Still Rising

The Alapaha River is still rising this morning here and just north of us. We only got ¼ of inch of rain yesterday, which surprised me because it rained hard a couple of times. Looks like north us there was ¼ to ½ inch of rain. Hopefully this means that the river will slow down some - it is still rising about a foot every 24 hours.

I took these pictures yesterday about noon yesterday. I didn’t have time to go back later, because I had some errands to run and then we had a birthday dinner for our daughter, Marsanne. Just grilled hamburgers, chips and Ghiradelli double chocolate cupcakes, but everybody ate too much.

Here you can see how fast the water is moving through the run from the river. It has eroded the side of the road and formed a small waterfall.

This picture shows how the water is flowing down hill to the dip in the road and spreading out into the woods on either side. See the Century 21 sign on the right side? Wouldn’t you like some waterfront property?

This is just down the road from our house around a curve. The left side is low all the way back to the curve. The right side rises suddenly right beside the run so the water is forced downstream. According to my husband the water has to fill up the low area on the left side of the road and back up the road to the curve. At the curve the water starts flowing back across the road to the right side and fills up the low area on that side. We live on the right side so the water will eventually reach our backyard if the river keeps rising.

I don’t know if this makes sense. It is hard to explain that we don’t get flooded by the river right behind our house because the bank is so high – like a cliff, actually. The water overflows at a lower point and backs up to our house, which is lower than the riverbank here. That is the main reason the water doesn’t drain away when the river level drops – we are in a low spot and the water has nowhere else to go.

Anyway, the water hasn’t reached us yet and maybe it won’t. But more rain is predicted for next week and the ground is very soggy already. We need some hot sun!

Not Again!!!!!!

The Alapaha River is on the rise again. So far the prediction is for minimal to moderate flooding, but it is raining this morning and more rain is predicted too.

This is the “puddle” of water in our backyard left over from the Easter Flood of 2009 and recent rains.

We moved here in June 1984. The people we bought the property from asked us to come see the river in April 1984 when it flooded, so we would know what we were facing. No big deal – the river was running across the back quarter of the yard, which is the lowest part of the yard.

A view of the “puddle” at the back fence – it spreads into the property behind and beside us.

Our property is in the 100-year flood plain, which we thought meant that it would only flood her once in every 100 years. A lot of other people think that too. Wrong!!!

According to The "1OO-Year Flood", a US Geological Survey fact sheet: The term "100-year flood" is misleading because it leads people to believe that it happens only once every 100 years. The truth is that an uncommonly big flood can happen any year. The term "100-year flood" is really a statistical designation, and there is a 1-in-100 chance that a flood this size will happen during any year. Perhaps a better term would be the "1-in-100 chance flood."

The river runs through a deep ditch into the road past our house. This was taken Friday afternoon just as the river reached flood stage.

So …. Of the 8 recorded floods since 1948, 5 occurred after we moved here. The worst recorded flood was the Easter Flood last year, when the river crested more than 7 feet above flood stage.

Right now the prediction is for 2 feet above flood stage by tomorrow night – it is already a foot over flood stage.

The greenhouse is ready.

My greenhouse may or may not flood – it depends on how high the water rises. I moved most of the plants up on the tables just in case. The hibiscus plants are several years old and declining so I left them on the floor. The other two plants are peace lilies and they will survive wet feet.

I will keep you posted - so check back again.

Chicken Bruschetta

I don't often cook unusual things, because there are a lot of foods that I don't particularly care for. However, my family keeps insisting that I should cook something different. To tell the truth, I have grown up eating basically the same things on a regular basis, and once I got married and had children, I continued that tradition, so to speak.

So, I found a recipe that I thought I could manage without botching it up too bad (I'm not that good of a cook to begin with). Chicken Bruschetta. Chicken with tomatoes, onions, Italian dressing, and seasoning. It also has bacon and cheese mixed in there.

With no further ado, here is what dinner looked like a few nights ago......

Chicken cooking in the pan with seasonings.....

Tomatoes, onions, chicken bouillion, and more seasonings.....

Layer the bacon over the chicken and then melt the cheese on top. Spoon a serving of tomatoes - bruschetta - over the chicken and serve. Complete chicken bruschetta served over pasta.....

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. It tasted pretty good, although it could have done with a little less Italian dressing. (That's one of those foods I don't like.) The dressing was a bit strong, in my opinion. But big R and L liked it. Little R refused to eat the tomatoes, but he didn't mind the bacon! :)

IMG_1280
Originally uploaded by Creating Character

Mush!

The color of my garden this winter is mush. Do you know how many colors of mush there are? Let me show you ....

droopy green Ginger mush

golden brown Hydrangea mush

brownish green Canna Lily mush

grayish brown Crinum Lily mush

and finally

brown-used-to-be-bright-yellow Philodendron mush

I think the Philodendron is done for,

but all the rest should come back in the spring.

Peeking Through

Peeking Through
Originally uploaded by Creating Character

My post for today for Creative Every Day. See me peeking through this cool mirror that we found at the Dollar Store? Only $10 bucks! I should have gotten it, but really, what would I use it for? It's not like I can really see myself in it.....