Move 600 pounds of soap to another location.
They got our power back on last night! Thank you Alabama Power.
Now I'm so far behind in my show preparations that I don't have time to write much though.
We've done the Yellow Daisy craft show the past three years and have a lot of fun there. People come from all over. But I'm not sure that they're going to drive across several states with gasoline going up 20 cents every day... keeping my fingers crossed.
This tree in our old neighborhood had a little problem.
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Edited to add:
In my addle-brained state I didn't explain things well I suppose!
I make handmade soap. The soap in question is the soap I'm wrapping for the upcoming craft show. I didn't want to leave it in the workshop, because without electricity it gets very hot & humid in there. Unlike most soap, handmade soap contains a lot of glycerin. When it's very humid, the glycerin attracts moisture and the soap looks like it's sweating! Not good.
So I edited the above to say "Move 600 pounds of soap to another location". ("Move all the soap" didn't sound enough like the colossal pain in the patootie that it was. And of course now I've got to move it all back!)
I still had a small amount of $2.15 gasoline in my tank when I grumbled about having to refill with $2.54 gas. Then yesterday I still had some of the $2.54 gas in the tank when I refilled at $2.80 a gallon. And felt lucky to get that, as it went up to $3.00 later in the day. Then last night I noticed one station that had already changed their sign to read $3.10 a gallon.
Several stations in Birmingham are out of gasoline altogether. Someone told me they'd seen the owner of an SUV filling up several gas cans stowed in their cargo area. The radio said there was a rumor of a gas shortage, but I think it's more likely that people are just trying to beat the daily gas inflation.
Also: it's not our tree. It belongs to someone in our old neighborhood.
Glad your back! Soap, how interesting. Poor tree. Love your blog...sweet dog.
ReplyDeletePoor old tree. Good luck with the soap & the fair. You'll still get a good turnout, even if it's only local folks. People need a good time and fun stuff after a disaster - celebrate life.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are back safe and sound!
ReplyDeleteI'd say you were very lucky to only lose a tree. It's good to see your blog with words again and know that things are OK with you as there are so many nasty stories coming from the south these days.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the soaps!
Wooo-hoooo on the restored power!
ReplyDeleteI am glad you're back, but you already knew that.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just rumors making people rush to the gas pump to fill up. On top of that, there's an upcoming holiday/travel weekend.
ReplyDeleteBUT... if it continues to be a problem, I suggest a 10 gallon ration per person, so that all the SUV owners who drive around carrying nothing other than themselves can suffer.
Glad your home. animals all ok?
ReplyDeleteWolf and I have three vehicles for two people: a pick up to plow the driveway with, a Cherokee, and a Focus. I haven't left the house at all this week so he could have the Focus to go to and from work with.
I'm hoping the prices will go down by next Tues when i start the 650 mile a week commute to school and Wolf has to take the Cherokee on his 120 mile a week commute.
So glad the electricity has been restored and you are back online. Hope the show goes well.
ReplyDeleteBlogger won't let me sign in with my blogger identity--
Rexroth's Daughter, so I'll be anonymous.
Your soap will sell like hotcakes.
ReplyDeleteYesterday when I was filling up my car their was a lady at the next pump who was filling up her SUV and screaming. She was literally screamin while she was filling up her tank...wailing, "I've never paid this much for gas in my life. Oh my G**. What will I do?"
Everyone else stayed far away from her.
Same gas rumors, same price jumps, and same gas can style hoarding going on down here.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you again!
Glad your power is back on and you're safe. Best oif luck with the fair.
ReplyDeleteMan, that tree photo is hard to look at, ouch. It's also diagnostic. That dark area running down the center of the trunk is rot, and the tree doesn't seem to have managed to compartmentalize it. ("Trees don't heal; they compartmentalize." -Shigo.) That is, it hasn't managed to form a chemical barrier that stops the rot organisms from "eating" farther into the wood.
It looks as if the rot started from a big cut, where a major limb was pruned off, something that was on the far side of the trunk. Might have happened even if the cut was done correctly, and I don't see any obvious reason to think it was done wrong. That's just a major amputation, and those can kill a ttree. People don't figure that out because trees usually die slowly.
Ow, though.
Hey, glad to hear from you. Good luck with your show despite difficult conditions. Let us know how it goes.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Best of luck with the craft show.
ReplyDeleteThe whole gas thing is ridiculous. The gas/oil companies are taking full advantage of Katrina to up their prices. It's nothing more than price gouging!
Several gas stations in our area have run out of regular gas. At work we are restricted to absolutely essential travel only, and we have been given guidelines as to what "absolutely essential" means. The only vehicles allowed to gas up are law enforcement, rescue, and fire. We are under these restrictions for at least the next two weeks.
ReplyDeleteWe lost three trees in our back yard. Thankfully they didn't hit our house! And they were trees we needed to take out anyway. And I think the only way we'll have a REAL gas shortage is if people freak out and rush to the gas station and start filling up their gas containers! I'm driving FAR less than before, though.
ReplyDeleteWell, the folks that do make the show will be looking for some 'feel good' - let's hope that means spending money.
ReplyDeleteI was working at the Michigan Rennaisance Festival the weekend after 9/11 - folks were looking for some relief and normalcy in their immediate lives. I have to confess that not much money was spent that weekend.
Look at it as community service, an opportunity to play cheerleader if you never were one...
Glad you saved your soap. And got a workout in the process. Bonus.
ReplyDeleteThe remains of that tree will provide homes for a lot of critters somewhere..
I occasionally make homemade soap too-- so I know how annoying the "sweating" can be, especially if you've taken trouble over an interesting design...
ReplyDeleteSo glad to know you are home and safe.
ReplyDeleteGas prices- humph. I had to go to two stores yesterday morning to find gas to fill her up. $3.09-Craziness.
Good luck with your soap show!
How'd the show go?
ReplyDeleteJust checking in to see how you are Art Lad heard that there's lots of snakes in the water now because of the hurricane and he's worried about you and Jasmine (he likes snakes, but only if they're not going to bite his friends). I know you're swamped (no pun intended) right now, but let us know how things are going.
ReplyDeleteIt's been awfully quiet on your blog lately. Hope everything is okay there. Just checking in and shouting hello hello!
ReplyDeleteWow! That photo o the tree really shows the power o the storm. And people think they can control such forces of nature. We have a 100' ash tree up at the top of our home field and in a wind storm last year it was bent in half, repeatedly, each time springing back up. It was an amazing sight to see. Amazing that the wind could bend such a huge tree like that and amazing that the tree could repeatedly spring back like a bow! I wish I knew what the wind speed was that did that...
ReplyDelete