December 2007
- Wow ! This year will be remembered as the year of ice
storms. We had a little of the January and February storms,
but very little time without electricity and water. This
December one wreaked havoc on our corner of Oklahoma. Our
power went off in the wee hours of December 8th and came back on
mid-afternoon December 16th. Some folks have just now had
theirs restored and others are still waiting. Our outage was
simply an "inconvenience" as we counted our blessings with a wood
stove, propane water heaters, oil lamps and rural water. We
did suck it up a little on the 3rd or 4th day when the water
stopped, but they had it running again by late afternoon.
Our neighborhood spent most of the time checking on each other.
Some had generators and when they could, shared them. To be
honest, we had mixed emotions when the lights came back on.
Thanks to all who stopped in, called and sent cards this holiday
season. We appreciate you. |
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This is the first go-round of
cleaning up broken branches in the dog area. (No dogs
were injured.). |
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The second and third go-round
cutting the dogs out. |
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Ben sharpening his blades on the chain saw for the umpteenth time.
The dog runs on about the third day. Pretty amazing.
The ice was at least 1/2 inch thick. |
The alternator wasn't working on
the tractor, so we were feeding square bales the first couple
days. Keep brought these pasture calves into the corral.
They weren't too far from the barn and corrals. Notice the
grass - it was tubular ice. Everything was getting sore
footed and the dogs had a hard time getting around on it.
Everything had thick ice on it. See the fence? |
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Well, a
working dog has to kick back once in awhile. Late night
trip to meet Mark Bishop at a truck stop a couple hours away
to pick up dogs. |
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Early to bed by
oil lamp. Natural light is the best for
reading. A battery radio with headphones
works pretty good for news and entertainment. |
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Our small
group family member Richard Ayres, his son
Royce, and grandson Chad revved up their
chain saws and went to work on the big
tree by the dog pens. They got it trimmed
and the wood cut. Ben had the rest
of the limbs and trees under control.
He's methodically working his way up the
fence lines cutting and cleaning up fallen
limbs and repairing fence. |
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Ben helping
our study buddy Matt Fullbright with their
vet clinic. Matt and Liz opened the vet
clinic up to friends and neighbors to
shower and bunk if they didn't have heat.
Electricity at their clinic was on most of
the time. Their home was out about 10
days. Leslie cooking with electricity once
again. |
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GREG HIGHSMITH'S CD. Greg Highsmith's long awaited CD. Leslie (with Ben's input,
of course) designed the cover. It's very
well done and Greg can sing. If you are interested in
ordering a copy, all proceeds go to the
Cowboy Junction
Christian School, contact the church at 918-256-4180. They
are $15 each. Greg is the 1994 International Champion
Auctioneer. |
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