Safe & Sound from Matthew (updated w/pics)

Wow what a storm! We got lucky this time. It was predicted to be off shore by only a couple of miles by Friday afternoon. However on Friday morning as it was moving up the east coast it started a slight turn east away from the coast. By the time it got parallel to us it was about 25 or 30 miles off shore. Enough to still have very high winds of 70+ mph but not the 100+ we were anticipating. By around 3:00p the winds started shifting & coming in from the Northwest which actually caused higher gusts.

LOTS of debris. 

Driveway, back patio & porches alone took around 3.5 hours to clear. We did those on Saturday & then tackled the yard on Sunday. 

Only one very large tree down, no damage done but it's got electrical wires tangled in it so we are going to let the power company take care of that.

Our power went out around 2:30p Friday & still hasn't come back on for us (72 hours & counting). There were over 250,000 w/o power from our utility Co. alone, not counting surrounding counties. They are telling us we'll be back online by midnight tonight but they haven't even driven down our road to assess the damage. 

We have generators going. They run our pump so we have running water & both refrigerators & freezer are powered along with a few light & receptacles. We are/were prepared but so many weren't. Of course, those are the ones complaining the loudest.

We have a gas grill as well as a gas cooktop so no problem preparing meals. We've had breakfast casserole (made ahead of time), grilled sausages, steaks & twice baked potatoes (taken from freezer & put in cast iron covered w/tin foil). Plus other casseroles taken from freezer & easily heated by putting in a pan on the cooktop, getting the pan hot then turning to low & covering. Only problem is that I had to move my coffee pot to a different plug, oh the horror ... lol.

We went to check on Greg's business Saturday morning & the lines for all the fast food places was ridiculous! Plus, many street lights were out & should have been treated as 4 way stops but it seems that no one knows how to do that. People can be so stupid.

Greg's business is fine but he doesn't have power either. He opened today & is running registers off of a generator. 

It could have been so much worse so we are thankful for our safety & the fact that we have provisions so we don't have to run around town trying to find gas & supplies.

Hurricane Matthew

This one is huge & is expected to skirt right by us Friday afternoon & evening. To add insult to injury we have had a Nor'easter sitting over us for the past 2 days. It is windy & raining as I type this but has nothing to do with the hurricane. It is just making the ground saturated which loosens up the soil and makes trees fall & limbs break easier than normal.

All of the coastal areas around here are being evacuated & even some inland areas near rivers & streams. We are just outside of the evacuation area & so will be staying put here in the city.

I do need to go by a few more plastic tarps, just in case, but we are well set for food & water, just need to move a few things into the garage.

It's a good thing too because all the store shelves are pretty much empty & the gas stations are running out of fuel. Grocery stores are supposed to get re-stocked today but I'm sure will be wiped out as soon as things are put on the shelves. This pic of the bread aisle was taken by a friend at 2am this morning.

And just about the only thing left for pre-prepared meat products.

Our generator is ready to be cranked up if need be & will run fridges & freezer as well as a few plugs inside the house so we can have lamps & fans running. Our biggest worry are the trees but can't do anything about those so we will hunker down until it is over.

Hope anyone in the path stays safe & dry.

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.

Misc Update

Not a whole lot happening these days. My cousins wife had their baby. I think this is the sweetest pic. Big sister has been waiting patiently for little sister to arrive. She came a day early.

Here's the quilt top I made for the baby:

Before quilting & binding

Was headed to the country a few weeks ago & as I was leaving our city house something caught my eye in the front yard.

Yes, this was a turkey in the city. He was still hanging around when I got back but Nelly chased him/her any chance she got & I haven't seen him/her again.

Been busy tying up legal stuff for my mother. My sister & I sat at the SS office for over 2 hours only to be told (by an unhelpful agent) that the paperwork we had received didn't contain the right information & we needed to supply different documentation. Got that taken care of the next week, with an agent that was very knowledgeable & had us in & out within an hour. Part of her estate will go into probate so we'll have to deal with that soon enough. It's a huge run around with government agencies & banks & patience isn't my best feature.

Unfortunately, some of my country friends lost their Dad a few weeks ago. I had the baby shower to attend later in the week so I went up early for the funeral & was able to spend some restful reflective time in the country.

While there, I made arrangements for the counter tops for the barn kitchen to be delivered & installed.

Detail shot.

It's a quartz material which we love. You can set hot pots directly on it & it doesn't require any maintenance. Unfortunately the island measurements were wrong. The guy that measured only measured the width, not the length & presumed it was square instead of rectangular. There is supposed to be a 10" overhang by the sink side (to hide trash can) & 18" on the dining room side to be able to have counter seating. Hope to get replacement in a few weeks. It's aways something!

28" too short & needs trim out done, along w/stove vent.

I mowed grass & then relaxed the next few days while watching birds in & around the pond.

And fought off wasps.

Why do they always build their nests at door entrances?

My peach tree.

The other one, had 1/2 as many as this one & the wasps & birds had bitten into most of the fruit. I harvested about 10 or so over the course of a few days. They were very sweet & juicy. Had one for breakfast each day & brought back a couple to have w/my yogurt & granola for breakfast.

On the last day, Nelly & I were sitting on the back porch when I noticed this pack of dogs down by the pond.

There were actually 5 of them. They splashed around in the water & tried to see if they could get the fish feeder to give them some food. They didn't stay long.

Love the look of a mowed lawn.

Overall it was a nice visit & love the sunsets this time of year.

I'm staying indoors as much as possible these days. The heat is hard enough to deal with but this humidity is overwhelming! I'm going to work on a two separate lap quilts for the baby's brother & sister. One top is done but still cutting fabric for the other one. Will post pics when done.

It was unexpected ....

My Mother passed away last weekend, July 3rd. It was very unexpected as her health had been stable for the past year or so. She didn't show up for church on Sunday & one of the ladies (a nurse actually) went to check on her. House was locked & she called my sister to ask if she wanted her to go inside. My sister told her where the spare key was & she found her where she had fallen just outside the kitchen. She had been cooking dinner & apparently had a heart attack. We miss her greatly but she was one of the most spiritual people I have ever known & I truly believe she is in heaven, reunited with her loving family & my niece Brooke.

Here is the obituary with a slideshow that is a snapshot of her life. Miss you Mama.

http://www.vtoddferreira.com/obituari…/Annie-Miller-Tillman/

Oh, the Pressure (washing)

Yep, it's that time of year again. Time to pressure wash things around the city house. We have an over abundance of very large oaks that keep everything nice & shaded but does allow mildew to form quite easily. We moved everything off & away from the areas to be washed.

We got the front patio/walkway done on Saturday afternoon but didn't get any pics (thought I had some old ones but couldn't find them). Anyway, the heat index was around 110 degrees - it was HOT & HUMID! And, the pressure washer wasn't working as well as it should. We had loaned it out last weekend & when it came back, the loanee had not drained all the water out of the pump, hoses, etc. According to Greg, this is a big no no. It was working but just didn't have as much pressure as it should have. Live & learn. He said we were never loaning it out again (we'll see).

We got an early start on Sunday & were able to get the front porch, driveway planter & back patio done. Rain was forecasted but had not yet arrived when we started around 9:00a. With the spraying water, it was like a fog bank for several hours. It then rained on & off the rest of the morning so wasn't quite as hot.

Here are the before & after pics of the planter & back patio:

Fog bank. It just held on the ground the whole morning.

 

Still wet, dried to a much brighter white (see below). Nelly approved.

The worst part, I think, is putting everything back (I still haven't put the front porch back together).

Here's a pic of the back patio with our new (to us) patio table & chairs.

The old table was on it's last legs & most of the boards had rotted through. We had painted the whole set a couple of years ago, hoping to get another year out of it & we did. But, it was beyond repair. The chairs are still in decent shape. Pressure washed them as well & will be transporting them to the country this weekend.

I found this set on one of the FB swap pages that I am a member of. It is a very high quality set (Hanamint) that we got for a great price. It is cast aluminum & has some paint flaking but we will eventually pressure wash it & repaint.

Rister likes it too.

Oh well, gotta run to the grocery store & then get dinner started (Lamb Shanks & potato cakes tonight).

Hope everyone has a great upcoming 4th of July. Stay safe, cool & dry.

Weekend in the City

We stayed in the City last weekend to get some limbs & bushes trimmed. The weather was perfect but those limbs got bigger & bigger, or seemed to anyway.

We decided to try our hand at grafting again. I wrote about our first experience here:  Plant Experiment. We got 10 plants out of that one & I'm happy to report that 9 are still alive.

We did 20 Loropetalum & 3 Camilias. Hopefully our success rate will be better this time.

As we were cutting back the Loropetalum we ran across this guy:

This blog is turning into a reptilian site. This one was as calm as the other one & only about 1/2 as long & 1/2 as big around. But, with different pattern & coloring. I need to get a snake book to identify what critters we have hanging around.

Rister isn't doing his job very well.

The hawks were very active & screeching at one another for about an hour or so. Then the owls started but it was too dark to get a picture of any of them.

Went to visit FIL after we were done, then came home, gave Nelly a bath, had an adult beverage & ate a steak with a twice baked potato. Overall a very nice weekend with a couple of semi-major projects finished.

It Finally Produced!

I put two cut off & dried pineapple tops in one of my very shady beds in the city, about 8 or 10 years ago. I check them occasionally & remove any debris but no pineapple has ever grown in either one .... until now.

Woo hoo!

Friend or Foe?

This guy was in the bushes at the City House. Right where I have to trudge through to turn on the faucet. He's about 3 or 4 foot long & about as big around as a quarter.