Friday, June 1, 2012

All Hail

Tuesday, after posting my Tea Tuesday post, I allowed Bleubeard to follow me outside. I wanted to introduce him to his Cat Grass. I thought the grass looked tall enough for him to enjoy, so I guided him toward the garden. Unfortunately, he headed directly for the Bermuda grass that permeates my yard and garden. Unbeknown to me at the time, this would be the last images I would get of this garden that I was so proud of this year.


At that point, Bleubeard was not cooperative, so I finally picked him up and set him beside the container of Cat Grass. Before I could get in position to take a photo, he had already started to enter the container. Just look how full and lovely all the plants and herbs were.



That image pose looks all too familiar. I've seen it too many times, and not in the grass, either!



Thankfully, he just sat in this grass and chomped on it a few minutes. It didn't take long until he was bored and wanted back in the house, though. Not exactly a glowing recommendation, especially since it is the first harvest from this year's planting season! Note also the container is NOT broken in this shot.



Fast forward to Wednesday evening.


I shot this from inside the screen door of my back porch which is not covered.


The front porch looked equally bad.


The hail continued to pound the ground.


It looked like a blizzard,


no matter which direction I faced.


Even my precious rocking horse took a beating.


The hail subsided and the rain increased. The grass between the two driveways was under water.


Leaves and tiny branches were everywhere.


The only things spared were the flowers and greenery under the tree.


I remember when I was shooting with an SLR, how hard it was to get a good image of fog. With this camera, it was nearly impossible. Actually, what you are seeing was the steam that was created when the temperature changed so quickly and drastically. About the only thing I can say for this photo is, you can see the branch hanging from my neighbor's tree is about to tumble into my yard.


I noted how the house on the corner of the next block looked like a white-out, because there were no trees in the yard.


After the first round of hail had passed, my neighbor came over and, as we talked, he picked up one of the hail stones and showed the size compared to a penny.


I was pleased to see my cosmos had not been damaged. I was just commenting on how early they had bloomed. It's normally July before I see them in the yard.


My neighbor found a bird and thought we might be able to save it.


It didn't look very healthy to me, but it eventually flew away later that night.


Fast forward again to Thursday morning. Apparently I slept through the next storm. It was the one that did all the destruction. My lovely garden is now


in shambles and my tomato plants are nearly beaten to the ground.


Most everything was destroyed, along with


some new herbs and another tomato plant.


Even my herbs outside the garden took a big hit. I'm not sure they will ever survive now. What had once been a thriving garden is now in shambles. It's a far cry from the thriving garden you see in the beginning of this post.


Fast forward to this morning, and you can see I've started the clean-up on my property. I ran out of steam as I was sweeping the sidewalk leading to the house, but at least the driveway is clean. What I wouldn't have given for a leaf blower when I was cleaning the drive.


One of the casualties is my neighbor's tree that has a huge branch broken off. Yesterday it was taking up most of the street.

Now that my electricity is back on, I'll be by to visit as many people as I can. There's a lot of damage and a lot of clean-up I still have ahead of me. I hope everyone who reads my blog is safe and secure. And thank you beyond belief for staying through to the bitter end of this tale.

_________________

21 thoughtful remarks:

Jacqueline said...

Oh no! And after spending so much time clearing up too. What a shame! Thankfully I haven't had hail that size in Scotland and hope I never do!! They are huge stones!!!!

Hope the weather settles down for you soon and gives you a chance to catch your breath a little.

Take care

Jackie x

Liverpool Lou (Anne) said...

Hi Elizabeth,

How disastrous! Such a shame. Can't believe the size of the hailstones :-O
Hope all's well other than the poor garden
Anne x

Darla said...

Oh my goodness! So sorry to see the devastation in your garden. The hailstones are huge, it must have been a little frightening when the storm was in full force.

Glad you are safe and back with us.

Darla

Monica said...

Tough after all your work. Some of the herbs and tomatoes may shoot from the ground. we can never really predict. At least Bluebeard had a little change and fun.

Rita said...

Wow! That was quite the hail storm. And you got another storm after that! Hopefully everything has had a chance to root well and will come back given some time and sunshine.

That poor bird must have been knocked senseless. So glad it just needed time to recover and could fly away later. Happy you are okay! I hope everyone has survived the storm without too much damage.

Unknown said...

Oh Elizabeth! I can't believe those pictures of the hail- and your poor garden! I've never seen a hail storm last more than a few minutes...ever, and never with that kind of accumulation! I agree that hopefully your garden was well rooted enough to make a come back.

elle said...

Oh dear. But you can't keep green things squashed forever. Hopefully some things will make a come back. Blessings to you, Elizabeth!

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Oh Elizabeth, I am so sorry Mother Nature took her wrath out on your garden. Hopefully, your plants were rooted enough to come back!

Halle said...

Oh no!!! That's terrible! I had the very same thing happen to me at our old house. I worked for countless hours on our garden and it was wiped out in 5 minutes of hail.
You better get your roof checked...we ended up with a new roof.

...the yorkshire fox... said...

...gosh Elizabeth what devastating weather, it's all so extreme & comes & goes in what seems a flash, all your planting & nurturing of well chosen plants & herbs Mother Nature show's no mercy...try not to worry, I bet your plants will pick up, they can be quite hardy and may surprise you...I hope Bleubeard wasn't to distressed...well done on your clear up & glad the birdie recovered...Mel :)

Susan said...

Oh your pour pour plants. And pour you! I hope your plant recover. I would send you some of mine but they wont come throug customs.....

Anonymous said...

Oh Elizabeth so sorry about the garden, that's some monster hail. I was laughing put loud at Bleubeard, how typical if Mr. cat not too cooperate. But it was funny! Hope ypu can rebuild your lovely containers. xox

Helen said...

Oh,what a terrible shame! Hope it doesn't take too much hard work to clear up and that you can restore it soon.

SandeeNC said...

Oh Elizabeth, that is just horrible! The weather you have to tolerate is such extremes it seems. Weren't you just cleaning up from the tornado like a month ago? Come move over here to North Carolina where we can play in the gesso'd hills! lol Also, very glad Bluebeard didn't "christen" his grass box, me thinks you need a tub for him though! lol Feeling bad for you in the hills of North Carolina :(

Dianne said...

Holy cow!! That was big hail, and wonder how many dents there were in the cars driving by? So sorry about your lovely garden, but maybe some of the tomato plants will bounce back? You sure seem to have wild weather out there dear...just glad you are ok! We've had rain in Ohio for a couple days now, but nothing like that. maybe it's a good think I haven't planted many of my flower pots yet...!

Skylar Magazine said...

What a beautiful cat! 2 years ago, I adopted 2 kittens, both girls, 1 orange tabby and a medium haired gray domestic kitten, but I almost adopted one just like yours. I was torn between him and the tabby, but the tabby won me over. I've always wanted one like Bleubird though.

Awesome blog and your garden looks great also.

Sarah
http://skylarinc.blogspot.com/

karen said...

I am glad that you and Bleubeard are okay. Sorry to see the destruction of your pretty herb garden though. That is some crazy big hail! And so late in the year too. Take care!

Dianne said...

P.S. I was kinda hoping you were going to try the ICAD challenge this year...

Anonymous said...

Wow. Quite the storm. Sorry it took out all your plants. Was there damage to your house or vehicle too? Nature lets you know just how powerful it is. Here's hoping some of the plants come back.
Stay inspired!

~*~Patty S said...

Oh My so very sorry to read about you getting hammered E. It must have been so noisy and stressful...such a shame it did so much damage too.
I am glad you and Bleubeard are safe!
Take care...hope you have a happy June from here on out!
oxo

Jo Murray said...

OMG... how very destructive those storms can be. Hope it's all back to normal soon.