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7-13-2008--The lake has been very
high all spring- record high, for spring and record low for last
summer and fall. . I did not get the levels measured since
last fall. I have been TOTALLY overwhelmed since last
fall 2007 getting my Broker's license and then decided I needed to open
my own real estate office, GOLD Realty Services.
"Number one child" governorbondlake.com
has been severely neglected all this time, but from this day forward,
as I get it all pdated, I will work very hard to keep current postings
for you! --I have committed to that in my business plan for my new company
! "Here's What's happening" page is the first to get updated,
Listings page will be next and then I will work on the rest of the pages
this next week or so to get them updated. Stick with me--I want to
be your lake connection on Governor Bond Lake!
| July | 13 | Level: | 7 in. | high | Temp: | 80 F | July | 22 | Level: | 1 in. | high | Temp | 80 F | ||||
| July | 25 | Level: | Normal | Pool | Temp: | 78 F | July | 31 | Level: | 5 in | high | Temp | 80 F |
7-31-08 We had 1.6 inches of rain yesterday and a few strong winds. The fair has started and the Vietnam Wall got very strong welcome and support when it arrived last evening. It is supposed to be dry for the next few days, but very hot. That's a given because it's Fair week!
7-25-08 Had about .3 inch of rain last night and some strong winds, but the lake level is actually down a little when I measured this morning. Supposed to have more storms this evening and tonite.
I am a member of the Ski Club here on Governor Bond Lake and therefore can have guests at the club. I was interested in hosting an afternoon at the Ski Club for those of you that are interested in purchasing property on the lake. I could take you around the lake in our pontoon boat.I could provide tea, lemonade and soda, and you could bring a picnic lunch or supper. They do allow alcohol on the grounds so you could bring your own beer or wine coolers, etc. Let me know what you think and if you would be interested.
7-24-08 We have had more storms again, but not a lot of rain and the weather is HOT!!--but cooled down today!! The Bond County Fair is coming up starting next week, July 30-August 5. First day of the Fair is Wed., July 30 and the Vietnam wall arrives and carnival opens at 6:30 pm. Thurs., July 31, 6 pm carnival opens, 7pm Vietnam Wall opening ceremony. Friday, Aug. 1, 6 pm Carnival opens, 7:30 Demo Derby. Saturday: Carnival opens 1-4 and 6-10. Sunday: Carnival Kids Day 1:30-4:30, 6 pm Carnival opens, 5:30 Vietnam Wall Closing Ceremony, 7 pm PPL. Monday 6 pm Carnival Armband Night. 7 pm Little Miss and Queen Pageant. Tuesday 6 pm Carnival opens, 7 pm Parade. Lots more going on during the days, judging, shows etc.
7-5-08 News about new executive lake home for weekly/daily rent coming shortly.
7-13-08 We have had an almost record early spring with high rain levels and lake levels. We have had regular rain showers since mid-June and now in mid-July. The lake was down to normal level a day or so ago and pretty clear since about 4 weeks ago. Yesterday and today we have had another inch of rain and the lake is at 7.5 inches over normal pool. There was a lot more rain north of the lake in the watershed that made the lake level come up.
3-24-08 It's
been cold and dreary since last post, and--SNOW
in the night!! Got up this morning and had snow cover. It was
lumpy looking snow, never seen anything quite like it. Made Bruce
wonder if it was huge snowflakes that fell,--some were reported 2"
in diameter seen in Missouri yesterday when it flurried in the day!
Should have happened on April Fools Day!!
3-19-08 Well I spoke too fast!!! I can't get the pictures linked!!! I will work on that and hopefully solve the problem. UPDATE---I think I got it fixed!!
3-19-08 Well the lake is REALLY up and over the docks. There are supposed to be docks under these roofs!!!--and there is our paddle boat floating in or I should say above our neighbor's dock. It is tied,--nothing should ever be left untied at the lakefront!! We've had at least 3 or 4 inches I would bet but has probably stopped for now. The lake will continue to come up for several hours and then start to drop. My rain gauge got broke by ice (I had just bought it a couple of months ago)!! I bought a new thermometer yesterday and I pledge now to keep current with levels and temperatures for you. All my equipment seems to be working now. I got all this posted nice and easy with no hitches. When I hit the wall with my camera, computer, web hosting etc. I just stop dead in my tracks, can't take the frustation with all the rest of my business to take care of. So logon frequently and enjoy the news and pictures!!
3-18-08 We have had a cold wet spring so far. More rain last night and today. The lake level is way above normal pool and will probably go way over our dock today or tomorrow. I am looking forward to warm weather!! I have to get a new thermometer to put in the lake so I can post the water temperature and levels again. I am also working on a link for information on a new lake home that I will have available to rent for business or family events. I hope to have that up and running within a week.
Happy Easter everyone!
2-6-08 Well we had about 8 inches of snow last week and now we have had an additional inch or so of rain on Monday and the lake is up over normal pool as of this morning!! It should level out over the next day or two. This is good news!! I'm looking forward to SPRING!!!!!!
1-16-2008 Happy New Year!!! Sorry I have been gone for six months, but I had technical problems again. This time my FTP (file transfer program) wouldn't work. I just got back up and running and will try to keep current consistently this time. Actually last summer was pretty depressing as the spring and early summer was very nice, but then the rains stopped and the lake got down to around 24 + inches low. It looked very bad around the lake. It is still down but we have had some rains in the last couple of months that brought the lake level up more. I will have to measure it and post it.
There are three new homes listed for sale on the lake. Click on the Lake Listings above to check them out. Spring will be here soon and we will all be ready to get back out on the lake. See you then!!!!
7-19 We have had some spotty thunderstorms around the last couple of weeks, but the lake is still low.
Looking for a lake home?? Price reduced from $410,000 to $354,000 1442 Sunrise Point. This is a nice home home on the main body of the lake at a bargain price. Call me for a showing appointment today!
7-1 We are looking forward to the Fourth of July celebration this Wednesday!! It has cooled off here, a real nice cool day with a great breeze. I think the rain has passed through our area, it was lingering in SW Missouri. The ground moisture is good from the rain we have gotten over the last couple of weeks. The gardens and fields look great!!! I haven't heard, but hope to see fireworks on Wednesday night at the lake.
6-27 We never got rain over Memorial Day and it has been very, very dry. We were blessed to get a good shower Saturday night and had about an inch of rain on Sunday. It has really helped the gardens and fields.
5-23 Well, here we are at the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend. The weather forecast is pretty "iffy", might have a lot of showers over the weekend or maybe not. We had a few showers last night, maybe 3 or four tenths of an inch of rain. Have a safe weekend and enjoy the holiday weekend!!
5-3 It has been a very strange spring-hot and then cold, then hot then cold. We have had about an inch of rain for each of the last two months which is more than we had last year, so that is good. You can see from the levels of the lake that it has been pretty consistent. We are just now coming out of a rainy week, about an inch of rain. The rain around the lake has been VERY, very slow, mist and sprinkles a lot, which is great. It has soaked in very gentle and has not overloaded the lake.
3-13 Spring is coming!!! Recreational season of 2007 is upon us. I have seen several boats on the lake already. I have two new lake listings on my "Barb's Listings" page for anyone that is interested in buying property on the lake!
1-24-2007 I'm BACK!!! I have had computer problems since last fall and have not been able to maintain my website. When I have to fight my computer IT usually wins. I also found out I have not been getting email from my website since last summer. If you have emailed me and got no response, that is why--an error in a link. As a final solution, I had my hard drive "blown away" and everything reinstalled. I am up and running now though at a price--lost some important info I forgot to tell my tech to save. I will try to post more often now and keep my temps and levels more current and stay "connected".
We finally got some rain, about 3 inches several weeks ago. The lake came way up and is probably down to normal pool by now. It was low all boating season last year, probably got to 14 or 15 inches low.
8-24 Well, we're coming up on the last holiday weekend for 2006. Labor Day is just a little over a week away. School has started here and it won't be long before fall is here. We had a little more rain since I posted last but we are still very dry. The lake is low as you can see above.
There are some new lakefront lots for sale over by the ski club. They are two acre+/- lots and priced at $200,000. There has been a lot of interest so please call me at my cell phone above to set up a showing . If you call the office, please ask for Barb. If I happen to be out, they will transfer you to my cell phone.
7-20 We have
been SOooooooooo very dry here for the last six weeks. We finally
got about an inch of rain on Tuesday, not awfully fast,
I think most of it soaked in--we needed it so
very badly!!!! Most of us know about the most serious property damage
and power outages in
St. Louis from the MAJOR storm cell that went
through last night Wednesday. We didn't get any rain with that storm
system and only had
high winds after the storm ended up going through
St. Louis. We still really need more rain. It has been HOT and MUGGY
through
tomorrow, heat index alerts out for our
area. The electrical outage has made it very dangerous for people
in St. Louis they can't even run
a fan to keep cool. It is supposed to be cooler
over the weekend. The lake temp is MY level,--I am a big BABY unless
the lake temp is
over 80 degrees(at 4 ft) !!!!--I like the water
WARM!!!!!
6-30 Have a GREAT 4th of July weekend. We always have nice fireworks on the lake. The Jaycees have their fireworks on the 4th of July at the park with activities starting at 5 pm. The weather is supposed to be hot and mostly clear with some thunderstorms predi cted for Monday. See you on the lake!!
6-22 We've had several thunderstorms over the last three weeks so the lake got lower from June 8 and is back up at still a low of 1.5 inches, June 24. We had a tornado go over Lakeview Estates last week in a thunderstorm-- treetops, branches, lots of sticks and leaves, all showed a rotation and some of the neighbors heard "the sound of a train". July 4th is coming up real quick and we always have a great show of fireworks on the lake. See you then.
5-26 We had a storm Wednesday night and had some rain. I would guess about an inch--I have to get a new rain gauge as mine froze and broke this past winter. A tornado went through to the north of the lake. I guess I will read about it in the Advocate next week.
Have a GREAT Memorial Day weekend!!!! It has warmed up yesterday, high 80's and supposed to be a warm weekend as well. I'll see you all out on the lake. Have fun and be safe!!!
5-16 We have had more rain the last week or so, nice and easy so it is all soaking into the ground. We have had several very windy days and it has been very cool. I hope it will have warmed up by Memorial Day!! I hear the fishing has been pretty good too!
5-4 After a very dry spring we had the luck of having around an inch of rain in the last week to support the seeds and plants in the ground,----and it has been cool. I don't have a rain gauge as it broke over the winter. I need to get a new one so I can report the inches of rain. Memorial Day weekend is coming up soon!!! See you out on the lake!!!!
4-14 We set a record today for the high air temp. It was about 90 degrees that they were talking late afternoon and thought it might go a little higher. I think I heard it was also the highest low temp for this date. Lake temp is up another 8 degrees. Thanks Chris!!! I went down to the lake tonite at 9:30 and took the lake temp and the level just for you!!!!!
4-7 Weather
is still all over the place,--cold--hot--windy, and then more windy,
four inches of snow a couple of weeks ago, tornados early this
week and a fair amount of rain in the mix of
all of this. It's been a really crazy spring, matching an equally
strange winter,--the weather has just not been very predictable.
2-25 The weather has still been all over the place this past month; not much precipitation though. It went down to about zero a week or so ago with wind chills around -6 but it has been in the 50's some days also. I'll be glad when spring gets here!
We've been enjoying the wildlife. We had a HUGE number of Canadian geese and snow geese land on the lake and stayed a couple of days. They were so loud that they sounded like a swarm of mosquitos. My husband saw a bald eagle swoop down and pickup a nice big fish out of the lake in front of our dock. We've seen eagles out on the lake a couple of times!
I believe the city council changed some of the jugging regulations so you better pick up the 2006 lake regulations before you start fishing this spring.
1-19-2006 Well it is 61 degrees ouside, a beautiful sunshiny day and very windy! What luck for the middle of January! The weather has been all over the place this month mostly on the milder side. We've had a beautiful wet snow that clung to everything and some slow and gentle rain here and there. We seen several boats on the lake which is very unusual for January. The lake was froze over for a while and I hope no more for this winter. That's probably unlikely given that we still face February. The lake is finally a little above normal pool after being low for most of last year. I haven't been posting any pictures because I was having trouble with my picture program and couldn't process them. I think that is fixed now, so will go back in my files and try to get some posted within this next week.
You non resident boaters had better get your boat stickers now,--they usually sell out in February.
11-10 We've had rain two or three times since October 3 for a total of about three inches. We've been fortunate that all of our rain has been slow and gentle so every drop has soaked in with little runoff. The lake is still very low but the rain we have had has kept it from getting lower. The leaves are dropping rapidly, we had nice color this fall despite the summer drought. I haven't been taking pictures because I can't process them quickly and that frustrates me! I had to upgrade my camera program to coordinate with Windows XP. It is totally different to use and I haven't had time to figure it all out. I have not taken pictures of some really beautiful sunrises!! I am getting better at it now and figured some things out, so I hope to be back to taking pictures soon.
Thanks to all our veterans on Veterans Day for their past service and all our current military men and women for their service now!!! Happy Thanksgiving too, because that is right around the corner!!
10-3 Sorry I haven't posted for the last several weeks. I have been taking temps and levels but it's been kinda of depressing with consistent low levels. We finally did get some rain, 1.4 tenths on one week and a little over an inch in the last rain we got. We have now crept up to only 13 inches low this morning. It's still been in the upper 80's during the day and not too cool at night. We are supposed to have chances of rain Tuesday and Wednesday and a cold front that is going to drop the temperatures pretty much. Fall weather is going to come quickly. It will be interesting to see how the leaves are this year after the summer drought. I've heard both stories, they will be good and then they will just drop with not much color.
9-2 We have had a tragic event this week with unimaginable suffering and destruction along the Gulf coast caused by hurricane Catrina. I urge all of us to pray and keep these people close in our hearts as help and aid arrive for the survivors. Please send whatever you can financially to the Salvation Army or Red Cross to help support this cause. I believe this is going to be the worst natural disaster this country has every faced with years of work ahead to recovery. It really makes you stop and take account of how lucky you are and how insignificant our little daily stresses and problems are in comparison to those people in New Orleans that are just trying to survive.
We're holding our own on the lake level. Temperature has been lower, in the low to mid 80's with a low last night of about 60 degrees. Great sleeping weather with the window open and some cool fresh air. It's supposed to be a great weekend clear and highs in the 80's and lows in the 60's. We still need some more rain--,, a lot more rain. Have a great, safe Labor Day Weekend! We're going to do some fishing and have a family fish fry! Enjoy the last holiday of the summer 2005 and drive safe and boat safe!!!
8-26 We got some more rain this week. I had about .7 tenths of an inch of rain in my gauge but the lake is still very low. It has been cooler and weather reports predict occasional/possible thunderstorms on Saturday. Sunday is supposed to be lots of sunshine and warm weather!!!--the best day of the weekend!!! We had better enjoy all the time on and in the water as the water recreational season will be winding down pretty quickly. We still have Labor Day Weekend coming up next week!!!! See you on the lake the next couple of weeks!!!!!!
8-19 We finally got some more rain this past week. I had just under 2 inches in my gauge. We have had several thundstorms, one with pretty high winds, but fortunately the rain was gentle. The lake level looks like it has stayed the same, but the level went down from August 11 and then the rain brought it back to about 14 inches low. We are still in need of much more rain. There are still thunderstorms in the forecast and I think more rain for Monday and Tuesday.
8-11 It's been HOT, HOT, HOT!!!! Still no serious rain, just a couple of very light showers here and there. We need rain so very badly and there isn't even any serious rain in the forecast. School starts next week. It's hard to believe that the summer is almost gone. Labor Day will be here in a little over three weeks. Last holiday weekend this summer!!
7-28 We had a nice cold front arrive on Tuesday and relieved us of the extreme heat we were enduring the last couple of weeks. It delivered some rain also, again, spotty, I only got .3 inch of rain here at my house but I think there was a lot more rain north of me. The lake temperature had been up to about 87 degrees on Monday and is now down to 84 degrees. I checked because I knew the cold front and rain were coming and I was curious to see the effect. I think the low last night was in the 60's.
We've had a lot of real estate sales the last four weeks. Check out my Barb's Listing's page to see the sales activity. Also a new listing of a lakefront lot at the beginning of a cove with decent one-slip boat dock, large deck and two storage rooms, $125,000.
7-21 We had another nice shower earlier this week continuing to replace the soil moisture we have lost,--aried greatly from .2 to .75 of an inch of rain. I have been pleasantly surprised to see how fast the grass has greened up because it was just brown, brown everywhere!--The corn is greatly relieved, too. Their leaves don't look like toothpicks anymore stretching to heaven begging for rain. Hopefully this rain was just in the nick of time for the farmers and now everyone is mowing again! The much needed rain has brough the humidity with it though and it has been hot and steamy this week. We have a chance of thunderstorms tonite but clear over the weekend with chances of thunderstorms back on Tuesday and Wednesday. The temperature is going up to 100 or 101 degrees this weekend with the heat index 105 to 110 degrees!!! It's going to be mighty nice to be out on the water and in the water this weekend but everybody should be careful in this heat. I'm going to pack up the coolers and see you all out there this weekend!
7-14 We FINALLY got the rain we have so desperately been needing unfortunately due to hurricane David. I have a final rain total from this week of 1.5 inches of rain. It drizzled VERY,very slowly over the last several days so that almost every drop soaked into the parched ground. You can see above that it only brought the lake level up a half of an inch.
7-7 We had a nice hot 4th of July last weekend with a very nice fireworks show Sunday evening on the south end of the lake accompanied by some great patriotic music! Lots of boats and pontoons parked around watching. Thanks to everyone that participated in putting on the show! I will have to find out by next year exactly who joins in on putting that together so I can give them credit for their efforts. Monday afternoon cut the recreation short when a cold front blew in. It looked like it was going to storm pretty good but it only provided .2 inch of rain. We are still in a serious drought. It has cooled down a little since then with it supposed to be cloudy off and on this weekend. I hope it will RAIN.
I have been told there is an INT ski tournament this weekend hosted by the Lake and Leisure Club (correction, it was at a competition lake here in Greenville owned by Steve and Karen Smith of Extreme Power Sports Marine located by the interstate on S. Elm St). I suppose they wouldn't want any rain, but we desperately need it. I imagine that you could call the numbers below from the poker run last weekend to get information about the schedule for the tournament. I will try to get that info and post it by tonite for you.
6-30 The weather has been hot and dry, almost up to 100 degrees yesterday. We had a little over half an inch of rain in Greenville this morning, but just a sprinkle at the lake. The lawns are burning up! I will get the lake temp and level this evening. The Fourth of July holiday is just around the corner. It is supposed to cool down over the weekend and chances of thunderstorms. The Bond County Ski Club has changed it's name to The Lake and Leisure Club. They are having a "Wet Neck Poker Run" on Sunday. Sign up starts at 1:00, prizes at 5:00, Livewire Entertainment at 6:00. $10 per poker hand & extra hands available. Advanced registration appreciated,--more info call 618-526-7112 or 618-654-4268. Sounds like fun!!
See you on the lake this weekend and have fun but be safe.
6-19 It's been a wonderful week for sleeping--windows wide open at night, highs in the low 80's and lows around 60. Still no rain, we had one thunderstorm with only abut .2 inch of rain. All the thunderstorms have been very spotty some fair amounts of rain around us but not here. Missouri got a lot of rain over the last several weeks but it is still very dry here. It's supposed to warm up this week with high's in the 90's and lows in the 70's so the air conditioners will be running again and no talk of rain in the forecast!! We really need a good soaking rain!
We now have a pontoon boat! I would be happy to give a boat tour of the lake to any people that are seriously interested in buying property. So just give me a call!
6-10 We've been having hot days and hot nights, low 90's for the highs and high 70's for the lows. Lots of thunderstorms around but we only got .4 inch of rain Wednesday. A very ugly, windy storm blew through but produced very little rain. Lots of storms around St. Louis yesterday and it rained 6 or 7 inches in some places. It is very, very dry here. We are about 7 inches low on rain for the yearly average. More thunderstorms are predicted through Monday but I guess boating will be great in between any storms. It always feels good on the water when it hits the 90's!
5-27 We have a beautifully sunny day today, missed out on thunderstorms last night and this morning. It is very dry, we really need a couple inches of rain. The weather for the holiday weekend is going to be good very little chance of rain and good temperatures. Have a great Memorial Day weekend and thanks to all you who are serving to protect our country. Let's all take time to remember our past loved ones and those who have lost their life serving our country. Have a safe weekend!!!
5-19 We had thunderstorms all around us last night and today and are currently under a thunderstorm watch til 9 pm. We haven't had any rain as of yet though. It's been cool most of the week but hot and windy today. After the thunderstorms pass through today and tonite it is supposed to be clear for the rest of the weekend.
5-13-05 It's been cool nights and hot days this week. We had a heck of a thunderstorm Wednesday evening between 8:30 and 9--straightline winds at I bet at least 50 mph. I only had a half inch of rain here north of town, but they must have gotten at least an inch in a short downpour in town. I saw a couple of places that looked like it had a flash flood. More thunderstorms for tonite and Saturday, Sunday is supposed to be sunny but the highs all weekend are only 70 to 72. More and more people are coming out on the lake,--fisherman out in the early morning and even somebody tubing at 7:30 in the morning on Wednesday!!!! That was a chilly ride!!!
5-6-05 Haven't
had time to check the temp and level, probably about the same. It's
been sunney and cool all week with two nights we had frost warnings.
We had another .4 inch of rain before the rainy weather left, again nice
and gentle. It is really still rather dry in the fields, lucky we
got what we did last week. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND--into
the 70's and low 80's. I expect to see a lot of you out on the water!
Have a great weekend and happy Mother's Day to
all you moms.
4-28-05 It has been cold and rainy this last week with not very many boats on the lake. We have had 1.2 inches of nice gentle rain and it is currently raining. We had our feast of mushrooms last weekend, boy were they good!! I think the mushroom season is pretty well done. It was a pretty decent year despite starting off very dry. Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be sunny but cool, in the low 60's. Everybody will be mowing grass, out in the flower beds and off for boat rides!
This was a GORGEOUS morning on Monday!!!-- every time that I looked out the window it was different. Everytime I turned around I was running for the camera thinking "Wow". You can't believe how fast things can change, I can lose a good picture by the time I grab the camera and make it out on the deck. This all took place in about an hour-and-a- half April 25 A,------B, ------C, ------D and E.
4-21-05 It WAS beautiful last weekend--lots of sunshine and temp climbed in the high 70's. It's cooled back off again and we are supposed to have a low in the mid-30's Saturday. Woe to you enthusiastic gardners that have already put your bedding plants out!!! Grab the sheets and blankets!! Things have really greened up although it is really dry,--we could use a couple inches of a slow gentle rain. It would help the mushroom crop too! We were supposed to have showers and thunderstorms last night and today, but they have not materialized as of yet. We have thunderstorm warnings 'til tonite at 7 pm for counties south and east of us but not Bond County. Here is what it is looking like out here as of last Wednesday.
Here are a lot of pictures that I have owed you, going back to a snowy morning on February 23, and beautiful sunrises March 8 and again, March 15, March 17 and again, March 31, April 5 and again, April 9, April 15 and again.
4-14-05 The weather has been all over the place the last three weeks--it was nice last weekend in the 80's, cool this week 40-60 degrees. We had .8 rainfall on Monday and Tuesday and it's been very windy off and on (mostly on) over the last three weeks. The fishermen have been coming out though and some pontoons too for a relaxing ride in the sunshine. It's supposed to be a BEAUTIFUL weekend with sunshine and highs in the 70's. The mushrooms have started popping up and should really come on strong now with the nice rain we got and the warm weekend ahead. That's the feast of the year--fried crappie and morrell mushrooms and mushroom gravy!!!!! Yum, yum.
Heritage Days is this Saturday with lots of activity in Greenville on the square and elsewhere.Bond County Historical Museum will be open, there is a car show on the square and the antique tractor museum is opening for the first time. I am working on some pictures to post here shortly but am posting this update for you now because it will probably be tonite when I post the pictures.
3-23-05 It's been cool this past week with one inch of slow gentle rain. The lake level is up as posted above. The weekend forecast doesn't look too great,--49 to 51 degrees for the highs and depending how the front settles in, it could be very rainy or it might miss us and we would have sunshine. I vote for the latter!! I am still having problems with my camera program so haven't gotten pictures up yet, but I am getting close to the solution of the problem. Happy Easter to everyone!!!
I have a new lake listing,--- it is an excellently maintained four bedroom home with lots of updates and extras on the main body of the lake. Check this link for info http://realtor.com/Prop/1045589220and my webpage for lots of pictures.
3-18-05 We have finally had a couple of warm days that just might be our break from winter to spring. We had a warm weekend, week before last, and that brought the fishermen out. It has been mostly cold the last four weeks, lows in the 20's and 30's and not much warmer in the day. We haven't had any rain these last several weeks and the higher ground has actually dried out from our monsoon January. Might get some rain tonight and into Saturday. I still have a bunch of pictures to post but have been hindered once again by my computer. I decided my computer problems were due to spyware and adware problems and got my computer checked out this week and it is UP and RUNNING great now! I will be posting pictures this next week!! LOOKING forward to SPRING!!!!!!!!!
2-13-05 We've had more rain this weekend and the lake is on the rise again but nothing to get really excited about,--well,--not like we were excited about the first week of January,--- now THAT was excited!!!. We had the largest amount of rain in the shortest amount of time (5 days) in January that was ever recorded. This caused a record high level of the lake. We saw the highest level ever at our dock and boathouse as you can see on these pictures. We were really scurrying to get everything secured and above "high tide". The most stressful fact of the whole situation is that we have no way of knowing how high the lake will end up and given the question of more rain at anytime it's just wait and see and have no idea where it will end. Thankfully, no damage this time, and with the knowledge that this is probably the max situation that will ever occur(until the next record breaker)--and the lake goes down almost as fast as it rises! I will post the record highest level when I can get it measured. We know where the max level was on the porch of our boathouse and will run a level string line out to see what the highest level in inches on record was. We were so stressed out when Bruce waded out on the dock to lift the boat higher, I didn't even consider having him wade over to see what the water level was. We all have to plan for the high water when we build the docks and boathouses and design for worst case scenario. More pretty pictures to come this next week!
All of you out of county boaters had better have gotten or be getting your boat stickers for 2005 boating season. They always go very fast at the beginning of each year.
2-11-2005 HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2005,---I'M BACK AGAIN!! I haven't posted for a LONG, long time--I'm sorry! I have had major equipment malfunctions thrown into my extremely busy real estate schedule that just shut me down with editing my website. My camera BATTERY finally quit on me so I had to find a place that could get me a new one. Heah,heh,--I got a backup this time also so I wouldn't get caught taking a beautiful picture sequence and have my camera quit on me. That has happened to me more times than I would like to recall, and I just shriekkkk!!! I was all set with my camera and then my camera PROGRAM quit working!!!! COMPUTERS---love 'em and hate 'em!!!!!--I got to the point that I didn't even want to sit down at my computer to discover what wasn't going to work that day!!!!! I had to hurriedly load the camera program onto my office computer because priority was to be able to process listing pictures to put on the MLS and two other Help-U-Sell websites. I still kept taking lake pictures and I could download them into my camera program at home but it wouldn't allow me to "stitch" them together. That is how I get such a large panaramic picture for you. So in order for me to get pictures ready to post on my website I had to download them to my laptop, copy them and take them to the office to put them together and re-save, then bring them back home to edit my webpage on THAT program and send them to my server on my THAT program for you all to see-----!!!--and it was such a PAIN IN THE A___, I just didn't have the time to deal with it..---BUT, I do have quite a few really pretty pictures that I took during all this time!!!!!! After all THAT, I had to save all these pictures from my camera program because I had to uninstall and reinstall that program and it is working now, for the time being. I am in the process of getting these photos edited to post for you!!!!
We have had a very exciting, record breaking/nerve wracking winter out here on the lake due to the rain!! More to come in the next few days as time allows, but soon, I promise.
10-27-04 Fall colors are abounding in the last couple of weeks and we have been in a very wet rainy spell for the last couple of weeks.
9-23-04 We haven't had any rain for the last several weeks and it is a dusty harvest for the farmers. The nights are cooling down into the 50's and warming up nicely in the day to the low 80's. Fall has officially arrived and the falling leaves are a reminder. The fishing has been good throughout September and the Apple Days Festival is on the square all day October 2 for lots of fun and activities for the family. Sorry I haven't been posting any pics for a long time. The sun reached a point through most of the summer that it didn't reflect across the lake so there weren't many good pictures. As it is moving further south for the winter I will get pretty pictures again. My camera battery is also "going south" and won't hold a charge consistently, so it seems to always be dead when I want to use it. I will have to track down a place to get a new one. Well, enjoy the next month or so of beautiful fall weather because winter will be here before we know it.
9-3-04 The new lake listing that I described below has been taken off the market. There is now only one lakefront home at the end of a small cove that is available on Governor Bond Lake at this time for $260,000.
We have Labor Day coming up starting the approach of the end of this year's recreational lake activities. We have had a very unusually wet summer. I didn't have to do hardly any watering of plants, and the garden still looks good. We have a heavy fog at the lake this morning but Saturday and Sunday are supposed to be nice. There are supposed to be chances of thunderstorms on Monday though.. Have a great Labor Day weekend and be safe out there on the lake.
7-21-04 For Sale:----I have a new lakefront home on the main body of the lake going on the market in the next several days. It is a very nice 4 BR home that is in great shape, great decor and has a great two-slip covered boat dock and deck, and on the main body of the lake. It is a primo property going to be priced at $305,000. You are getting prior notice of this before it is put "on the market" and on the MLS because you are watching my website. There are two other homes on the market at this time that I would like to show you also, if you are interested in making an appointment for me to show you lake homes.---- time is of the essence with lake properties. This new listing is the only home on the main body of the lake that is available at this time.
We had about .7 tenths of an inch of rain this past week and today was extremely hot with a heat index warning for the area today and tomorrow also. It is still very green for this time of the year. The lake is feeling great!!!!!
7-10-04 Sorry I haven't posted for so long!!! We've still had quite a wet summer so far with a rainy 4th of July also. Didn't ruin the whole weekend though. We had some great fireworks out here on the lake again this year. Thanks to all who contribute and participate in them!!! Many people enjoy the fruits of your labor. The weather has been up and down also with nice cool nights and days this past week and then the last couple of days very muggy, day and night!! Summer lake recreation is well underway with lots of boating and fishing. Have fun and be safe out there!!!!
5-28 Well, the level above, on the 27th was in the morning. We had about four thunderstorms during the day and late afternoon and evening and by 8 pm last evening the lake was up to 17 inches and about 22 inches high this morning. I didn't wade out on the dock to get the temperature, but will do that tonight. It is sunny, hot and muggy today with more thunderstorms for Saturday and Sunday. Memorial Day is supposed to be sunny. Have a great weekend--hope it doesn't rain too much.
5-20-04 It's been cool and rainy this week but the temps are going to be up to 90 today and tomorrow but a little cooler for the weekend. Marina ramp is open again. Memorial Day Weekend is going to be here soon!--have you started making your plans?
5-8-04 It's a gorgeous sunny morning here!!--was up to 88 degrees yesterday and about the same for today. I don't think any rain is predicted for today or tomorrow. The marina boat ramp has been closed for the last week or so. They are doing dredging and concrete replacement. I will let you know when it is open again. I haven't been able to post some pictures that I have,--I have been having problems with my camera program getting corrupted. I will post the pictures that I have hopefully in a couple of days. Have a great weekend!!
4-29-04 We had a "hayday" with the mushrooms last weekend!! We were so excited we didn't even take any pictures--went straight to the kitchen sink, refrigerator and then the stove. MMMMmmmmmm----they were good. We thought it was too cold and still too dry (although we had a wee bit of rain through the week) but #1 son brought in a "mother load" of mushrooms! I have some more pictures to post here and will do that tomorrow 4-30!
Reminder!!!!-----annual Ski Club meeting is this weekend, Saturday, 1:00 pm at the clubhouse for all you Ski Club members.
4-22-04 We were supposed to have thunderstorms since Monday afternoon, but none have come to pass,-- just a couple of sprinkles. It started drizzling lightly at 1 pm today and looks like it will do that for awhile. The last bit of the mushroom season is probably going to depend on the rain we get today and tomorrow. We haven't had much luck finding very many of them. How about any of you? Send me a picture of your find/finds and I will post it anonimously. Some of the past, best mushroom hunting ground is UNDER Governor Bond Lake now! Click this link for pictures I have taken since 2-22. I still have three or four more absolutely gorgeous pictures stuck in my camera program that I can't edit yet. I'm working on resolving this problem.
4-16-04 Sorry I have not posted for so long, I've been extremely busy with my real estate business. It looks like we are going to have a pretty weekend. It's warming up,--82 degrees today, chance of a shower on Sunday, better chances Monday or Tuesday. We need some rain, things are on the dry side. If we get rain over the next several days the mushrooms will be popping like crazy. The fishermen have been out on the lake the last couple of weeks, I know my son has been catching fish. Sorry no details,--I'm sworn to secrecy. I have some more pictures, but my camera program is not cooperating with me so it might be a few days before I get them on. Have a great weekend!! I would say that the recreation season has started!!
2-28-04 We are going to have a high in the 50's today and through the weekend and Monday. Picture above is what it is looking like out here today. Things are going to start greening up soon. I'm spring cleaning this weekend!!! Time to think about getting those boats ready to go fishing!!! Another beautiful sunrise on 2-22.
2-19-04 The snow and ice are almost gone and it's 61 degrees at 4:10 today!!!! Spring's the next thing around the corner! The following pictures made me realize that I really haven't been seeing very pretty sunrises the last couple of months!! Sorry if I have been boring you!! As I have said many times before, my pictures don't hold a candle to seeing them in person. These are really pretty on 2-13, early morning. This was a beautiful misty morning on 2-17. About five minutes after I took that picture my husband said "Look at the fog out there". I looked out and you couldn't see ANYTHING the fog was so thick. I was going to take a picture but it would have just looked like a blank white page! That's how fast things can change out here. Here is another beautiful sunrise on 2-18. I almost missed this one at around 6:30 am. I'm going to have to get up earlier now that the day's are getting longer to catch the sunrises.
2-17-04 We are in for a heatwave, up to the 50's this week. Ice and snow have been slowly melting.
2-9-04 Winter has us in a tight grip. It has only been up to 32 or 33 degrees for a couple of days since my last post. We have been mostly around the twenties for the highs, lows in the teen's and have had another couple of inches of sleet and snow since my last post. A lot of the subdivision roads around the lake are a sheet of ice. Here are pictures 1-19, beautiful morning sunrise, 2-7 bright sunny day and 2-8 early morning break of day. I'll see if I can make it down to the lake tomorrow to get the temp and level. Update for tonight,--- it got up to between 32 and 40 degrees today and we had a lot of snow melt, so things are improving thus far.
1-28-2004 It is frigid here today, the low last night was 5 degrees but the wind died down thank heavens. Supposed to get up in the teens for a high today. We had a sleet storm Saturday night with about a half an inch of ice and 1-2 inches of snow on top of that, the lake is frozen over. Winter has arrived!! Here's what it looks like out here at the lake. This series shows the different lighting with the sun coming in and out of a cloud bank.
1-19-04 Here are a bunch of pictures that I did not have time to get posted. Things are slowing down and I should have more time to edit my website on a more timely basis for you. I haven't seen any really pretty sunrises the last several weeks. 9-22, 11-26, 11-27, 12-1, 12-2 at 6:35 am, and 6:40 and 6:42. Here is t:he only significant snow we have had so far this year on 12-14,-- makes for a pretty picture. Christmas afternoon, 12-25 and 1-8.
1-5-04 Lake's been up to 29 inches high on Sunday again, water way over the dock AGAIN. We had 2-3 inches of rain in the area all Saturday night. This is pretty unusually for it to do this at this time of year. I'll get the measurement tonight of what the lake has come down to. It's still above normal pool.
1-2, 3 & 4, 04 Well--!! Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I "hit the wall" and came to a dead stop editing my website when my computer crashed in mid November. I've been "picking myself up off the floor" and slowly getting things set up on my new computer to get back up to speed, and I am about there, I'm happy to say. The holidays made it even more difficult because of all the other demands on my time and my Realtor business didn't even slow down to take a quick breath, but screeched through Christmas and right through 4 pm New Year's Eve!! I'm not complaining though!!
Here are some catch up pictures, this goes way
back to 9-27-03 and a couple of minutes
later on 9-27-03. We had between
3 and 5 inches of rain in the area the night of 11-17. It always
gets tense and exciting when there is a lot of rain at one time because
you don't know how the lake level will react. I got up early on the
18th and saw the level was way up but the dock was about 12 inches
away from being covered. On my way down to the dock to check things
out., I saw a pontoon boat floating our direction. My husband and
a neighbor "lassoed" the pontoon and secured it in the owner's dock.
The lake was rising about an inch an hour for the couple of hours that
we were down there. Here are the are pictures late afternoon on 11-18
there
are some neat cloud formations boiling up behind the east side of the lake
and our dock is totally under water.
12-15-2003 Well!!!---I have been way out of commission!!! My computer crashed about 4 weeks ago, and I am just now getting back to about half-speed to be able to edit my website. A lot has happened in the interim that I will get on the site as soon as I can. We had a torrential rain 3-5 inches around the area in one day and with the lake rising an inch an hour for a few critical hours, we had boats floating out of their lifts. We had our first snow over this past weekend, only about two inches, and temps are going to be rising the next couple of days. I have taken some pictures during this "black out" and I will try to post them soon.
11-6-03 The temperature has been all over the place this week! We had record breaking highs in the seventies on Monday and Tuesday, and tonight we have a freeze warning. I guess we had better be getting ready for winter, with the time change and days getting shorter it's coming fast. The only thing I look forward to this time of year is December 22, when the daylight thereafter will grow longer and longer each day for the next six months!! We had 1.2 inches of rain over the last week and most of the leaves are down. Most of the traffic on the lake these days are fishermen. There was a 70 pound flathead catfish caught on the lake last week!---they think it might be the record. What a bunch of fillets!!!
10-17-03 Fall is definitly here. The leaves have started changing and will probably be at their prime this week. Supposed to have a beautiful weekend! Come out and enjoy it because winter is just around the corner. We had .6 tenths of an inch of rain early in the week and another .6 tenths of an inch Thursday. The lake has come back up to about normal pool. This time of year is neat because the falling night temperatures combined with the heat of the lake and the sunheating the surface in the early morning produces fog, mist and/or mist bunnies on and around the lake and it makes a beautiful effect on the lake. This is a misty morning sunrise,--it doesn't show up in the picture too well. It is so much more breath taking to see it for real.
10-9-03 It started raining gently here early afternoon today. It's been getting dry so we can use a good soaking rain. It's been warm this week with the highs in the 70's. It's supposed to be clear by tomorrow and I haven't heard for the weekend.
10-2-03 We had .8 inch of rain the week before last. It brought the lake up a bit as it had come down a little between my last two readings. Here are pictures on 8-16 and 8-17 that are very pretty.
Lots going on this weekend in Greenville: Apple Days is on Saturday on the square, the Airstravaganza is all weekend at the airport, and Ripson Bridge Festival is Sunday south of Sorento. Come on out for the weekend!!!
9-19-03 Sorry, I have been too busy to update you the last few weeks. I have been shooting more pictures, though,that I will get posted over the next week or so.
Well, so much for seeing you on the lake over Labor Day weekend!-- it was rainy and dismal the whole 3-day weekend!!! I recorded 3.8 inches of rain for the entire weekend. We had a gorgeous two days the following weekend and this past one didn't provide the showers that were predicted. It really cooled off last night, into the fifties, with a stout wind this morning. It really felt like fall was here when I walked this morning but the high is supposed to get back up in the 70's !
Here is a wider view of the sunrise above and this is what it looked like a little later. It's not the best picture as there is a dark spot in the middle where I stitched it. By the way, none of my pictures are computer enhanced in any way. The only thing I do to edit them is to stitch one or two together for a panoramic view. Actually even the most stunning pictures don't do justice to what I actually see. I get real excited when I look out and see a spectacular scene, and a lot of times when I download the pictures, I think "Wow, it was so much pretier than that!" Here is a picture of a really neat cloud formation. This was in the evening on August 3 with a totally blue sky behind us. My husband and I were sitting on the porch of our boathouse looking out over the water toward the east. These clouds were just boiling/billowing up into the sky along the horizon, they looked like a live volcano. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it. I have a lot more pics to get posted for you this next week!
8-28-03 Well, the last big summer weekend of the year is looming before us!!! It's been really hot all week but it is supposed to cool down a little by the weekend. We have had no rain other than a sprinkle this week and it is very dry! Have a great Labor Day weekend everybody!!! I'll see you on the lake!! Check back for the pics! I will try really hard to get my neat August pictures posted by this Friday evening. Click here to see my new lake listing.
8-20-03 I've been playing hookie!!! Actually, NOOO--!!I've been terribly busy and haven't had time to update you for a couple of weeks. How many of you missed me????!!! I get so many nice compliments from a lot of you about my website, and I appreciate every one of them! No rain since last post and it's been pretty hot, too, although some nice cool mornings this week. I have some fabulous pictures that I have taken since the first of the month. I don't have time to work on them for posting now, but will try to get them on by Sunday evening. Better get out on the lake, fall is right around the corner.
8-7-03 We had a little less than a half inch of rain this week with more thunderstorms predicted for over the weekend. I had a very pretty sunrise this morning but my battery was dead. I will be getting more pictures now as the sun is moving to the south and will present better reflections over the water. The Ski show is coming up next weekend. I will post the date and time when I find out. 7-31 We had about .8 tenths of rain early in the week and cooler temps but rising to the upper eighty's by this weekend.
7-18-03 It's a rainy morning here and there are some more storms headed this way. I think Saturday is supposed to be rainy and stormy also. Didn't get the level and temp yet, I'll do that this evening. 8:00pm We had 1.2 inches of rain here today. I think the forecast for the weekend isn't too bad.
7-11-03 Beautiful sky this morning about 6:00am. It's going to be a gorgeous weekend, not so hot. See ya on the lake!
7-10-03 We got 1.1 inches of rain last night in a storm and cooler temperatures came with it. The lake was about normal pool this morning, but might have come up a bit today. We had quite a busy weekend over the Fourth and enjoyed watching some nice fireworks out in our boat from the lake.
7-3-03 I'ts already muggy as heck!! Summer's here with a vengeance but it will be a perfect weekend to be on the lake!! There are usually some nice fireworks out here on the Fourth of July.
Let's all take a moment from our fun-filled weekend to really appreciate and be thankful for the wonderful freedom we enjoy. I saw a quote "freedom is never free" and that is so true. September 11, 01 was a somber reminder of that and it was the dawning of a great new awareness, respect and thankfulness in my own heart for the people who defend our country. Have a great and safe holiday weekend and please take time to pray for our leaders and our armed forces.
6-26-03 Well we had a gorgeous weekend and throughout the early week. Here are a couple of pretty pictures. 06-24 and 06-25. I haven't been getting as many pictures lately because I have to be up so early, about 5:00am, to get them. I hope ya'll appreciate me! Ha, ha! We just had the summer solstice, so the days will be getting shorter and the sunrises will be getting later each day. There were some major thunderstorms sometime last night. I snoozed through them but I heard that there was some pretty major lightning and thunder. There was obviously a lot of wind too when I looked around this morning. I had almost 1.5 inches of rain in my gauge. The lake came up in the night and will probably be a couple of inches higher when I get home tonite. Are you planning a great weekend on the lake for the Fourth? If not, you better get started!!
6-19-03 No measurable rain this week, hot and cool temperatures, high pressure front moved through today and pushed all the clouds to the south.
6-13-03 We've had 2 inches of rain this week with lots of thunderstorms and some pretty intense lightning, and it's been pretty cool but then it gets hot,-- a real merry-go-round. It's supposed to be clearing up this weekend and staying warmer. Happy Father's Day all you Dads and Grandads!!!!
6-5-03 We finally have sunshine today, but more rain coming for the next couple of days. It was cold and dreary most of the Memorial Day weekend. We've had about .2 tenths of an inch of rain earlier this week. 6-04 6:30 am
5-22-03 Well, we have had about the most cold, dismal, wet and long spring that we have had in the last ten or fifteen years. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend at the lake!!!!
5-16-03 We've had about another 1.2 inches of rain this week in several showers. It's still cool and cloudy and I still haven't seen hardly any Martins at our neighborhood houses. More pictures 5-14-03a and 05-14-03b.
5-9-03 Another 1.2 inches of rain in my gauge this morning. You can see the lake is up very high. It is almost over our dock now, it is 8:00 am. It will probably crest by noon and start to go back down. We had several tornados blow through the county yesterday late afternoon and a lot of rain and hail again. There are more thunderstorms predicted for tonight. Better check your docks!! Here is another pretty sunrise yesterday morning, the humidity provided a soft haze over a calm lake at 4:43 am and 4:52 am. I saw one Martin scout in my backyard yesterday morning!!
5-5 We had 1.3 inches of rain overnight, major storms around us but not too bad here. Beautiful sunrise above!! This picture shows the very north line of a massive thunderstorm front that had passed through but was still heading to the east/southeast. I haven't seen any Purple Martins yet, not even a scout. It is unusually late for them to not be here yet. It has been an unusually late cold spring though. How are all the rest of your Martin colonies coming in? E-mail me at barbsmith@papadocs.com and give me an update!! I am very concerned about our colonies!!
5-2-03 We had about another .7 of an inch of rain this week, a little bit of thunder, but not much storming. The annual Ski Club meeting, for those of you that are members, is this Sunday at 1:00 at the Ski Club.
4-25-03 Had about .9 of an inch of rain this past week most of it Wednesday and Thursday. It's still raining gently as of 4:30. Still looking to welcome the Martins again this year! Well,--'tis the season!!!!--forrrrrrrrrrrr MUSHROOMS!! Beautiful, delicious Morell mushrooms!! The latest report is that they have been finding them by the droves since Wednesday and through today. I'm not surprised with all the nice rain we've had, but I thought it was a little too cool.
4-17 Had a half inch of rain last night, lake level is probably up a bit from yesterday. It still amazes me---it was totally dreary this morning and then it turned into this gorgeous reflection on a calm lake between 5:43 and 6:06--I grabbed my camera and ran for the deck (battery was charged up,-- heh, heh!). I probably missed some better pictures 5 or 10 minutes earlier. Pic 1, Pic 2, Pic 3 and Pic 4
4-16-03 Nothing fantastic to give you here. There was a rainbow that I took a pic of tonight, early evening, but it was faint and MY BATTERY WENT DEAD in the camera or I could have maybe gotten a better picture!!! The pic I did get wasn't very impressive so I didn't post it. Winds are high here tonight with a little rain and storms are predicted to come through the night.
4-10-03 Well, we should be having a nice weekend ahead of us. No rain and highs in upper 60's to 70. Great weekend for boating. We had an absolutely horrendously windy day on Sunday. This picture doesn't do it justice. You can see the white streaks of foam as the wind drove straightline down the lake from almost due east(this pic is looking due east. I could hardly slide the patio door open, the wind was blowing so strongly against it. There were a lot more whitecaps that you can't see in the picture.---and then there was Monday. This always makes a striking picture when the sun is pouring over the east shoreline while the foreground of the west shoreline is in shadow.
4-03-03 I have changed the format of my website. My homepage has one link "Explore My Website", click on it to get to my webpage links page. Click on any link there to go to the corresponding page. To get back to my link page, click the "back" button on your browser bar or click on "Explore My Website" link on the page you are on. Click on "home" on any of my pages to get back to my home page.
Well, it's the time of year that we start watching for the Purple Martin scouts. We did not get any Martins in our new house last year. We are hopeful for this year, because a neighbor took down a huge willow tree and that should open up a better airway for entering and departing the house. Purple Martins are great birds and really keep the mosquito population down. That's really beneficially especially with the West Nile Virus problem. Go purplemartin.org to get more info on these wonderful birds and start your own colony!
WHAT A FANTASTIC SUNRISE!!!---these pics were
taken from 5:26 to 6:30 am this morning. My husband took most of
them for me (I was still snoozing!) A-----B-----C-----D-----E-----F-----G-----H-----I
3-28-03 Well, there have been boats out on the lake the last three or four weeks, and things are starting to green up and bud. It has been mostly fishermen out there, but some people are just out for a nice ride and some fresh air after a rather long cold winter. Here is a beautiful sunrise on 3-27 at 5:30 and 5:36.
3-20-03 Spring has finally arrived!!! We've been having thunderstorms this last week, I had .4 inches of rain in my gauge from yesterday's rain. Here are pictures from 3-17-03and 3-18-03.
3-5-03 There is new info for the 2003 Bond County Boat and Ski Club season on the "Ski Club" link.
2-28-03 Well, this has been a very REAL winter this year, more of a winter than we have had,-- I bet in the last fifteen years. We have had over 28 inches of snow since the first of November. The lake has seen radical and changing weather which lends to the most inconsistent conditions on the lake--hard long freeze, record temperature high, very high winds, rapid swings in temperatures, swings in wind direction--gosh--,, it reminds me of a "fight song"--swing to the left, swing to the right,--stand up, sit down, --fight, Fight, FIGHT!! I can't remember any other winter where the lake has been in such a constant turmoil of change. Frozen, half frozen, snow covered, new ice, totally thawed out, then frozen again. We saw an amazing thing that we had never, ever, seen before. Most of the lake was open water in front of our house. The winds picked up through the day from the northeast to probably 20 to 25 mph with gusts of 30 to 35. We looked out the window early that afternoon and there was about an 8 or 10 acre sheet of ice that had been up toward the ski club but had blown all the way down the lake like an iceberg! It was stopped in the corner of our cove by the railroad tressle. It had missed our dock, but was pushing against several of our neighbors. We hope it did no damage there. Here are pictures in February that I hope you will enjoy. They reflect the inconsistency of the weather. 2-7, 2-8,-- this was a beautiful phenomena on 2-20, frozen fog on the trees, then 2-25 when we woke up to the lake frozen over once again and then 2-28 .
My squirrel solution is still working quite well. They even add additional entertainment watching them. I took this picture as two were eating side by side, but in the middle of snapping the shot, the guy on the left jumped at the guy on the right. You can barely make out the one wrapped around the rail (you can see his tail) as he raced away. Sometimes they just sit on the railchewing their corn. I saw two on the rail one day and one just jumped flat on the other's back and knocked him clear off the rail to the ground below. Just like that--BOOM!! It was hysterical!
2-4-03 This is a very, very sad time with the loss of the seven crew members of Columbia. My thoughts and prayers, and I am sure yours, as well, are with the families and loved ones that they left behind, and our respect for the challenges, exhiliaration and great risk they experienced to push technology forward on a new frontier for our country.
Well, it looks like the lake is going to be thawing out this week. The last couple of weeks have been very cold, teens and low 20's. We had a warm up over the weekend and a close to high temp in the 60's that started a substantial thaw. Winds wound up at a very strong pace last night and today. This wind action and a high of around 32-33 degrees, combined with a sunny day really "ate up" a lot of the ice around the open water areas, see this pic 2-4-03.
I have stumbled upon a solution for the chronic aggrevation of "squirrels in the bird feeder". I would like to share this with you that know this frustration (maybe everybody knows this solution already and I am the last one to find out!!). Baffles are the best answer if you have a high pole away from any other mode of launching their furry little bodies through the air to effortlessly grab the bird feeder and dump out more of the feed than they consume. My feeders hang off of my deck, so they can easily jump from the rail to the feeder. I have tried in the past to feed the varmits with ear corn on cute squirrel feeders with not much luck. This year I bought a three-pound bag of SHELLED corn and filled a Clementine wooden box full and put it at the base of my bird feeder on the deck. I couldn't believe the results!!!!! Check it out !! I had two , three and four squirrels feeding at the box on my deck, and leaving my birdfeeders alone!!! They even looked cute sitting there chewing on the corn. The lazy little critters really didn't like to have to chew the corn off of the ear, but give it to them in a "bowl" and they are in "Seventh Heaven". It's the best solution I have seen yet, and the corn lasted way longer than I could have imagined, about a month!!
2-19-03 Here's what it's looking like out here at the lake. Winter is just as beautiful as summer here is 1-17-03 am, and these are about 10:30 am on 1-18-03, 1-18-03, 1-18-03, and 1-18-03. Last but not least 1-18-03 at about 4:40pm
1-12-3 The lake was lightly frozen over yesterday morning, a little more so this morning. Get your pumps and aerators turned on!! The weather forecast for the rest of the week will be forming more ice between the highs and the lows. The lake has come up a little more with the melt of the last snow. 1-13-03 6:54am and 1-13-03 7:01am
1-2-03 Here is a spectacular example
of how things can change so quickly here on the lake. These pictures
were taken on New Years Eve Day at 4:23
pm and 4:45pm---what
a contrast,---and so quickly! Click on the times to see the pictures.
I am going to start linking my pictures to text on this page so you won't
have to wait so long for it to load.
12-30-02 I had about .07 inches of rain in my gauge today, and we had over an inch of rain about three weeks ago before the last snow storm that I didn't report here. You can see above that the lake level is coming up!!! A very Happy New Year to all of you that tune in to my website!!!!
12-27-02 Christmas Eve was a very trying, dismal day. Bless all of you that had to travel through it to get to your destinations, long or short, because it was very stressful. The snow started here about 10:30 am, the picture below was taken about 2:30--couldn't even see the lake for the falling snow. We got about 6-7 inches and plenty of blowing and drifts. Christmas day the snow stopped but was a gray day, and Thursday morning brought sunshine and some ice forming on the lake. We thought our Christmas Eve gathering was lost, but God was with us all to get us safely together (much later than we planned) and we had a wonderful Christmas holiday. Thanks to all the road crews that had to work instead of enjoy their own Christmas holiday. See these pics 12-24-02 and 12-26-02
12-16-02 Ice is breaking up this morning and even more this afternoon. A strong wind from the east today. See pics here 12-16-02am and 12-16-02pm
12-6-02 There's ice over the whole lake this morning, not real thick but thick enough for a flock of geese to be sitting on it. You all better be thinking about getting your pumps and aerators out to keep the ice open around your docks. There were a few patches yesterday but the sun melted them by mid-day. Click the following pictures. They don't show the ice very well. 12-06-02and 12-06-02.
12-4-02 Our first snow of the winter came today. We had maybe an inch or two when I took this picture and are expecting another inch or two tonight. Click on the picture above to see a large panaromic view! This is a color picture, but you wouldn't know it. It's 6:00pm now and I'm not going to slide down to the lake in the cold and the dark to get the temp and level!! I'll try to do that tomorrow. I did get all the pictures on "Recent Pictures!!! link. Check them out--there are 4 pages there. Click on the "more pictures" link at the bottom of each page to see all. I also have some really great pictures on my "Pictures" link on the home page. I just went back there today and linked them so you can "click on" them to get the larger picture. If you have already looked at them you might want to take a look again. There are some really great pictures there also.
Are you all ready for Christmas? Boy, I'm not!!!!!, but I guess I will be??!! Maybe--probably not, or late as usual!!
11-29-02 I have more pictures on the "Recent Pictures!!!" link above(finally). Be patient as they load, I reduce their file size but it still takes a little while to load but it is worth the wait. There are four pages there now, and my goal is to get all the rest of the pics that I have, on by this weekend. I have pictures through mid-November and an absolutely awesome sequence of a huge cloud bank in the middle of the lake. In the future, it will be much easier to get pictures on--as I take them-- It's been difficult because there were weeks that I was taking lots of pictures and some weeks none, depending on what Mother Nature provided me. I was very busy with other things, work, family, etc., and I got behind in getting them on. This will get easier and faster as I get more skilled at doing it and also start to get a "method to my madness" from the repetition. I hope you are enjoying my efforts!!
It's turned cold and we have had our first dustings of snow this past weekend. It's duck, goose and turkey weather!!! The first weekend of deer shotgun season was this past weekend, although bow season has been in since October 1. I had about .3 inches of rain in my gauge since last update on 11-9. The lake is dropping again after a few weeks of increasing levels. I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving with your family and friends!!!!
I have a new LAKEFRONT LISTING--cozy home, large deck overlooking the lake in Lakeview Estates. Click here for more info and pics. Don't miss other properties at Barb's Lake Listing's link.
11-9-02 Well, the leaves have turned colors and are now coming down. Sorry, for some reason, I didn't get some good pictures of the fall foliage--fall is definitely here. I won't promise to take temps and levels every single week since we are going into the "off" season for fishing and recreation. I will keep updating my website all through the winter, though, with pictures and info. So, keep checking back, especially on the Recent Pictures page. There will be a lot of good pictures through the winter months.