Friday, July 5, 2019

This/That And An Earthquake




I was looking for some July pictures and came upon this one. Definitely a treasure from the archives. Good thing I took it because the mailboxes are gone now, replaced with the latest modern, locked boxes.

Yes, there was a 6.4 earthquake in Ridgecrest, a town out in the Mojave desert about 55 miles, straight, from here (longer if you drive). I was in the kitchen and all that happened to me was a rattling sound in my kitchen cabinets. I didn't feel the earth move or anything, so I thought it was a small quake somewhere. 

Then my phone lit up like a Christmas tree of text messages, everyone worried. It was a large quake and I appreciate my friends being concerned. Of course, I feel bad for the people affected by this quake, I have been in a couple that really affected me, particularly the 6.7 Northridge quake back in 1994. Still, it became a good day for me, connecting with so many friends. I should really make the effort to call or text more. I prefer emails to all of that, but not everyone does these days. 


Then, and worse for me, I had a large brown spider in the bathroom. Not the first one this summer. I just looked at Google images, trying to identify it and it most closely resembled the Brown Recluse spider, which we don't have in California. This set me off on a Google image search that gave no answers and now that my head is full of spider images, I hope I won't dream about them.

I used to be so scared of spiders, but I have overcome that to a certain extent. Just don't come in my bedroom. When I first tried to catch the spider, it went in a tiny crack in my bathroom cabinet. When it appeared again the next day, I took my time, looked around my kitchen for a good box to put it in. The Tollhouse cookie tin was ideal, because it has a thin edge. A thick or slightly bent edge makes it more difficult to make a catch. The spider was on the wall, I lined up the tin, touched its legs and it fell right into it. I covered the tin and took the spider outside and left it by my rock collection, figuring it would have many places to hide there. 

And I now have a good spider removal tool.


This summer, we have another pest that's worse than ever. Flies!! I can't do anything about the additional horses that now live close by, but I need to start rinsing off the dog yard every day. This was always part of my morning chores, but the winter was so wet and there were no flies, so I cut back. Now, I'm starting again and hope it will eliminate some of the problem. Drowning fly babies used to help a lot. 


I feel much better and am now a bit embarrassed that I made a fuss on my blog. But last year, my friend Tom came to visit and, while here, came down with a cold. I got it, then I got bronchitis, and was ill for a good six weeks. This time, it was just a summer sniffle, combined with being tired.  So I rested, read, watched TV, and napped. 

As far as TV goes, I don't watch much, but I was still dismayed when Nexstar and AT&T blacked out our local NBC station due to a money dispute, blaming each other. I only get local TV and HBO. I know I can watch on the internet, but I only watch some of the morning shows, which I record to watch while I eat lunch, so a bit difficult to do on my computer. Did this happen where you live also? It happened to a lot of markets around the country. 


Feeling better, I walked the dogs, they were so happy. They felt the aftershocks yesterday and, when they were about to go to sleep, there came the fireworks. Samson barked at them, then came into the bedroom and fell asleep, so no panic among my dogs. 

Today is a beautiful day in the canyon. The summer heat has not yet arrived and life is good. 











22 comments:

  1. I am so glad you are alright, both from the cold and the earthquake. I have always been terrified of spiders, arachnophobia it is called. I cannot even get close enough to them to kill them. I am impressed that you overcame your fear! To me, that is one of the worst things about summer. All the flying and crawling creepy crawlies. We used to get lots of earwigs every summer, but not so much now.

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  2. We felt the earthquake here near Hwy 395. At first I thought it was Camp Pendleton. They often have exercises and such, with lots of booms.

    We discovered in Switzerland how to keep flies out of the house. Hang a ziplock bag containing water and about 10 dimes/pennies in the doorway, or where ever there is an open window or such. Seems to work.

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    1. Thank you, I remember doing that when I first moved here. I completely forgot. It worked well, I will do it again.

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  3. I wasn't sure how far away you were, but we had quite a bit of news here on our TV about the quake. Scary, anywhere nearby. Hope the flies abate, we resorted to the old fashioned sticky fly papers a while ago. Spiders, I am OK with them, but mice and rats!!! Hope the fireworks were so far away, I would ban them apart from one public display at Guy Fawkes night.Or on your celebration day.

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  4. It's actually 55 miles as the crow flies, so I said the wrong thing in my post. And, you just reminded me, I had a mouse in my house a week or two ago. I haven't seen it or any sign or it since. Hopefully, it found a way out.

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  5. I'm so glad to hear that you weren't affected by the earthquake. As soon as I heard of it, I thought of you, Samson, and Faith. I'm also glad you are feeling better. Take care! ~ Jeff

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  6. Glad to hear the earthquake wasn't a problem for you and you are feeling fine!
    We don't have TV so don't know if the problem was here or not.

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  7. Glad you were not hurt in the earthquake!

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    1. Just saw there was another one...you ok?

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  8. Hi Inger - glad the quake didn't affect you much ... or yesterday's aftershock? Hope the flies get sorted out ... I bought fly papers while in Canada ... so they can be helpful - we had them as kids ...

    Don't talk TV and Eastbourne ... but one carries on ... and so glad the dogs and you are all feeling relatively fit again ... enjoy the cool of the summer as long as it lasts ... take care - cheers Hilary

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  9. your canyon still looks beautiful and I am so glad you are feeling better and that the quake was minimal in your area. it did not occur to me to fret over you because the news said Southern CA and you are not southern or so I thought. we have had 3 flies in our home in the past 3 weeks, and that is very odd. we don't get them here. so wonder what is up with the fly thing. any spider in my house is smacked and gone... we both hate them and if I put them out they will come back in...if NBC was gone we did not know. we rarely watch it. bob records all his sports but they are extra paid channels...
    glad the pups did not get upset. the TV is talking as I type and said the 7.4 that got you is you. the one on Thursday was the one I saw.

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  10. I can't remember if you watch movies on Prime, if you do, look for A Rumor of Angels. a truly good movie

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  11. I'm glad the earthquake didn't affected you. I've only been in a small earthquake that knocked a few things of shelves but didn't caused any damage. It's good that friends are concerned enough to text you to make sure you are OK.

    Hugs, julia

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  12. I hope you were not affected by the latest quake last night. I have only felt one small one in my life, and that scared me.

    I am glad to read that you are feeling better.

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  13. thought of you this morning so i came by to see how it goes - glad you didn't feel much of that quake! And what about the most recent one! Hoping all is well.

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  14. Thought about you and so glad you posted to let us know you are OK. Guess there will be a ton of aftershocks for a while. Glad your dogs were alarmed. Callie would be wetting herself. Also happy that you are feeling better.
    I have lost NBC also for a while at least. Pretty sure they will settle the differences. Stay safe and well.

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  15. It's really interesting hearing about the quake from your distance Inger, but I'm glad it wasn't any closer and that you're all ok - and that the bug has gone - it's worth taking extra care if you're prone to bronchitis.
    Spiders seem to have taken roost in my house - I'm forever getting rid of cobwebs - only good thing is, they usually get rid of the flies although it's mostly slater (woodlice) shells I find under their webs ... ick!

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  16. Phew , feels so nice to see your post. Have been thinking of you. Take care

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  17. You may have more to tell after the larger earthquake today. My daughter lives in L.A. and of course felt it. I feel bad for the people affected as well. It may not be a highly populated area like the cities but for those who lose their homes, it's still devastating.

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  18. I sure hope that you are still okay. I thought of you as soon as I heard about the 6.9 last night. I hope that you are just fine.

    We have a new neighbor who is threatening to bring horses. I really hope that it doesn't happen. The flies love horse nuggets too much.

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  19. I hope you continue to be safe too. Glad it's nice temps to get out for walks but the flies sure can be annoying! Take care!

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  20. I am hoping you are feeling better. I am glad you weren't affected by the quakes!

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Thanks for leaving a comment.. ~~ Inger

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