Storm Damage & the Pineapple

Storm just flew past us here in the city. Quite a few high gusts of wind but very little rain. We were expecting it to be much worse & very thankful that it wasn't. I waited until the wind died down to leave for the country.

We had heard from relatives that it was pretty bad in that area. The eye passed very close. They had wind gusts of 65 - 70 mph & most got at least 4" of rain in about 4 hours.

It had calmed down by the time I got up there (around 3:00p). I opened our driveway gate & started down the long drive up to the house. When I got to the branch area I noticed that a couple of small bushes were blocking the drive but then I notice that I couldn't see past the downed bushes through the branch up to the house. Turned around & went in my Dad's gate & across the pond damn.

A couple of hours later Greg arrived & he had the good sense to have brought a chain saw with him. He cut past the bushes & came across a few downed trees. There was 1 large pine that hit a couple of small oaks when it fell. He got enough cut to be able to go around, albeit in 4 wheel drive because the ground was very soft. Here's a pic after the 1st cut:

We got up the next morning & cut the rest of it up. Put most of the branches on the 'pile' but was able to salvage a small load for firewood.

A few of my small trees were bent over but I was able to stand them back up. The bird house down by the pond was bent & couldn't be straightened in place. We will have to dig it up & hopefully get it straightened the next time we are up there.

Cutting & hauling wood wasn't what we had in mind for the weekend. But we were fortunate there wasn't more damage.

In other news, my pineapple finally ripened! It was very small & I let it ripen completely on the plant. I got about 1 1/2 c. of pineapple & boy was it sweet!

I stayed in the country for a couple of extra days to have repair people come fix a couple of things & I got to meet the new baby. She is a cutie pie!

We are back in the city & have a few projects to work on before heading back to the country in a couple of weeks. Until next time ....

Ridin the Storm Out

Well, it's not technically here yet but is expected to increase to a Category 1 hurricane - Hermine. It's will come ashore then pass over the country house some time late tonight/early tomorrow morning & be just west of the city house a bit earlier. With the city house being on the East side, we are expecting heavy rain, high winds & a possible risk of flare up tornadoes. The kind that hop, skip & jump. Most schools in the area (far & wide, as this is a big storm) are closed on Friday.

I can't remember a time when there wasn't a storm on the horizon on or around Labor Day. It's the peak of the season. We are planning on leaving for the country tomorrow, for the weekend. Not sure what time we will be able to leave, all depends on the bands & when they will leave the area.

While waiting on the storms arrival I decided to finish the siblings quilts that I started a couple of weeks ago. Here's big sister's:

And you may remember the top that I made at the last quilt retreat:

I decided that the blocks didn't stand out enough & took it apart to create this for big brother:

I was please with both of them but especially the blue & yellow one. I'm still not great at binding (I get in a hurry) but I'm getting better.

Oh well, gotta go finish packing my car while it's not raining. Please keep those that are in the storms path safe.