Hi, everyone. Today is going to be a very busy day for me - all my handwork hangs up on a line in my study to dry, I need to take it down, do a little steam ironing to finish it for good and wrap all for Christmas. I am going to do one grand picture. I have three shawls  but only two are drying- a black shawl is already boxed - 4 scarves & two hats hanging up. I am also knitting some last minute socks that won't be finished quite in a minute!
We didn't all blow away, contrary to what Drudge says. The winds kept in 35-40 MPH range in our area...though a few gusts may have hit 50 during the worse of it (a guess.) so a few branches fell - and for once, we didn't lose electricity here though there were power outages in other cities and towns. That, itself, is a surprise ! There is flooding in the state but that isn't unusual - Centralia & the coastal towns often flood.
I think I am just accustomed to the weather, here. It can be a heaven on earth or one of the most depressing places to live on earth. (if you don't like constant rain!)
 We even walked to the library. It rained rather hard most of the day and eased off in the evening for a few hours. The winds were constant, but not incredibly high. The temperatures are warm, its almost a pleasure to walk in this weather, compared to the freezing and near freezing we had last week.

  Did you all see the report about the dinosaur discovery - a duck-billed hadrosaur mummy, fossilised. Seems the veggie eater could outrun his main predator, or, at least, give him a good run... there must have been a lot of frustrated T-Rexs 65 Mil Years ago. I sometimes wish time-travel wasn't just a science fiction plot device but could actually happen... I would like to meet some historical characters (hey, question : who would you like to meet if you could go back in time?) - but I would also love to see a hadrosaur change his skin color to mate or run from Mr. T-REX , wouldn't you ?
Pocus, the my cat buddy (he is the white one) is at my study door mewing and scraping the door with his claws. He hates closed doors but I can't let him in until the shawls are safely in their boxes.

Wednesday is Mail -Day. Help me, oh, Lord ! I have to wash and pack everything we made - and I am still working on several projects. I erred,too,  when I wrapped several hand made items before photographing them - I wanted them for bragging rights, here, but also as a help in future years so I don't make the same exact things in the years to come.

All my dearest friends and family seem to be across country. Leon's brother & wife, for instance, are in Virgina, his home state. Other friends, we met here are now scattered across the country in such varied places as Boston, Michigan and Indiana - so everything must travel at least 2000 miles - in two cases, 3000 miles. Really, sad, in a way. It is far more fun to hand a gift to a friend and watch them open it, particularly when you made it, yourself.
 I miss them all both friends and family.

The snow fell but disappeared by morning. The low lands here are not prone towards snow in any large amount - a real snow storm is a very rare thing and even those tend to melt in a day or two as warm tropical air from the Pacific, again, asserts itself. We must go the foothills or the mountains to really see snow nearly every year. As it is I am shivering some as I sit here.

After all this work is done I will settle down some, clean and dust the house - put away a lot of yarn, at least for now, and then, decorate !  I can barely believe another year is its decline. It doesn't seem possible.
Well, the dishes await my presence with a stink rarely smelled in civilized society so duty CALLS !
Sunday afternoon: they are predicting a windstorm tonight or tomorrow.  Just what I need ---- a windstorm ! The chimes outside have been ringing all day,  as it is.  They are saying 60 MPH on the coast but they aren't saying much about inland, that means it could 60 MPH inland or it could slow down to 40-45 MPH. <sigh>
So do I have the clothes washed ??? Are cats carnivores? completely washed - just a few washcloths and I think I will wash those, too - heck I may even iron some, now that the kitchen is caught up! 
I am going to massively irritated if we lose power.

Something to pray about... God, Europe is delicate compared the USA! We get 60 MPH winds, yeah, the electricity goes out but we don't flood - when the winds are 50 MPH we are relieved (last windstorm was like that.)! This is no hurricane but it sounds like it's going to be a nasty night in England & the Europe mainland.

There is a possibility of a windstorm here in the Northwest - these monsters are not that rare and their severity varies usually 40-75 mile-an-hour winds that sweep over the area for hours - what does not vary is the tendency to lose electrical service. They can be an immense bother that lasts all day or an immense bother that brings a power outage that lasts a week. I take them very seriously. We have gone as long as 10 days without electricity, though usually it is closer to 5 -7 days. I am not sure why this is so -Leon suggests its the fault of our humid, wet winter weather; our trees don't need deep roots so they tend to have shallow roots systems that do not hold well in the equally soaked soil - there are entire areas, not that far from here that tend towards becoming swamps or bogs every winter - some more look like shallow lakes than fields. I would add that this 'enlightened area' has never put its power, cable & telephone lines underground where they belong. I suppose they would say something about earthquakes but I think keeping the power on during windstorms and ice storms (which happen relatively often.) is a greater advantage then any trouble causes with broken underground lines during earthquakes.
These storms remind me of the Nor'easters that hit southern Virgina in the winter months. - I am only a little less afraid of them than I would be a full scale hurricane.
I am doing the 'windstorm dance' - all clothes washed, some ironing done for extra clothing, putting the bird feeders and wind chimes in safe places - checking food supplies so that I have something to cook on the wood stove that takes a very short time and finally recharging all battery telephones and lamps.
Explains what a Nor-Easter is and a some recent examples.
An even better explanation.
A NOAA pamphlet with some suggestions about N.W. Windstorms and how to survive.
The weather advisory for Western Washington.
WELL, needless to say, I have some work to do.. I don't think this windstorm is going to be that serious but we have already had one threatened that threatened our area but did not hit us - two misses in the same year is too much to expect.
I do not mind preparing - it is worth it.
And, yes, we already have a decent wood stove and enough wood to keep the house heated during our most active hours - I do not mind a cool house at night, in fact, I prefer it.
The only thing we really fear is the 40 ft. tree in the back yard... its not on our land but I don't think IT knows that... we have talked to our new neighbor and he has spoken about cutting it down and we even offered to help pay for the service - that thing land on our house and we would have a real mess on our hands. (Once a mere branch fell during an ice storm and when it hit the ground the entire house shook. I don't think the 6.7 earthquake rattled my nerves more!)
Storms are easier to put up with - and even survive if you Prepare.