Thursday, July 20, 2006

Big storm came through

We have a silver maple in our front yard that has always been a worrisome tree. It casts a lot of shade on our house, which is nice, but it drops a lot of stuff in our gutters, which is not so nice. Also, it wasn't well-shaped when it was young and it was planted too close to the house. Silver maples are fast-growing and fairly soft. They are prone to developing pockets that trap water and lead to rot. Last night, a big intense thunderstorm came through, sometime after 2 a.m. We were already awake from the storm when we heard the crack and the thud.


Some of the branches that snapped from the main lead were driven 8 inches into the ground. Good thing it was only foliage and lawn underneath. I got most of the smaller stuff pruned off and dragged to the curb with some help from my boys. The neighbor whose sailboat had a very close call came later with his chain saw and turned the big stuff into logs. I'm really grateful to him for that.

Here's a picture of Hailey, one of our two cats, who thought the downed limb made a great perch.


This is a photo of the cutest little girl who lives next door on the other side from the neighbor with the chainsaw.

She loves watching the big kids run around. The Little Emperor says when he grows up, he's going to marry her and they will have two cars (one a punch buggy (vw beetle)) and also a motor home.

Today in the mail, I got some Dale Baby Ull in the bright blue I needed to finish the set for Annette's grandson. I was about 10 rows worth short of what I needed for the matching hat and Trillian42 from Knittyboard came to my rescue. Thanks Trillian42.

10 comments:

Jenny said...

Wow, glad it didn't hit your house!! That was a terribly loud and powerful storm. Lots of sleepy people at work today.

Jerry & Maxy said...

Whoa, I am SO glad it didn't hit the house or cars or PEOPLE! Hailey is purty. And it's good to see the Little Emperor has taste and planning skills :).

Elizabeth said...

The future Little Empress doesn't quite speak yet, as she just turned one in May. And I suspect her answer might be in Portugese when it comes. We'll see. Her big sister had designs on Owen a couple years ago, but I think that wore off.

Anonymous said...

Wow impressive!!! I'm always amazed at the power of nature :)

The kitty is very pretty.

Oh that lil'one would look gorgeous in colorful knits LOL... maybe you can use her as a model sometime :) She seems to be very worried about whatever she's looking at :)

Cheers Eva

Leslie said...

Looks like that branch was dangerous close to the new porch...whew! Glad all the people and animals made it through unscathed. Your neighbor's daughter is adorable!

MiniLaura said...

WOW! I'm glad that it didn't land on your house.

the little girl and the cat are so cute.

Terby said...

Looks like I missed a really good storm. And I bet you're really glad that branch missed your house. Reminds me that I need to get someone to come out here and prune some of the trees hanging over my roof.

Zonda said...

Glad not too much damage was done. Bummer about the trees, I always hate when that happens!

jpknits said...

So glad your house and porch were spared and that all are well.

(Do you find yourself watching weather and storm news differently, knowing knitters hither and yon? I'm finding it so.)

Mary, Mary... said...

Thank goodness, it didn't hit the house! We had 2 hackberries go down this spring after a big storm. I'm thinking about getting a chainsaw after paying $$$ for the tree removal. Did the birds go crazy afterwards?