Valerean

On the night Hurricane Milton roared into our little town I was sitting and making fabric yoyos at the kitchen table. We have a rechargeable LED lightbulb in the fixture over it that comes on when the power goes out, and I was in the center back area of the house, which is basically the safest spot unless we're dealing with a tornado. My guy was exhausted from doing our last-minute preps, and the storm had jogged further south, so he decided to go to bed. I tried to nap on the couch but I couldn't relax. Every so often I'd take my flashlight and use it to try to see what was happening outside. That's the worst part of having a hurricane at night -- when the power goes down, the world goes dark and combined with the rain and wind you just can't see anything. A few times I opened the back porch door a few inches to look outside. The sound of the wind (even for someone deaf like me) was horrendous, and it kept trying to fling the door out of my hands. Th...

Our week here is already shaping up to be interesting, as we're in the center of the projected path for Tropical Storm/Soon-to-be-Hurricane Milton. We went out last night to buy a loaf of bread, which again is all we needed in the way of supplies. Today we're going to help a neighbor prepare, and tomorrow button up everything here and hunker down. I hate to say I have a bad feeling about any storm, because they're all pretty ominous, but the track of this one does have me a little worried. It might go through Orlando as a Cat 2, which would be very bad. Anyway, you all know the drill -- I have prepared post to publish in my absense, but I will return when the power and internet allow and let you know how we made out. Anyone in the path of the storm, please, prepare now.

Hurricane Helene roared through to the west of us, but we didn't have much in the way of rain until after the eye of the storm passed. The wind did get pretty nasty at times, resulting in some moderate tree damage in our neighborhood. My guy had just pruned all our trees so all we lost were two pine branches and a million or so thin branches and twigs. Some tree debris from the abandoned property behind us ended up in our yard. I filled the wheelbarrow up yesterday, and he packed a garbage can full with the debris, and that was just the front yard. I also walked out and moved the sharp broken branches on the road into our neighborhood so no one punctured a tire. For us prep is not just about making sure we're okay. Just before Helene hit we checked in with a neighbor who happened to be home alone during the storm, and helped her move some things around her house that might have otherwise gone flying. Her basketball hoop fell over during the highest of the winds. The ...

We've another potentially major storm headed our way. Right now it looks like the big bend will get the worst of it; that really depends on how much the system strengthens before it makes landfall, and how far the storm shifts to the right east or west. We actually don't need anything, thanks to our emergency pantry and seasonal prep, but we're still going to do our regular shopping this morning. My guy and I will bring in everything like my potted plants that could blow away in the storm, and put the car in the garage, that's it. It's nice to be well-prepared. I have seven weeks of posts already written and scheduled to publish here on the blog, but I'll make another post about how we fared after the storm passes. If you're in the danger zone cone, be ready and stay safe.

Hurricane (or possibly by now Tropical Storm) Debby just made landfall a bit north of us today, and we're having a lot of rain and a little wind here. We've lost the power once briefly, but it came back. The internet has been on again off again. I know many folks to the north of us are not so lucky. Right now we're in between thunderstorms, but in a few hours we'll be hit by another big band of them, so I thought I'd post this as an update. We're fine, hunkered down and prepared to wait it out as always. Send good thoughts to all the folks that got a direct hit, if you would. I've got days of posts scheduled to publish, but once we're through I'll check in with you all again, power permitting.

We were very lucky to be spared the bulk of Hurricane Idalia's destructive power yesterday. The storm passed very quickly, and aside from some very minor tree damage we emerged unscathed. I'm not sorry we made all the preparations that we did, either. You never know with these storms.

The latest track for Tropical Storm Idalia, which will probably become Hurricane Idalia tomorrow, has us in the cone of doom now. It doesn't have much time to strengthen, but Gulf storms can be tricky, so we'll just keep a close watch on it. I already have a month's worth of posts scheduled to publish, should our power get knocked out for awhile, but don't worry. We're well stocked and prepared, and we'll be fine. I'll let you know how we make out when I can. Image Credit: The National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Nicole dumped a lot of rain on us, and the winds were similar to Ian, but of shorter duration. We've got a lot of tree debris to pick up in the yard, but otherwise we got through okay.

You know the drill by now, my pals. I've got a bunch of posts queued up, so if we lose power/broadband there will still be content here until the 19th? Yes. Anyway, I'll let you know how we fare on the other side of the storm.

Whenever we have a hurricane approaching I always find a task to keep me occupied in the hours before the storm. This time after I finished all our home prep I decided to piece my blocks for the next quilt out of these fabrics strips I had already cut. It took about six hours to sew, recut, recombine and sew again these blocks. The whole time I was working I kept taking pictures because I was sure I wouldn't finish. Yet I kept at it, hoping I would. That was fun and oddly soothing for me, to carefully work with time really against me. I also knew it would feel really great if I could finish before the storm arrived. I got all 35 blocks done about thirty minutes before we lost the power, so my timing was spot on. It's not perfect (no quilt I make ever will be) but it made me feel happy in a situation that was not at all happy, which was the whole point.

Hurricane Ian brought a day of high winds and a ton of rain to my neighborhood, but otherwise didn't do half the damage Irma did back in 2017. I think it moved just far enough south to spare us in the final hours before the core of the storm reached us (plus being on the clean side really does make a difference.) We lost power for a while, but only for hours (versus the usual days or weeks.) While I was waiting for the storm to hit I decided to piece the blocks for my next quilt. I got them all done before the power went out. The veggie gardens got a little flattened by the winds, but we're hopeful they'll come back. Some of our neighbors were not so lucky. We have a big clean up to do tomorrow, and power and internet may continue to be spotty as the power crews start repairing the damage, but all in all I am very relieved.

As of yesterday Tropical Depression Nine looks to be heading our way, so this weekend I'll be checking our supplies and (if the projected path holds) get started on preparing for the worst. I have about a week of posts already in the queue to publish, but if the blog goes static it will be because of power outtages. As always don't worry, my guy and I are hurricane veterans. I'll come back online as soon as I can to let you know how we made out.

It looks like our first arrival for hurricane season will probably be Elsa (I'm writing this on 7/3, so still not definite.) As always we're prepared and well-supplied, but we're making a few last minute double checks to be sure. Our neighbors are out of town for several weeks, and left their son to care for their property, so we'll offer to help him as well. Mostly they have a lot of stuff around the outside of their house that needs to be moved into their garage. If we do get a direct hit as before with Irma we'll likely lose power and internet for a few days, but I've scheduled posts to publish in my absence. I'll check in when I can to let you all know how we weathered the storm. No worries. :)

Hurricane Sally thankfully gave us a pass, but she's pulling in some storms that are dousing us with rain and lightning. This is what my afternoon is forecasted to look like: As you know when it rains a lot in the country our broadband goes down, but don't worry if I'm scarce. I've got plenty of posts scheduled to publish, and I'll check in with you once we're back up and connected.

This was Tropical Storm Isaias when its outer bands arrived here; not really much to speak of compared to basically every other storm we've managed. We had a few tree limbs come down, and a bit of rain, but that was it. Power never even flickered. Since others have not/will not be so lucky, I will be grateful.

There's still ample time and opportunity for Hurricane Dorian to change course, but if the storm stays on this latest projected track then we're in for it. We're just a blip north of where it's expected to be at 2 am on Tuesday in the NOAA graphic below. As we're experienced hurricane survivors we're taking no chances. Yesterday we filled up the propane tanks for our grill and the gas containers for the generator. I have two weeks' supply of water and nonperishable food in the pantry. This house has weathered a half-dozen hurricanes, including Irma when she roared right past us as a Cat 2 storm. Earlier this summer we had three trees at risk for collapsing on the house removed -- a tough decision for us -- but now I'm very grateful we did it. As for the timing, well, there you have my perpetually lousy luck. My grandson's due date is next Tuesday, the same day Dorian may arrive. His mom and dad will likely be staying with us through the s...