There's five Don Williams songs on here, just click the first one and it will automatically play the rest..Enjoy.... value='http://www.youtube.com/cp/vjVQa1PpcFPDXl0r_3cYIaiFi70N6awIZkvmPY9J99g='>

G'day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe! What does Andre, water and ham and potatoes have in common, they're all in my blog... Was going to do this yesterday but had internet issues off and on so going to do it today.... my dear friend Chrissie wasn't impressed with bluegrass sooooooooooooooooo for her and our mutual friend Kim chose this selection to listen to....the final one is for them to listen to and my friend Gina (she's in Germany) and I to dance to and the second for my dear friend Pam who along with her town is in floods way..my thoughts and prayers for them as well as everyone in harms way...hopefully it will add a little humor to a bad and very serious situation... that being said.....

So with Andre starting things..put your troubles aside for the moment, pull up a chair and visit a spell...

The weather around here, you ask....they say a picture is worth a thousand words and this one says it all....

it's two picture of the same pond, I couldn't get it all on one picture, about 200 feet from my front door... there are a lot of places a lot worse off and top compound matters cold air is moving in to add to the misery...forecasting 5-9F degrees this weekend with wind.... I think Johnny Cash pretty well sums it up for Pam, my part of the world and other places too numerous to mention....

not going to dwell on that any further...have another ham recipe I have used for leftover ham....

I leave the skins on the potatoes if the skins are not damaged, left out the Ranch mix and use 1 can of evaporated milk and one can throw in a couple hands full of sweet peas, if you have a mind to....

The final video with Andre brings back some memories for it is in German...as you know I was born in a German/Dutch farming community and the first 6 or 7 years of my life I probably spoke better German than English...us kids would stay at my Grandmother Altje (pronounced aught-ja) Gerdes and she would read to us at night out of her bible which was in German and a lot of German was spoken by the elders...we were on a party line (hand crank phone on the wall with a central switchboard) and whenever Mom and Grandma would call each other and they would catch someone picking up their phone and eavesdropping they would switch to German because no one else on the party line could understand what they were saying..how coooooooooooooooooool was that.... it's not spoken much anymore so I've gotten a little rusty at it, just catch a word or two..

Anyway, the final song is for the ladies to listen to and anyone else that wishes to....sooooooooooooo while I'm getting my dancing shoes on, wishing everyone a safe and smilin' gooooooooooooooooooooood day of Peace Love and Happiness and I'll see you next time if the good Lord's willin' and the creeks don't rise..

And before you leave Germany my dear friend, Lady Gina, will you be gracious enough to honor me with this dance?......When your ready, Andre....

G'day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe! Had a busy weekend which I'll touch on briefly....Checked out some Don Williams music (I like the singer, can't ya tell) and come across a Marty Robbins song, soooooooooooooo gonna start with Don (early Don) and finish with Marty...

Sooooooooooooo put your troubles aside, pull up a chair a visit a spell....

Here's what my place in the Universe looked like when I went ventured out to check the weather this early AM....

Kim and family with the dogs, Piper and Buddy, spent the weekend...it was too bad the weather wasn't a little more friendly and eveyone could get outside... by Sunday, being cooped up in the house for two days, the four dogs patience was wearing thin and cabin fever was setting in for everyone...but it went well, everyone survived, made plans, etc...Kim, bless her heart, did some shoveling to help out....

This is what things looked like after the storm event...

the above picture I took just before doing my weather thing......snowfall wasn't all that bad, the issue is the wind...the snow was powdery and blew everywhere.....

everyone waited till the wind calmed down and then started the removal...

I cleared a path for the dogs so they could get out in the back yard..they walked where I had made a path to measure snow,etc......

I thought my shoveling was over until yesterday I was walking Bree and Daisy when I noticed my neighbor Shirley trying to dig out her driveway...She is in her 80's and dealing with breast cancer....of all the good towns people who preach being a good Christian, a good neighbor, a good American, with all their snow blowers, plows, etc..not one...NOT ONE..volunteered to help or even bother to ask if Shirley needed and help.... but I forget that this country is a land of "image"....sooooo I left them to their sorry world, grabbed a shovel and started shoveling again, Shirley was in tears and said "some neighbors, huh" and I said yes ma'am...and after a couple of breaks I got it cleared....

sooooooooooooooooo don't come preaching to me about how great this country is and try to sell an image, people, I got better things to do with my time....

Was also asked whether I'll vote in the primary, and I said no....I am an independant and I'm not going to vote for the good of any party, as I watch this political scenerio play out I observe every organization or group out looking for their own interests...the candidates are campaigning to get votes and change with the wind... I will vote in the November election like I have for most of the last half century (not everyone can say that) and I'll vote for what I think is good for the COUNTRY.....in a voice LOUD AND CLEAR....nuff said.....

Cooked a ham over the weekend... putting up my recipe for leftover ham if anyone is interested....

Well, I've rambled on enough, have things to do sooooooooooooooo everyone have a smilin' goooooooooooooood 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....

The floor is yours, Marty......

G'day everyone ... looks like I'm gonna be pretty busy next 24-36 hours so if I'm not in here much you'll know why...everyone stay safe and have a smilin' goooooooooooooood day full of Peace Love and Happiness ......

A WINTER STORM WARNING GOES INTO AFFECT LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL, EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS!

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM
CST FRIDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 12 PM CST
FRIDAY.

EXPECT SNOW TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON WITH
PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW TONIGHT. THE SNOW WILL BEGIN TO TAPER OFF FRIDAY
MORNING. BETWEEN 6 AND 10 INCHES OF SNOWFALL WILL BE LIKELY IN THE
WARNING AREA BY FRIDAY MORNING. GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS TONIGHT
WILL BECOME NORTHWEST BY FRIDAY MORNING. THIS WILL CAUSE SIGNIFICANT
BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW...WHICH WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT TRAVEL.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW...
SLEET...AND ICE ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE

A major winter storm will affect all of central and southeast Illinois beginning Thursday afternoon and lasting into Friday morning. Low pressure is expected to develop in northern Texas early Thursday morning and track to the northeast, reaching central Indiana by Friday morning. All ingredients appear to be coming together for a band of heavy snow to develop to the north of the low pressure track. Gulf of Mexico moisture will be entrained into the system and interact with an adequate supply of cold air in place to produce the snowfall. In addition, favorable jet stream dynamics and a strong mid-level disturbance will track across the state Thursday night and enhance snowfall rates.

Snow should spread in from eastern Missouri and southern Illinois Thursday afternoon and quickly envelop the entire area by early evening. Snowfall rates of up to 1" per hour are possible in small-scale banding during the overnight hours. At this time, it appears areas east of the Illinois River have the best chance of receiving 6"+ accumulations. The most favored area for maximum accumulations appears to be along and east of the I-57 corridor with localized 10"+ totals. Enough warm air could advect into the low/mid levels of the atmosphere to produce a period of sleet south of I-70, which could limit total accumulations there. Any shift in the exact storm track will alter the location of the heaviest snow band. In addition to the heavy snow, northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph will back around to the northwest and continue to be gusty into Friday morning creating significant blowing and drifting. The snow should end from southwest to northeast Friday morning as the upper level support departs the region.

The Lincoln NWS is requesting SWOP reports during and after this significant weather event. Some reports that will be helpful to the forecast staff include: precipitation onset, any mixed precipitation, snowfall amounts during and/or after the storm, and blowing and drifting. Any assistance you can provide will be greatly appreciated!

G'Day everyone, Dutch here! Welcome to my little place in the Universe! Seeing as how not much is going on at the moment but the weather, I will blog about it...gonna post about the upcoming winter storm so anyone living in the area or passing through can prepare for it... Gonna let ole Blue Eye's furnish the music today to browse with...

Sooooooooooooooo, put your troubles aside for the moment, pull up a chair and visit a spell...

Getting prepared to go to town tomorrow and pick up any supplies we may need before the main event gets here, I had two of my wind instruments freeze up yesterday, hopefully they'll thaw out today.... had 48-50 mph winds yesteday and the local airport observed winds around 60 mph... at one time had wind chills around 20F below zero....

So here is the latest and keep in mind THE WEATHER CAN CHANGE IN A HEARTBEAT especially here on the plains of Illinois, so just monitor the weather as time goes along....
From the HPC/NOAA;
the probabilities of at least 4 inches of snow;

the probabilities of at least 8 inches of snow;

the probabilities of at least 12 inches of snow;

now add to that winds of between 15 to 20 mph....
From the NWS Lincoln, Ill;

A winter storm is expected to develop across the southern Plains Thursday morning, then move northeast into areas south of the Ohio River. This type of storm track is favorable for heavy snow to fall across portions of central and southeast Illinois. The greatest chances of heavy snow are expected from Springfield and Bloomington southeast to Flora and Newton, where in excess of 6 inches of snow is possible. Totals up to 4 inches are expected as far northwest as the Illinois River.

For my little place in the Universe; Winter Storm Watch;
A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS. BETWEEN 4 AND 8 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE SOUTHEAST OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER BEFORE TAPERING OFF BY
MIDDAY FRIDAY. BRISK NORTHEAST WINDS WILL ALSO CAUSE SOME BLOWING
AND DRIFTING SNOW.

Now you ask what is it I do...well I'm a SWOP observer (as well as a COOP obsever) for the NWS which is unique to Central Illinois;

We monitor the weather (like yesterday) and turn in reports of the weather as it is happening... I go to a website called eSpotter, which is nationwide;

and log in, and of course, the Gov't is watching;

sorry about the quality but it didn't take off the screen very well but you can get the idea.... I'm tap into a computer at the forecast desk and the folks there use that info with data they have to update any forecasts, watches, warnings, etc. and I have to venture out to observe as well as equipment I have inside whatever the weather is doing and sometimes it can be a rather unpleasant experience....I do this during the entire event, log reports in my log books, and around 4:30 in the morning, get up, make the first pot of coffee, organize my notes and at 6 AM turn a summary in along with my Climatological Data I gathered as a COOP.... plus say good morning to my friends...then I start the day....

Well, better scoot, got things to do, soooooooooooooooooooo everyone have a smilin' goooooooooooooood 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.

"Over the hill and picking up speed"