My friend Scott's birthday at my house and the clean-up after the tornado

Last Saturday was my friend Scott's birthday. Since he had to work on the 14th, I invited him to spend his belated birthday with me on Sunday. I didn't bother picking up the mess in the yard left by the tornado the night before, instead enjoying him on his one day off in two weeks.


I planned a big meal for us, and we started with spring mix salads. You can see Scott's size 14 shoes and his long legs (he's a bit over 6'5") as he inspects


his steak (bacon wrapped filet) and our mushrooms that are nearly ready to eat.


After the meal, which also included a green bean casserole, the portabella mushrooms, and


an Indian bread I bought that was supposed to be good on the grill (and which I completely forgot its name), we let our meals settle as the chiminea fire got hot enough to cook marshmallows for S'mores. Yep, I had all my outdoor fire places going for this meal.


Remember me showing my porch after I finished painting the railings? I also had a new-to-me storm door. I had planned to use it on my back door, since the screen back there leaves a LOT to be desired.


However, the storm door was not the right size, and there was no way I could expand the back entry to make it fit.

Note also (those who were here on Sunday) my neighbor's two wheel trailer is also gone, as is all that trash and debris he found when he removed a shed on his property. I'm SO thankful the trailer was gone when the storm came.


Since I couldn't use the storm door, I gave it to Scott and got it off my front porch. Win-win!!


Now I have to finish my S'mores and wish Scott a happy birthday.


I spent nearly three days cleaning the entire yard and outdoor spaces after the devastation from the tornado that hit the night of the 14th and early the 15th. I hope these storms (97 documented tornadoes over the course of about 12 hours) didn't travel your way.


I had every piece of lawn equipment I own out, including the mower, chain saw, weed eater, trimmer, and edger. I also had the hand tools out removing little trees that had cropped up in the front garden over the winter.


I'm glad I don't have to clean my neighbor's yard! Mine was bad enough with all the small limbs, debris, and someone's roofing tiles which means


I have enough work to clean my own yard. The fact I didn't clean up the garden last winter, hoping to keep as much moisture in the soil as possible after the devastating summer, means I'm now having to clean it, edge it, and get it into shape this year! It's almost like starting from scratch, combined with the aftermath of the storm.

Note the dirt in my neighbor's driveway.


The area between our two driveways was flooded with water as late as yesterday afternoon. It is a low lying area, and I wonder if that dirt is going in some of these depressions.


After I finished with the front yard, I headed to the back, where I mowed, then set out to trim, edge, and pick up the debris. Yes, those are my bird cages I suspect my friend Kathy would love to have, although they are a bit large for her studio. You can see the damage that is still in my neighbor's yard.


Oh wow, look what popped up as I was about to clean this area!


Although this pup is a bit camera shy, I was finally able to pet it. I didn't notice its gender, but will the next time it stands up on the fence.


Most everything is picked up and all I have left is a bit of edging, trimming, and weeding to do.


Back in front after I finished in the back, I was busy sweeping the front walk and driveway, when a robin decided to join me. It seemed to follow me everywhere I went and I didn't want to spook it because I was in the process of sweeping the drive. Can you see the little bird to the back left in the photo? I tried to get to the porch unnoticed, but


that little bird was quite nimble and not a bit camera shy. It looks like it's a young bird, so I hope it doesn't get in any trouble. After all, Bleubeard is quite territorial. Thankfully, I've been keeping him inside.

Sorry I missed WOYWW this week, and I know I haven't been around to some blogs like I should, but this has been a not-so-fun experience and a clean-up I had to do without help (which is par for the course, for me). Although I've been trying to get to a few blogs to let people know what is going on, obviously, this clean-up took me away from computer, blogging, and art time. Thankfully, it wasn't any worse than it was at my place. There could have been a whole lot more devastation. After all, there was just a few miles south (in the south east part of the city), where entire homes were destroyed. Thankfully, unlike my Oklahoma neighbors, there were NO fatalities in Kansas, even though we experienced so many tornadoes (97 as mentioned above), many of them EF 3, last weekend.

I hope the rest of your week is lovely and peaceful and I will visit you, my loyal friends, when I can. I'm still working on parts of the clean-up I didn't show you, like the veggie garden.

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