This was the weather when we left the house around 7:30. Not great but not completely overcast either. We had absolutely no trouble with traffic getting there. My initial plan was to park near one of the hiking trails and head down near the shore of the river so we'd been in a more open area but when we got there the parking was full. We would have had to walk way too far, carrying way too much stuff especially given the high potential of rain. We eventually set up at the scenic overlook. Tiny Wonder Woman joined us on the adventure and helped to record data for NASA research using the Globe Observer App. You can read more about it here.
We did get some rain but sheltered by the trees it wasn't too bad. At the very beginning of the eclipse, it was still only partly cloudy and we could see little glimpses of the sun through the clouds. Unfortunately, as it got closer to the totality it got cloudier so we weren't able to see the sun at all at that point. We did get to see it get darker as the shadow came across the river and that was neat. Here's some video of the event. It is actually two videos that I stitched together and speed up to double speed. The first part shows how dark it got and the second shows it getting lighter out.
This is what the sky looked like as we were leaving, very pretty and misty but it does not bode well for us.
It started raining before we got even 10 minutes down the road on the way home. It took us about twice as long to get home as it did to get there. It was mostly due to weather although we did hit a small bit traffic, that was only maybe 10 minutes of slow down. The bigger problem was the issues with our foundation that I mentioned a few posts back. Because there has been so much rain and flooding in the area we aren't able to get anyone out to look at it until the end of September. There were several waves of storms that hit the area that Monday and we had a mess on our hands. We ended up needing to clean everything out of two closets in our house and have pulled the carpet in our guest room to stop mold from growing. Luckily most of our things actually came out alright. I did have some fabrics that bleed but they seem to have come clean with the help of some oxygen bleach.
We have been busy trying to get everything cleaned up and ready for repairs. We are also in the process of decluttering the house for a variety of reason, not the least of which is that we currently have no place to store the things we moved from our guest room since they can't go back in until we manage to get repairs completed. We never intended to stay in this house forever and the recent problems with the flooding we are considering moving up that timeline. Even so, repairs still have to be made regardless. In addition to all of this, we had previously decided to move forward with infertility plans and that has resulted in my having doctors appointments about every day off that I get. Overall it's a bit overwhelming and I don't think that I'll be able to keep up a regular posting schedule going forward. I don't intend to quit the blog because it has been great motivation and I love sharing my creations when I've finally completed a big project, just don't expect it to be very regular for a while.
Since I've missed them the last few months, and I'm not sure when I might be able to post again I thought I'd end this post with a few book reviews.
We did get some rain but sheltered by the trees it wasn't too bad. At the very beginning of the eclipse, it was still only partly cloudy and we could see little glimpses of the sun through the clouds. Unfortunately, as it got closer to the totality it got cloudier so we weren't able to see the sun at all at that point. We did get to see it get darker as the shadow came across the river and that was neat. Here's some video of the event. It is actually two videos that I stitched together and speed up to double speed. The first part shows how dark it got and the second shows it getting lighter out.
This is what the sky looked like as we were leaving, very pretty and misty but it does not bode well for us.
It started raining before we got even 10 minutes down the road on the way home. It took us about twice as long to get home as it did to get there. It was mostly due to weather although we did hit a small bit traffic, that was only maybe 10 minutes of slow down. The bigger problem was the issues with our foundation that I mentioned a few posts back. Because there has been so much rain and flooding in the area we aren't able to get anyone out to look at it until the end of September. There were several waves of storms that hit the area that Monday and we had a mess on our hands. We ended up needing to clean everything out of two closets in our house and have pulled the carpet in our guest room to stop mold from growing. Luckily most of our things actually came out alright. I did have some fabrics that bleed but they seem to have come clean with the help of some oxygen bleach.
We have been busy trying to get everything cleaned up and ready for repairs. We are also in the process of decluttering the house for a variety of reason, not the least of which is that we currently have no place to store the things we moved from our guest room since they can't go back in until we manage to get repairs completed. We never intended to stay in this house forever and the recent problems with the flooding we are considering moving up that timeline. Even so, repairs still have to be made regardless. In addition to all of this, we had previously decided to move forward with infertility plans and that has resulted in my having doctors appointments about every day off that I get. Overall it's a bit overwhelming and I don't think that I'll be able to keep up a regular posting schedule going forward. I don't intend to quit the blog because it has been great motivation and I love sharing my creations when I've finally completed a big project, just don't expect it to be very regular for a while.
Since I've missed them the last few months, and I'm not sure when I might be able to post again I thought I'd end this post with a few book reviews.
Star Wars Millennium Falcon Owner's Workshop Manual by Ryder WindhamMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Written as a repair manual for the YT-1300 with specific information about the Falcon, in particular, I had a lot of fun reading this book. There are lots of specifics and diagrams to the point where you could probably build a very accurate cockpit replica for like a computer gaming room or kids bunk bed sort of thing using this for reference. It also includes excerpts from original marketing materials for the YT-1300, and information about the history of the Falcon and its previous owners.
Food Anatomy: The Curious Parts & Pieces of Our Edible World by Julia RothmanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a cute little book of illustrations about food and eating. It kind of makes me think of Richard Scary books for adults. There is an entire two-page spread showing different shapes of pasta. There is information about kinds of sushi, place settings around the world, and sandwiches for various regions. Overall, it is a very interesting book to browse through. If I had one complaint, it would be that sometimes the cursive captions can be difficult to read but I really had few problems with it.
A Year of Picnics: Recipes for Dining Well in the Great Outdoors by Ashley EnglishMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really, REALLY want to be the kind of person who takes lots of picnics. I like to be outside and I like to eat so it seems great. But somehow that never seems to happen. Maybe this book will help with that. Not only does it have recipes for picnic foods but each picnic follows a theme. They include tips for choosing the right site and suggestions for activities with each picnic. There is also information about the best ways to carry your picnic and tips for planning a menu that fits your site. For example, they plan a mountain top picnic and mention that if you are hiking to your location, that you want to pack things that are lighter and maybe don't require lots of extra like silverware or cups.
I am currently working on making the shirt and belt from the Bombshell Wonder Woman pattern to go with my shorts. I hope to have them done by the end of the month because we have a superhero day at work I could wear it for. Currently researching and price checking things for another costume, making space mice to sit with our Voltron lions and a coffee table makeover. My husband has started playing Witcher and it made me curious about the books so I've started reading those as well. It may take me a bit to get through them all since I tend to read things mostly through the library but I may review them later. Follow me on Facebook if you're interested in being notified about future posts, I promise I will get around to my projects in time.
