04 July 2014

Balloon barking and storm eyes

Yesterday morning at about 7:30, Callie went wild barking. She normally stays upstairs in the loft until we go on our walk around 8:00 and sometimes she'll bark if she sees a bird in the trees just beyond the skylight windows. This was a different bark, however — it was wilder, louder, and longer-lasting. It was a hot-air balloon going over. She can hear them long before we do. I snapped a photo.


Hurricane news: The eye of the storm crossed over the coastline just east of Morehead City a few minutes ago. I've been watching it on the local NWS radar site. There was a tornado warning for the area from about 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. yesterday. I haven't see any news of tornadoes or exceptionally strong winds, so I assume all is well. When the eye of the storm to the north and east of the area, the wind shifts direction, blowing from the north. A lot of water can be pushed up toward the southern end of the shallow but expansive Pamlico sound and there is a risk of flooding in Morehead from the north side (it's on a peninsula). I'll find out more later.

It's not easy to read the town names on this map, but along the coast from southwest to northeast, you have Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Jacksonville, Morehead City, and Cape Hatteras.

It seems that this is the earliest hurricane to affect the North Carolina coast since record-keeping began in 1851. The earliest previous hurricane hit on July 10 in 1901. Today's storm came ashore with 100 mph winds (160 kph). The big dangers for the N.C. coasts are tornadoes, flooding, and significant erosion of the Outer Banks islands. The road that runs along the strip of sandy banks often washes out in such storms. Here's a link to an article in the Raleigh News & Observer.

Our friends Jill and Peter arrived from California yesterday afternoon. The weather was hot (by Saint-Aignan standards) and we were able to sit out on the terrace until late into the evening. Walt grilled some chicken breasts on the barbecue and we had salade macédoine (mixed vegetables in a mayonnaise sauce — thanks, Martine) and taboulé (bulgur with diced cucumber, tomato, parsley, and mint with a lemon juice dressing) alongside. Then we tasted a couple of Auvergne cheeses (Cantal and Bleu d'Auvergne) before we plunged into a box of See's chocolates that J & P brought with them.

It was a pleasant evening, to say the least. This morning it's raining and I've seen lightning off in the distance. It's supposed to be stormy all day. We have reservations for lunch in Bourges at noon. Damn the rain.

22 comments:

  1. Wasn't it hot yesterday?! We took a friend to Chenonceau. I'm glad it wasn't clients -- she's from Alice Springs, so survived more or less unwilted.

    How is your mother's arm going?

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    1. Susan, see my comment to Mary further down the thread. Ma says to tell everybody thanks for their concern and good wishes.

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  2. "salade macédoine (mixed vegetables in a mayonnaise sauce...)"
    To many Brits this will prove to be a bringer of nightmares...
    it reminds us of school meals!
    Available in tins in every supermarket... but only the Heinz variety has crisp veg and decent mayo.
    Personally, I like it... especially home-made using a drained tin of mixed veg and Heinz Salad Cream...
    I think the Benedicta bottled mayo for "crudites" would substitute nicely....
    it certainly works for a tuna salad.

    The temperature here hit 38.2... just missing the record set July 12th 2012 by o.5 Centipedes....
    The actual highest we had here was 2003...
    44 Centipedes in the shade out... 30 to 33 in...
    felt like walking into a chiller room going indoors.
    And in this mornings rain, you can hear the plants going....
    "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!"

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  3. Lovely balloon. I hope so the hurricane won't be so serious.

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  4. bonne maman preserves - yum!

    this is a serious hurricane, and way too early in the season. may it disappear quickly.

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  5. Hope all is well back home for your Mom and family!

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  6. Haven't checked the weather updates this morning yet (it's 9:00 a.m. here), so I hope all is well in NC.
    By now, you will have already enjoyed your lunch in Bourges-- hope the rain didn't disappoint plans too much.
    Happy 4th!

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  7. You have good friends with good taste! See's are our favorite boxed chocolates, and in our opinion outrank even Belgian chocolates. (Sorry, Martine.)

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    1. Swiss chocolate are my favorite but I have to agree that See's are very special and don't last very long in my house.

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  8. Carolyn, That's because you've never tasted the Belgian top brands. Godiva and Leonidas are fine, of course ... but they are meant for the export. Wait till you've tasted a Neuhaus, Corné or Wittamer ... and you will forget about See's (unknown in Belgium :)) Trust me! Martine x

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    1. Godiva is not very good compare to See's. I will have to try the other brands you mentioned because one can never get tired of tasting and discovering new chocolates..

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    2. Or the Chocolate Line in Brugges!!
      Yes, trust Martine... Les Belges KNOW about good chocolate....
      to me Leonidas make even British "chocolte" taste good!!

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  9. Not much news here specifically for Morehead City but I have been paying attention to that #2 hurricane and the wind velocity (100 mph)and keeping my fingers crossed that everyone will be okay. Again, I've figured your Mom's wrist injury must have been about 5-6 weeks ago and that she must be nearing the time when they are considering taking her cast off? I'm hoping that they have reduced the size of it (oh, that was such a relief for me when that started happening!) Send her my good wishes, please.

    Mary in Oregon

    My vote also goes to See's Chocolates! Love them! I may hold back a little about them being a step above Belgian Chocolate, though!!! I've certainly had more opportunity and more experiences with Sees!

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    1. Ma says she goes Monday to see about having the cast taken off her wrist. She still has some pain. She'll find out from the doctor what the next step in the process is.

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  10. I just talked to my mother. She said they lost power between midnight and six a.m. and the TV cable is still off at almost noon over there. There are tree limbs down but no terrible damage that she knows of so far. I have to do some looking on the 'net to see if there are other reports of damage around the region. She thanks you all for your concern and good wishes.

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  11. Ken, glad to hear that things are not too bad around your mom's place. Glad they've got power back, so they can use fans (or AC) if it's hot.

    For my mom's wrist break, the first step after taking off the heavy plaster cast, was a lighter fiberglass one. Then, after about 5 or 6 weeks of all of that, she had the fiberglass cast taken off, and used a removable wrist brace (the kind you can buy at the pharmacy, that is sort of molded to the shape of your wrist and palm, but is just a kind of fabric on top, with velcro or buckle straps to hold it securely. It can be removed for washing hands and (carefully) bathing.

    My mom's doctor said that wearing the sling correctly would be really helpful for dealing with the pain, because wearing it correctly will hold the wrist facing upward, to help keep swelling down. It was really difficult, though, to keep that darn sling from constantly slipping, and having her wrist down lower than we wanted.

    Don't know why I'm telling you all this, but I thought maybe you'd feel better knowing the process, since you're so far away! :)

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  12. so glad to hear she is ok! i saw that the storm moved off... whew! hi Ma!
    :-)

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  13. i meant to add.. i saw a show the other day on pbs about a NC chef - and it just came on so i figured you might like it.
    http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/a-chefs-life/

    the restaurant, Chef and the Farmer, is in Kingston and this might make a pleasant trip when you are in the states next. i think you should be able to see the show form the website. she features some interesting local folks and an interesting spin on NC food.
    :-)

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    1. Thank you so much for the link to these shows, OFG. I'm watching the one about collard greens right now. I'll enjoy the whole season. I wish I could download all the episodes. Kinston is about 70 miles from where Ma lives, down in Morehead.

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  14. I annor seem to post here. Glad things are relatively ok with MA.

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  15. Now I can post but I cannot spell. Glad to hear things are going relatively well with MA.

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    1. I can post, too, but I can't play the violin. Of course, I never could play the violin...

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