesday 2-24 Recycling Items

 

Smile and have fun

We had another beautiful day with a lot of sunshine and the temperature at 78 degrees. 

We have been recycling aluminum cans for years. We have a trash compactor that we use for aluminum cans. When we have a few bags we drop them off at the local city recycling center. Since the virus started we have been slow in disposing of these, we now had five bags on the side of house and it was getting out of control so this afternoon we took them to the recycling center. Before Coronavirus the city manned the center and they would take care of the bags, now you're on your own. Larry had to empty the cans from the bags into a bin, then he had to throw the plastic bags in a dumpster for miscellaneous items that aren't recyclable. 

 

Recycling Cans

Larry changes the oil on our boat, car, truck and motorcycle. He puts the old oil in the new oil containers and disposes of it at Walmart. For months Walmart auto centers were closed due to Coronavirus. We had not disposed our old oil in a long time and we now had a number of bottles of used oil, more than 3 gallons. In the past the process was to sign their log book with the amount of oil and they would then take the old oil and filters. This time the worker required Larry to dump the old oil into their large drum while he stood there and watched him. It was weird that the employee watched Larry empty the oil into the drum.

I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Spider and 3 Tri Peak). It took me 56 minutes and 10 seconds to complete. I didn't do too good. 

Larry is working on another paper crafting project.

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A2 at 11:00 for an hour and fifteen minutes. We had 44 participants. Dayle called four two couple tips and one full square tip. He did a great job and we had a super time.

The second one was Doren McBroom's Weekly A2/C1 at 6:15 for an hour and a half. This week Doren started a new format for his dance. His dance use to be all C1 tips but he decided to call 45 minutes of A2 and 45 minutes of C1. This week Jeremy Butler helped Doren call the dance. They called 4 tips of A2 and 4 tips of C1. During the A2 session we had 16 participants and the C1 had 14 participants. We had a fun evening of dancing to Doren and Jeremy and with friends.

 

After the last dance we watched Gorging on Amazon, it was a documentary about the sport of canyoneering. It followed canyoneers hike, swim, wade, rock climb, and rappel down cliffs and waterfalls. Some of the adventures took them through tight canyons. It was very well done. Afterwards I finished watching the fifth and final season of Law & Order UK. Then I watched a movie on Amazon called Apple Mortgage Cake, which was about a single mother of three teenage boys, who make a delicious apple cake from a family recipe to save her family and home. It was a cute movie. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me in fifth place in my group.        

   

Tuesday 2-23 Windy Day

 

Hold On

We had another beautiful day with sunshine. In the afternoon the wind came up, we could see white caps on the lake all the way from the house. It got up to 75 degrees.

Yesterday morning Larry ordered a bag of birdseed from Walmart online. They were suppose to send an e-mail when they filled the order but we never received one. This morning he went to Walmart, they had restocked many items and he was able to purchase groceries they did not have on Sunday and he got me a bag of birdseed. Then he went across the street to The Dollar Tree.

I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Pyramid and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 40 minutes and 27 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. 

We attended three virtual square dances. The first was Dayle Hodge's Weekly Plus at 11:00 for an hour and fifteen minutes. We had 43 participants. Dayle called 4 two couple tips and one four couple tip. During the fourth Plus Dayle worked on Cloverleaf. We had a very fun morning

The second was Di Green's Weekly A1/A2 Workshop at 1:30 for two hours with a fifteen minutes, there was a break in between the sessions. Terry and Di called five tips each session. During the A1 session we had 40 participants and A2 we had 44 participants. We had a great afternoon of dancing.

The third one was Don Moger's Weekly A2 at 6:00 for an hour and a half. We had 56 participants. Don called five tips and we had great time.

 

Dancing with friends

 

In between the dances we watched YouTube videos. After Don's dance we watched a movie on Amazon called The Cowboy Hat Movie. It was about the history of the cowboy hats. It was very good.Then I started watching the fifth and final season of Law & Order UK. I ended up doing 26,500 steps, which put me in fourth place in my group.       

Monday 2-22 Visiting Louise

 

Enjoying the sun

We had another gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine and the temperature in the low 70s. This is why we live in Central Texas. That terrible weather last week is not common.

We were going to go to Round Rock on Valentine's day to celebrate with Louise but the weather prevented this. This morning we decided to surprise Louise and visit her today. We were about an hour away when Larry called and told her we were on our way. When we arrived at her house she was sitting in the frontyard with her dog Alice, when Alice saw us she came running, she was very excited. We wished Louise a happy Valentine's day and gave her a few gifts that Larry had made for her: a small box full of candy, purse, Valentine clock, a small Juliet in a frame and a Juliet card. She was thrilled.

 

A Valentine candy box

 

Evening purse

Valentine clock

Juliet

Over the last year or so Larry had installed three security cameras at Louise's house and he wanted to install one more. While we were there he installed the fourth one in her backyard. The camera gave him some problems, it wouldn't stay working correctly. Later in the evening he found some newer firmware and was able to install it on the camera remotely. Louise said it was now working correctly. Louise loves having four cameras, she keeps a monitor turned on all the time and is easily able to watch her entire front and back yards.  

 

New security camera

Larry installing camera

I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Hard Road Mini of 7 games. It took me 1 hour, 44 minutes and 48 seconds, which put me in 22nd place in my group. Then I played a few Jewel games and Mahjong games.

We attended one virtual dance, which was Daryl Murphy's A2/C1 at 5:45 for two hours. For the A2 session had 12 participants and the C1 session had 8 participants. Daryl called four tips in each session, the fourth tip was a full square tip. We had a super time.

 

  

We watched YouTube videos. I worked out for a half hour using Just Dance. We watched a documentary called Farmland on Amazon, which was about family owned farms in the United States. It was a very good film. I continued watching the fourth season of Law & Order U.K. I ended up doing 26,000 steps.

Sunday 2-21 Gorgeous Day - No More Snow

Where's the snow and ice

We had a gorgeous day with the in high in the mid 70s, our Echo Show showed 77 degrees. 

The day started out with a cloud covering and chilly and windy. By the afternoon the sun came out and the chill went away but the wind stayed. You would never know that a couple of days ago we were frozen in.

Larry started the day out by going to town to do grocery shopping. We usually do our shopping online and get it delivered to the house but due to the winter storm the shelves of the stores are bare so he decided to go and see what he could find. When he got home he said there was no produce or fruit and very limited meat, the frozen foods cases were totally empty. They had bread but were limiting you to one loaf. He was really fortunate and was able to get most of what I had on my list.

I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: World Tour Mini of 7 games. It took me 12 minutes and 53 seconds, which put me in 7th place in my group. I played a few Jewel games and Mahjong games.

Larry worked on a Easter paper project. I worked out using Just Dance for 45 minutes. we watched YouTube videos and an episode of GizWiz.

 

Working Out 

We attended three virtual square dances. The first one was Dayle Hodge's Four Couple A2 Workshop at 11:00 for an hour and a half. We had 39 participants. Dayle finished up doing all the four couple A1/A2 moves. Some people were struggling a bit. Dayle is a great teacher. We had a super time. 

The second one was Dixie Cups Bi-Monthly DBD at 1:30 for an hour. This week the club invited Ben Brown to call. We had 21 participants. He read too much and broke down the dancers by calling weird stuff. I struggled a bit and was getting frustrated but I hung in there and finished the dance. He called as he danced with his wife Ashley. I have to give him credit he tried hard to keep the dancers moving and he reviewed the moves when asked. 

The third one was Loren Smith's Weekly A2/C1 at 7:30 for an hour and fifteen minutes. This week Loren invited Ray Brandzy to come and help call the dance. During the A2 session we had 35 participants and the C1 session we had 28 participants. Ray called the first two tips of A2 and the first tip of C1. Loren called the third tip of A2, the C1 learn tip and the second C1 tip. During the teach tip Loren went through Tally Ho. We had a great evening of dancing. 

After the last dance we watched Wildorado - I am Angus, a documentary on Amazon. It was about a young Texas Ag Teacher and his class of high school agriculture students, against all odds they became the first student-led cattle company in the nation. It was very good. Afterwards I finished watching the third season of Law & Order UK and started the fourth season. 

I ended up doing 25,000 steps, which put me in second place in my group for the week with 181,140.    

Saturday 2-20 Super Saturday

Super Saturday

 

We had a super day. It started out cold but by the afternoon it got into the low 50s. The sun was shining so most of the snow and ice melted. 

During the freeze when we didn't have power I still made sure I fed the birds. We didn't hang the birdfeeder because we weren't in the house to keep an eye on the squirrels but I did put out bowls on the porch. Because of the ice I couldn't get down the stairs to the backyard so I didn't put a bowl under the tree. The squirrels visited us in the morning and early afternoon. They didn't have to look for food. When they left the birds came. We had more birds during the freeze than before. During the freeze we sometimes had fifteen birds on the porch. There were three bowls and either the squirrels or the birds would knock them over so the seeds would be scattered on the porch and the birds loved that. I think the birds prefer to have the seeds on the porch than in the bowls. This was great to see. 

Today we hung the feeder and we had to chase the squirrels out of it a few times. The birds continued coming to eat. During the freeze we didn't see the deer but last night they returned. I still couldn't get down the stairs so I threw the seeds on the ice and snow for them. Today after the snow and ice melted I went under the tree and sprinkled birdseed under the oak tree so the deer could have something to eat. I love watching the wildlife.

Usually on Saturdays we don't square dance but today we attended two dances. The first one was Dayle Hodge's Four Couple Workshop for A2 moves at 11:00 for an hour and a half. We had 50 participants. This week the group that had four couples only had two couples, which was too bad. We had a great workshop with Dayle. He is very good on explaining the moves and where the dancers should be.

The second one was is a new weekly dance. Don Moger's Saturday Night Fever at 6:00 for an hour and a half. The formation for the dance was four tips of A2, two tips of C1 and one tip of C2. This week Don invited Dayle Hodge to come and help call the dance. We had 93 participants for the A2 and 78 participants for C1. The first tip of the A2 Don called and the second tip Dayle called. The other two tips Don and Dayle switched off. For the C1 tips don and Dayle switched off. We had a fun night of dancing to Don and Dayle.

 

 

In between the dances I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Spider Mini of 5 games. It took me 10 minutes and 11 seconds, which put me in 5th place in my group. I did a few Mahjong games and Jewel games. I worked out with Gold Gym's for a half hour and Just Dance for a half hour. 

 

 Working out

Larry worked on a couple of paper projects on his Cameo. Larry called his mother today and wished her a happy birthday. We watched YouTube videos. 

After the last dance we watched a documentary on Amazon called Off The Rail, which was about Darius McCollum. It was a true story about Darius, who suffers from Asperger syndrome. his overwhelming love for the transit system has landed himself in prison 32 times because he impersonated New York City bus drivers and subway conductors and driving their routes. It was very good. Afterwards I continued watching the third season of Law & Order UK. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me second place in my group with 156,104 steps.

     

 

 

Friday 2-19 Thawing Out

 

Thawing Out

We had a beautiful day of sunshine with the high in the high 30s. This gave things a chance to start to thaw but tonight it's suppose to be in the high teens so it will freeze again. By the afternoon the roads were usable. Our neighbors on Marigold did get their power back on but some of our friends in town and other places in Texas are still without power. 

 

The house in the afternoon

The frontyard in the morning

The frontyard at 3:30

It's amazing the things you take for granted until you don't have them. We have built three homes and this was the only one we didn't put a fireplace in. Some of our neighbors were glad they had one, some used them for the first time ever, some of their fireplaces used propane and that helped. We were grateful we had the Minnie and a full tank of gas to run the generator to keep us warm. We plugged a few things into the generator to keep things warm and we plugged in the refrigerators. Some people have been without water for days, we were lucky we never lost water. The local grocery stores are low on food, it will take days before they get their deliveries back on track. We'll probably go grocery shopping Sunday to stock on a few things we're low in. When we lost power we also lost internet access so Larry setup the hot spot we use while camping. We are glad we continue paying for it every month even if we don't use it. We use the internet all the time for everything and when it goes down you don't know what to do. Larry used the hot spot to find out what was going on concerning the outages. Sometimes it is the little things you miss. Larry installed heated toilet seats in both bathrooms in the house and I love them. During the power outage we had to use the house bathrooms and everytime I sat on the seat it was cold, really cold.

After not having any heat for four days the house is still trying to warm up. Today we stayed in the house all day. Larry worked on a paper project on the Cameo. I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Klondike games and 5 Tri Peak games). Today was Two Game Tango of Klondike and Tri Peak, which means that all the Klondike and Tri Peak games you solved the points were doubled. It took me 31 minutes and 41 seconds to solve the event, which put me in 9th place in my group. I played some Mahjong games and Jewel games. We watched YouTube videos.

We attended Di Green's Weekly C1 Workshop at 2:00 for an hour and a half. We had 42 participants. Di workshopped Chain Reaction from a Right-Hand Quarter Wave position and Left-Hand Quarter Wave position. She also did right and left Swing the Fractions, Concentric and Scatter Scoot. Di called six tips and we had a great time.

In the evening we watched two films on Amazon. The first one was the Last Motorcycle on Earth on Amazon. It was a film about when the government bans motorcycles and how Conrad Mendel, a vintage motorcycle collector and bike builder fights to keep the motorcycle on the road. The film showed some nice motorcycles but is was a poor movie. The second one was Burning Man: A Whale In The Desert. The film was artists who come together once a year in Nevada to show off their giant sculptures. The film concentrates on a group of artists, who are welding a sculpture of a hunchback whale and calf in eleven months. It was very interesting on how they accomplish the task. I finished watching the second season of Law & Order UK and started the third season. I ended up doing 26,500 steps.

    

 

Thursday 2-18 Power is Back

I'm so excited

We're so excited. We were without power from Sunday at 11:30 pm until today (Thursday) at 5:00 pm, 90 hours, or 3 days and 18 hours, but who's counting. About 4:30 Larry saw a couple of Oncor (electrical company) trucks driving through the neighborhood and shortly afterwards at 5:00 our power was turned back on. They didn't turn on everyone, our neighbor Chris behind us on Marigold still doesn't have power. Larry told him he could string an extension cord to get power to his home. He said that they were OK and Oncor had told them they would have power tomorrow. They didn't want to overload the power grid. We unloaded the stuff we had put in the Minnie back into the house. Larry waited a little while until he was sure the power was going to stay on before he turned off the generator.

 

Icy Roads

We started day four with no power, who knows when we'll get the power back. The generator in the Minnie got us through another night but it won't last forever. This morning we loaded our gas containers, one holds 1 gallon and the other holds 1.5 gallons and headed towards the Liberty Mart to get gas. We didn't get too far when the car started to slide Larry slowly got the car turned around and we headed back to the house.

 

Neighbors stick at home

Ice hanging from the Minnie

After lunch we went into the garage to get fuel. The easiest vehicle was the motorcycle but it only had a gallon of gasoline, that will give us two hours of power. The car and truck would be very difficult but we were able to get fuel from the boat. We ended up getting a total of 8 gallons which would get us another 16 hours. We were hopeful that would last until the power came on. If not we could still keep a little warmth using our Wave3 propane heater.

In the morning a sheriff car came by and Larry flagged him down. The guy said that the main road, Adams was just as badly iced as our road. He said he was driving around picking up people that call and request to go to warming centers. 

After some of the ice started to thaw people started moving around, all wheel drive vehicles could slowly get around but the two-wheel drive not that well. One guy slid into the ditch and people had to help push him back on the road. 

Larry got on a site called NextDoor, people said don't try to drive with a vehicle that didn't have four-wheel drive. If you needed to go anywhere give them a call and they would come and get you. Other people said if you have kids and you needed firewood they had extra wood they could have.

I did my Daily Challenges and the Event: Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 13 minutes and 59 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group. Then I played some Jewel games and Mahjong games. I also did some Sudoku. 

Once the power was on the heater was running constantly trying to get the house back to temperature. It was 53 degrees inside and I would think since everything including the slab was cold it will take quite awhile for everything to normalize. We spent the evening watching YouTube videos. Then I continued watching the second season of Law & Order UK. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me in second place in my group.

   

Wednesday 2-17 Day 3 of No Power

 

It's cold

Today was day number three with no power. We are so thankful that we have the Minnie to keep us warm. The generator has not run out of fuel and continues to run. It runs on gasoline and burns about a half gallon an hour, we had a full tank of 35 gallons but there is a safety shut off point so you don't run your RV completely out of gas, we don't know when we will run out of fuel. Tomorrow we'll have to try and get gas because we will be running out.

Last night we had a ice storm so everything is covered in ice. Larry chipped the ice off the step of the Minnie and the pathway he created from the Minnie to the house so we can get in and out of the house without falling.

The road is totally frozen over but a few vehicles have been making it in and out so tomorrow we will have to give it a try, hopefully it will warm up above freezing and things will start to thaw. On the news they said our temperatures have not risen above freezing in 7 days.

We have no idea when we will get power back on in the house, some neighborhoods not too far away have supposedly come back on. 

Larry and our neighbor Thomas texted each other in the evening. Thomas and his wife have a small baby, he told Larry that until the power comes on they are staying with relatives in Georgetown. He said if we need a gas container we are welcome to use the five gallon container in his backyard.

I have been doing my stepping inside the house, the temperature is 53 degrees but since I am stepping I stay warm, I even took off my gloves. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, this put me in second place in my group with a total of 77,392 steps.

I did my Daily Challenges and the Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 3 hours, 40 minutes and 28 seconds, which put me in 21st place in my group. Today was Event Wednesday so all the games points were doubled in the event. This works towards your stats. Then I played a few games of Jewel.

2-15 & 2-16 No Power

 

Snowed In

 We have been without power for 55 hours so the blog is a bit behind

 

Monday 2/15/21

We woke up to a cold house, it was 58 degrees inside and we had no power. The temperature outside was 8 degrees and we probably had 5-6 inches of snow. The power went out last night at 11:30. The power company has about 1.2 million people without power.

ERCOT, who controls the power throughout Texas says due to below freezing temperatures the electricity generating companies had to shut down power plants. This forced electricity providers to shut off power to a certain areas so that the grid wasn't overloaded. Ercot said these outages would roll from one area to another with no one being without power for very long. Something went wrong and now some people have been without power for over 24 hours, they are being told that they don't know when it will be restored. Meanwhile the temperatures are going to be in the teens and not out of the 20s for a few days. People are freezing and trying to make sure their pipes don't freeze.

We spent the whole day trying to keep warm. Without power we can only access the internet via our phone or a hotspot we use when we travel. We had to charge the phone by plugging it in to the truck. Due to no power everyone in the area has to use mobile devices so those systems were overloaded and would barely work. Larry got up and checked to make sure things appeared to be ok and to check the weather report. While checking on the weather he saw a squirrel trying to find some bird feed. It dug through the snow on the porch and found a little. Afterwards he hopped across the yard to the oak tree and dug around to find some more. Larry decided it was too cold in the living room so he climbed back in bed.

We stayed in bed until 10:00 with a lot of blankets because it was warmer there then in the living room. When we got up we put on our ski bibs with a pair of pants under them, ski socks and hats and stayed under a blanket most of the day. Because we didn't have any power I really couldn't cook but thank goodness we have a propane grill, that way I could barbecue. There was a lot of snow on the porch, Larry swept it off so I could get to the grill and feed the birds. We didn't hang the feeder but we did put out a few bowls. It didn't take long before the birds came. Our neighbors also were shoveling snow off their drives.

 

Larry posing for me

Look at all the snow

Neighbor's dog watching her dad moving the snow

Larry sweeping off the back porch

We spent the day bundled up. I cooked chili for lunch and seasoned pork for dinner. Louise called to see how we were. I ended up doing 25,000 steps using a flashlight. In between doing steps I did some Sudoku games. We survived the day. Ercot was saying the power would be back on tomorrow.

Tuesday 2/16/21

By this morning the power was still off and they were now saying later in the day it would be back on. Tonight we were expecting snow and ice. This morning it was 54 degrees inside the house and outside it was 12 degrees. The high for the day was 22 degrees. We did not want to continue waiting on Ercot to get the electricity back on but we didn't have a lot of options. Larry looked at hotels and apparently most were filled and some didn't have power, we could try to get to Round Rock and stay with Larry's sister but the roads had a lot of snow and ice, Larry decided to see if we could get the Minnie out of storage, this would allow us to run the generator and use our small heaters. 

I cooked lunch on the grill and we went to get the Minnie. The roads were pretty bad but we took our time and everyone else was doing the same. The gate at our storage center was looked so Larry had to unlock it, its usually unlocked. Before getting the Minnie out we started the generator just to make sure it would run, it runs on gasoline from the motorhome and it should last a couple of days. It took a couple of tries before it started. There was a bunch of snow in front of our storage unit and when Larry tried to drive through it he got stuck, couldn't go forward or back, we had to dig snow out from in front of the tires using a pan and our hands. He tried to move it again but it was still stuck. We were finally able to get it out. Larry locked the gate and we slowly made it home.

The driveway was very slick so Larry had a bit of trouble getting the Minnie where he wanted it. He then put the car back in the garage, since there is no power we had to manually lift the garage door. We wanted to plug in a few thing inside the house so we got a couple of extension cords, there is an outlet on the outside of the Minnie where we could plug in two extension cords. On the end of the two extension cords we put a three way so we could plug in three items. Larry plugged in the heater that was blowing air on the wall where there is an outside hose bib and he plugged in the light that was on the wall where there is another hose bib. He also strung an extension cord through the house to plug in in the refrigerator. Then we setup the two small heaters inside the Minnie to warm it up, we also turned on the refrigerator. Now Larry had to clear a path through the snow from the house to the Minnie. We're all set to keep warm and keep an eye on the house.

This morning they were saying we would have power today, unfortunately by the end of the day they were saying we might not get power until Friday. To top all of this we are going to get an ice storm tonight. With ice on the roads we will be stuck and although the Minnie is full of fuel the generator will probably run out sometime Thursday. We normally only use the generator for very short periods, only one time did we run it overnight so we really are guessing as to how long the fuel may last.

 

The Minnie all setup

A pathway to the house 

 

Today I ended up doing 26,000 steps. I did some Sudoku. I played the Daily Challenges and the Event: Easy Street of 15 games. It took me 39 minutes and 25 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. Most of all we're trying to keep warm.   

Sunday 2-14 Happy Valentine Day and Prepping for Cold Weather

 

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's day. We had a very cold day, it didn't get out of the low 20's. By 5:00 it was 18 degrees and snowing. They're predicting it to be in the single digits by morning.

 

 Snow on the sidewalk

Larry had been busy doing paper projects for Valentine's Day. He made multiple card, some small treat boxes and a clock. He sent cards to his mom (Shirley), Louise and a few friends.

 

Valentine gift boxes

From the side

Cards for Jeanne and Rene

Card for Shirley from her dogs

Shoe cards for multiple people, each was a bit different

You're Tweet cards for Louise and Shirley

Inside of card

Valentine clocks 

We attended three virtual square dances. The first one was Dayle Hodge's Workshop on Four Couples A1 moves at 11:00 for an hour and a half. He had 41 participants. Dayle finished up the A1 four couple moves. Then he reviewed all the moves. He called six tips. The group that had four couples were there again, which was outstanding because we could see where we needed to be. We had a great time.

The second one was Doren McBroom's Weekly DBD at 1:30 for an hour and a half. A lot of people were wearing red because it was Valentine's day. Doren wished everyone a happy Valentine day. He had 17 participants and he called five tips. We had a fun afternoon of dancing to Doren and our square dancing friends.

The third one was Loren Smith's Weekly A2/C1 at 7:30 for an hour and fifteen minutes. This week Loren invited Barry Clasper to join him in calling the dance. They called three A2 tips, one C1 learn tip and two C1 tips. During the A2 session we had 37 participants and the C1 sessions we had 32 participants. The C1 learning session Loren went over Scoot & Plenty. We had a very nice evening of dancing.

We have owned boats for 30 years and every fall Larry winterizes them. This was the first year he didn't, well, it has been below freezing for a few days and it's suppose to be getting colder. After Doren's dance we went in the garage and winterized the boat. Larry put a bucket under the boat to catch the water. Then he drained the water out of the manifolds and engine. He removed the hoses and drained the water out of them. In order to drain the water I jacked the boat up. After all the water was drained Larry recovered the boat. 

While in the garage he set a heater up to blow on the wall where there is an outside hose bib, he also put a light on the wall where there is another hose bib. Hopefully that will help to keep the pipes from freezing.

In the morning I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Klondike Mini of 10 games. It took me 27 minutes and 11 seconds, which put me in 25th place in my group. I did a few Sudoku games and Jewel games.

After the last dance we watched some YouTube videos. Then I continued watching the second season of Law & Order UK. I ended up doing 24,000 steps I missed my daily goal by 600 steps. I ended up coming in 4th place in my group for the week with 186,083 steps.