Tuesday, September 23, 2008
what can Brown do for you?
well, let me tell you what they can't do. deliver my monthly wine installment via kayak!
Friday, September 19, 2008
harvest
so this is how i spent part of my morning. cutting loose pumpkins that had been overtaken by the flood. i couldn't bare to see them go to waste. i kept a nice big one for myself though.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
exactly how high is that water?
okay, i've gotten questions about this today (mostly email) and hopefully this will help. i've had to go back and pull some old photos since i couldn't take anything last night or this morning. but hopefully this will help.
The Patio
right now the water is actually about a foot over our patio. the patio and the deck are not the same thing. some of you will recall we started building the deck LAST YEAR (i'm not bitter). well, even though IT'S STILL NOT DONE, it's a good thing we have it. the dogs would have nowhere to go. the old deck was about 5ft x 7ft if that. so it's gonna save us for now. anyway, the gravel parking area you see is completely under water and the patio in the background is too. we're using the East steps to come and go (that includes loading the boxers up in the kayaks).
using this photo, the first step is under water and you can barely see the 2nd. and keep in mind, we haven't crested yet!
Thurs report
so i had class last night and didn't get home until after 10p. so no pics of the afternoon flooding. nacho did take some but i haven't pulled those off the camera yet. i'll try to and post tonight. this morning's reading is 25.90. our biggest flood was 2002 and it was 25.25 so we've passed that. we have about a foot of water on the concrete patio. thank god for the deck....even if it's not finished. the Monsters are handling it okay. nacho took them out for breaks yesterday and last night and Butters did great!
this morning was a little rough and we were very late getting out. have to get back into the swing of prepping before leaving the house. of course it would help if i didn't love sleep so much. so i'll post photos later, but you can always check the crappy webcam today if you like. we have it situated in the office facing out to the driveway (away from the river). this is all usually farm field and driveway.
this morning was a little rough and we were very late getting out. have to get back into the swing of prepping before leaving the house. of course it would help if i didn't love sleep so much. so i'll post photos later, but you can always check the crappy webcam today if you like. we have it situated in the office facing out to the driveway (away from the river). this is all usually farm field and driveway.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
all under water now
just got back from checking on the house over lunch and it's all under water now. didn't have my camera with me so no pics, but the field is full and the water is all the way out to the end of the drive. and that's not the end of it cuz we're expected to crest Friday. so we have a ways to go. luckily Peoria River Gauge is still predicting 27.4 but it was 27.3 yesterday. let's hope it holds at that.
Flood FAQ's
we get asked lots of questions every year about flooding and living on the Illinois River, so here's a shot at clearing some of that up....
?do you guys flood?
what do you think?
?does it get in your house?
no. our house is a raised ranch (see pic), so it gets in the garage not the house. for it to get in the house, it would have to be the "flood of the century". and that could happen, but not to us...yet!
?you can still live in your house?
yep! everthing is raised up so we don't have issues with electrical or water. it's like any other day but with water added.
?what do you do with all your stuff?
we have huge shelving units in the garage and work benches that we've built so we put everything up on those. in a lot of ways, a flood is better than a yard sale cuz it forces us to get rid of stuff you don't want to try and save. you have limited space and time when preparing and we don't want to use that space and time for crap we don't need. it's amazing how instantly you can decide you really don't need those golf clubs after all!
?how bad does it get?
depends. each year is different and we may have a year where we don't flood. i don't remember that year yet though. sometimes it's in Spring, sometimes in Winter. this time Fall. in Winter, all that water turns to ice, so we have some pretty awesome ice skating and hockey get togethers! lemons into lemonade people.
?can you still drive in?
depends. some years it doesn't make it over the berm and into the yard. others (like now) we'll be an island unto ourselves. when that happens, we kayak in and out each day.
?what about the Monsters?
well, that gets a little tricky. but we kayak them in and out twice a day or more for bathroom breaks. Cookie was 8 months old when we had our first flood so she's used to it. this will be Butters first flood, but we spent lots of time this summer working on his kayaking skills and doing swim lessons, so he'll be okay. and we do actually make them wear life vests just in case - Cookie finds it humiliating!
?do you have a lot of cleanup when it's all done?
yes. you'd be surprised the things that come down the river. one year we had a awesome brown velvet waterbed that landed in our yard. another year we got a Garmin GPS that actually worked after we dried it out. remember the lemons to lemonade thing?
"I couldn't do it. I don't know how you do."
IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE and we don't pretend it is. but it's the rest of the stuff we get all year long that makes it worth it.
?do you guys flood?
what do you think?
?does it get in your house?
no. our house is a raised ranch (see pic), so it gets in the garage not the house. for it to get in the house, it would have to be the "flood of the century". and that could happen, but not to us...yet!
?you can still live in your house?
yep! everthing is raised up so we don't have issues with electrical or water. it's like any other day but with water added.
?what do you do with all your stuff?
we have huge shelving units in the garage and work benches that we've built so we put everything up on those. in a lot of ways, a flood is better than a yard sale cuz it forces us to get rid of stuff you don't want to try and save. you have limited space and time when preparing and we don't want to use that space and time for crap we don't need. it's amazing how instantly you can decide you really don't need those golf clubs after all!
?how bad does it get?
depends. each year is different and we may have a year where we don't flood. i don't remember that year yet though. sometimes it's in Spring, sometimes in Winter. this time Fall. in Winter, all that water turns to ice, so we have some pretty awesome ice skating and hockey get togethers! lemons into lemonade people.
?can you still drive in?
depends. some years it doesn't make it over the berm and into the yard. others (like now) we'll be an island unto ourselves. when that happens, we kayak in and out each day.
?what about the Monsters?
well, that gets a little tricky. but we kayak them in and out twice a day or more for bathroom breaks. Cookie was 8 months old when we had our first flood so she's used to it. this will be Butters first flood, but we spent lots of time this summer working on his kayaking skills and doing swim lessons, so he'll be okay. and we do actually make them wear life vests just in case - Cookie finds it humiliating!
?do you have a lot of cleanup when it's all done?
yes. you'd be surprised the things that come down the river. one year we had a awesome brown velvet waterbed that landed in our yard. another year we got a Garmin GPS that actually worked after we dried it out. remember the lemons to lemonade thing?
"I couldn't do it. I don't know how you do."
IT IS NOT FOR EVERYONE and we don't pretend it is. but it's the rest of the stuff we get all year long that makes it worth it.
Tuesday - it starts to get serious
and so it begins.
levels are predicted at 32 for Henry and 27.3 for Peoria. that means about 3.5ft of water in the garage for us. so we had to spend last night lifting everything up AGAIN. and getting rid of tons of stuff that you realize now you don't need. anyone looking for a set of used women's golf clubs?
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
some sites for you to track our flooding
i've had enough people ask so here's some sites you can watch....
Henry River Gauge
to see Peoria River Gauge, just click the Downstream Gauge link or...
Peoria River Gauge
to go back to Henry River Gauge, just click the Upstream Gauge link or see above
we're kinda in the middle of the two.
Nacho River Gauge
for our webcam which i'll be moving around
Henry River Gauge
to see Peoria River Gauge, just click the Downstream Gauge link or...
Peoria River Gauge
to go back to Henry River Gauge, just click the Upstream Gauge link or see above
we're kinda in the middle of the two.
Nacho River Gauge
for our webcam which i'll be moving around
Monday, September 15, 2008
are you guys gonna flood?
why yes we are thanks. and we're in the process of prepping for said fun! no pics yet cuz i'm at work but i do have the webcam back up and running. so you can watch our beach disappear at your layzure!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
RibFest 2008
in what proved to the be wetest RF ever, i think we had one of the best times. this year's fest gave birth to our new slogan: RifFest Come Hell or High Water!
as usual, i'm usually too busy running around doing whatever that i forget to take picture. so i don't have any of the wii movie screen. but i did manage to click off a couple of Tent City. while we spent today getting ready to be flooded at our house, i wanted to take the time to at least post a few pics from the festivities last night.
highlights
the boys did an amazing job on the tent. i've never seen a tarp so big. and we all stayed dry! thanks Korby and Tucker!
this year, Mr A hired an intern. i think Bob is going to work out well! good luck with the job placement program!
shuffleboard was the usual hit. we really dug your girlfriend Dykstra!
yeah donna, that's your boy!
sorry we didn't get to the dollar game/ladybug sooner, but we did still get to it. 2 rounds and the Kim's won. guess Charles will get that new truck after all. congrats Scuba Steve.
and as always, a HUGE thanks to the P's for hosting us once again! there's no way we could do this without you.
see you again next year.....if yer lucky!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
It was bound to end
you know what they say....nothing lasts forever
but you never forget your first floor. technically the above is my 2nd. somewhere there is a photo of that god awful green gingham carpet!
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