Roses

We have been grumbling about the weather down here but these roses are thriving. Cannot be too bad, can it?

Roses in Bloom

My Oh My

I keep trying to think of something positive to add to this dear blog...it is tough. This is the worst weather we have ever had in the valley. It changes how we do everything! It is a very serious reminder of what life would be like had we stayed up north. We can get out and walk but we are usually one of the few who are out there. Standing on a street corner for a 15 minute conversation does not happen all that often when the temps are in the 50's. Wanna go to South Padre? Not really...and freeze our butts off! Gonna grill tonight? Not hardly when it is soup and chili weather. The coats and jackets cannot be put away and wearing shorts is only happening on rare days. We are not wading through 4 and 5 foot snowdrifts and that is what we all console ourselves with as we quickly head for the warmth of Allen Hall.
If this were the first year for coming south I do not see how the poor souls would be at all impressed. I hope this is not a trend for future winters!!

Northern Woes

From friend Mickey in Clive Iowa (near Des Moines):
Here's my mailbox in it's own little igloo. There's no way I can throw it that high so have to carry it to a lower spot. Only have to shovel what the plow builds up at the end of my drive. In picture 2, can you see the ice above the gutter that is acting as a dam? It will keep water from running off the house when the snow melts and allow it to creep under the shingles and into the house. Problems yet to come. Should I sell now?

Not much new going on here.

 Butch and Bill have been busy with projects for people here in the park. Both plumbing and electrical. Rain is predicted for today and the radar map shows it coming. The in-park pool tournament is tonight and both Butch and I participate.
Angels flea situation is under control. We haven't seen a sign of any for the past two weeks now. Of course she wants outside but we are afraid to let her go. Those damn fleas are waiting for her to step outside so they can jump on her.
It is about the time we start thinking about where we will go from here and we have been doing a bit of that. Haven't come to any conclusions however. It does not seem the time to head north too early. All that snow has to go somewhere, sometime. Best case scenario would be a slow warm up so that the runoff is also slow but that means it would be a late Spring with cold and cool temps well into June. It sounds like quite a balancing act. Predictions do not mean a thing. It usually is getting hot enough here by April 1st that we are ready to venture north but we have had a cold winter here too so the temps in April may be quite pleasant right where we are. What will be , will be. Let's wait and see.
We have company coming in March. Friends Donn & Peggy Gordon from Nevada. That will change our routine a bunch and we are looking forward to it.
Till next time...

Shirley Franey's Birthday

Shirley's son Mike flew into McAllen to surprise his mom and help her celebrate her birthday. Way to go Mike!!

Greene County Iowa gathering

A light crowd gathered at Lin's Chinese restaurant in Weslaco TX for the annual Greene County get together. Those who were there enjoyed the food and the company. See ya'all next year!

Brian & Mary Carlson

Dale Weaver

Shirley Franey

Dave and Cherie Roquet

                                                        Carolyn & Eugene Houk

                                                           Hazel Monthei

                                           Hosts- Jane & Bill Ecklund

                                                 Bill & Jo Brooker

Get This: Warming Planet Can Mean More Snow- From NPR

Get This: Warming Planet Can Mean More Snow

February 15, 2010 Shared

View and comment on NPR.org

With snow blanketing much of the country, the topic of global warming has become the butt of jokes. Climate skeptics built an igloo in Washington, D.C., during the recent storm and dedicated it to former Vice President Al Gore, who's become the public face of climate change. There was also a YouTube video called "12 inches of global warming" that showed snow plows driving through a blizzard. For scientists who study the climate, it's all a bit much. They're trying to dig out. Most don't see a contradiction between a warming world and lots of snow. That includes Kevin Trenberth, a prominent climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado. "The fact that the oceans are warmer now than they were, say, 30 years ago means there's about on average 4 percent more water vapor lurking around over the oceans than there was, say, in the 1970s," he says. Warmer water means more water vapor rises up into the air, and what goes up must come down. "So one of the consequences of a warming ocean near a coastline like the East Coast and Washington, D.C., for instance, is that you can get dumped on with more snow partly as a consequence of global warming," he says. And Trenberth notes that you don't need very cold temperatures to get big snow. In fact, when the mercury drops too low, it may be too cold to snow. There's something else fiddling with the weather this year — a strong El Nino. That's the weather pattern that, every few years, raises itself up out of the western Pacific Ocean and blows east to the Americas. It brings heavy rains and storms to California and the south and southeast. It also pushes high-altitude jet streams farther south, which bring colder air with them. Trenberth also says El Nino can "lock in" weather patterns like a meteorological highway, so that storms keep coming down the same track. True, those storms have been record breakers. But meteorologist Jeff Masters, with the Web siteWeather Underground, says it's average temperatures — not snowfall — that really measure climate change. "Because if it's cold enough to snow, you will get snow," Masters says. "We still have winter even if temperatures have warmed on average, oh, about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past 100 years." Masters say that 1 degree average warming is not enough to eliminate winter. Or storms. A storm is part of what scientists classify as weather. Weather is largely influenced by local conditions and changes week to week. It's fickle — fraught with wild ups and downs. Climate is the long-term trend of atmospheric conditions across large regions, even the whole planet. Changes in climate are slow and measured in decades, not weeks. Masters and most climate scientists say a warming climate would be expected to affect the weather, sometimes drastically, but exactly where and when is hard to predict. "In that kind of a climate, you will have more frequent extreme events, heat waves and so on, but again, none of those individual events is proof itself that climate is changing," Masters says. Climate scientists say they can't prove any single weather event is due to climate change. Thus, they say, Hurricane Katrina or the heat wave in Vancouver that's dogging the Winter Olympics isn't proof that climate change is happening. Nor can southern and eastern snowstorms prove that it's not.

How Butch did

Butch played golf in the Valley Senior Olympics yesterday and the weather was crappy but not as bad as it could have been. It was cold...in the 50's...and damp. But the wind was moderate and it didn't rain. They shot a 74-one stroke more than last year but the playing conditions were very different. We do not know how the rest of the field played but Butch did know of a couple of 70's so they know for sure they were not in the top 3. It would be really something if they were as there are many good golfers over 55 in the valley every winter.

Golf anyone?

Butch is playing in the valley senior Olympics with Bob Milheim and today is the day. He has been worrying about this for weeks now. Today dawns cold and rainy. I did check the weather radar and the rain should be moving out soon but still it will not be good golfing conditions. I personally think they would be better off if it were postponed but I have seen some pretty crappy weather on this day through the years and never have they postponed. (Jason says Dad is in the special Olympics and indeed they are special!)
My computer is up and running nicely. I have Windows 7 on this one and so far I like it. There are a few things it has taken me a bit to figure out but it wasn't difficult. I had to figure out what libraries were and it is contacts instead of address book. It seems they decided to rename everything. To me that is suddenly like calling a bathtub a table but I am sure I will get used to it. My main problem has been the aforementioned address book. I had a database of all the Magnolia Park residents and for some reason I am unable to open it. So I have decided this problem will not happen to me again and it is taking me a loooong time to get them in a safe place and in a format that will not be vulnerable. I am up to the esses. (as in the letter S).

Jason & Laura Brooker- Boone Iowa

From the record snowfall of winter 09/10

And it just keeps snowing!!! 7 more inches on top of what had accumulated all winter.

From My Friend Peggy G.

Peggy Gordon, my friend from Carson City NV says this recipe is soooo good.  And it certainly sounds very good. Shall we all try it together?

Chicken Enchiladas

4 cups cooked chopped or cubed chicken

8 oz. cream cheese

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 T butter

2 cups whipping cream

8 oz. pkg 4-cheese Mexican blend

A small can green chilies

8 flour tortillas

 

Melt butter. Sauté onion in melted butter for 5 minutes.  Add green chilies, cook for one more minute.  Add chicken and cream cheese until melted/blended.  Spoon 2-3 spoons into middle of tortillas.  Roll up and place seam-side down in lightly greased 9x13 pan.  Spread Mexican-blend cheese on top.  Drizzle whipping cream on top of cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Pleasant Rainy Day

The Brookers Four went to the movie Avatar in McAllen yesterday. We had to go to McAllen to see it if we wanted 3-D viewing. Jason had assured us that we did and he was right. It would have been a good movie on its own but the 3-D made it special. We followed up the movie with a meal at Fuddrucker's. It was excellent. Butch and I shared a crispy chicken salad and were reminded of our friends Don and Marilyn Scott with whom we had first experienced Fuddruckers and sharing one of their humongous salads. We topped off our meal with ice cream at the Dairy Queen in Alamo. We know  so many good places to eat in the valley and there are still many more left to try.
We are having our own experience of an icky winter. We do not have the cold, snow and ice to contend with but we are being denied the warm balmy temperatures and the usually  clear and sunny skies. Many people didn't bring enough cold weather clothes with them and so frequent laundry loads and wearing the same three outfits is an unexpected part of their life in sunny south Texas this winter. Oh well...this too shall pass.

Snowed under

Sister Myrla's friends car is somewhere under this snowdrift.

Netflix

Butch and I watched the movie Julia & Julie. I enjoyed it very much and thought it was well done. Meryl Streep did a superb job as Julia Child. As a blogger it had perhaps more meaning to me.

Yippee!!

The Magnolia Directory is finished and I am quite happy with the finished product. We are using a different printer this year so the quality will be greatly improved. We should be able to sell them by next Tuesday.
Butch is playing as much golf as possible and helping new park manager Dottie. We are happy with her as manager. We can talk to her without her putting up a wall as we walk in the door. I think she will do a good job. I hope we can keep her.
I like a lot more leisure than I am getting right now. That is no different than in years past. There is no perfect balance on that score. I am much better at dealing with the pressure of too much now than I was in my youth. It all works out.
We are still fighting fleas on Angel. We think we have it conquered and then we discover another one. Once she is clear of them the only solution will be to not let her out. She hasn't been outside for more than 3 weeks now and she is not happy about that. These Texas fleas are a force to be reckoned with!!

Iowa Weather

These are pictures from my sister Myrla in Rockwell City Iowa. This is her neighbors house across the street and this was taken several storms ago.

Really cool picture of the ice melting off the roof.

The weather up there is frightful!! One after another the storms keep blasting through. Even though we are not living through it, in hearing about it, seeing photos and listening to news reports it has to be the worst winter in my memory.

Iowa's Ice Storm

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Really I must get to the directory!!!

No Matter

No matter how badly last year treated you, just walk tall with your head high. This is a brand new year!

I did not plan to post but I could not let this one pass by. Now I will get started on the directory...after I go for my walk....heavy sigh!!

Directory

Working on the park directory...see ya'all later

Tidbits

Mark Brooker, Bill and Jo's youngest flew down from Houston for the weekend to visit his mom on her birthday.
Friends Julie and Dave Krauth of Massena Iowa stopped by for a visit yesterday afternoon. They are in the Trails End RV Park.
The park is close to full so it is difficult to get our two walks in without many stops for visits. It is all part of being here. wink,wink

We had to de-fur Angel and give her a bath to rid her of fleas. She misses her fur coat and is doing far more snuggling.

I am working on the park directory so if the posts are sparse that is the reason.