Tornado

The Saturday before last we had a rainy day. Nothing special, just nice soaking rain that we needed big time. I'm a weather geek. I'm one of those people that runs out in the front yard checking the clouds for spin when the sky looks stormy. This particular Saturday I was enjoying being in the house, listening to the rain and stitching. The middle son says, "Hey mom, the umbrella just blew off the table. HAHAHA. I get up I walk to the French doors, I look out, hmm, the wind is kind of strong. The doors start rattling, they've been kind of warped ever since Hurricane Ivan, I hold them closed. My metal patio furniture that is by no means lightweight, starts to blow across the back yard. The iron table flips over and moves across the yard a bit. The doors are being pelted with leaves and other debris, just as I'm thinking to myself, is that spinning, it stops. So you'd think the story would be over. About ten minutes later I wander outside to get my umbrella--this picture was taken the next day......but

From my backyard I can now see everyone's backyard all the way to the end of my road.

Yes, this picture uploaded twice---but you get the point....

I walk out front and all my neighbors are wandering around wondering what the heck just happened. We weren't even under a tornado watch, much less a warning. Oh wait, I run back in the house for the camera and the Emergency Alert System is telling us we're under a tornado warning, well golly gee, thanks for the timely heads up.

Trees and branches were down all over my road. Mailboxes were relocated. I fortunately, as stupid as I am, was lucky enough to not have anything fly through the window and I wasn't whisked away like Dorothy. It was a little too close for me though. It was a tornado, regardless of how small, and I was standing at the backdoors holding them closed as it passed through my backyard.

I'm a weather geek, I got served. Fortunately for us we lost no siding, no shingles, not one tree branch. Just one patio umbrella(that was really a beach umbrella). Compared to my neighbors we were so lucky. I started shaking about thirty minutes later when it really hit me that a tornado had come through my backyard and I was clueless.

Freakiest thing that happened: I'm wandering the backyard, something is missing. Hmmm, something's not right, the wicker chair under the tree, it's gone. Completely vanished. We look all over, we finally see it in the woods, I was carried up and over a dropped way behind a tree that kind of leans. Bizarre.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas or if you don't celebrate Christmas--a Happy Holiday.

Ours was good. My turkey completely cooked, as opposed to the Thanksgiving bird that refused to reach any thing resembling "done". To this day I don't know what happened with that bird. I redeemed myself with the Christmas meal.

Happy New Year to everyone and thanks for reading and stopping by "the Ranch".

More Ornaments

The mailman has been very good to me this week:

This is the ornament my friend Bonnie made for me. How pretty is that? Below you can see a picture of the back. I love this cardinal fabric. It's beautiful!

Here's the biscornu my friend Sharon sent me. Sure it's pretty, but oh my gosh, if ya'll could just smell it! I just want to suck the smell right up inside me and never smell anything else again. It's all cinnamony and happy smelling.

Now here is the tree, no it's not our real tree, just a little three foot tree that I set up on the table next to my stitching spot to hold the ornaments I recieved in this year's swap:

I wanted to show it all lit up but that picture is not so great, not that any picture on this here blog would any photography awards, so here's one where I used a flash:

What? You want to know about the crocheted garland*? Well it's all Anna Maria Horner 's fault.

She had a post on her blog: Anna Maria Horner: Fancy and Not and creating this garland became my obsession. I didn't email her to ask her how she did her's. I just kind of made up my own deal. The ribbon is three rows of single crochet, and then edged in single crochet all the way around. I probably should have made it with just one row of SC, two tops. It's kind of wide. I googled flower patterns and went through my friend Pam's collection of Annie's Crochet Newsletter magazine and used those for the snowflakes. This was a lot of fun to make and I do believe one of my goals for next Christmas is to make a garland like this for the big family tree.

And yes I do realize this little tree is very much a Charlie Brown tree, but I through it all together pretty fast and made the garland on the fly but I do think the finished results are kind of sweet.

Now for the "I hang my head in shame" moment, we won't be putting up the family tree until tonight! This month has just gotten away from us and everybody has been going in a million different directions so tonight we will be putting up the tree finally.

*forgot to add that I crocheted the garland and the snowflakes with Peaches & Creme White kitchen cotton

11 Days 'Til Christmas

Some days when life is just a struggle, we won't talk about last week, 'K, it's done, past, by gones. But there are times when the UPS guy surprises you by leaving an unexpected package by the door. The picture below is what I found on my front door step yesterday. A while back a stitcher was in search of an OOP chart, I had already stitched it, wasn't going to stitch it again so I sent it to her. Decluttering and helping out a fellow stitcher, a good thing. She stitched the mermaid ornament below for me as a thank you. She really shouldn't have, but I love it and am so glad she did!

The Only Bit of Christmas Around These Parts:

Yes, they are hanging on my potted sago palm, which is in need of repotting, but we don't have our tree up yet so this is the next best thing. The ornament above is from my friend Siobhan. The ornament below is from my friend Sandy:

The ornament below is from my friend Janice:

The ornament below is from my friend Elaine:

We will not mention that I still have to get their ornaments in mail. This weekend, this weekend. As much as I love swaps, I procrastinate over the finishing and I can't do that. I make square ornaments, they are square, that's a positive right? Finishing intimidates me like nothing else.


The Much Anticipated

Second pair of lounge pants:

How neat is this fabric? I tried very hard to get pictures of them in the Scooby Doo fog we've been having down here, you know a pirates coming out of the mist kind of deal, but guess what? It's hard to get a picture of anything in pea soup fog, DUH to me! Yes the lady at JoAnn's thought they were going to be for a little boy. Nope they are just for a forty-something woman with a pirate fetish.

Technical Difficulties

Whoops! Didn't mean to leave you all hanging. It's amazing in this age of advanced technology all the things that can go wrong with a camera, a computer, and that old standby "human error".

With any luck I'll have pictures of the lounge pants tomorrow. My stars have not been lucky lately so we'll have to see how things unfold in the next 24 hours.

The only stitching getting done is ornament swap stitching and once again with any luck those should all be in the mail Monday. Only a little behind schedule here at the ranch.

Currently I'm thinking about how the stitching will flow in 2008. I'm looking forward to picking out a few new projects and revisiting some UFOs. Can't do any of that until the ornaments are finished and in the mail, but it is fun to dream.

Tim Gunn's Voice in My Head

Telling me to "carry on and make it work". Now why would he be doing that? Well the Friday after Thanksgiving Target had a sale on the Singer Prelude sewing machine. $65! Can't beat that. So for the first time ever I ventured out on Black Friday and actually scored one.

The spousal unit has informed at this point I can no longer blame any sewing mishaps on the crummy machine I'm using. I tested this baby as soon as I got her home. I was able to adjust the tension and my stitching is smooth and pretty dog gone nice. It just so happens that JoAnn's had a sale on McCall's patterns. $1.99 each. Not too shabby. So I picked up a few. I am particularly fond of the pajama/lounge pants patterns. It's much classier to call them lounge pants than pajamas don't you think? I mean Nora Charles or Doris Day or Lucy would wear lounge pants not PJs. Remember when Lucy bought those harlequin patterned lounge pants for Ethel as a gift from Fred, I think all poor Ethel wanted was a new toaster. Lucy couldn't style Ethel to save her life.

Today I made these lounge pants from McCall's pattern 3370. My fabric is coffee and donuts and if you saw my stomach and my butt you'd know that those are two of my favorite things.

Here's an action shot, well I'm standing, that's sorta actiony don't you think?

I didn't not prewash this fabric and they are a perfect fit at the moment, I'm not sure if they'll fit after they are washed. I love them dearly. It's the first thing in my life I have ever sewed that came out right.

I only had to bug my friend Pam twice. Apparently I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box and couldn't get the drawstring to turn inside out. That folks is a skill. One that I will hopefully acquire soon. Any other mishaps you might ask. Well, I forgot to leave a hole in the waistband for the drawstring.

I have fabric for one more pair of lounge pants and I didn't take a picture of it because you'll all just die when you see it. You must remember I'm fortiesque. When the lady at JoAnn's was cutting my fabric--I missed the 99cent a yard flannel sale, but let's all say a big thank you for the 50% off coupon--anyway, the lady said and I quote, "Some little boy is going love his new pajamas." I informed her that I would be the little boy of who she was speaking. She cut my fabric really quick. But it's great. With any luck I'll be able to show you another pair of pants and this fabric tomorrow. I know, I have you all on the edge of your seats.

This need to sew can be blamed on Sue. She's been a sewing "machine" the last few months. She has really inspired me to get over my fear of sewing and do it already.

This machine really makes all the difference in the world and it doesn't hurt that I now have a little bit of a clue about how a sewing machine is supposed to work and what the stitches are supposed to look like.

Breaking News!

"We've Been Framed!"

The story of the three suspects currently held under house arrest somewhere outside of Pensacola, FL has not changed. Sources tell us they were framed--

at the Stitchery House in Ft. Walton Beach:



Carriage House Samplings-Needlewoman

Blackbird Designs-Quaker Garden

And Leisure Art's Home Again, by D. Morgan. When Home Again was questioned about how she came to be framed, the suspect refused to cooperate. Apparently the suspect is saving her story for an upcoming book to be released in October 2008.

Treasure

This Thanksgiving will be the first Thanksgiving of my life when I can't pick up the phone and call my Mamaw and ask her how to make dressing. It's the first time my phone won't ring on Thanksgiving morning and her voice be on the other end. But imagine my surprise when the mailman left a package by the front door. The package was from my dad. The only thing I asked for of my grandmother's was this jewelry box. It's nothing fancy, but I love it. I would spend hours sitting on her bed playing the music and dreaming about faraway lands and wearing kimonos and binding my feet(don't ask what I read as a child) all I knew was I wanted to be somewhere more exotic than Bartlett, TN.




This is a picture of the inside:




Here's a picture of the front and it's painted like this all the way around:





And this was the note taped to the bottom:

My daddy bought this for my Mamaw forty-eight years ago. Seeing her handwriting broke my heart.

A few weeks ago I found a letter in with some pictures that my great-grandfather wrote to my great-grandmother before they were married. The letter did not really go with the stories I had heard about him. Rumor has it my great-grandfather on my daddy's father's side was mean but he wrote a pretty sweet love letter to my soon to be great-grandmother. That was like finding hidden treasure. The sad part is I've had this letter for ages and never read it because I couldn't make out the handwriting, then I remembered my Mamaw gave it to me because my great-grandmother did a lot of handwork, applique, tatting, embroidery, she always thought I would have liked her.

On to some happy stitching talk, I made some executive decisions:

1) Once all ornaments are ornamentificated I will work on 13th Colony Bay.

2)Since I'm being so positive that 13th Colony Bay will be finished before the end of the year when it's done I'm going to work on Mirabilia's Lady of the Flag

3) Since receiving my Mamaw's jewelry box I decided I now had a good reason to stitch Dimple's Designs Embroidery and I will finish a Dimensions design Serene Shores I started back before I got married in 1985, both are Oriental designs. As soon as I round up both-they are probably out partying with Jane Atkinson and Beatrix Potter- I'll post pictures because I don't have links for them. It also gives me a reason to start Dimensions Mighty Samauri(think that's the name and forgive my spelling).

Now for a conversation starter and some ideas, how in the world does the eclectic stitcher make TW designs, Quaker designs, Reproduction samplers, mermaid, primitive designs, and Mirabilias, etc all work together in the same house? I can't begin to start to figure all this out.

My tastes are all over the place. I also think once I finish Lady of the Flag I want to pull out Design Connections Cowboy Boots which is a design I started a few years ago and it still makes me happy to see it and maybe get it finished. Not by the end of the year though, but maybe by next summer.

No Pictures Today

Because all of my stitching the last week or so has been ornament swap related stitching I have no pictures to share today.

Thanks for all the nice comments regarding my little friend's pillow. He loves it and that's the most important thing.

I can't believe the year is almost over and I believe I have finished all of four projects, not including the ornaments for my swap.

I'm not a big chocolate junkie, I have plenty of self control but I am currently addicted to Lindt Lindor Truffles. The addiction is pretty bad--if they are in the house and everytime I go to the store I somehow end up coming home with a bag, well I eat the whole freakin' bag. This is not a good thing. The bag does last me several days but I've even started letting the kids see the chocolate stash so they are the ones eating them instead of me.

New Project Runway!!

I'm so beyond excited that a new season of Project Runway starts tonight. I can't help it, I love this show. TV has not been too interesting the last few months and I'm underwhelmed with fall tv these days. I'm hoping Project Runway is full of creativity and wonderful cattiness between the designers. I know I'm horrible--so far season two is my all time favorite. They had designers with the most personality, they were all a little over the top. Daniel V, Nick V, Santino, Kara Janx, Andre(What happened to Andre?). I enjoyed them all, even the designers I haven't mentioned. So I'm hoping these new designers are entertaining and creative. Is that too much to ask?

Back to the Stitching

As soon as my ornaments are finished unless something comes up I will focus all my stitching time on 13th Colony Bay. It's so sad to sit it sitting all alone in it's Ziploc baggie.

As far as stitching goals for 2007, I'm reasonably sure I didn't reach any of them but that's ok. The state of my stitching is chaotic and that's how it's always been and even though I see myself gradually becoming more of a one project at a time girl I can't imagine ever having anything less than 20 projects started at any given time because I love starting projects. I see them, I kit them up, and those first stitches are just begging to be stitched. I'm weak. I make those Xs and then for whatever reason I set the project aside for a while, then one day it's all I want to work on.

The Tale of Laptop

Well my laptop is possessed. I have work to do, next deadline December 7th, and my monitor is doing this flashy thingy and at the moment I pretty much have to sit on the floor to see what's on the screen, it has to be at this weird angle or the flashing won't stop or if it does the screen goes to black. Kind of hard to get any work done. Fortunately it's still under warranty and last time the factory got it back to me in five days but this is going to be cutting it close and no right now this is the only functioning computer in the house so I don't have a back up. Also we have a school project due at the end of the week so I can't ship this off to be repaired until we have that finished, keeping my fingers crossed we get it finished tonight!

The Rectangle That Became a Pillow

Back in 2001 I stitched Lizzie Kate's Welcome Sit Stay. It's a cute design. I had planned to make it into a banner but the fact of the matter is that while I see things and I automatically think "oh I can make that into a pillow or a banner". I tend to forget that I can't sew!

Like for instance we salvaged some patio chairs from a dumpster. I am not a sewer -period. But in my delusional state of mind my first thought is "after we paint them I can make cushions for them". My first thought is never to buy cushions but to make them even though I don't know how to sew. So now that we are clear on the lack of sewing skilz 'round these parts, I decided to make Welcome Sit Stay into a pillow for my almost two year old buddy John. I found some fabric and sewed the stitching to the backing fabric, by hand:

Extra points for moi as I remembered to leave a little section unsewed so I can stuff the thing. We will not go into how many times I have sewed pillows together but forgot about that whole stuffing thing. Below you can see the backing fabric:

And here's the front:

Cute, no?

And here's the finished pillow sitting on my plastic front porch chair, my poor wicker has seen better days. We'll also ignore that the porch needed to be swept and two neighbors kept giving me strange looks as I moved the photo shoot to the front yard instead of in the back. They already know I'm a little "odd" anyway.


Now for the weaker aspects of my sewing:

Here's my whip stitch closing, not too bad. But below you will see the mistake I continue to make time and again:

I trim the fabric way too close to the sewing every flipping time. See why I don't participate in a lot of swaps? I won't even tell you how many ornaments I've had to restitch at the last minute because I cut too close. Now you all know why I procrastinate the sewing thing. But you know what?

My little buddy loves his pillow. This was what he did first thing. Run to the couch and plop down on his pillow.

This is what it's all about. Believe me there was a time when I would have cringed at anything stitched being chewed on, thrown around, but this little guy, he loves his pillow. It's got a puppy, he loves puppies. It's got a fire hydrant for good ol' little boy gross out stuff, a dog bone and a dog house and a heart for "I love you". Everything a little boy needs.

And the best part? He has no clue that I cut the fabric too close to the stitching.

Fat Bottom for a Friend

Here is the Fat Bottom Bag I crocheted for my friend Pam:

Fat Bottom with Rusty Wheelbarrow

It was supposed to have been a birthday present on September 18th but I procrastinate when it comes to sewing because as you can see below, I don't do it very well but my friend knows that and doesn't mind. She's a good friend that way.

Since it was a very late birthday present for her, it ended up being a thank you present because around September 27th, I had the biggest, hugest, most important deadline of my life and I had a melt down. Complete, total, ugly cry, tears, stuff running out of my nose, stomachache from all the crying meltdown. You see I spent the summer writing a book. My deadline to have the manuscript completed was September 30th. It had to be in my editor's hands by October 1st.

I had plenty of material, the book was done(at least the first draft), but it still wasn't a book. It was a pile of essays, all uncatergorized, all crossing over into each other. I tried to organize it, it didn't work. My friend Pam said, "Give it to me, I'll get it organized for you." Did she ever. Without her I couldn't have done it. You see, I can type, I can send an email, I can open Microsoft Word, but I have no idea how to use the program other than to open a document and write. Oh and I can use word count, I love the word count tool. But Pam could move stuff around. She could type in a keyword or search term and find the essay we were looking for just like that. I had no idea such magic existed.

So the Fat Bottom Bag that was intended as a birthday present became a thank you gift and I stuffed a can of Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Hazelnut Pirouette cookies in there--because they are her favorite.

So Pam--THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

13th Colony Bay

Here are a couple of updated shots of 13th Colony Bay. Part 1 to the left and my shadow is blocking a bit of part 2. We will not go into how I fell through the seat of the chair while trying to get a picture of the whole piece in one shot. I just really don't want to talk about it right now.



Here is part 2 and a bit of part 3 and I would have ironed this before the photo shoot except that my ironing board is loaded down with clutter and there just really wasn't anywhere to put it and I would have only created more piles of clutter. It's a never ending battle around here. Clutter is my Lex Luthor.


I'm taking a bit of a hiatus from 13th Colony Bay so that I can finish up some obligation stitching. Then my goal and I can't believe I'm saying it outloud because it means I will never touch this project again, my goal is to finish 13th Colony Bay--all three parts by December 31, 2007. I honestly and truly believe it's doable. I am in love with this design. It is a joy to stitch. I hate to set it aside but my swap partners are going to be a little PO'd at me if I don't meet my deadline.

Dear

Beatrix Potter:

and Jane Atkinson:

I know that at times I have not provided you with the best of home environments. I have been neglectful. Leaving you laying around at the mercy of the cats or Polly the nightmare hellhound. I am so very sorry. Please forgive me for being so careless.

I have yet to find a "Dear Melissa" note from either one of you so I hope you are just playing some cruel game of hide and seek. It's really time now for you to come out, come out from where ever you are. You see I'm ready to gather up your supplies, my fingers want to put in those cherished first stitches, and now I can't find you.

Dearest Jane--I'm going to stitch you in silk. Don't you want to come out and play now? Silk. I'm giving in to the call of the silk threads just for you Jane. Come on now, just peak a little corner out from whatever pile you are hiding under. It'll feel really good. I promise. You know you want to.

Beatrix, you have been missing for quite some time now. I know you are around here somewhere. Somewhere close. I can feel you watching me, I know you're wondering if I'm ever going to move what ever it is you're hiding under and find you. Don't you think this has gone on long enough? I had no idea you could be so cruel. All those cute bunnies and geese, oh how misleading they are to your core audience. You are heartless Beatrix.

Fun and game time is over. It's time to get down to some serious stitching. Now you ladies need to suck up your pride, assure yourselves that I have learned my lesson and will treat you better in the future, and come out from your hiding places. Olly, Olly, Oxen Free!

It's All CNN's Fault

This morning I couldn't figure out why I had to stitch. I couldn't stop stitching. Couldn't put the needle down. Then I looked over Kiran Chetry's shoulder and saw the big "X" and the word "Floss". CNN has been sending out subliminal messages. At least that will be what I tell the spousal unit when he wonders why absolutely nothing got accomplished around the house today!

And let me give a shout out to Laurie. Taking a picture of one's tv is definitely an acquired skill. This was not easy. I won't be trying it again any time soon. It doesn't help that our tv doesn't fit inside the armoire so it sits on top and watching tv at my house is like watching tv in a bar.

Did anyone catch the Planet in Peril series on CNN this week? I think it's going to be replayed this weekend. Definitely worth watching and a little scary.

I'm currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. To say this book is good is an understatement. In this day and age when more people are trying to eat local, are reminded about the politics of food, it's so timely. This is her family's story of their move from Arizona to Virginia, to attempt to eat off the land and if they don't grow it, to only buy from local farmers. This lifestyle takes dedication but aspects of the book does make me rethink a lot of my choices.

Back in the late 80s early 90s I was a vegetarian. I read Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet. It explained the politics of food, how our food choices here could affect people a world away. I lived by Shopping for a Better World, thought about what I bought at the store. The craving for bacon made me give up the vegetarian lifestyle. I just couldn't do it forever. But I can see the difference in the food choices my oldest son makes compared to his brothers. To this day he chooses fruit over cake, juice over soda. This summer I plan to make a solid effort to grow as much of our own produce as I can. The drought last year was not good, I think I got a total of three tomatoes from two plants.

There's no way I can commit to always buying local, not right now, but I do believe I'm going to think long and hard about the food choices I make for my family. The price of organic anything is now only a few cents more than the regular stuff. I had to buy beef broth the other day, the organic was only 20 cents more. There was a time when the organic version would have been at least a $1 more.

Also--does anyone have a problem with the music player? Would you all prefer that I remove it? I saw it on another blog, can't remember where, and thought I'd try it out. I can't decide if I like it or not. Sometimes it takes the page longer to load and other times it loads right up. Not sure if that's an internet issue or my computer.

A Letter From:

The Houses of Hawk Run Hollow Home Owners Association

To: Melissa

Re: Village of Hawk Run Hollow

Dear Melissa

In August 2007 you declared your intentions to start development on the North West Florida division of the Village of Hawk Run Hollow township.

Even though we approved your site plan, your choice of materials, we did so against our better judgement. We, the residents of the North West Florida division of Hawk Run Hollow, spent the better part of 2006 at your mercy, living with half completed houses, no electricity and a holiday season that appeared to be anything but festive.

You assured us that you would stay focused on the job at hand. Our Village would be completed in a timely manner. Here it is, the fall/winter holiday season and where, I ask you are our relatives supposed to stay over the Yuletide season? The whole community has been anticipating the completion of Opal's Boarding House. But no, due to your continued delays, the neighborhood will be suffering from overcrowded homes, inlaws, outlaws, cousins, nephews and nieces. Where are we supposed to put them all?

We need our City Hall. Hawk Run Hollow needs some form of government. Are you aware that the people in Lot 6 have not removed the Grinch statue from last Christmas? There is no control, we are a no man's land with no one to enforce our rules and regulations. How can we force people to keep their RVs, boats, and kids' bikes out of sight if we have no one to help us enforce our covenants? The people in Lot 1 have continually let their grass grow over the designated three inches. Can you believe that? Such disregard for community rules!

On top of that we need our school! Our children are driving us crazy! Please, please, please get that school completed ASAP!

It is our understanding that you have abandoned the development of our town and have been spending a lot of time in the Caribbean on a new community. This will not do. We demand that you cease and desist with the development of that project until we see some progress on our much needed town. We placed our faith in you and once again you have let us down.

We expect to hear from you soon with an update and a solid timeline for completion of the Village of Hawk Run Hollow.

Sincerely

HoHRH HOA

Smiles!

Thank you to Anna and Edgar: Y'all made my day!


People who don't blog ask me all the time why I started a blog. I started this blog a few years ago as an excuse to write every day. To learn to put my words out there in the universe for better or worse. I never dreamed anyone would ever read it. I also found it a great place to keep track of my projects, my family, and just life in general. I had gotten pretty lazy about journaling so this gave me a place to just write it all down and not have to look for my Moleskine or composition book. I try hard not to plan my posts, I write like I talk, which might not always be a good thing!

I'm supposed to tag ten people but I do believe most people have already been tagged but I do want to say my friend Sharon always makes me smile.

Siobhan, who is blogless, the link to her Webshots album is in my sidebar, makes me smile too. If you haven't visited her album before, be prepared to drool. She just finished Mary Beale's Days of Advent. She is one of my stitching heroes. She doesn't just start a BAP, she finishes it and usually in the same year she started it. Wow!

Andrea always inspires me to stitch more. She has completed many projects I have in the workbasket.

Suz also rocks! Love the tales of the ferrets, the dogs, and her love of nature. She also has great taste in stitching projects.


Rain much?

We've been in the middle of a serious drought most of the summer. All the rain seemed to go to Texas or just miss us. On Thursday the rain moved in and from Thursday morning to Friday afternoon we got close to twenty inches of rain. The picture below is the main parking lot at the public beach. The beach is behind me. This is a little bike, float, skim board rental place. It's a long, long way from the water. This flooding is strictly from the rain.

Whoops loaded the same picture twice, I must try and fix that! The water in this picture reaches all the way to the road where you see that car near the water tower.

The powers that be built up the dunes behind the homes on the beach, that's great if there's a hurricane but now their carports are all flooded from the deluge. I'm not kidding. It's crazy. Fixing one problem and I don't know that those dunes will protect the homes anyway, but that created a whole new kind of problem.

My personal opinion is that no one should be allowed to build on the beach and if you do you do so at your own risk. There's a big argument now in the county next to us regarding beach home owners and beach goers. The home owners don't want locals to be able to use the beach behind their homes but at the same time they want us tax payers to pay for beach restoration for beaches that we can't use. Uh no way! I should state that the beach is public land up to the mean high tide line. The home owners only own, or lease rather, the land up to the high water line.

My dream used to be a home on the beach, now after a few years of bad hurricanes I'm perfectly happy to live a few miles from the beach. It's close enough thank you very much.

Okay, that is a car, water up to the doors. It's in the parking lot of the restaurant that backs up to the beach.

We've had one day of sunny weather since last Thursday. It's storming today and it's a good thing I have a crockpot of this going:

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup in a Crock Pot (Copycat) Recipe Recipezaar

Tomorrow if weather permits, I'll take a new picture of 13th Colony Bay. I worked on it all day Sunday and it was easy to sit and stitch the afternoon away since Sorry Wrong Number was on. The only thing better would have been a Double Indemnity double feature.