In spite of the damage that was done by last night’s storm, I believe we should all consider ourselves grateful we didn’t have a tornado touch down in or around our City. Those rural properties and small towns suffered some pretty extensive damage, but fortunately there weren’t any lives lost.
In all my years, I never would’ve dreamed we would be having a thunderstorm, strong winds and tornado warnings on the 15th of December. Of course another crazy weather happening was seeing the temperature hovering around 68 degrees on my way home last night, and then not more than twelve hours later, there was a 40 degree drop with a very cold and slightly strong wind blowing. I’ve got some branches that need to be picked up and disposed of, but at least there were no big tree limbs snapped off like I noticed in other areas this morning. Those nasty squirrels can sure build some weather-resistant nests in the trees because they all seem to be still “hanging” in there after that storm.
My first appointment this morning was to meet with a client and have her sign several cancellation of leases on two homes she’ll be listing with me once the tenants are out. After getting them all signed, we had a nice chat about yesterday’s happenings which I’m still in a bit of denial it even took place. What worries me the most, is wondering if this is what we’re going to be faced with on a regular basis, and if it is, you can be sure all the homeowner insurance companies are going to be raising their rates to cover all the many losses from storm damages across our Country.
Don’t be surprised it we’re going to be seeing more concrete homes being built which’ll be able withstand the most severe storms. Not long ago I read a short article regarding the growing popularity in earth homes. They’re far more earth-friendly and fuel efficient, but I’m not so sure I’d want to live in one because of my fondness of natural light. I think I came by that honestly because my mother was very much the same way, and whenever there were extended overcast days, I would notice a distinct difference in her mood. Many a time I’d hear her say, “I just hate these dark days.”
Before Noon arrived, I had all my vacant homes inspected, and glad there were no signs of storm damage. I also went over to check on the progress at the home requiring improvements which my not so favorite appraiser was demanding to done before closing. By the time those improvements are made, there’s no question in my mind that home would’ve sold for $10K more in today’s market. Yes, it’s another classic example of how ignorant buyers are to intrinsic value, and only focus on the lipsticking that’s being done by others. I’m still trying to understand how it is so many buyers cannot see past cosmetics because a good twenty years ago, it wasn’t such an issue, or should I say “blindness” as it is in these times.
A dear one who lives out of State called this afternoon to see if I’d survived last night’s storm. Since she only relies on what news she reads online, I gave her the whole rundown on what took place, as well as the amount of damage that had been done in the countryside and surrounding small towns. Fortunately for her, she lives in an area of our Country where they don’t have such hellacious storms and extreme temperatures. As much as it may sound like Paradise, I’d not want to live there because of that area’s population density, and of course there’s no way in “yell” I’d pay their prices for a home.
Two of my out of State sellers called today to tell me they received the documents I’d sent, so I proceeded to go over each one with them, just so their notaries have them sign in the right areas. If we do get them back the first of next week, we may have both of them closed before Christmas. I’m sure one of those buyers is going to be relieved, and perhaps there’ll be some Holiday decorations in it’s front window before Saturday arrives.
Since I’ve been working on getting those black walnuts cracked, I did manage to find a recipe for divinity calling for them, but while digging, I also found one that I’m going to try which is out of a church cookbook I recently purchased. The recipe is as follows:
Candied Nuts
- 1 1/2 cups of white sugar
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1/2 cup of water
- 3 cups of walnuts (black walnuts are luscious)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine sugar, honey and water in a saucepan. Cook to 242 degrees; remove from heat. Add nutmeats and vanilla; stir until syrup is thick and creamy. Turn onto waxed paper and stir until these break and fall into pieces; allow to cool. Food coloring may be added to the syrup for color.
If my memory serves me, I was given a plate of Christmas goodies which had something like this contained, but they didn’t use black walnuts. If I’m not mistaken, the gifter used a variety of nuts. I guess a person could do some improvising with this recipe.
I still can’t believe Christmas is barreling down on us so quickly, and yours truly hasn’t done much of anything in preparation for it. Looks like it’ll be one of those last minute ordeals.
Tonight’s One-liner is: My attitude is, if someone’s going to criticize me, tell me to my face.
