wild winds

a few days ago, could have been a tornado skipping over, but others just say strong winds, all i know is that it's not every day you look out and realize the neighbor's garage is gone. i've been through times where the house was shaking before from strong winds, but this time it was just wind and rain from all directions at once (and a calm eye for a moment), but no pressure change so we were either off to one side or it didn't form up until it was further north of us.

turns out it was two garages gone, other another neighbor lost a bit of their roof, one a few houses further down has a large tree on top of it (a two and a half story house with a large pine tree on top of it). more damage to trees, tree lots, house with a brick wall partially gone, another tree smashed someone's car, garage door blown outwards, hmm... the road to the north of us which runs EW looks like a few hundred trees down.

our place, no damage other than a few small things tipped over, but i'd just finished

24.5 pints of freezer jam that needed to go in the fridge/freezer and it couldn't because the power was out. so it's soupy freezer jam now known as tornado jam.

the roof did not leak. i think.

songbird

Reply to
songbird
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Sounds like a "skipper," a tornado that doesn't touch the ground. We had one drop the top of an oak tree on our roof many years ago. Scared the hell out of us, including the dog. My folks home got hit by one in the early seventies, just banged up the roof a bit. Skippers are fairly common in the south. Glad your home didn't get hit.

George

Reply to
George Shirley

Seen it happen here too in Delaware.

Also saw a tornado here. Son was driving us home and 2 miles from home a tornado was taking out a school gym. Looked like the Wizard of Oz with stuff flying through the air. We were only 200 yards away and it was coming our way. I told my son to floor it and it never bothered us. Besides the school gym, 6 houses lost roofs and siding. Police kept cars out of the neighborhoods but the houses were not all together and one I saw with out a roof while neighbors on half acre lots were untouched.

Saw a skipper too. Neighborhood a couple of miles away had many trees felled and one house demolished but they did not call it a tornado.

I won't grow trees next to the house that will hurt the house if they come down in a big wind.

Reply to
Frank

Straight line winds are crazy too. We had a Rubber Maid Shed blow completel y apart at 2 am one time. Of course it was full of crap we had to put somew here so it didn't all blow away. We had a tree come down on the house in Hu rricane Fran and now will not have a tree close enough to hit. We have even talked the neighbors to cut down some of theirs. They probably wouldn't hi t the house but if they were willing........ MJ

Reply to
mjciccarel

Neighborhood that got hit is full of huge tulip poplars. The house destroyed had a garage containing 2 Cadillacs crushed. A Cadillac parked in the driveway was unscathed.

Guy in neighborhood tells me he's always discovering large branches coming down.

Reply to
Frank

Many years ago I was in the U.S. Navy, sailed on old WWII destroyers that were still in use in the late fifties. Not uncommon to be sailing the Caribbean Sea and see water spouts, often two or three in a row, basically a tornado over water. Nice to see but didn't want to drive into one.

Lived on the Gulf Coast most of my life and have seen many hurricanes, lots of tornadoes spun off the front of the hurricane. Scary to see and to be in. Got old and started running north to get away. Don't like big storms of any kind anymore, to old to run and hide. Plus they mess up our gardens. In Rita we lost a 400 year old white oak that was in the front yard, luckily it hit the power line feeding our house when it went down and that threw it in the front yard instead of on the house. Pretty sure if it had hit the house dead on we would have gotten a new house from Allstate. Lady down the street had a very large pine tree fall just behind the peak of her roof, house looked fine from the street but the back half was crushed completely.

Yeah, we try to avoid storms of any kind anymore and are careful to keep our home and vehicle insurance at true value. Bought this house eighteen months ago and just got the latest appraisal, had to up our homeowners insurance quite a bit. The new ExxonMobil campus is going in a few miles east of us, reckon that's what did it. 10,000 employees moving into the area, buying houses, etc.

George

Reply to
George Shirley

I assume from that description that you are thinking a tornado???? Can a pressure change be felt so distinctly?

Ah -there's my answer - you were thinkign tonado.

How often do they occur wher eyou live?

I hope for your sake that it didn't - sounds like you got a better deal than your neighbours 'bird. Stay safe.

Reply to
Fran Farmer

Nothing of any worth lost in that case ;-))

Reply to
Fran Farmer

Gah! I know the feeling. We had a "microburst" here that took out at least 7 trees, 5 of which were very large white oaks. We cut up the single tree that was in the backyard and split it for firewood and will try to work on the others on the front of the property tomorrow. We thought there were 3 trees in the front but after we actually got to them, we found that there were 4 trees downed and they took out at least 2 surrounding trees. Who knows what we'll find when we start cutting them up tomorrow.

I love trees until the wind gets wild. Then I get scared watching them whip back and forth. I don't blame you for getting rid of trees nearby. Thank goodness you and your house were spared.

Reply to
bluechick

when i was a kid, we lived in another town which gets a fair number of tornado activity (Grand Rapids MI), my earliest memories are of staying in the basement, being held up to the small window to see the funnel clouds going over (not ones that had actually touched down) and feeling my ears pop.

we might have warnings a few times a year, but nothing has hit us this directly in a long time. there's way too many trees down. my sister got pictures and will eventually get them to me, and i'm sure there are pictures on the news sites, but i've not had enough time to look using this slow connection.

i've actually felt more scared when the house has been shaking, this didn't seem as bad as other times, until i looked out and saw the missing garage and the damage to the neighbor's place out back.

the hexagon shape of the house and the large central split stone fireplace and the heavy split stone wall to the west along with the low sheltering cedar trees (break up the winds coming across the open fields) make this a tough nut to crack. most vulnerable spaces would be the garage and this room off two of the facets.

when it gets bad i will duck into the small bathroom with a blanket wrapped around me that is next to the fireplace which is a fairly strong room on it's own - if i'm in there i'd likely be safe from almost anything short of a direct hit by a bigger tornado.

ok, well enough dew should be dried off now and i can get out and pick strawberries. we'll see how that goes and if i'll have enough for a second large batch. i'll pick all day, clean them up tonight and make jam tomorrow. my lower back needs a few hours rests between bouts of picking, standing, etc (but it is doing pretty good which is why i know when to take a break : ) ).

songbird

Reply to
songbird

I can sympathize. Dewberry picking is much the same, plus dealing with thorns. At least with blackberries, it's mostly standing and moving instead of kneeling and crouching. That can kill your back and knees. Hope you had good luck with the strawberry picking and that you had enough for a double batch.

Reply to
bluechick

Reading that just sent a shiver down my spine. Scary!

Well let's hope that you never find out what could happen if a big one ever did hit.

They look nasty and just seeing them and the damage they do on the TV is as close as I ever want to get to one.

:-)) I too know that back warning device.

Reply to
Fran Farmer

i filled up another sink in an hour and a half of picking (larger berries make things go much faster). set aside enough mashed berries for eight batches of jam and had enough sugar and jars to do four batches later on. those 12 pints set up perfectly and are safely frozen by now. the other four batches i'll do later today when Ma returns from town.

i've called in reinforcements for picking there's a lot still out there that i'm not going to use. many gallons worth. in previous years i've been done with planting by now and could go out and pick and process berries to give them away to others for shortcake, etc. but this year, nope, they're going to have to pick if they want them.

there's some newer neighbors i've not met yet that i might pop over today and invite them to pick too.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

when that young you don't know enough to be scared, i was facinated, plus it was fun to live in the basement.

...

i'll agree with that!

i'm not fond of them either, but they do facinate me, i much prefer watching them on tv than the live version...

:) good picking, i was in a different patch which had larger berries, makes things go much faster.

even when standing at the sink or counter working on something i'll often still shift my weight back and forth to keep moving as otherwise my lower back can lock up a bit.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

You might find these useful:

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and also
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I've recommended these to a couple of USians I've met online and they've said they worked well to relieve pain and enable comfortable movements again. My husband and I both use these exercises when we need to do so and found them helpful.

Reply to
Fran Farmer

Yep, you were busy! Glad you got all that done. I had to quit after one batch since I didn't have enough sugar. Could have sworn I had another 5 lbs in the pantry. Must have grown legs and taken a walk. :) At least I can rest up tonight and do another batch or two tomorrow. I re-measured after last night's processing. Even after today's batch of jelly was done I still have over 10 cups of juice! Gah! I don't want to see another blackberry this season.

Amen to that! Everyone wants my jelly after all that work. Just me and DH doing the picking while braving heat, mosquitoes and ticks. Yep, they're hiding in the blackberry bushes - we've seen 4 of the vile things either on us or in the sink after rinsing the berries. I'm now more worried about ticks than I am snakes. But enough of those grabby hands wanting the finished product. They can pick the berries if they want 'em. We've invited everyone over to pick but surprise! They won't do it.

I hope you have better luck than we've had, trying to get people to pick. I hate to have fruit rot on the plant or go 100% to the birds and bugs. Seems wasteful, but one can only pick and process so much before it gets to be too big an ordeal.

Reply to
bluechick

Fran Farmer wrote: ...

thanks, i'm familiar with both of those in various forms. i don't tend to exercise in the summer as much as i need to stretch once in a while to offset tired muscles from gardening.

yes, when i had a middle back trouble many years ago similar back exercises helped a great deal to relieve the problem. after months of trouble and pain, once i started exercises it moderated the pain enough that i could start sleeping again within just a few weeks.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

bluechick wrote: ...

so far nobody has arrived, but perhaps this week... i'm still out picking fresh berries for us to eat every day i can get outside.

i know what you mean though, so few people actually will do anything these days that involves much effort. when they get hungry enough they'll have to figure it out.

later this year i'll probably turn under half of what is in these patches, i sure don't need this many plants and the soil will appreciate the organic matter. in spots some of them are getting rather weedy so that is how to deal with that in a pretty time efficient manner.

songbird

Reply to
songbird

Some years ago my daughter, seeing me rub my back from stoop picking, bought me an Ames Garden Buddy. It is a little plastic wagon for hauling and the handle folds down into a nice seat. I put it alongside the raised beds (used to just put it between the rows in the in ground garden) and scoot it along with my feet while I pick, pull weeds, or just generally mess with the garden. Really helps with a bad back. I have also seen one that is basically a tractor seat on four wheels, haven't tried that one.

The Garden Buddy lives on the back porch close to the garden. May have to get one for my Lady Wife as she keeps swiping mine.

George, who picked a peck of peppers yesterday and today.

Reply to
George Shirley

Curious minds and all that songbird, why make freezer jam? I just don't have enough freezer place to store jams and jellies so I boiling water bath can them. Not finding fault, just curious.

George

Reply to
George Shirley

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