Living the Colonial Life (long)
Jill McQuown
with straight-line winds rocked the Memphis area around
7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Power has been out in most of the city and
surrounding areas in the county since then. My phone still
doesn't work but oddly, my DSL connection does. I finally got electricity
back yesterday (7/25) afternoon.
Anyway, I've had to play "colonial woman" and cook outside over a charcoal
grill for three days. I must say, since I have an avid
interest in cooking and also in colonial recipes (receipts) and have a
number of books concerning cooking during the late 1600's up
through the 1800's, I got along pretty well.
Aside from grilling things that were thawing out in my freezer (steaks, lamb
chops) I grilled cabbage wedges wrapped in foil with a little butter,
sprinkled with salt & pepper. 20 minutes; turned out delicous!
I was even baking biscuits and baked a pan of cold water cornbread on the
charcoal grill. I cooked a pot of rice Thursday night which turned out
perfectly. Had my power not come back on, I was fully prepared to make a
pot of soup over the weekend using the fresh tomatoes and okra in my fridge.
Persia, my cat, was a little confused as to why we were walking around with
it mostly dark, with oil lamps lit. And I'll admit, I was going to bed at
o'dark'thirty because there isn't much to do in the dark when your fiance is
in another state!
Thankfully the storm left the temperatures here in the mid-South cooler.
I've spent a lot of time out on my patio swing. I've had the
patio door open and have been awakened by roosters that someone in the area
owns at 5:30 every morning. Being without a phone (and one of the few
cell-phone-less people) I got up and went to the office to find out the
status of things. (Still no power there; only a generator to power the PC's
but no A/C and no water to speak of.)
Even though I got power back Friday afternoon, I sat outside. The breeze
was nice. And Persia didn't want to come inside! She was enjoying it too
much. So I let her lounge out there in her kitty walk until she finally
decided hmmm, maybe she needed to use the litter box :-)
A squirrel decided to trust me before I brought Persia out yesterday. It
was eating from my finch feeder. Then it looked at me, and decided I was
okay. So it crept down onto the ground and started sucking up fallen bird
seed like a tiny vaccuum cleaner. (Wish I'd had my camera for that!) A
couple of mourning doves landed on the fence and appeared to confer with
each other about me and the squirrel before flying off.
The squirrel left, and that's when Persia started pawing at the glass door,
asking to come outside with me. So I brought her outside and put her in the
kitty walk. A few minutes later the same two doves (don't ask how I know, I
just know) landed. Persia immediately pounced and scooted the kitty walk
about 3 inches forward. The doves flew off with a whistling of wings.
I couldn't get the cat to come inside for another hour. She absolutely
loved it! Photos of Persia are at the link below.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jmcquown
Jill
bthache
Sounds like you've had quite the week! No power for 3 days.... sure sounds
like you made the best of it.
I went and looked at your pictures.... your cat is adorable. I used to have
one very similar to that but he was a Manx so he didn't have a tail. Love
the color! By the way, what exactly is a 'kitty walk'?
Thanks for a great story!
--
Tammie
Northern Ontario
49° 27.2 ' N
85° 32.8' W
http://community.webshots.com/user/_tammie57
"Jill McQuown" <jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:AwtUa.5221$IE6....@fe02.atl2.webusenet.com...
Dave Fouchey
<jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>http://community.webshots.com/user/jmcquown
snip
>
>Jill
Jill I am glad you made it through without damage and just an
adventure. Several of our company vehicles over there had the windows
blown out along with the yard office windows. From the sounds of it
that was one fierce storm. At least you kept a sense of humor! (Bet a
nice warm shower felt good though after a couple days!<G>)
Dave
Dave Fouchey, WA4EMR
http://photos.yahoo.com/davefouchey
Southeastern Lower Michigan
42° 35' 20'' N,
82° 58' 37'' W
GMT Offset: -5
Time Zone: Eastern
K. Reece
"Jill McQuown" <jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:AwtUa.5221$IE6....@fe02.atl2.webusenet.com...
One time many moons ago when I lived out on a farm with the ex and his
family we had an ice storm. The power lines got about 6 inches thick and it
took power lines down for many miles in all directions. We were actually
trapped at the house for a week because of lines down across the roads and
we were without power for 10 weeks. We did have a generator but it was only
enough to keep the freezers and refrigerator running. We didn't have lights
or tv and phone service was out too. We could cook in the house at least
since the kitchen stove was propane. The house had a floor furnace so we
still had heat too. We had to drive to town, 20 miles one way, to do
laundry. I think we only went about 4 times though. It would take my
sister in law and I nearly all day to do that much laundry even with all the
washers and dryers in the small laundry mat.
At least we were relatively prepared for a power outage, although I don't
think anyone is prepared for an outage that lasts that long.
Kathy
Jill McQuown
> Hi Jill,
> Sounds like you've had quite the week! No power for 3 days.... sure
> sounds like you made the best of it.
> I went and looked at your pictures.... your cat is adorable. I used
> to have one very similar to that but he was a Manx so he didn't have
> a tail. Love the color! By the way, what exactly is a 'kitty walk'?
> Thanks for a great story!
>
A "kitty walk" is a collapsible mesh enclosure, about 6 feet long, which
allows cats to be outside without running around loose. Persia had no claws
when she adopted me, so it's best she remain indoors. Except when she is
outside in this (she loves it).
Jill
Jill McQuown
> On Sat, 26 Jul 2003 06:36:23 -0500, "Jill McQuown"
> <jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> http://community.webshots.com/user/jmcquown
>
> snip
>>
>> Jill
>
> Jill I am glad you made it through without damage and just an
> adventure. Several of our company vehicles over there had the windows
> blown out along with the yard office windows. From the sounds of it
> that was one fierce storm. At least you kept a sense of humor! (Bet a
> nice warm shower felt good though after a couple days!<G>)
>
> Dave
>
got to the office at 6:30 a.m. I remarked to a co-worker, geez, it's like
9:00 at night outside! Then it hit.
Taking a cold shower, even down here in the Southern climate, really wakes
one up! Of course, the storm dropped the normal temps down about 20 degrees
(thankfully). But with the cold showers, I was reminded of living in
Bangkok in 1969.
Still don't know if we have power at the office; they loaned me a cell phone
so I can call the 'emergency line' Sunday afternoon to find out if I can
wear shorts to work on Monday. We have a generator that will power the PC's
and so on, but other than that, no A/C and no water as of Friday. I'm
tempted to go to work dressed as a Southern Belle with a corset and hoop
skirt... it's about like that down here :-) And I do collect clothing from
that era. <G>
Jill
Gerry
<jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>bthache wrote:
>> Hi Jill,
>> I went and looked at your pictures.... your cat is adorable. I used
>> to have one very similar to that but he was a Manx so he didn't have
>> a tail. Love the color! By the way, what exactly is a 'kitty walk'?
>
>A "kitty walk" is a collapsible mesh enclosure, about 6 feet long, which
>allows cats to be outside without running around loose. Persia had no claws
>when she adopted me, so it's best she remain indoors. Except when she is
>outside in this (she loves it).
>
>Jill
Hi Jill,
We have had cats that have had their front claws removed for over 30
years. We have found that they have no problems being outside in
suburban or rural areas. Having no front claws does not mean that a cat
can't hunt. One of our cats regularly presents us with "presents" of
mice, voles, ground squirrels and, unfortunately, the occasional bird.
They have no problems climbing trees either. Our declawed "hunter" chose
to live in wild in a rural farming area for four months one summer. It
wasn't until the weather turned old and the birds migrated South that
she allowed herself to be caught and returned to her more domestic
lifestyle.
Gerry
Dave Fouchey
have GOT to post pictures!<G> You lived in Thailand? Amazing, I have
strictly spent mine in this hemisphere, the US and Canada., though the
stories I could tell you about living on a Reservation... Water from a
pitcher pump, and an Ice Box that WAS an Ice Box, wood stove for
cooking and heating...but I remember it fondly but then I WAS a kid
then,
Good luck
Dave
On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 02:09:53 -0500, "Jill McQuown"
<jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
Dave Fouchey, WA4EMR
Jill McQuown
> Oh gods the image that produced, Hoop Skirts etc! If you DO that you
> have GOT to post pictures!<G> You lived in Thailand? Amazing, I have
> strictly spent mine in this hemisphere, the US and Canada., though the
> stories I could tell you about living on a Reservation... Water from a
> pitcher pump, and an Ice Box that WAS an Ice Box, wood stove for
> cooking and heating...but I remember it fondly but then I WAS a kid
> then,
>
> Good luck
>
> Dave
>
military brat. I was a kidling then (9-11 years old). It was interesting.
I promise, if I show up at work in a hoop skirt I'll have photos to post!
Strangely, they serve as a sort of 'air conditioning' by allowing air to
flow up, so to speak. Can't say the same about corsets.
I'd love to hear about life on the Reservation.
My fiance, Ray, grew up with pumps and no electricity. He's on the road (I
think he's in Little Rock at the moment). He didn't blink an eye when I
said I had none for 3 days. They got electricity on Pecan Island,
Louisiana, in 1973. He said to me when I told him I cooked rice on the
grill "a pot's a pot". Yeah, except this Cajun can't cook rice to save his
life. He has to buy Uncle Ben's. (laughing)
Life is back to normal, so to speak. Except I had a birthday yesterday and
no one around to celebrate it with. (sigh)
Jill
Dave Fouchey
<jmcq...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
Well Congratulations Jill! And I am sure Ray will be home soon to
celebrate in fine style. 1960-70 I was still in High school, 1970-71 I
was worried about the Draft! 1959-62 I lived on a reservation near
Montreal while my Step Dad and his father built a new house for
themselves after losing theirs to the St. Lawrence Seaway for
construction. I was the only non native American kid in the whole
place, went to first grade in a Catholic Mission School there. It was
an amazing few years. We went back there several times a year for
visits after that until I left home in 1970.
Cheers!
Dave
bthache
Happens to me almost every year because my hubby almost never gets my
birthday off. Born at the wrong time, I guess. Hope your fiance makes it
up to you when he gets home.