Windy, Blustery Day...........

A gentle sky like this turned to gray in the afternoon yesterday.  It was a horrific storm that shot through like a freight train. It did send us to the basement but within 10 minutes it was gone.  As we were going to the basement the wind was blowing rain and leaves so hard that we could not see out our dining room window.  The same storm regrouped in the evening and we are still having strong winds today.  Most of the damage was in southern Iowa where some houses were destroyed.  The second round of the storm ended up extending into northern Minnesota, Wisconson and Michigan.  Ohio also got alot of damage. 

I had Barney's help for a while when I was building the gate.  While he lay there a squirrel decided to eat an apple on a branch above him.  I heard this sound of the apple dropping and it missed hitting Barney by inches.  Needless to say the squirrel scampered down the tree and wanted his apple back. I tossed it over the fence.  That same fence had to be rescued this morning as a large limb broke off and landed on it.  It is flimsy fencing and the weight of the branch smashed dow the fence enough to allow Barney to escape, which he would never do.

As the zinnia declines and dies it has put on polk a dots.  I had to retry taking the photo of it as it was too dark the day before.

The yard is loaded now with every loose dead stick that was in the trees.  The strong winds that we had even broke off some of the ones that hadn't detatched from the main tree. I had to pick up a lot of branches so the little dog could walk in the yard.  I have many more small twigs and branches to pick up but I am waiting until it warms a bit. We are still windy and it feels like a very cold windchill out there.

I like working with wood and this is the leftover pile from the gate construction.  Lots of rectangular pieces that would make a great flower box or even a bird house. Time will tell.  I should move them to my basement so I could pick up the project when the snow if falling and the temperatures are very cold. I don't have electricity in the garden shed so I can not work out there in the winter.

I am not happy with my two larger goldfish.  I bought algae eaters.  for one or both of these bullies. The new ones were very small and I had never seen them sold that small before. Now I will go to a pet store and buy a big one.  The algae is getting out of control because the tank sits in the sun.  I will have to cover the glass back with paper so that will slow down.

High winds can be scary when it comes roaring down the plain.  This windmill was damaged ten years ago when the tornado came through the edge of town.  The winds in 1997 took out one of my large trees and causee a neighbor's older walnut tree lay down on the ground.  I guess that one was call wind shear.  The one in '97 wiped out two of our cars as it landed on a Duster and a Taurus station wagon. We had a van yet to drive at that time so we were not without a vehicle to drive.

As I pick up sticks this afternoon I will wonder why I still live in a town where it sits high in elevation in the county. It seems to be that there is a better place to be.  I won't be at work again until next Tuesday.  I have a good chunk of time to do chores and projects.  I hope all are doing well today.   Thanks for stopping by today.