After the storm

Irene was kind to us.

Power shut off for about 30 seconds twice late Saturday night, but that was it.

No flooding either.  Some areas of Brick are experiencing flooding, but thankfully not us.   I haven't even seen my neighbors pumping out their basements either.

My friends up in North Jersey didn't fare so well.  Flooding in their homes and not being able to even get out of their neighborhoods because of the flooding. 

And no power to pump out their basements. 

This is the Patriots baseball stadium in Bridgewater, NJ

When Irene was a Category 3, we were going to evacuate.  We were going to my MIL's house.   But as Irene downgraded we decided to stick it out.  I'm so glad we did.  MIL lost power Saturday night and it just came back on this morning (Monday). Also she couldn't get out of her town until later Sunday.  I would not have been happy being unable to get back to our house to see how we fared.  

Also had we evacuated, I wouldn't have been here to get a ride in the back of a police car around 12:30 Sunday morning!

LOL  That sounds more exciting than it actually was. 

I'm part of our towns CERT Team (Community Emergency Response Team) and 3 of us were asked to come to Police HQ around midnight to help with the expected overflow of calls, power outages, opening shelters, etc.  And since we were asked to come in what was believed to be when the storm was going to be bad, they came & got us. 

I didn't know the back seats of police cars were molded plastic benches.  OUCH!

What we ended up doing was napping in the "war room" because the storm, as it hit us, wasn't that bad.  Sure we had lots of rain & wind, but no damage & no panicking.  

Now it's Monday.  I have a few beach writings to do, but thankfully they all understood it was going to take a few days because of Irene.  My husband is off all week so I we decide to take a quick ride to check out the beach.

This is what we found

Closed.

I'm hoping that they're closed only because they haven't really checked out the ramp & stairs and that they will be opened back up tomorrow. 

Brick Beaches are closed today for clean up too.

So today I'm back to work, so thankful that I work from home and that we have power & internet and no water damage. 

My thoughts go out to my friends & family and others up & down the east coast who are suffering the effects of Irene, even though she's long gone. 

OH and a side note, my video storm feed made it on Fox 5 in NY! :D

Watch the Hurricane

As long as I have power you can watch these live feeds from Brick, NJ

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/brick-hurricane-2011

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/Hurricane-Irene-Brick-NJ

Hurricane Irene

Really hoping this isn't the last time I get to walk on the beach in Mantoloking. 

Is it ironic that Irene means PEACE

And yet a Hurricane named Irene is about to destroy a good portion of the Eastern Seaboard.

I am just about 3 miles from the ocean - by the yellow dot.

I'm not sure if we're going to evacuate or not.

We're watching the weather channel very carefully and will leave either if they tell us or if it looks like it's going to be nasty.

Lots of good thoughts going out to everyone affected by Irene, that bitch.  

Win a Free Beach Writing!

Today, Thursday August 25, 2011, Cape May Rocks is giving away one of my free custom beach writings!  Check them out!!

Cape May Rocks Contest

If you've wandered to my page & it's not August 25, 2011

You can go to my shop & purchase your own beach writing!

MY ZIBBET SHOP

MY ETSY SHOP

Past writings I've done.

 Stick figure families have an additional cost.

 Shells are free though, just let me know if you want them!

 This one is one of my favorites!

 Click on this one to get a closer view of the 6 cats I drew for this customer!

 The holidays are coming!

 Look for this in a necklace soon!

Earthquake aka My dogs are useless

Here is Becca the "Beltie"  (Border Collie/Sheltie Mix)

And Odie the Jack Russell Terrier

These dogs are very good dogs.  

Be aggressive near me or the kids and Becca will rip you apart

Odie will annoy the shit out of you with his bark

They ARE vicious!

But apparently they are useless at predicting earthquakes!

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting at my kitchen table putting up my training schedule for September.  I usually work up in my office, but I NEED a new desk chair that does not hurt my back so I moved to the kitchen table.

I'm at the table, Jared is napping on the couch and Dalton is out cutting the grass.

Suddenly I feel woozy, like I'm going to pass out, I am rocking back and forth.  

Then I hear the glasses in the hutch RATTLING.

That is when it dawns on me that it's an EARTHQUAKE.

An EARTHQUAKE at the Jersey Shore.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME????

Ok, my Dad is a very smart guy and likes to pass along all sorts of odd information, because of this I know a fault line runs through Northern NJ, but still.... an EARTHQUAKE?????

I grab Jared & we run outside.

THAT is when the dogs wake up and and start barking.

Really???

Taken from the National Geographic website

Accounts of similar animal anticipation of earthquakes have surfaced across the centuries since. Catfish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs and bees leaving their hive in a panic have been reported. Countless pet owners claimed to have witnessed their cats and dogs acting strangely before the ground shook—barking or whining for no apparent reason, or showing signs of nervousness and restlessness.

Added 8.25.11 
Animal Reactions at the National Zoo

Not my dogs! 

I'm on a mission

Let's face it, the MTV show Jersey Shore is still a hit. Like it or not.

And for some reason I seem to think if I can get one of them to follow me on twitter, it will generate a TON of sales, and even though I love my day job, I wouldn't be against being a full time beach writer!

Snooki has almost 3 MILLION followers, Pauly & Vinny have like 1.5 MILLION each.  

So tweet them about me.  my twitter name is beachwritings 

Here are their Twitter pages

Snooki

PaulyD

JWoww

Deena

Vinny

The Situation

Ick even going to the situations twitter page makes me feel icky.

Can't believe Snooki had sex with him... makes me want to hurl.

Anyway, if they can be famous for doing what everyone else has done for 100 years in Seaside, only they figured out how to embarrass their families and make a ton of money, you guys can make me famous by helping me to get them to talk about me!

Love you!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - The Wicker Chairs

Hi Everyone from RoadKill Rescue!  Thank you for stopping by!  Make sure you check out my Custom Beach Writing & Sea Glass shop through the links on the right!  Thank you!


Back in June, while walking my son to the bus stop, I noticed my neighbor was throwing away a set of wicker chairs and a wicker ottoman.  I walked passed them on the way out and stopped to check them out better on the way back.  Other than some wear and tear, they looked just fine.

At first I left them there in the street, waiting for the bulk garbage pick up....

biting my nails...

my husband and sons pick on me for "garbage picking"

"Was that the garbage truck?" I said to myself, as a bead of sweat rolled down my forehead..

"Ahh the hell with them!"

I ran over and got them.

They're a little beat up, but otherwise just fine.  

 

The plan was to get new cushions and then spray paint them to match the cushions.  Because YOU KNOW if I painted them first, I'd NEVER find the right cushions.  

So I tightened the straps and measured for the cushions.

24 inches by 24 inches.

Ok, easy enough to remember.  But money is tight, so I'm going to wait a bit.

Mid to late July I started looking for cushions.  I was in Lowes and saw the cushions were marked down.  

But no cushions in the size I need, crap.

I look around a little bit and really can not find any 2ft square cushions.

FINALLY I find ONE in Home Depot, $40

SHIT.

and it's ugly.

(actually it was the color of shit)

Ok so a few days later I wander over to another Home Depot.

THEY HAVE PRETTY 2ft sq CUSHIONS!

$30 a set

Ok that's better but still more then I had free at that moment so I leave the store, but not before noticing they have a TON of the ones I like.  Ok, great!  I'm hoping within the next 2 weeks to have some extra cash, maybe they'll be marked down!

Friday August 12 I do have some extra cash, husband says "spend it on whatever you want, you earned it."

Losing the weight I've lost and quitting smoking definitely has earned me some mad money.

Do I go and get a new purse? Nope

New clothes?  Nope

Manicure/Pedicure? Nope

No, I run over to Home Depot and get the cushions!

Yeah me!

Even though it's almost 2 weeks later, the cushions are still $30 a set, but I don't care, I'm getting them.

I picked up some spray paint and a "cheater" as the husband calls it.  It's a thingy for the spray paint cans that makes it so you can just squeeze the handle, not press down the button.

So here I present to you, the recycled wicker chairs my neighbor threw away!

 I didn't notice until we put them on the porch that the one needed a wedge under a leg, so that is done now.  But I love them so hard!  I hope my neighbor doesn't see how awesome I made her chairs & want them back!

I'm thinking a set like this would cost around $400 brand new, with the ottoman (not show, still hiding in the backyard because it's too big for the porch), and I paid all of $75 between the cushions, spray paint & tax.

Not too shabby if I do say so myself!

MY SHOP

ETA - I did it again, check out my new TV cabinet!  5.2.13

Eggies, a moms review!

So you've seen the commercial for these things and heard the promises 

"Just Crack, Cook & Twist"

Deviled Eggs without the hassle of peeling!

I was BESIDE myself wanting to try these, but at $10 for 6 plus $7.99 for shipping and handling, I decided to wait until they came out in the stores.  

Today at BB&B I found them (ok husband found them)!  So with my 20% off coupon, I got 6 of them for like $8.

I only got 1 box, which turned out to be a good thing since I only had 5 eggs!

(not sure why this picture is sideways, it didn't upload that way)

Just a little artistic shot.  BTW I was being lazy and grabbed my old point & shoot camera.  I let the kids use it and it doesn't always focus right.  This one came out pretty cool

Ok back to the story.  Directions say to oil them (or use cooking spray), put the top & bottom together and put the coupler (ring thing) around to hold them together. Then open the top, and crack the eggs in to the Eggie.  Easy enough, or so I thought.

Even though the directions say it will hold extra large eggs, what it does not tell you is that the Extra Large yolks have trouble fitting through the opening. 

So it got a little messy. (well a lot messy)

 This is how they looked before cooking
(see the picture on the wall to the left?  It's my Live Laugh Love 5x7's that I have for sale in my shop)

Good thing I only had 5 eggs, because 6 Eggies would not fit in my 3Qt pot.

OK the directions say to fill the pot with water so the Eggies float, bring to a boil & boil for 15 minutes.

 On the stove they go!

 Ut oh, something is leaking. 

 Oh well, I'm not stopping now!

 15 minutes later

Cooled and sitting on the counter.  What I don't have a picture of is the one that was filled with water.  Obviously it was the one that made the pot look like the clothes washer on that episode of The Brady Bunch.  Like I said, the camera I was using doesn't always focus right and well the pictures didn't come out.  So here are 4 of them.

Time to take them apart & see the results!  First you take the little tops off and then unscrew the ring & take the Eggies apart.

The directions say to squeeze until the eggs come out.  I had my husband do it so I could take pictures. 

 Even though I oiled the inside of the Eggies like the directions said, it did take a while to get the eggs out. He was shaking the crap out of them!

HA HA!  Success!  Got the first one out.

All of the eggs. They don't look like the do in the commercial.
Even the texture is a bit off. 

But they taste fine and worked for egg salad. 

Clean up reminded me of washing baby bottles.  The directions say they're dishwasher safe, but they're feather light and I knew they would end up melted at the bottom of the dishwasher.

All in all I give them 3 stars out of 5.

I will try again when I have more eggs.  

I have learned:

Oil them well (maybe use bacon grease?)

Snap them shut tight

put a LOT of water in the pan

not expect to make deviled eggs out of them!

It's baaaaaaaaaackkkk

Ok so I sold out a bit.

When I found out Jersey Shore was going to film season 5 back in Seaside, I did this beach writing.

Printed it 20x30, framed it and gave it to one of the producers of the show.

Now I know it's not going to be in season 4, since they were in Italy and my chances of it being seen during season 5 are slim to none.... but I wanted to share it with you all anyway.

Though I did hear through the grapevine that the cast did see it & like it.  

I just hope it gets me some business :D  

MY SHOP

Almost Forgot!

Things have been a bit hectic around here lately.  

We had a storm come through on 7/29 that "they" say wasn't a tornado, but they didn't see what we saw.  Anyway, it caused a ton of damage and we spent the weekend removing trees & debris.  And then we figured since we were out there doing work anyway, we'd spruce up the front of the house.  Oh and I think I broke my finger back on 7/9.  I bashed it into the door frame by accident, but had somewhere important to be so no time for the ER.  Well it's several weeks later & it still hurts, so I have a doc appt tomorrow that I'm assuming he'll just send me for a Xray.  Anyway, here are some pictures of the storm damage, my finger & your free monthly calendar download!

Front of my house.  We power washed it & painted the white shutters black.  It looks so much nicer!

The tree that was struck by lightening back in 2008.  Due to $$ problems, we never had it removed, but we tied it off so if it did fall, it didn't fall on the shed.  It worked.  That's the top half behind it.  The Wisteria vines helped too. 

I like how this branch missed the chair!

 This used to be a clear path (it is again)

The wind from the storm SPLATTERED leaves all over the front of my house. I have NEVER seen this before. 

Umm I don't own a pool LOL 

 Thankfully this downed tree did not appear to cause any damage to the cars. 

And my next door neighbor was VERY lucky that this tree fell back and not to either side or it would have taken out a house. 

This is from one of the trees that fell down that we cut up.  Doesn't it look like Mickey Mouse?

What I don't have pictures is of the street behind me.  They lost 8 to 10 trees and those trees fell on houses & totaled cars.  That's when I learned I could never be a photo journalist.  The one I took up there of the tree on the car, I knew it wasn't bad and I was rather far away.  I couldn't take pictures of other peoples misery. 

But I can share my misery, here is my possibly broken finger.

And your free monthly calendar download.

Remember to click on it before saving it so you get the full sized version!

Thanks!