Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A Very Restless Night

Both hubby and I look like something the cat dragged in this morning. (And feel 'bout the same.) It's just barely getting light outside and we're preparing our tired, energy-less bodies to go out to do chores and see what damage the winds have done.

It's still raining, the wind is still howling and images of being blown away kept us both awake most of the night.

The temp didn't drop lower than the mid-30s overnight and we had no snow although the forecast is calling for a couple of inches today so I'm assuming the thermometer is scheduled to drop some more.

Grid power is still on which is amazing considering the wind storm and how many trees must have gone down during the night.

I'll check in here when we get back in from morning chores.

* * * * * * *

Okay, we've made the rounds outside, come back in, gotten out of dripping rain gear, and even had a bowl of hot oatmeal. Here's the report from a very wet, cold and blowsy venture into the elements.

Yes, there is a Toyota Tercel under the tree in the picture above. Two good things: It's a vehicle that has been relegated to spare parts status for a couple of years, and the trunk of the tree that whomped it was only about 6" in diameter. One bad thing: The main part of the tree trunk landed smack on the upper right hand corner of the windshield which will probably cause leakage into the car's interior.

This little copse directly behind the house took a bit of a beating. That'll have to be cleaned up as soon as the storm is over.

A portion of electric fencing around the poultry yard went down most likely from a combination of the saturated ground and the wind.

This solarium-type covering on a 16' x 16' framed pen was securely fastened down . . . but apparently not securely enough. On the other hand, maybe the fasteners kept it from being blown all the way into Canada.

Up near the house here, this small tree went down over the driveway. We haven't yet gone all the way out the drive so don't know the status of the rest of it.

All in all, we haven't seen nearly as much damage as we were expecting.

We're hearing reports of power being out both west and north of us in the county, but so far we're A-OK here.

Great day to be able to stay home warm, secure and dry. Gotta go put another piece of wood in the stove. Ahhhh . . .

15 comments:

The Apple Pie Gal said...

Wow! You got smacked! I can't believe snow is in the forcast. I saw that on the news for you and UGH! My warm heart went out to your cold toes!

So now ya got a mess to clean up...when does the piece come, Dern it!!

mtnchild said...

I'm so glad it wasn't worse. The weather channel has rain, wind & snow on your agenda today and tomorrow, but after that you should have sunshine.

If I come over to help clean up, can I have a little piece of pie too?

Hugs,
Yvette

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Glad you made it through ok. I am curious about how your solar panels faired. We just got that storm and it was not as bad as you got it, but it has me thinking. Now I am wondering if the array will just rip off the frame and fly away like a magic carpet? All these new things to worry about.

Jenyfer Matthews said...

Wow - that's some kind of wind! So glad it wasn't worse - that's enough of a mess for today!

Susan said...

I didn't realize the storm was so far north! There is nothing (in my opinion) worse than lying in bed in the dark, with the wind raging all around you. I usually think I hear the chicken coop sailing to Massachusetts, sheep in Connecticut and llama in Vermont. Or so it seems. In the morning it is usually not as bad as I had imagined. I'm glad there was not damage to the house. Keep us appraised...

Erin said...

Okay, apparently I just needed to refresh my reader when I got home today, disregard my comment on your previous post! Wow that's a lot of trees down, I bet you are super busy today - how's Chicken Mama faring?

Mama Pea said...

APG - I'm thinking we're not gonna get any snow out of this 'cause our temp is now up to 40 degrees. The rain has stopped but we're still having sporadic high winds.

This has been a weird fall. I just can't seem to get all the end of the summer stuff done and everything outside ready for winter. Will I ever find PIECE??

Yvette - Sunshine and cold temps they say! Well, it's darn close to November 1st so I guess it's time!

No pie today, but as soon as the Pumpkin Bars cool and I frost them, they'll be ready! ;o)

Jane - Our panels are mounted on a tracker or pole out in the field. Very vulnerable to winds. So when such a situation occurs, hubby goes out and flips the switch so they aren't on automatic (following the sun) and manually turns them so they are perfectly parallel to the ground. That's supposed to be the position where they are the least apt to sustain wind damage. Then we cross our fingers.

Jen - Amen to that!

Susan - Yeah, things that go bump in the night, huh? We both thought our metal deck furniture was going to be forever lost in the woods from the noise we were hearing. Happily, it wasn't. I kept hearing thunk-chunks and asking hubby, "Did you hear that?" "Uh-huh." "What do you think it was?" "Dunno." I was truly surprised to see our two wood stove chimney still standing on the roof this morning.

Erin - I've sent darling daughter an e-mail but haven't heard anything from her yet. She's due in town momentarily . . . I think.

Hubby just came in from going all the way out the drive. Two more trees he had to remove to get by.

Erin said...

saw a video today of the waves crashing over the breaker wall there, beautiful though, looks like the coast of Maine with the water so rough! P.S. forgot to say "the Tercel rocks!", love those things!

Kelly said...

Glad everyone is OK, what a storm!! (No wonder you didn't sleep.)

Mama Pea said...

Erin - I need to go get milk today, but have procrastinating 'cause I don't want to go out in this ishy weather. If I do I'll go through town and check out the wave action.

We kept both our Tercels ('85 and '86) going for many years but finally had to retire the '86 a couple of years ago. I'm hoping I die before my '85 does! Love it.

Kelly - Coulda been a lot worse. Bless those linemen who risk life and limb to be out in storms like this one.

Erin said...

I didn't want to reveal the town of the mysterious Mama Pea :), but you can see the video on your local radio station website I believe! After your day's work is done, enjoy warming up by the woodstove while you listen to the wind!

Mama Pea said...

Erin - I appreciate you not "outing" me. :o) Drove through town this afternoon on my way to get milk at the farm and saw more damage. No reports of anyone getting hurt though so that's the important part.

Lorie said...

So glad you are both safe. Looks like it was some storm.

Sue said...

We spent the day without electric-I'm actually surprised it waited till the second day of the storm.
Glad you guys are okay. Sure hate to see anyone lose any trees, though. Yes,....I'm one of those tree-huggers!
:D

Mama Pea said...

Lorie - Thanks for the concern. Can you imagine what it would have been like if the temp had been ten degrees lower and it was snow instead of rain??!

Sue - Although we don't notice the fallen trees in our thick woods (other than when they fall across one of our hiking paths!), it's always sad to see the bare spot one around the house/yard area makes when we lose it.