Hello everyone, I wanted to let you folks know about the earthquake this morning and what I know.. At 4:36 AM while I was making coffee I heard a rumble and a viabration that lasted about 5-6 seconds... with the forecast being what it was I assumed it was thunder and being a observer noted the time to turn in later.. once the coffee was made, I went outside and didn't see anything, checked the radar and nothing there... it never occured to me it was a quake/tremor... a short while later when it was confirmed there was a quake I then turned it into the NWS..

Here is the latest as I have it at this time;

An earthquake was felt early this morning (4:37 AM CDT) across Illinois. A report from the USGS indicates that a magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurred 5 miles NNE of Bellmont, IL (38.450°N, 87.890°W) in Wabash County...or approximately 22 miles SSE of Olney.

At 10:14 AM CDT another earthquake occurred from the after shock. A report from the USGS indicates that a magnitude 4.6 earthquake/aftershock occurred 7 miles ESE of West Salem, IL (38.483°N, 87.891°W) in Wabash County... or abour 40 miles NNW of Evansville Indiana. This report is preliminary and subject to revision by the USGS.

For anyone interested in the epi-center here is a graphic...

my location is between Champaign and Danville.. appearently it was what they call the Wabash fault line which is an offshoot and connected to the New Madrid which is the fault line "the big quake" is suppose to come from... Anyway, just wanted to update everyone and all is well here.Soooooooooooooo everyone have a smilin' gooooooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see you next time if the good Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise....

G'Day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe!

taking a break in the activities to do a short blog here so you folks don’t think I disappeared… had a couple of days of decent weather and taking advantage to be outside….in the spirit of things gonna do a couple of marches today.. The first be the Colonel Bogey March (Bridge Over River Kwai) and the second a march made famous by John Philip Sousa, Semper Fidelis, which is played at graduation and other USMC events…

Sooooooooooooooo put your troubles aside, pull up a chair and visit a spell….

not a whole lot to talk about at the moment, been outside working in the yard and getting the garden ready.. been snapping some photos as I go.. Here is one of a female of the Red Headed woodpecker species..

the activity has started picking up around here as the weather is getting better.. around 70 here today.. Here is another picture of a robin trying out the homemade birdbath…

I will post pictures and fill everyone in as time goes along rather than make one large monster blog… went out to put the flag back up yesterday and saw some early tulips….

the soil temps are starting to warm up and will purchase seed potatoes and onion sets this weekend… the soil temps are getting around 50F degs at the 4 inch level… our average last frost date for here is April 22nd.. will wait till the first part of May to set the tomato plants out.. here is the latest picture of them, you can see a 12 inch ruler inserted in the tray…

had Rolled Salisbury Steak for supper Monday… here is the recipe if anyone is interested…

here is a picture of them being “browned” in a skillet… you can put anything in the center you wish, I put a pinch of chedder and green onion in mine

Had pork roast, mashed potatoes and gravy and asparagus for supper last night… here is the recipe for the pork roast in case anyone is interested…

Well, better get back outdoors and finish the day… Lettuce and Tomato ‘burgers and spaghetti for supper tonight… Soooooooooooooo everyone have a smilin' gooooooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see you next time if the good Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise....

Semper FI everyone…

G'Day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe!

Gonna do a short blog today.. not gonna say much (is that cheering I hear????).. just some music and pictures.. gonna finish up my “growing up music” today and gonna start this show with Mr. “Little” Jimmy Dickens…

Soooooooooooooo put your troubles aside, pull up a chair and visit a spell….

Luckily the severe weather didn’t happen yesterday… a lot had to do with the timing of the front with the moisture… they didn’t collide.. my lunch yesterday was hot dogs with fried sauerkraut, pork & beans and chips… eat your heart out, all you chefs out there..

saw a dove perched by the finch feeder waiting on the finches to come back..

had a little rumble of thunder yesterday.. had winds all day around 30-40 mph… Miss Daisy was making sure nothing happened to her favorite ball…

ready for a break.. here is Mr. Jack Scott and a song he made famous in the ‘50’s…danced a few to this one….

pressing on… saw another sign that spring was here finally… a nightcrawler moving across the street…

Robins, whose natural food is berries, will start to feed on the nightcrawlers when they have young…. in the picture below you can see Miss Daisy trying to help make the bed...

the bump in the covers just to the left of Daisy is Bree… she wasn’t ready to get up yet… she finally did about the time Kathy and Miss Daisy was leaving for work… that’s usually when we have some quality time playing chase the light…

Can’t do a oldie blog without Grandpa Jones…

Well, have errands to do, Gordyville is this weekend and some projects to tidy up so probably won’t be in here at all this weekend.. Sooooooooooooooooooooo taking this time to tell everyone I hope you have a

gonna be a little cool around here and maybe some snow but gonna enjoy it anyway…. gotta scoot...Soooooooooooooo everyone have a smilin' gooooooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see you next time if the good Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise....

and finally a song made famous by Hank Snow and something this ole Marine is getting ready to do…

PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0522 AM CDT THU APR 10 2008 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE OZARKS AND LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY INTO THE LOWER TENNESSEE AND LOWER OHIO VALLEYS TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW STRONG...LONG-TRACK TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS OVER PARTS OF THE OZARKS AND LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY INTO THE LOWER TENNESSEE AND LOWER OHIO VALLEYS TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE ARKANSAS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SOUTHERN INDIANA WESTERN KENTUCKY NORTHERN AND EASTERN LOUISIANA SOUTHEAST MISSOURI NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI WEST TENNESSEE ELSEWHERE...SEVERE STORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE FROM...THE WESTERN GULF COAST NORTH INTO THE LOWER MISSOURI AND MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THE STRONG JET STREAM DISTURBANCE IN PART RESPONSIBLE FOR YESTERDAY'S AND THIS MORNING'S INTENSE STORMS IN TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA WILL CONTINUE NORTHEAST INTO IOWA AND MISSOURI BY EARLY FRIDAY. AT THE SAME TIME...THE SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CENTER ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISTURBANCE...NOW NEAR TULSA...WILL STRENGTHEN AND MOVE TO NEAR DES MOINES. A BROAD CURRENT OF SOUTHERLY WINDS SPREADING NORTH AHEAD OF THE OKLAHOMA LOW WILL FEED VERY WARM AND HUMID AIR INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI...LOWER OHIO AND TENNESSEE VALLEYS LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. AT THE SAME TIME...A BELT OF 130 MPH JET STREAM WINDS SKIRTING THE EDGE OF THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL SWEEP NORTH AND EAST INTO PARTS OF ARKANSAS...MISSOURI AND ILLINOIS. THE COMBINATION OF INCREASINGLY WARM AND HUMID AIR WITH VERY STRONG ENVIRONMENTAL WINDS THAT CHANGE DIRECTION WITH HEIGHT WILL CREATE A FAVORABLE SETUP FOR LONG-LIVED ROTATING THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE SUPERCELL STORMS WILL CONTINUE EAST AND NORTH INTO ARKANSAS...SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND NORTHERN LOUISIANA FROM OVERNIGHT ACTIVITY IN TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA. OTHER STORMS LIKELY WILL FORM LATER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS PARTS OF MISSISSIPPI ...TENNESSEE...KENTUCKY...ILLINOIS AND INDIANA. A FEW OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG AND POSSIBLY LONG-LIVED TORNADOES...IN ADDITION TO DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. ELSEWHERE...A SEPARATE AREA OF SEVERE STORMS...INCLUDING SUPERCELLS...MAY FORM THIS AFTERNOON OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS...SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA...SOUTHERN IOWA AND NORTHWEST MISSOURI. THESE MAY YIELD HAIL...LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO OR TWO THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT. THOSE IN THE THREATENED AREA ARE URGED TO REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES AND TO LISTEN TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES...WARNINGS...AND STATEMENTS LATER TODAY.

Mr. Red Foley…..

the possibility of tornadoes within 25 miles of a given point…

the possibility of 3/4 inch hail or larger within 25 miles of a given point..

the possibility of winds 50 knots or higher within 25 miles of a given point..

Mr. Faron Young and Willie Nelson..

G'Day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe!

Gonna pop in and do another blog here.. mainly because of the weather, dreary and cool outside right now… staying with the music I grew up with.. gonna have Mr Webb Pierce start this show… a little tune called “There Stands The Glass”..

Soooooooooooooo put your troubles aside, pull up a chair and visit a spell…

gonna touch up on the weather briefly… had some rain, a little hail and wind yesterday the more severe weather stayed south this time around...however another round of weather is coming tomorrow.. Here is a graphic from Norman, Okla. for tomorrow showing the possibilities of severe weather within 25 miles of a given point..

also here is a graphic of the amount of rain forecasted to fall between tonight (Weds.) and Saturday morning…

and I wouldn’t be in too big a hurry of putting plants out this weekend if your in my part of the world, lows in the 30’s and they’re not ruling out the possibility of snow either…

and taking a break here is Mr. Cal Smith in a tune called “It’s A Lovely World”…

the weather we’re having is not favorable for a lively little dog like Bree… and there is nothing worse that a bored Jack Russell…

going back outside for a minute, in the following photo you can see a couple of doves feeding underneath the finch feeder….

the finch feeder is filled with thistle seed… the finches, of course can feed off a perch, being the sloppy eaters they are put about as much food on the ground as they eat… and the ground feeders like the doves love it… when the finches move in so do the ground feeders..

Well, we can’t any country music without this gentleman, Mr. Ernest Tubb… wanted to do Waltz Across Texas but couldn’t find a decent video so choose this tune instead, called “You Don’t Have To Be A Baby To Cry”…

Got a few indoor projects to tidy up on and get supper started later… here is the recipe if anyone is interested…

So better scoot and finish up the day and get ready for the weather event for tomorrow...Soooooooooooooo everyone have a smilin' gooooooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see you next time if the good Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise....

I think they should make this next song by Hank Thompson the national anthem.. just us good ole boys being “different”…one of my favorites ….