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***** News Flash! Suzanne is back! Stay tuned!****
Hi folks! Just a note to let you know that Suzanne is still without Grid power, and apparently telephone also! There are many thousands of people in the same boat here in West Virginia, but hopefully she will be back on line sometime in the next few hours…. or at least by Tuesday night. In the meantime, just to change the view, I’ll add a few photos that I’ve taken in the last several months.
Remember when Suzanne and the kids visited the Mall last Fall? I had to be there to document the occasion because how often does Suzanne visit my town? Morgan was pretty funny the entire time for some reason. I remember when I went through that “everything is funny” stage myself. Drove my mother nuts!
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Here they’re visiting Charleston Newspapers where Suzanne writes a weekly column. As you can see, Morgan thinks newspaper offices are funny too!
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Later, we visited the Clay Center to see the really ugly statue. No, not this statue! The other one that Suzanne published in her blog. This one isn’t too bad actually!
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As we moved to another part of town, I just had to take this shot of Suzanne getting on the Interstate. I mean, how often does she get to drive on a real 4 lane highway!
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This photo is funny to me because I had just crossed the most inhospitable country road known to man in a low slung sports car just to visit Suzanne for the very first time. And what does she take pictures of? Giant Puppy! Hahaha.. (photo taken a couple of years ago)
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I leave you now with a gratuitous farm shot that I took last summer at open house. After all, how can you beat a photo of kids playing with Kids?
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UPDATE PHOTO
Just had to show you what we’re dealing with here. This is the table on my deck with a 12 inch ruler sticking out. As you can see, Suzanne is REALLY snowbound here in WV.
PHOTO UPDATE # 2. I JUST HAD TO ADD THIS!
In the comments section, Buckeye Girl posted the following: “Is that a giant coconut cream frosted cake on your back deck Jerry? Did Suzanne bake it for you?She’s been baking that giant fluffy frosted cake for you for a Christmas present right?” So, I had to add this photo because it DOES look like a Coconut cake doesn’t it?
I’m sure Suzanne will be back soon. No one can ever take her place here and Lord knows I’ll never even try. Just wanted to put something up because I know how much you all enjoy having new posts every day. (even if they’re bad ones from me) So hang in there…. hopefully this will be deleted soon and we can get on with our lives here on Chickens In The Road. Take care! Jerry … friend and Admin
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Good job.
Anni
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Thanks for filling in the gap!
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Hope Suzzane and all are warm and cozy and Suzzane is baking them all the Christmas goodies and taking fabulous pics to flood us with.
Waiting for her to come back. I’m missing my daily doze of adraline.
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And that 4 lane highway….I’m sure the Explorer was happy, not so much Suzanne!
Thank you, Jerry, for the update and some fresh pics
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Granny Trace
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Let’s hope for Suzanne they get power and phone service back before Christmas! We love ya Suzanne! Stay Safe and Warm.
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Still a mess up here in Harrison County too. Roads more clear but HUGE piles of snow are everywhere.
Dede
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Anyway, you’ve made my day, and fyi, I got a roll of shivers down my back when I saw all that snow!
And to “quietstorm” ~~~~ 11 days without power. Holy moly!
Nancy
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Susan
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Kris
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This is Suzanne’s forced vacation. She had an eventful year and probably needed the down time.
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That is a LOT of snow! I don’t think I would even be able to walk in that mess, but it sure is pretty.
Deb
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Good Luck. I hope Suzanne can find her firewood.
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I’ve never posted to the blog before and had to stumble my way through it. I just hoped that the steps I was taking were the right ones, without deleting the entire website! Lucky for me it worked. I sure hope that Suzanne’s power comes back on, because I would hate to have to keep doing this because I’m NO writer and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see photos of my Maytag washing machine engine collection. Hahaha… ( Yes, washing machines used to run on gas powered engines. Many people on the farm had them) I am a little concerned however because they are saying it might be Friday before everyone’s power is restored. Let’s hope her’s gets fixed today!
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You did good with the blog and I think you should fill in when she goes on vacation…
All that snow is shocking, I havn’t seen snow since I was three and I don’t remember it. You could slice that table like a pie.
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It’s nice to know someone’s got her back. You are a good friend and Admin person.
Although, now I am going to have to rethink my wanting a farm in WV. I really don’t want Coconut Cream Frosted Cake on my deck. I couldn’t handle the 55 pounds I would gain from eating all that! Besides, I am not a lover of snow.
Here’s praying that Suzanne gets her electricity/phone/internet back.
And Jerry, you should start a blog! I’d love to hear of your adventures too…washing machine engines, now that’s something I would like to see! Maybe then I could keep my washer working on my own!
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My husband says he’d love to see your Maytag washing machine engine collection
I’m praying for a sooner rather than later return to power for Suzanne and all the others in the area who are dealing with this difficult situation, including the pole fixers! What a cold job!!
Thanks for this fun post while we anxiously await Suzanne’s return.
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Have a great day and Merry Christmas!
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Merry Christmas to all!
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Merry Christmas!!!
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I hope you all are are warm and safe and that you have your aluminum foil also.
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(Pssst. Don’t anybody tell Jerry, but when the time comes, there are a few folks around WV that DO have pics of Jerry, and somehow, they just might find their way here, or somewhere near here… But don’t let Jerry know about it…)
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If you’re reading this, it means that Suzanne is still without Grid power or telephone. According to the news today, there were still 75,429 West Virginia customers without power. Suzanne is on the Allegheny Energy system, which reported 1,126 outages in
West Virginia. They expect to restore electricity to all customers by midnight Wednesday.
This means that you’re stuck with me for another day or two. This also means that since I don’t live on a farm, nor have any recipes that I can share, it looks like I’ll have to make good on my threat yesterday to post my Maytag engine collection! You ladies may want to get your men to read this one. Ready? Here we go….
The reason I became interested in the Maytag engine is due to several things: It’s small. It was designed with women in mind (that’s REAL American history! ) and it’s an operating piece of history. There are Maytag engine clubs all over the United States.
The Maytag washing machine company started making washers in 1907 using a hand crank. This was much better than a common washboard, but still labor intensive. By 1911, an electric motor was added. There was only one problem: Much of America was still without
electricity. Most farms of the day wouldn’t have power for some time, so a means to operate the washer was sought. This time period coincided with the invention of the gasoline engine. And so it was reasoned that a small gas engine could power the Maytag. The company bought a small engine company and expanded it with their own designs. Maytag would make gas powered washers right up into the 1950s.
It used to be that you could buy these engines for peanuts. About $25 on the average. Today however, a good running Maytag engine will cost around $350. I personally have paid as high as $650 for one engine! The price depends on the year, model, and customization. ( yes, some people customize Maytag’s ) There are only three “basic” engines, and THE LAST two are easy to find. However, that first one is rare, and when you find one prepare to pay as high as $2,600 depending on style!
Ok, let’s take a look at what the women had to do to wash clothes where there was little or no electricity.
1… They had to mix gas and oil to the proper consistency.
2… They had to adjust the carburetor.
3… They had to snake the long flexible exhaust pipe out a window or door.
4… They had to step on a pedal (almost like starting an old motorcycle) until the engine started.
5…. After the clothes were washed, the woman had to run every piece through the ringer.
So there it is. Let’s take a look at some of these engines:
http://www.mywvhome.com/maytag.htm
Now I dont have to!
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Merry Christmas!
Cindy in Indiana
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Thanks SO much for the update and blog entry. It was great seeing green again too
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-flush the toilet? OR did you make a lot of yellow snow?
-make soup/cook/make coffee/tea/etc.?
-do the basic brush teeth, wash your face, etc.
Jerry, with no electricity when young, I remember the wash house and helping my Mom on Mondays feed the clothes through the wringer to rinse and then the bluing rinse. (And the kick start to get the washer started.) And then hanging the clothes on the line in the front yard to dry. And yes, she would have done the wash on this past Monday no matter how much snow there was between the wash house and the clothes line. I guess you have to really like those mechanical type things to collect them…they look really neat!
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Now when I scrolled down and found pics of them all painted up nice and pretty, then it was like, “oh….ok.”
And then I saw that bike with the engine attached and thought, “oh, my boys would love that!” 
It’s kind of like in the past when we were looking buying a new car, the first thing I wanted to know was, “What color is it?”
That’s all I cared about. 
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Suzanne, I’m so glad you have an Internet connection again (nothing like being cut off from the world). Now here’s hoping you get power again soon, too.
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This storm was a really bad one for knocking out power to thousands. I just seen on the news that there are a lot of people who are really mad over it. There’s not much that one can do to prevent power poles from breaking. I hate it that people are without power. It seems like it is the ones who live in the city who are the maddest. They are used to getting their electric back without minutes to an hour but when you live out it takes days. I do remember a few years back when we had that ice storm and it knocked out power for weeks in the Jackson County area. We just need to be prepared like I’m sure that Suzanne was and everything will be just fine.
Angela
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Suzanne, glad to hear you are doing ok. Stay warm and cross your fingers that we here in NE Okla don’t get too much of that white stuff. It’s a white Christmas here for sure. I only have to walk next door to my daughter’s,but my son and his family may not come on Christmas. Oh well, presents don’t melt, and there is going to be lots of leftovers! You all have a great Holiday.
T
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