Buckle your seat belt ... we are in for a bumpy ride.

Friday was one of those ominous weather days.

It started out nice enough .... my friend Debbie came out to help me weed.  Yea ... that is a true friend.  Help me weed and get muddy.  That is what friendship is all about. 

We are weeding away and Sheepie Neighbor calls.  Button down the hatches, she says... there is rough weather coming in!  Sheepie wasn't kidding!!  Sheepie had heard about the straight-line wind damage in Iowa City. Within a minute or so, the sirens went off in Donahue and I got Debbie and the customers in my garden on their way home to safety.

The wind blew ... it rained... and it rained .... and the wind blew some more.

All in all, we walked away unscathed from that storm.  We are much too wet.  A little wind damage in the lilies.  But the new support systems looked like they did their job. We were blessed.

Another dear friend, Sarah, came out to weed later. (Don't ya just love my friends????  I know I do!!!) A little green therapy. But the soggy muddy conditions prohibited that.  She cut flowers and bought our soon-to-be-famous Miss Effie's applemint  mojito lemonade mix for a party.

And again ........ the sirens went off. And again.  And again.

Honey and I again try to button everything down. Benches were laid down.  Lumber for the Summer Kitchen was covered, tied, and weighted down. (Nothing ruins a day like a 2x4 sailing through the air!)

The good news is ....... we didn't lose a tea cup!

So for the first good weather day of the week ... with no storms in the forecast....... we are cutting up branches and cleaning up.  Three large 40' branches. There looks to be no other damage .. so we were very lucky.  The wind could have put it on the neighbor's fence, our cars, our railing on the steps.  Or .... it really could have landed on the roof of the kitchen and had done some major damage. But God protected us from that and we are thankful.

Even though, we won't be selling flowers today or working on the Summer Kitchen ... we are taking care of business. We are stocking up on firewood for the winter.

And that's pretty good idea, too!