More on the "shortage"

Yes, I said "shortage." This is an article from our local paper. It is long, but it describes the situation here in Hendersonville, Fletcher, Arden, Asheville...

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20080924/NEWS/809230226/1151?Title=WNC_gas_shortage_deepens__fueling_driver_frustrations

Make sure you watch the video in the article. Watch the last car, and the idiot that does a massive "U"ey to get in line. Geez...

Gas Crisis in WNC

I am wondering if this whole ordeal here in Hendersonville, Fletcher, Arden, & Asheville is necessary.

I grabbed my "phone cam" just in time to take this picture of the Gas House on Hwy64 East going to my house. (I am not as good as Barbara is at taking photos/video while driving) :)

In case, you couldn't see...
The line goes another 1/4 mile up the road (at least). I thought they were waiting at the other gas station... Matthew told me that they were already lining up when the station had a chain across the driveway. THEY WERE WAITING FOR THE TANKER TO SHOW UP!

This is the scene at any station in this area lucky enough to get gas (until it's drained dry in a few short hours), and our police officers have to direct traffic to keep fights from breaking out!

Honestly, I think we would have enough gas if everyone would quit freaking out. But??? Would we? I don't know how much the media is influencing everyone. I'd say we should panic when the school calls and says they can't run buses because of a fuel shortage. (Which HAS NOT HAPPENED!!!.. yet)

Meanwhile... to the people who still have a half tank of gas and are sitting in any line like this one... please don't panic. I wonder if everyone quit "topping" off their tanks, the people who really need gas would be better off. Plan your trips into town. Make trips that are needed, and the plan the route.

On a side note, I am driving a bus after school. Today, I am supposed to drop off a student at a bank across from a gas station. People were lined up and blocking my "normal" path, so I had to go a different way. As I came around to the stoplight, the "new" idots were lined up and blocking the intersection, so I had to sit through 2 green lights before I could turn.

People of WNC... quit freaking out! Be the liberal, environmentaly conscious people (you claim to be) and save gas!

Waiting...

Okay. Apprently, Brisingr was released yesterday. I received a message from B & N telling me that it hasn't been shipped yet, BUT it will ship within the next 1 - 5 business days.

Oh well... that will give me time to finish re-reading Eldest. I forgot how vividly Paolini writes.

Meanwhile, the trim around the windows and doors is almost finished! Matthew said we could start drywall as soon as the end of next week! (I just realized I already said that in the last post... I'm not excited or anything)

Just for fun...

Here is one of my favorites from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.



And now for something completely different...

The house has trim around the windows and doors! We will be adding stucco soon, and once our framing inspection is done, the drywall will begin!

Until then...

I can't believe I watched "Camp Rock" AND "iCarly" tonight. I guess that is what I get for downgrading my sattelite to "Family" channels. :)

Jive Turkeys...

or is it "turkies"? Whatever... I was so excited to finally capture them digitally. This same little family has been around for a few years. We've been watching these turks grow all summer. They are so cute when they are little turklings.

They were playing in the garden, hopefully eating all the scary wolf spiders that live there.

And this is what Moldy was doing...

Maybe she'll get one for Thanksgiving!

What a difference...

a couple of days and a BIG machine can make. Plus a very motivated father-in-law, who is an excellent grader.

Here is the front of the house without all the junk piles in the way :)

Here are the "finished" gables. I can't wait until we add some color.

Here is the back of the house with all the windows and doors! See the upstairs door... watch that first step... it's a doosie!

I am also very excited at some of the kitchen colors. The color is hard to see, but I really like them. There is the granite countertop I want, the cabinet color (I think we finally decided), and the tile we will use for the floor. We are thinking of using the same tile in the bathrooms, too.

We also have some wormy red oak beams. Matthew has planed some of the rough boards, added some stain, and I think they are beautiful! We will use them for the trim inside the house. And, yes, the wormy effect is natural!

Yellow Jackets

For the last 4 years, we have had to deal with Yellow Jackets. Matthew has been stung several times (luckily, no allergic reaction). It is always fun to push mow over a nest which is in the ground. I see the first two or three coming out angry, and I let go of the mower and run!

The next hours are funny because they are trying to kill the lawnmower. (It did attack the nest, afterall.) After we find a nest, we try to spray. Sometimes spray works, and sometimes we resort to "other" methods. Here is an incident where spraying worked, and then we had some "extra" help from a possum and/or racoon.
*Note* The stick was marking the nest so we would know where to spray.

A little entertainment

I was looking at the "popular" blogs, and spotted this one:

http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com

I must admit, I had quite a giggle. All the while, I am thinking that my 31st birthday is only 3 months away. I think I found the cake I want.

Let me know what you think :) (BTW - that IS Tom Seleck, and Emma is one lucky girl!)

Jammin'

I went to see Papa and Nanny King, and Nanny asked if I needed peaches. Of course I said "Yes". I decided I would make some peach jam/preserves. It is a wonderfully, dreary Labor Day... what else is a girl to do?

So you begin with 7 1/2 cups of sugar (almost a 5lb. bag)!

The next step is to prepare your jars. You wash the jars, and I leave them in the sink so I can pour boiling water over them, further sanitizing them.

The bands are washed, too.

The lids go in a saucepan and boiling water is poured over top. Then they just sit until ready to use.

An hour later, I have finely chopped 4 cups of peaches.

This is what 4 cups of peaches look like after you add 7 1/2 cups of sugar.
After continuously stirring until this mixture come to a full, rolling boil, I add the Certo. This is what makes is jam/jelly.

Once that occurs, everything moves very fast. You continue stirring and boiling for exactly 1 minute, then it's time to fill the jars. I wipe the rims, place the lids, screw on the bands, and then it's bath time.
The jar get a water bath for 10 - 15 minutes. I remove the jars and wait for the "pop". Once they pop, they are good to go. The jars sit overnight on the counter to completely cool and jam. I apparently used peaches that weren't quite ripe, so a lot of the fruit stayed in the top of the jars. Oh well... it will still be good.

I still have a mound of peaches, so I guess a Peach Crumble will be for dessert tonight! If you've never made jelly/jam, I suggest doing it once with someone who has made it before. I was shown 4 or 5 years ago, and I have made grape jelly, peach jam, and cherry jelly. It would be easier to just buy jelly at the store, but homemade is just so much better!

Little details

So the framer is finishing the last little things, and he'll been finished! He made these brackets that go on the dormer (seen below) and the gables. It gives the house a little extra something.

All the doors and windows have been installed! WOO HOO!

Matthew's mom came to see the progress yesterday, and she gave the house a very nice compliment. We were down by the barn looking up to the house, and she said that it just "fits". Matt and I thought that was pretty cool.

So we have decided to go with an earthy, medium shade of green for the exterior. We are still debating on the trim colors. We'll have trim around the windows and the shakes on the gables, dormer, and chimney. The rough plumbing is in and passed inspection. The HVAC guys will be finishing and getting inspection, soon.

The electrician is working as I type. He has most of the lights and wall sockets wired. The tricky part has been the boxes that will go in the block wall. Matthew discovered that he could cut the conduit line and box out of the block using an electric chainsaw! Hopefully, that will be finished soon.

Next step will be drywall (I think). I'm still learning this whole process, but it's fun and interesting. I seem to get more excited about it everyday!