Overnight the forecast changed and rain was pushed off another day. I didn’t cope well with this change, feeling overwhelmed and discombobulated. But because the plumbers said they might be coming on Friday, on Wednesday I set to getting the clean room organized. There will be a lot of stuff to still move, but at least everything (mostly) has a place now.
During the night we’d had a windstorm and there was debris all over the yard. I finally got outside at 8AM and started cleaning it up. If you look at the upper center of the photo, in front of the barn, you can see a large branch came down. Fortunately it was on the other side of the fence and I think away from the gate, so it didn’t need immediate attention. I couldn’t see any trees down on the back 40, so I thought we’d escaped well.
Then I started the weeding and clean up of the Small garden. My intern wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t coming, so I was on my own. I finished this about 10:30. The humidity was very low (for us lately) and the temps in the 70’s so it was pleasant working out there.
I went in and got a shower and rested for a while. When my son showed up at noon to move the wood into the shed, he noticed something I’d missed.
The neighbor’s tree had snapped off about 20’ up in the storm.
And it had landed on the barn roof.
My son climbed into the loft and said he couldn’t see damage from there. But there was no way to see if there was any from outside. The siding is a bit damaged. So I left a message for the neighbors, as they will have to deal with it.
This last thing to deal with was a bit much. I’ve too many balls in the air. I hope they don’t give me a hard time.
So my son and his friend set to work and moved half the pile into the shed.
In the meantime, a neighbor who had come by on Tuesday to ask permission to ride horses on the property, showed up. She was trying to find a way to make the path safe and was asking if it was ok to cut brush and stumps. She also volunteered to move the 75 bales of mulch on Saturday morning.
Another friend was taking me shopping in late afternoon. I thought I had enough time to pick more green beans and process them before I had to go. I think it’s the first time since May I’ve been able to work outside in the afternoon.
I got them picked and processed, just finishing putting them in the freezer when my friend arrived for shopping. I’ve got 12 pints in the freezer now.
I figured both neighbors (for the path and for the tree) would show up either while I was gone, or while I was trying to get stuff in the freezer. I guess the one for the path did, as she called me later and told me she had cut up and thrown over the fence all the tree limbs that had fallen from the storm, out on the back 40. I’d told her the hayman would be coming, so they did it as they walked back to where the path was. That was so kind! One less job/ball to juggle….
Thursday it’s to rain and I plan to work in the pantry, getting the thumbtacks into the shelf paper and then seeing how much farther I can get. I hope to hear from the neighbor about the tree and the plumber about if he will be coming on Friday.
I’m supposed to go to my mom’s for the day on Friday, as it’s her 88th birthday, so I wrote the plumber asking if he could come on Monday….
Too many balls….
Poor tree! Hopefully your neighbor is cool about it. How does that work when it's the neighbor's tree onto your barn, if there's damage? Like is that a your homeowner insurance covers it, or theirs, or nobody's because barns don't count?
I hope you get some rest soon, it sounds like you have a lot on your plate!
I've no idea, but I expect I will find out soon!