Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Chainsaws and Chippers... All around me

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A faux bois picnic basket in my garden. They are busy spreading rather than blooming. 


Seeing sky behind this house for the first time. Most of the debris  has been taken away today.

On Saturday night a huge storm hit my city. The sound and the lightening told me this was going to be serious. Straight line winds wreaked havoc on my neighborhood & city again!

 It is hard to see but it tore the driveway up.



Again... Sky over a house that used to have huge trees all around and behind it. 

 When I moved here 20 plus years ago it was like living in a forest of enormous very old oak trees. Finding a place to plant something that needed sun was difficult.
  
In 2003 another storm ripped through the city. The destruction was devastating, thousands of trees fell. It was heartbreaking. They fell on houses cutting them in two all around me. The whole city came to a standstill.  I had no power to my house for three weeks in July. That is when the temperatures usually range from 90 to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit . There was no getting out by car or on foot because hundreds of trees blocked the streets. I was so happy to see the firemen. They knocked on every door to see if anyone needed help. For weeks and weeks all I heard were chainsaws and chippers. I was lucky my house was not badly hurt. My poor neighbors were not so lucky. Most of them had to move out for as long as two years while the repairs were made. Blue tarps covered most of the rooftops.

So you might understand why I cringed when the chainsaws started here on Sunday morning. I am still hearing them and the chippers that they feed huge limbs into.

Today I got out and walked around my neighborhood. I was a little wary because big limbs are still dangling from huge trees that managed to stand. I was happy to see most of the houses were OK.












My neighborhood of 300 homes was built around this private
lake & park. Most of the houses were built in the 1920's.













33 comments:

  1. Dear Catherine - Faux bois or not, I love your picnic basket filled with Impatients.
    How very frightening the Saturday night storm must have been for you all, but I am so pleased that your beautiful home has not been damaged by falling trees. It is very sad to loose large, established trees, but always surprising just how quickly nature reasserts herself and other things step in to take their place.
    The homes have a distinctly Arts and Crafts look to them - one of my favourite eras.

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  2. I have just repaired that concrete basket. It broke diagonally when my cat Merlin tripped me as I was setting it down to plant. Thank heaven for "Apoxie Sculpt". It is stronger then ever and you cannot see the repair.

    Yes, most of the houses do have that Arts & Crafts look to them. Giving the whole neighborhood a fairy tale feeling about it.

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  3. Poor trees. Glad the damage doesn't seem to be as bad this time around.

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    1. Thank you! Me too for a variety of personal reasons as well as the concern for others.

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  4. Catherine, how scary and sad. I am glad to hear the houses are mostly Ok. I guess one upside to there being a huge storm a few years ago is that most of the weaker trees came down then. But such a shame to see them go. What a beautiful neighbourhood.

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    1. Thank you! It really hurts me to see so many old trees down. Many i knew so well seemed like old friends.

      It is a wonderful neighborhood. Really unique in many ways.

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  5. I am glad that you and your house are safe and sound although it must have been truly frightening. Your neighbourhood is absolutely beautiful and it is great that it hasn't been too damaged.

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    1. Thank you Rosanna. All the huge trees that were right around me were taken in 2003. The one that canopied half my house did very little damage in the other storm. Sadly, it had to come down because it split right down the center!

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  6. Tienes una casa en un entorno precioso. Me alegro de que esta vez, los daños hayan sido pocos

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  7. Gracias isabel.

    Otros vecindarios no tuvieron tanta suerte como esta vez. Lamentablemente fuimos los más afectados en 2003.

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  8. Yours is a beautiful neighborhood with homes that look solidly built. They don't make them today like they used to.
    Just over 2 weeks ago, we had a windstorm which appeared out of nowhere in the middle of a sunny day, then blew ferociously throughout the night! Like you, windstorms always make me nervous, since my property is also hemmed in by tall ancient evergreens -
    And whenever these freaks of nature occur, it reminds me of how vulnerable we are. We are all dependent on electric power and 3 weeks without it would radically change every aspect of your everyday life.
    Good to hear that you're fine and that things are gradually getting back to normal Catherine, but my oh my what a scare!

    elizabeth

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  9. Hi Elizabeth,
    Thank you for your kind comments about my neighborhood.
    I can certainly understand your concern about living around big trees. Wind storms are capable of toppling over big trees but straight line winds have the power of a bomb going off.
    I only had 2 days without power this time. Many people are still without it here. Three weeks was a REAL nightmare in very high heat.
    Things today look a lot brighter....Oddly enough we are about to have another storm. I hope it is just a normal one!

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  10. So glad to hear you are OK and your home wasn't badly damaged. We had a terrible storm here in Sydney (Australia) at this time last year, and the roof of our apartment building has just been repaired. Luckily we didn't have to move out as many of your neighbours have had to do. I hope the next storm is much gentler and no damage will be done.
    Regards, Linda

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    1. I am so glad to hear you didn't have to leave your home. I used to love big storms. I liked the sound or thunder and seeing lightening. I think I'm over it. haha
      Thank you Linda!

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  11. I am glad to hear you are safe and your home was not damaged. I thought of you when I saw those storms on the weather channel! It is a relief to know you are okay, even though there are so many lovely old trees gone. Let's hope the weather will be gentler in the future!

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    1. Thank you Betsy. I wish I had seen it coming on the news. I was busy watching a Bridget Jones movie.

      Foolishly, when I heard it starting to get really strong, I remembered my big (outdoor) umbrella was up and ran outside to put it down. I almost did a Mary Poppins. It could have been a rather humorous obituary now that I think about it.

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  12. I'm so relieved you came through the storm relatively unscathed. I've seen first hand how gorgeous your neighborhood is. Hopefully this will be your quota for many years to come :)

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    1. Thank you Linda. I hope this will be the last of that sort of storm.

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  13. What a BEAUTIFUL area where you live Catherine!!! It is so sad to see trees come down, it must certainly change the look of the area. Some of your photos look as though they are from a 'photo shoot' for a magazine....gorgeous!!! Linda x

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    1. Thank you Linda! Coming from you, a compliment on any photo I take is like an award. The pictures you take of Paris are the best ones I have ever seen. ;-)

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  14. ......oh! So love that faux picnic basket....there is an idea for miniatures! X

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    1. Thank you! Wouldn't it be fun to have a faux concrete basket for a miniature garden.

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  15. So glad you came through the storm ok Catherine! It looks to be a beautiful area indeed! Hugs heading your way - Lidi

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    1. Thank you Lidi. It is so nice to have you to come in for a visit.

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  16. Hello Catherine,
    I am happy you got through the storm without too much damage. How terrible for the families who were not so lucky. It looks like a beautiful neighborhood and I am so sad for the loss of those wonderful trees. I hope things will get back to normal soon.
    Big hug
    Giac

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    1. Thank you Giac. As I sit here writing this there are three enormous trucks across the street dealing with a huge tree that came down. It is VERY sad! That tree was an old friend of mine.

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  17. Su casa está en un entorno fantástico, lástima que esos árboles vaya desapareciendo, el mal tiempo a causado estragos para ellos, menos mal que su casa se salvó de ese temporal. Que todo se resuelva,buen día:-)

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    1. ¡Gracias! Espero que sea la última tormenta que he visto como ella.

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  18. im glad you weren't damaged by the storm, I have three mulberry trees in front of my home and I have to cut the limbs down after every storm they get so tangled and drop down. I think I need to have them cut back. trees are a big pain but I like them. glad you are ok

    Hugs
    Marisa :)

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    1. I just found out that two houses across from me were damaged so badly the entire back of them was crushed. I knew a big tree had to be taken down but I can't see the back of the houses so I had no idea! So sad. Now we will have months of construction too.
      Thank you Marisa.

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  19. Where I live (in Australia) we are commemorating a superstorm that happened 10 years ago! What amazes me is the shallow root systems on these massive trees. Anyway glad you are ok. It looks like a charming neighbourhood though.

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  20. Thank you Tina. I wish you had told me more about what happened during your super storm.

    True the trees that fell here seemly have hardly any deep roots. They always look like that when they fall over.

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    1. The Pasha Bulker Storm June 2007...During the storm a 75,000 ton coal ship dry-docked on our beach. It took ages working out a way move it.

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