Little Whale Cove
Depoe Bay, Oregon
January 2024
With regard to our social calendar, January was a little more quiet than last December, but it was not without excitement. We had three power outages, the most severe lasting 52 hours! With outside temps dropping into the low 20s, the house became very cold (49 degrees), but we have a fireplace that isn't simply decorative, but burns actual wood, so we were able to keep the living room somewhat liveable. Our two power stations provided us with back-up energy for the refrigerator and various devices (we were even able to stream a show before our cable went out), but we now know what improvements need to be made, should we experience a similar storm. It's not a question of if, but when.
Meanwhile, I read several books, and while I enjoyed a few quite well, there's only one that might land on my best of 2024 list.
Books Read (click on the title for my review):
The Soul of Discretion by Susan Hill (4.5/5)
Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson (4/5)
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (3/5)
The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer (3.5/5)
In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite by Melissa Clark (4/5)
Nothing More Dangerous by Allen Eskens (4/5)
Riding the White Horse Home by Teresa Jordan (3/5)
Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane (4.5/5)
Movies & TV Series (only including those we finished):
Slow Horses (Season 3) - Intense! I held my breath during the last two episodes! So happy to know there's at least one more season coming.
Shetland (Season 8) - It wasn't until the last few episodes that I finally came to care about this storyline. I wonder if there's going to be another season with the same cast...
Reacher (Season 2) - So good, but so unbelievable!
Nyad - I didn't care for Diana Nyad's attitude (superiority complex, selfish, but driven), but Annette Bening gives an outstanding performance. Jodie Foster is also excellent. I have to admit that I got choked up while watching the final scenes.
Vera (Season 7 & 8) - Some of the episodes are pretty convoluted, but I still love this program!
Maestro - I enjoyed the second half of this movie much better than the first half. Bradley Cooper delivers a fine performance, but Carey Mulligan is the star of the film!
Puzzlemania:
First puzzle since last March! Only 500 pieces, so it didn't take us too long.
Survival Test:
As mentioned above, we relied heavily on our emergency supplies during our power outage. Our area got hit with an ice storm, which caused downed trees and power lines. We were lucky to lose power for only 52 hours. Some folks were without power for a full week!
We used this power station to watch an episode of Reacher before we needed to hook it up to our refrigerator. We have since purchased a second Vtoman for our furnace.
The sun came out, but it was still cold outside. Our poor peace lily didn't care for the indoor temps, but bounced back a few days later.
Pretty cozy in front of the fire, but cold everywhere else in the house!
We have a safety committee in our neighborhood, and it was great to get updates about the power situation via our BaoFeng radio.
How was your month? Are you prepared for a natural disaster?
That was some post! I am sorry to hear about the power outage, so long to have a cold huse. Your backup power supply device is amazing and we ought to get one, especially as hurricane season comes up soon.
ReplyDeleteWould love to see Slow Horses and we have seen season 1 of Reacher, but nmeed to wait on our library to order season two. At this point in life, I probably wouldn't know what to do with streaming and internet if we could get it!
Tina, it was a long post, wasn't it? Every year, I think maybe I'll switch it up and have one monthly post for books and one for movies/tv series, but it's nice to have everything all together, so...
DeleteYes, the backup power stations are very handy, but we're going to get our two generators up and running this week so they are ready next time we need them. Silly to have them just sitting in the garage without fuel and not knowing if they even work.
Les, so sorry about your power outages, but it sounds like you guys made it through as well as you could. Good job being prepared. We've been through those as well and were quite happy this year to not have it happen - at least so far. The one we experienced in 2021 was mid-February and was quite memorable.
ReplyDeleteMy reading for January was not great. Too many beginning, not liking, trying another, though I did read a couple that I really liked. I've been listening again to the Cormoran Strike books and they tend to be very long and take quite a while to get through. I do like them for my walks though. We watched Reacher too and really liked it. Season 3 at some point I guess. And we watched the new season of Shetland. Hmmm....really miss Jimmy Perez. Not sure if these will be the characters going forward or what, but it was kind of odd to see who played the new inspector - Ashley Jensen - she was the one who played 'Agatha Raisin', quite a different character to Ruth Calder. Have you watched those? Think they are Britbox, but they might be Acorn. Anyway, kind of funny.
Thanks, Kay. We survived, but would rather have a warmer house next time around. We'll get our generators fueled up and "exercised" before the next storm so we can power the furnace.
DeleteI haven't listened to a Cormoran Strike book in a while. They are good, but as you said, they're long! Yes, we miss Jimmy Perez in Shetland, too. I haven't watched Agatha Raisin, but might take a peek. We're still watching a lot of Vera. I think we're wrapping up season 9 tonight.
So is that power station a generator? Or has a generator inside. I'm glad you have it and finally got your power back. And I see you have a wood fireplace. Robert is trying to change our fireplace to gas, but I'd rather keep it wood (we haven't used it yet). We had a gas fireplace in the last house. We might buy a generator eventually for disasters but we haven't yet. You had a good reading month in January. We liked The Crown a lot and Nyad; we didn't think the inside case in Slow Horses was as good, but we watched it. Carrie Mulligan was great in Maestro. I hope your storms are calmer in February ...
ReplyDeleteSusan, I found this on Google, which does a better job of explaining it than I can. "In a simple explanation, a portable power station or battery-powered inverter generator is a large power bank with one or more AC outputs. It is a power unit that is equipped with batteries that store and produce energy, which can be used to power electrical appliances or devices. It also comes with built-in power outlets and USB ports, so you can easily plug different devices without an adapter. Furthermore, it is fully rechargeable and can be used as a backup power source for emergencies." I suppose the difference is that a generator runs on fuel (gas, propane or natural gas) and doesn't need to be re-charged. Just add more fuel. I believe the generator puts out more power, so it can run things like a space heater. With a power station, it would draw down on the battery pretty quickly.
DeleteThanks for explaining. We will think about what we should get for the future.
DeleteThe storm sounds terrible, thank goodness you are prepared with back up power, a good fireplace, and more. And, the perfect avocado seals the deal. Santa Barbara is supposed to be hit this weekend with horrible rain storms that may cause flooding. Lucky for me I flew east yesterday so will miss it.
ReplyDeleteHelen, the storm could have been so much worse for us. We didn't have any icing on our trees, which could have caused serious damage with falling branches. We are literally surrounded by huge trees! I hope your folks will be ok during the storm in CA. Weather has really become a problem, hasn't it? I keep thinking about where it would be safe to live and not encounter any dangerous weather problems. We have ice storms, fire danger, and of course, we're on a huge fault line (Cascadia) that would make this past power outage feel like a camping trip. Ugh. Enjoy your visit with your daughter!
DeleteThree power outages, one lasting 52 hours! I am sorry you had to deal with that especially with such cold weather. I am glad you have back up for heat. No one in our area is allowed to have a real fire place because of the proximity of the military base and runway. But it also doesn't get as cold here as it does where you live. It sounds like you had a good reading month! I would like to read Small Mercies. I've liked everything I've read by Dennis Lehane. I hope you have a great week!
ReplyDeleteWendy, it could have been much worse if our trees had been coated in ice. Somehow, or little area missed that part of the ice storm. I can't begin to image the damage that would have caused... I have another stand-alone by Lehane that I plan to read later this month. He's pretty reliable.
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