Water

Over night we were given the OK to stop boiling water
before we use it.
It's taken almost a week. Pretty bad, the City of Wyoming
should have helped GR.

Winter indeed

Not much more snow here today, but beautiful sunny skies are welcome! The snow that fell during the ride home last night - at times, extremely low visibilty, especially around St. Joe/Benton Harbor, made for a slow and edgy stretch of road. Right around South Haven we passed through the wall and hit another stretch of completely clear, dry roads, not a snowflake in sight. Thats driving in Michigan during winter! You have to be prepared for whatever. This morning's news reports a serious accident in that bad stretch from last night and more travel advisorys. Glad to stay put today.

Water Update.

We were without water for about 4 hours today.
When it came back on, it hardly flowed at all.
Here is a TV-8 update:
Fixing water main a slow process
Updated:
by BRAD EDWARDS
GRAND RAPIDS -- Repair crews will continue work on the broken water main on Grand Rapids' north side until at least Monday.
Some residents were forced to go completely without water Saturday as the city began flushing the main system. The crews have to flush the main that broke late Thursday night clean before running two quality tests. The entire process will take at least 48 hours.
Deputy City manager Eric Delong is overseeing the rebuilding process and providing information to the 3,000 residents affected. The general rule, he said, is to use as little water as possible.
"Right now is not a good time to be doing wash because as we recharge it could disturb the sediment a little," he said.
In addition to this break, another localized break occurred Friday night, this time on Hanover Street off of Plainfield Avenue. The two breaks were not related.
"It is the time of year when this stuff happens," Delong said.
With temperatures expected to dip again, there is not much that can be done to prevent more pipes from snapping.
"No," said Delong, "nope, not a thing."24 Hour News 8 will have more details as they become available.

Yes, we were able to clean up a bit before our trip to Michigan City.

Dinner With Rose

MJ and I had dinner with Rose C at a nice
restaurant in Michigan City, Indiana this
evening.
It was great finally meeting Rose. She met MJ briefly in Chicago last fall. This was our thank you to Rose for the friendship she has generously extended to Em and S. As parents, separated by many thousand miles from our loved ones, it surely is a blessing to have someone treating our family as we would! Our visit and meal were lovely...Gregg found Rodini's on line and as we all made our way from Michigan and Illinois, respectively, oblivious to the time change in Indiana - we luckily made it to the restaurant at roughly the same time! The place doesn't look like much from the outside, but the ambiance, food, and service were wonderful. Think Shulers in Marshall...... the complimentary appetizer platter included swedish meatballs, garlic bread, fried egg plant, and lightly breaded, fried chicken livers! The majority of my 1 pound, center cut bonelss pork chop traveled home with us in a to-go container.

We enjoyed getting to know Rose and sharing Morelia stories and talking alot about M! and his wonderful parents of course! Were your ears burning? We love you all and can't wait for the day we can ALL share a meal together with Rose in Chicago or GR.

The Water Flows, But Quality Dubious

Our water was back on before 7 AM today.

We had about 5 large containers with water setting

on kitchen counters, full of melting snow to assist in

sanitation matters.

We are under a water boil order for the forseable future.

Hopefully not any longer than Sunday afternoon. The main break occurred right at the pump station within a mile or so of our house. The 22" cast iron pipe was installed over 150 years ago and many winters of freezing, thawing and the resulting shifting of pipes, soil and "frost heave" had taken their toll. The city installed a temporary line and we have water, though very low pressure and still not ready to drink...boil water notice continues. Thankfully, showers have resumed!

No Water

OK, broken water main, about a mile and a half
away has caused thousands of homes around us to
be without water tonight. More at 11.
.....yikes.....fill the buckets with snow, melt and use to flush toilets. Thank goodness for snow!

Weather Update

We have had at least a bit of snow everday for the last
week or so. The garden goddess is hangin' in there.

I can't wait for my Grandson M to be here and enjoy
simple things, like having Grandpa and Grandma
building toboggan runs, this looks like a good start,
what do you think, M's Mom?

Pancakes for dinner. See my new colander, upper
left on pan rack, I'm a simple, simple man.

Snowy Sunday

OK. That still didn't work,
I'm still working out this video thing.
I had four videos put together, but for some reason,
didn't upload into YouTube like it should have.

Man, it's tough getting shots of birds,
even just sparrows, although you can see a cardinal
in the first bird video.


I made a lair that I shot from, didn't
fool the birds. The last shot is through a
cooking fogged window and the birds
were still very wary.

Pictures For Comparison, M and His Mom

These series of photos from early 1981 capture Em at about the same age as our precious "M" now! See how many faces/expressions look familiar.




Em was actually pretty neat at dinner time as I remember (note, no bib here). She didn't miss much. This high chair had been restored by Gregg (also note the repair to the tray hinge - an improvisation using an empty wooden spool of thread.) Jill also used this chair, but I'm not sure where it wound up after you girls were done with it. Perhaps on to the Schrotenboers?
I'm sure I've seen THIS happy face on a sweet little grandson too! Sure brings back memories......Love you Em!!!

Snow Today

We had 4 to 5 inches of snow overnight, plus
a bit of freezing rain that preceded this snow fall.

Greetings from Mary and Sra Luz and Sunday afternoon dinner

MJ had culinary training today and brought back dinner, plus
greetings from Sra Mary and Sra Luz.

After MJ got back, she was ready for a rest.

Braised pork and au gratin potatoes prepared for
use while MJ was out.

Snow, at bit at least

I think that the garden goddess was feeling neglected.
This is the first snow that we have had for almost a month.

It does feel like spring time and a video test

Here are some photos proving that all of the news
outlets reports are correct, surprise.

Sedum.

This is right under one of our bird feeders. As you can see,
some of the seed have begun to grow.

I'm not sure what this is, but it's a plant that MJ planted,
and it wants to show its self. Daffodils.

Iris.

Again, not sure what it is, ( English Daisy) but damn it, it wants to bloom!
Here is a video that is only a test, of our camera and it's
video capability.