Changes In The Weather

The weather has been a tad funky the last few days.We were able to pour the concrete into the sonitubes and instead of hurricane straps we used large bolts:

Rick filling up the tubes:

Then, we had to wait for the concrete to cure. As soon as it cured,we had a heavy rainstorm and the rain lasted into the next day,when the lumber to build the barn was delivered. Then,the temperatures took a huge nose dive,going down into the single digits with the windchill factor. The wind was howling all day yesterday,and last night it was so bad that hundreds of people in our town and the surrounding areas lost power,and many trees came down. A couple of the streets in our town were blocked because of fallen trees and electrical wires. We have kept our power,but we did lose a big tree.

During Hurricane Irene we lost the top of one of the big pine trees in the front yard,and it came very close to smashing into the front of the house. This big wind storm decided to take the rest of it down.Rick and Brother B heard a big noise and went outside to investigate. Suddenly they came rushing in,with Rick yelling: "Move out of the room! Get back!" We all ran back into the kitchen. Apparently when the tree started to fall,it looked like it was going to come through the roof in the living room. The wind must've moved it a bit further back. Our deck was even saved! I took some photos this AM because all this happened after the sun went down:

We had another near miss! It was amazing the way the tree landed-branches were around the bird feeder stand and the bird bath-neither were hit. You can see them in this photo:

You can't tell in this photo,but our outdoor grill in under all that,and it wasn't hit,nor was the hammock. 

It just grazed the steps:

On the way down,it took off the top of another pine tree,and split the top of one of our maples.

Today on the agenda is tree removal and filling the holes where the sonitubes are. Even if the temps are going to be in the single digits.

Stay warm!