#114 2022 December 24-30. Nomad Diary. Christmas Eve Card Party. Rolling Black Outs in Freezing Weather. Making Plans for April and May in England.
Wes, Darrell, Samuel, Phoebe, Glenn and me ready for some cards!
Glenn, Phoebe and Darrell.
Saturday. 24.
We got up about 6 am and realized that the electric was off. It had been off maybe an hour and was beginning to get colder in the house. This house has a lot of gaps and air leaks. The windows have ice on them. I texted our host about the electricity then called the power company. They informed me that this is a rolling blackout to take stress off of the power grid. It’s only supposed to be 15-30 minutes! Ha! It’s already been over 30 minutes. Thankfully the power came on about 8 am. (On Sunday I was talking to one of the older members and their power was out for 18 hours! It was a difficult challenge for them not having warm food or heat.)
Card party at Samuel’s house today. We each brought food and we had a feast! (Eric and Erin went to her parents house for the weekend.) Phoebe came with a pork roast and egg rolls, pumpkin pie, spinach-artichoke dip. I brought spinach souffle, scalloped potatoes, creamy wild mushrooms and cookies. Wes brought smoked salmon appetizers. Samuel made orange jello. We ate a large meal and we played a few rounds of Crazy Eight and Contract Rummy.
(Glenn and Phoebe are in the process of packing up their house for their move to Tennessee the first week of January.)
Owen at his Nana and Papa’s (in Birmingham, Alabama) house for christmas.
Sunday. 25. We drove over to Limestone County for church at Capshaw where we attended for several years while living in Madison. It was nice to be there and get to enjoy worshiping together with so many friends. We had to fill one of the truck tires with air. Darrell and I made soups for our lunch from left overs. He made potato soup and I made wild mushroom soup. It was great to eat warm soup on this cold day.
We got a light dusting of snow at our airbnb house in Hartselle, Alabama.
Monday. 26. We stayed inside today. It’s cold but there isn’t ice on the windows now as it warmed up to 30 F. The electricity seems to have stayed on even though we are wearing sweaters to stay warm. We have plenty food, hot tea and coffee for our day inside.
Tuesday. 27. Our heat was only 60 degrees this morning. I messaged our host and he brought by some space heaters and checked on the propane tank again which needed turned on. Our fireplace came on and within a few minutes the home was warm. Our friends Alton and Dinah came a few miles up the road to go out to lunch with us. We enjoyed visiting with them and talking about their travels and preaching work.
In the afternoon I went to a chiropractor in Hartselle, and got started on treatments.
Owen looking at Darrell pushing his stroller.
Wednesday. 28. Stayed with Owen while Eric and Erin go out to lunch. Gospel singing at Hartselle church was so enjoyable! The weather has turned from freezing cold to warm! It’s just like Alabama to swing in a few very cold days and then feel like spring is already here!
Having dinner with friends Mike and Darby. Their girls look on!
Thursday. 29. Stayed at house through lunch. Did laundry, wrapped gifts, worked on budget and travel plans for England. After lunch we visited for a couple hours at Eric and Erin’s being prompted to tell how we met and got married. We then went to dinner at Mike and Darby’s in Athens. They have two girls Emma and Tessa both under 5. We met them at Capshaw church when they moved here from Tennessee in 2021. They had a house built and we enjoyed seeing their new house, watching the girls play, having a delicious dinner and telling fun stories back and forth.
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Me, Darrell, Wes, Eric, Erin and Samuel. Owen is blocked in the picture.
Owen helping grandpa place gifts.
Friday. 30. Darrell cooked black beans in our InstaPot and turned them into refried beans for our taco party at lunchtime at Eric and Erin’s today. I chopped veggies and made guacamole. We are each bringing components for a Taco lunch. Samuel is bringing a game for us to play. We are having a gift exchange with the six of us plus Owen: Us, Eric, Erin, Wes and Samuel.
Nomad Notes.
We have spent time thinking about, researching and planning our trip to England. We are planning to leave on March 18th from Fort Lauderdale on a 14 day repositioning cruise. The first week is all sea days crossing the Atlantic. The second week has a stop every other day. It arrives in Southampton on April 1st. We have not booked anything yet, but have been tracking prices and looking for filling in our details as soon as we get the cruise booked.
We have to these things to consider and coordinate:
Where to leave our truck?
Air flights for leaving and returning to Dallas,Texas where we will be visiting Darrell’s folks and sister in March and again at our return in June.
Our stays in England: April in or near Tunbridge Wells and May in or near Newcastle.
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