"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

Hello Friends!

Friends, Romans, countrymen...y'all. Foodies, gardeners, artists and collectors - let's gather together to share and possibly learn a thing or two in the mix.

Donna Baker

Monday, July 18, 2016

Wild Week In The City


Hot days, but bearable on the porch.  The mother Mallard and her nine ducklings came strolling by, didn't care I was sitting on the porch after pulling weeds.  They waddled by me and hopped in the goldfish pond, diving and drinking and enjoying the water.  They have stopped up my new filter/pump, but that's another story.



They won't all fit in the pond soon.


I went to get more cracked corn as they strolled to the feeder.


The night before, a strong storm came through and knocked out the electricity for two hours.  The heat is what woke me.  Everything got a good watering though and it was nice on the porch.  Until another storm came through before noon.


You can just see it begin to rain on the lake.  Before too long, tornado sirens were going off, the wind was blowing 90 mph, rain coming in circles and sideways; I have never seen a more severe thunderstorm.  It was like a hurricane.  Tree limbs were coming down and I feared our roof was going to blow off.  The house was popping and cracking.  Lightning and thunder like I've never seen.


Unfortunately, I could not capture the degree to which it stormed.  You can see one of the neighbor's branches down and some in the water.  We had branches down in our yard, but a twenty foot long tree fell across the lake from us and floated in front of their dock.  That is, until it was swept over to our side.  I wanted to signal the neighbors to come get their tree, but didn't.  They also lost another large part of the tree in their yard.

More than a hundred thousand homes were without power for days (not us thank God as I couldn't bear that heat.) Trees are down across the southern part of the city.  Every house has some down.  Roofs were damaged and blown off, brick walls came down, fences down and a house nearby burned to the ground from lightning in minutes.  Even though the rain was drenching, the wind stoked the fire and it was consumed before the fire department arrived.  Within thirty minutes, the storm had passed.  All week, chainsaws have been cutting up trees.  Everyone with pickup trucks can haul their trees to a local pasture.  I don't know what those without a truck are going to do.  I've looked at the roof and no damage, so thankfully, we were let off lightly.  We still have a few limbs high up in the elm tree that are hanging, but I don't think there is any way to pull them down.

And, no I didn't hide in a closet, but I did stay inside.  It was pretty scary.  My little wind chime glass balls were whipping about.  One broke.  I was sorely tempted to run outside and tether it down, but was afraid I'd be struck by lightning over a twenty dollar wind chime.  



33 comments:

La Table De Nana said...

So many miles apart and yet we had a very similar storm..w/ trees down and power outages..we only lost power for a few hours..some more than 2 days..tree trimmers are busy.. chopping the fallen trees..
You have a little oasis there Donna..I don't blame you that you fell in love:)

A Brit in Tennessee said...

The intense daytime heat, just builds and builds, making those thunderstorms horrendously violent. Our neighbor's lost one of their largest trees last week, thankfully we had just had ours 'topped' right before summer, as I would imagine we may have suffered similar damage.
Your little ducks are so sweet, and what a gorgeous view you get to enjoy each day :)
~Jo

ellen abbott said...

wow, pretty severe storm. love you deep porch. this house doesn't have a porch at all which I really miss. and the ducks prefer your pond to the lake?

elaine said...

Loving your terrace Donna, it really is a lovely little garden. Why on earth do the ducks use your goldfish pond when there is all that water in the lake. Do you suffer much from mosquitoes. Sorry to hear about the damage from the storm - it all sounded pretty scary, and there ain't a thing you can do about it is there - you just have to let nature take its course, and hope for the best.

donna baker said...

Amazing we both had a storm like that. Wonder if it was the same system. It went through very fast. I was really worried about large hail. but at least we didn't get that. Yes, people are still cutting up trees and fixing fences. Unfortunately, for my son, they sold their house here and close today and 30 feet of the fence between their's and their neighbor's house is down. :(

donna baker said...

You were smart to do so. Around here, it is very expensive to have trees taken down etc. I think you posted about a storm the same day as ours. I do so enjoy it each day here.

donna baker said...

She is a good, experienced Mom and hasn't taken them into the lake yet as far as I've seen. Turtles and catfish will take them under until they are very grown up. It is my first covered porch ever and I just love it. That and the watering system and the view sold me on the house.

donna baker said...

So true, Elaine. I was tempted sorely to run after my glass chime, but the porch was wet and I would have probably slipped and fallen. They have since been rearranged. The mother won't take them in the lake yet as the big turtles and catfish will drag them under, drown them and eat them. It is a cruel world for the animals out there.

RachelD said...

OH, My Dear!!

I'm so glad all is well with you---your poor neighbors, with all that flood and fire and lightning---that's one heckuva storm.

THunderstorms predicted for here all the week, so we're probably gonna get some of that one, as well. Stay well and IN when that stuff's going on.

My friend Lil, who also reads your blog, was here for a couple of days, and mightily liked my little message-box on the kitchen wall. She even opened it and AHHH-ed over the little bits of cut-up tablet paper inside.

Thank you AGAIN!!! It just keeps on keepin' on.

r

donna baker said...

Oh Rachel, I'm so glad you like it. I hope you don't get a big storm. I'll listen more closely next time they talk about severe thunder storms. They didn't call for a tornado, but I guess one formed and they set the sirens off. Hello Lil. I knew Rachel had a visitor.

Elephant's Child said...

I am so glad you escaped relatively lightly.
On the other side of the world we also had a humungous wind storm. Trees down. Power lost. Fortunately we too escaped.

Michelle said...

Glad to hear that you faired well during the storm. We have had several lately. They can be severe and so drenching all at once. Nice to see your duck visitors, though I am sure they can cause some cleanup trouble.

Joanne Noragon said...

I was in State College PA this morning and had to drive back to Ohio. Suddenly, in those damn mountains, the storm broke, and more lightening than I've seen in a long time. It went right on through Ohio, too; the birdbath was full of water1

donna baker said...

So now it happened in Oz, OK and Quebec and TN. Isn't that a coincidence? Glad all are safe. This one made a believer out of me.

donna baker said...

Not too bad but I'm ready for them to go in the lake. I saw a new batch of ducklings across the lake. I hope the new mom doesn't bring the baby ones here. Too much worry.

donna baker said...

We rarely get thunderstorms in the summer. Love rain when it's in the nineties, but not the severe storms. Hope the move went smoothly for you and the girls.

Share my Garden said...

High drama, Donna, and the post started out so quietly with the duck family sauntering across your porch! The photos all look beautiful but the storm sounds very frightening. We have extreme heat today, (for Blighty!) with thunder and lightening promised for later in the day as the heat continues to build. Glad you were safe and had no structural damage. How heartbreaking for the owners of the house consumed by fire.

jerilanders said...

Pretty scary. I've learned to respect the storms we have here, I've witnessed 2 ancient trees falling on our property,countless huge branches scattered over the roads and the loss of electric nearly every time we have a bad storm. Wonder how the ducklings fared? I pity the folks who lost their home, tragic, but I am glad you are okay!

Frances said...

Wow Donna, that looks like a very severe storm. Your words and photographs certainly report the story very well. I can well understand, though, why that sort of storm is not as scary as a tornado.

Hoping you will stay safe. xo

Sandra Cox said...

OMG. You have the most beautiful garden.

donna baker said...

Yes, so much damage. Even our son had a fence blown down between his neighbor and his house and he was selling the house in two days. It has been a nightmare, but it sold yesterday. He'll still have to share the costs of a new fence even they don't live there anymore.

donna baker said...

Thanks Jeri. Trees usually get planted too close to homes when they are little, then in fifteen years they are too big. We have one just feet from our house at the farm and it is rotten at the base. It will come down one day and it worries me, but is very expensive to have them taken down.

donna baker said...

I have more respect for severe thunderstorm warning now.

donna baker said...

Thank you Sandra, but 90% of it is from the previous owner's hand. It is one of the reasons I jumped on this house. It was the first one I looked at.

Bea said...

Oh, my! I forget that in other parts of the country it storms during the summer months. I wonder how the Mallard and her brood shelter themselves from such a pounding? Your patio looks so very inviting, btw.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Golly that was scary Donna. It has been very hot here in the UK today and storms are forecast for tomorrow but thank goodness they will not be of that intensity (I hope!)

angryparsnip said...

Oh My Goodness, I am happy to know you are fine.
Where did the ducks go ? Love that they swim in your pond and not the big lake right there.
You porch looks so lovely.

cheers, parsnip and thehamish

Frances said...

Please do continue to heed those warnings, Donna. xo

donna baker said...

Well, I'd love for you to sit with me as I spend many an hour out there. We don't have nearly as many this late in summer, but that one was a doozy.

donna baker said...

Pat, I wish you could have a small dry spell for the hay. It will be 100 degrees Friday and humid. Too hot to go outside except in the early morning or at night.

donna baker said...

I think they gathered under a hedge as they do in the scorching sun during the day. Mom will take them to the lake soon. They are just about big enough. Maybe then, I'll get my pump and fountain working again. I just bought it in April. Like the Ham, I enjoy sitting and looking around on the porch.

Deborah Nolan said...

Dear Donna I am so glad you stayed safe during the terrible storm. Wow your porch is gorgeous. I know that would be spending a lot of time there. Hope your ducks didn't get blown away with the storm. Take care friend.

Deborah Nolan said...

Dear Donna I am so glad you stayed safe during the terrible storm. Wow your porch is gorgeous. I know that would be spending a lot of time there. Hope your ducks didn't get blown away with the storm. Take care friend.