Nope, haven't fallen off the East Coast, as some have asked. Just got the sunless blahs, I think. I believe I'm going to bundle up and go get some sunlight on my face today--the high will be 34, but at least the sun is finally out for a while.
Sorry I haven't answered your comments from my last 2 posts--usually I'm better about that. We still have patches of snow on the ground and icicles here and there, and the trees are still littering my yard. No point in getting them up until the ice storms and snow eases up a bit. But I did deliver the apple dumplings and everyone seemed delighted to get them--no feedback yet on if they liked them, but Pioneer Woman's recipe has never failed me yet!
No sewing done lately, though goodness knows there's enough to do. Work has been very busy lately, so no time to peruse blogs while I'm there. As of this morning, I'm behind by 300 posts! And Frog Queen gave me an award that I need to acknowledge--sorry I haven't done that yet.
This calls for a good swift kick in the derierre--who wants to volunteer?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
Neighbors
Saturday morning brought tree service folks to the door, ready to clear my driveway and yard, as is their business. But it also brought neighbors to my door, neighbors with a chain saw, who came out of the goodness of their hearts.
Jack is unable to even walk in the snow, much less help, but I was able to throw on a jacket and help drag cut limbs and branches out of the way. We lost more limbs and another tree during the night, and as we live on the corner of the two main streets in the neighborhood, the debris was seriously impeding traffic, too.
One of the men said he watches us set up for Halloween every year, and that his children really enjoy coming here to Trick or Treat. That made me feel good, as if maybe we are contributing to the community in a small way.
More neighbors were out looking around, taking pictures, and they helped drag branches for a while, too. There was a lot to move.
Yesterday I ran into another neighbor at the grocery store, who is also a night nurse at my hospital. He said he'd seen the mess on the way home Saturday morning, and had planned to come over with his chainsaw once he woke up that afternoon, but by then it was all done. Many hands...
When I was out here searching for a house back in 2003, one of the selections was a beautiful home with a garden bath and sitting room off the master bedroom, and a kitchen to die for. It sat back off the road, hidden by a wooded area, accessed only by a long, winding gravel driveway, and no other houses for several "city blocks". We didn't take it because there was no carport or garage, and we couldn't have afforded to add one, at least not for several years. But I think about how this winter would have been if we'd bought that house, and I believe our guardian angel was looking out for us.
These guys did this because we are a community, a neighborhood, and would have been insulted if I'd tried to pay them. But I'll bet they won't turn down a pan of Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings tonight.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Ice Storm
Yesterday it started snowing again, then raining and sleeting. Through the night it did all three. I left the hospital about 9am following an inservice after work, and got home about 9:30. This is what I saw:
Beautiful, but dangerous.
Less than 2 hours later, look at the view:
That's the Bradford Pear you saw behind the crepe myrtle in the first picture. I saw my neighbors backing into my drive and then go back towards their house again, but figured they just couldn't make it up the hill, like during the first snowstorm. Later, I saw them parked outside my house, and when I looked more closely, saw the Bradford Pear split down the middle, and half of it lying across the road.
One had brought a chain saw, so he cut off some of the branches and we hauled them into the empty lot. Then he tied a huge rope to the largest section of the tree and tried to pull it down the road a bit to the empty lot. We had to chop off some more branches to actually get it all out of the road. Farther up the yard, another huge limb of another Bradford Pear was down. There are 11 of them lining my corner lot yard.
Once the limbs were out of the way, the couple drove off, while my mower man went to turn his truck around. All around the neighborhood we could hear the cracking and popping of limbs breaking. I walked up the street a bit to pull the other fallen limb off the edge of the road. When I turned around, the other half of the first tree had toppled, this time towards the center of the yard, but fortunately, far enough from the house not to inflict any damage.
My neighbor drove his truck slowly back up the street and stopped to gaze at the tree, then looked at me. "You'd better get inside."
Which I promptly did.
We may lose more before it's all over.
10:00 am:
12 noon:
And still it rains and ices quickly.
The birds were a little reproachful. Once they all flocked over to check out the fallen tree, some of them flew over to the feeders and just sat, all puffed up and looking very cold and hungry.
I cleaned off the birdfeeders and refilled them, and threw some out for the squirrels. Last weekend, while I was gone, Jack said he heard a loud noise in the garage and saw one of the squirrels dashing out. I guess they got hungry and tried to take measures into their own hands, er, paws, but I keep their food in a large popcorn tin, and they couldn't get to it. So I headed them off at the pass and tossed out several handsful. So far, I haven't seen the first squirrel.
Maybe they've had to relocate.
Not a bad idea.
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