GOOD BYE TO A RAINY MONTH OF MAY and 2008 DECADE PIC

Wow !!!!!   Feeling very thankful this morning to wake up to sunshine through the bedroom windows.

Daughter dropped IR off and hubbie fed her while I did chores. 

I still needed my raincoat for all the wet bushes and dripping leaves on the trees but at least its not pouring rain.

We made it to market a few minutes early and got unloaded and set up . IR wanted her bottle so we fed her and then Connie, other g-ma picked her up about 10:30.

Hubbie helped work on some things around market to get ready for Ol' Timey Day on Saturday.

I had a good sales day today thankfully.

We packed up and hubbie went by the dump and the plumbing store and home to try and get some lawn mowed before the rains the darkening clouds are bringing gets here.

I went to the bank, the PO and to Aldi for baking supplies. I got here and we got things unloaded and put away just before the storm reached us. This time the rain was accompanied by bad thunder, close lightening and high winds that sent me to our bedroom out of the way of the dangerous Oak trees that were swaying wildly in the wind.

Thankfully the storm passed by quickly but still left us another 1 inch of rain in the gauge.

We watched the news then did chores and without a raincoat this time even if the leaves were still dripping raindrops.

Hubbie put the new water diverter in the kitchen sink faucet and it is now fixed, thankfully.

It's hard to believe this is the last day of May 2018. I have one more decade pic to get on here and that is for May 2008 when d-in-love's dad took her brother Tim and #1 son to Alaska on a fishing trip. Unfortunately for her dad he came down with vertigo just days before the trip but went anyway and was pretty sick most of the time but they still caught a lot of fish. They caught Salmon and Halibut which they are pictured with. Son is on the right in the picture, he had a great time fishing and that was the best tasting fish I have ever eaten .

This month has flown by quicker than most and with all the nasty rainy days we have had in it you would think it would have gone slowly.

The month actually started out beautifully with warmer than normal temps and sunshine which brought out all the pretty spring flower blooms.

We made our annual spring flea market trip and went to a couple plant sales.

G-son's spring soccer season came to an end and we celebrated son-in-love's 38th birthday.

G-daughter RL came down with a really bad case of  Hand, Foot and Mouth disease along with 9 of the 10 kids in her pre-school class and one of the teachers even came down with it. Thankfully I avoided the sickness this time.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day and we got our garden planted before the flooding rains began.

The month has ended with record amounts of rainfall and devastating floods and damage from downpours of rain .

And tonight as if to get one last punch in the storms are coming one right after the other with lightening, thunder, high winds and pouring rain to add to the monthly total.

It is really quite scary outside tonight with the winds loosening the tree roots in the saturated soil.

Praying that we stay safe in these storms tonight.

God Bless and Good Night

MORE RAIN MORE FLOODING

With numerous roads closed and damaged this morning school was put on a 2-hour delay. This is a good thing so that it will be after daylight when the buses get out on the roads. I don't think I've ever seen the list of closed roads so long for our county. It isn't just flood waters but mudslides,sink holes and fallen trees in the roads.
D-in-love's mom lives in Rutherford county which is another really badly damaged county so she is afraid to attempt the trip up here today so RL is coming here on this Wednesday along with IR.
I got chores done and noticed the flood water in the bottoms was going down quickly as if something broke loose down stream.

With rain still falling we had to come up with some rainy day inside activities for RL while I got my baking done.

She positioned her little desk right beside me in the kitchen and colored between helping me count eggs as I cracked them into the mixer. I baked 6 caramel, 4 chocolate, 4 pound, 1 blackberry and 1 pan of brownies before cabin fever got the best of both girls.
With a short break in the rain we went out on the porch and covered patio. RL stayed with Meow Meow and IR wanted to swing.

Once the rain started back we headed back inside. #1 son got run out of work again and picked up RL right after lunch.

IR went down for a nap and hubbie and I watched the rain and wondered how much more water we were going to get.

This month of May 2018 now holds the all time record for most rainfall in a month .

The official measurement station is located at the Asheville airport and is much less than most areas around here. 

Our Henderson county leads with  over 21 inches just since May 15th !!!

Don't know how our garden is going to survive all this standing water for days.

The cherry crop is ruined.

Many towns are flooded today and many businesses have flooded  multiple times recently.

This is the town of Chimney Rock which is totally closed by water and mudslides along highway 64.

The town of Saluda is flooded.

Biltmore village in Asheville has been over run with the flooding Swannanoa River.

And the south end of Hendersonville has flooded multiple times over the last couple weeks each time there is a heavy downpour of any significance .

A DOT dump truck slid off in a creek after trying to dump a load of rocks.

Many bridges are completely gone, stranding many folks until waters go down enough to even walk out.

I'm not complaining about our minor inconveniences here with so many folks suffering so much devastating damage and loss.

As I got my raincoat on this evening to go get chores done I thought about when the last chore time was that I didn't need this coat.

I came inside and started icing cakes with a thankful heart that we have maintained out electricity all through this storm so far.

I got things ready for market and got into bed about midnight as usual on market evenings.

Praying for all the folks in harms way tonight and thankful that we have been so blessed through this weather.

God Bless and Good Night.

FLOODING RAINFALL

Today has been a truly rotating doors kind of day for the kids.
First thing this morning IR arrived on time and then we waited for RL who never came, instead we got a call from #1 son saying she had gotten sick during the night and her mom was taking her to the doctor this morning.
After rain continued to fall overnight we are flooded this morning.

While I was out in a break in the rain getting morning chores done AD arrived for the morning.
When she finished her school work on the computer IR was very glad to have a playmate.

After RL went to the doctor and got checked out to see why she is running a fever  and they couldn't find any obvious reason d-in-love brought her here and went on to work.
AD got picked up at lunch time and the rest of us had lunch then watched it rain for the afternoon.

Well at least a couple of us watched the rain and couple of us slept.

RL and I walked outside in a break in the rainfall and checked out the flooding .

Poor Meow Meow was having trouble finding a dry place to cross the driveway.

#1 son who got rained out of work came by about 2:00 and picked up RL to go home and get her to take a nap.

So we finished the day with the only child we started with !

The rains were very heavy at times all afternoon and a lot of roads are closed all around the area with flooding and landslides.

Alberto is slowly moving north .

These are the last pictures I took this evening of the flooded lower pastures.

I emptied another 2.5 inches of rain from the gauge and then the bottom dropped out once again so there is no telling how much more rain we got this evening after dark.

I had to get hubbie to help me move a group of the oldest chicks into a drier place this evening.  Any kind of farming is surely not fun in this weather.

My heart goes out to all the farmers around here that are sadly watching their crops wash down the creeks.

I have lived here all my life and I can't remember this much rain in less than a 2 week period at anytime. 17.71 inches for our county and that was earlier this morning before the all day heavy rain of over 2 inches.

I saw this and thought this is surely the time for this reminder !!!

We are very thankful that we have kept our power with all the trees falling down and we are praying that the winds don't reach us from the storm as it passes through Tennessee tonight.

I can rest in the comfort that God knows what He is doing and this is all part of His grand plan.

God Bless and Good Night

RAINY MEMORIAL DAY 2018

Woke to the familiar sound of rain falling this morning but thanks to the holiday we could just roll over and hope the rain would stop in a little while.
And fortunately it did by the time we got up there was a break and we got all the animals fed before the rain started again.
We had breakfast then decided to make a trip to Aldi and Walmart since I didn't stop anywhere Saturday for baking supplies.
It is a steady light rain but not too bad to be out in.
Hubbie talked to #2 son and he got about 30 feet of 3 different smashed drain pipes dug out yesterday and was going to go today and buy more pipe and connectors and just fix it himself instead of having the contractor make a bigger mess in his yard.
When we got back I got the weekly laundry started and then changed all the bed and furniture covers out and re-decorated for a new month.
I love changing out all my shelf sitters and color co-ordinating everything.
Hubbie tackled our kitchen sink faucets , we have low water pressure in there and it is getting worse. We bought a new faucet but when hubbie was looking up how to change them out he ran across an article that said the water divertor inside the faucet we have was probably bad . So he went to Lowes and Home Depot to see if either had a replacement part , they didn't. He put it back together and is going to check with a plumbing supplier in town tomorrow to see if they have one. It would sure be a much cheaper fix than replacing the entire faucet set.
#1 son's family made it home safely about mid day saying they felt like drowned rats after  getting things ready for the trip home this morning. We are very thankful for the traveling mercies God sent their way.
We watched the news of the landfall of Alberto and now hopefully he weakens quickly and doesn't send high winds and heavy rains our way.

As soon as the storm passed through Panama City there was a beautiful rainbow above the weather reporter.

I dumped 1 inch of rain from the gauge at chore time this evening. The rain seems to be coming in heavier as darkness falls tonight and the wind is getting up some which is not good at all. With all the heavy wet leaves on the trees and the rain softened soil we certainly will be lucky not to loose power.

Hubbie bought extra gas today to run the generator just in case.

On a very sad note today this storm has already claimed 2 lives. As these 2 reporters from wyff4 checked out the slide area on road #176 in Polk county a huge tree slid off the bank onto their vehicle killing both of them. Prayers go out to their families tonight.

Take time before this day is over to give thanks to all the fallen soldiers that have given their lives so that you and I can enjoy the freedom that we have.

Thankful tonight for the blessings of this day and praying that it be God's will for safety for the family during this storm.

God Bless and Good Night

RESTFUL SUNDAY FOR SOME OF US

A different Sunday morning to wake up to today. Hubbie's back has been really bothering him and I am simply just feeling really tired lately so we decided last night while listening to pouring rain that we would take a break from our regular Sunday morning and sleep in.
Not going to church feels really strange for me and I always pray for forgiveness since it leaves me with a feeling of guilt. The bottom pastures were filled with flood waters once again this morning after the 6/10ths inch of rain here last night and the over 2 inches up on the mountain that came down the creek.

We both slept in until 8:30 and then got the chores done. We also decided last night to just do hotdogs and burgers on the grill so we wouldn't have any pre-preparations to do this morning.
We had a leisurely breakfast then relaxed for a while.
We started the French fries in the oven and hubbie fired up the grill about 11:45 to get things ready by about 12:30.
Daughter's family, Aa's family and #2 son and Tif joined us for the cookout.
With the clouds still threatening rain we opted to eat inside and then play outside.
The kids had a good time and the adults all had a nice visit.

The rains have created some Sunday afternoon work for Aa and #2 son.
Aa had to have his dad bring his big track hoe over to get the trees that had fallen into the creek and created a dam out this afternoon before any more rain caused the creek to flood again. Hubbie and I watched from the covered patio as they worked.

#2 son went home to dig up his gutter drain lines to see why they weren't draining water. He had to use a shovel. He discovered that all his drain lines were badly crushed. This should be covered in his new home warranty so we will see what Justin Klepp with WNC Huskey Construction does about fixing this problem.

Son was reluctant to call him because he said if they did this shoddy job he didn't know if he wanted them back in his now landscaped yard or not. Looks like they would have had to have known these were crushed since the ends of the lines were very visible as you can see in the first picture and the crushed parts were near those  exposed ends. Doesn't anyone take pride in their work anymore ????

With the weather taking a drastic turn for the worse in the next few days this is going to be a bigger problem for son.

Alberto is due to make landfall farther to the east than predicted so that means we are in the bullseye for wind and rain.

Major flooding is expected because of the already saturated ground.

Thankfully the rains held off all day and even into tonight so far at 10pm still no rain.

Thankful also that the rains held off #1 son's family's camping trip and the kids have had a blast with their friends. Praying for traveling mercies as they head home tomorrow.

Thankful for a very restful, wonderful Sunday and praying that the storm spares us any major problems.

God Bless and Good Night