Trees and Peas

TREES

We awoke yesterday to storm sirens going off around 5:45am. I shot out of bed and hurried to get the TV on and look out to see what was going on. There was definitely a storm blowing in. And when I say blowing...well, gusts to 94 MPH is blowing in a big way! It wasn't but about 15 minutes and our power was off. We got out the little battery-operated radio so we could keep up with the news of the storm. There were reports all over of trees down, semis over-turned on the Interstate, roads blocked from both and one guy even called in to report that lightening had struck a 60' tree near I-280 and it was completely engulfed in flames!! That had to be a sight in the rain!

Anyway, Andy and I wanted to go assess the damage so we took off in his truck, me with camera in hand, and I got a few shots. Most of them were bad-thru-the-windshield shots (sometimes Andy doesn't slow down very well so I can get those pictures) but you'll get an idea of what it was like. It looked like God had suddenly decided there were just too many trees in this area and they needed to be thinned out!

We were re-routed a few times due to trees down, blocking the road. Here was our first cause for detour.



This power line was down.



So many nice ornamental trees got broken.



People had started cleaning up as soon as the wind died down.



Here's another time we had to change our route. This road makes a "T" and you can't even see the top part of the road in this shot.



A kids park in Watertown...sometimes known as "the hood".





We were so lucky. No tree damage in our yard at all. We only had a few flower pots blow off their shelves. The plants in them weren't even hurt and only a couple of them got dented. Our power was off for 15 hours and that wasn't bad considering that the scoop was that it could be a week before they got all the residence back up with power. There were over 115,000 homes without electricity. There were only a few places where businesses were able to be open. The power outage was spotty...or I guess I should say places that actually HAD power were spotty. I was able to fill my car with gas and stop at my bank and get out some money. It was the only bank open for miles around. For some reason one little area of our village still had power and that was where the convenient store/drug store and bank are. They were packed with customers all day. There wasn't a battery or bag of ice to be had toward the end of the day! I'll bet they were running out of gas too!

PEAS

The other day I harvested some peas and other goodies out of the garden. I think raw peas are my favorite thing to eat right out of the garden. I was lucky to have this small bowl of peas left after shelling what we'd picked. Andy and I dug down and got some small potatoes out of my horse tank potato patch and I made creamed peas and new potatoes! It's a summer favorite and really reminds me of my childhood. I forgot to take some shots of the "before" potatoes, but that's okay...I'll get some next time.

I think peas are the prettiest veggie and I just love to eat them right out of the pod. It took extreme will power to keep from demolishing these. I barely had enough to make my creamed peas!





Here's a shot of the other veggies we picked that day. I froze the green beans and some of the peppers and used the cucumbers and onions in my spring rolls.



I hope the wind is calm where you are and that you have plenty of PEAS!!!