Flash Flood!

Yesterday I was returning from JHU hospital where Mom got a second opinion when the rains came down. Mom fortunately was not with me as my sister, Bonnie was driving her back to Chambersburg. Once I got off the Baltimore Beltway and tried to come down Dogwood Rd from Rolling Rd I was stopped by a police cruiser. Road flooded ahead. I took a detour around to try to come in Dogwood from Old Court going through high water on the way and came to a stop by a raging stream across Dogwood. Tried a side road to skirt it but stopped again. Returned to Old Court then Rt 99 in Howard County and tried to come in by way of Old Frederick Road but police cruiser stopped me there because the road was flooded at the railroad tracks. I reached Dan by pay phone (my cell phone was dead!) and he said join him at his office. One hour (instead of 20 min) later I got there because rt 29 was closed to flooding and I had to detour through Columbia with everyone else trying to go south. We left my car in Dan's parking lot and I accompanied him to his rehearsal in Taneytown. We returned home in driving rain not knowing if we were going to be able to get down Dogwood Rd. The flash flood had subsided and we made it home. This morning we made it out so I could get my car but the streams are very high again and I'm staying put for the rest of this day and evening!

The following flash flood photos courtesy of my neighbor, Laura Espey.

The bottom of the lane which our driveway comes off. Our driveway was on this side of this flood.
Below is the same creek today.

This is one stretch of Dogwood Rd. I saw it from where those people are standing.

This was the road I tried to take to get around the flooding. Of course, I was on the other side of this.

My last attempt would have meant driving on this road. I'm glad I didn't.

Harvest Such As It Is!

The last tomatoes for the season I'm afraid. See why below.
Green beans and green peppers are all that's out there now.

The stink bugs have come and they are spoiling the tomatoes that remain.

See other harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.

FRUSTRATION!

Hurricane Irene came through here one week ago and one week ago we lost power.

We still have no power and despite having a generator running from our buried propane tanks we have been roughing it. The generator powers the well, hot water, freezer, refrigerator, cable/internet, some lights and the stove top. We have no laundry so its now two weeks of dirty clothes. No oven or microwave so I'm learning to use only the stovetop. No dishwasher. No overhead lights in the great room. No lights in the powder room or guest bathroom.

We turn the generator off at 10 pm and back on at 6 am. That's tricky at that time of night but a headlamp helps. The refrigerator temperature climbs during the night and especially so when I don't quite get the door closed. Yes, that happened last night and the milk soured and I don't know what else went bad. I quickly put the meat into the freezer and I'm hoping for miracles there.

Our power company said everyone would be restored on Friday by 11:30 pm though there would be some scattered outages continued until Saturday. Well, we are the continued outage along with several thousand others. Now they say Saturday evening. We'll see about that.

Totally frustrated at this point.

Yikes - Another Harvest Monday - and Not Much to Show!

Production in the garden has slowed immensely. The sun is moving south which means the tall tulip poplar trees are shading the garden during mid day. The garden gets the first morning sun then later afternoon sun but decreasing sun is taking its toll.

Here's what I found in the garden when we returned from our vacation in Maine. I guess my teen aged watering team didn't pick anything the week before. Or maybe they did and left me the sorrier looking tomatoes.


On Tuesday I picked green beans and used all my tomatoes to make a sauce for dinner.


That's it! I know there will be more beans out there and there are peppers to be picked. I have a late butternut squash that I hope will grow to maturity. But the tomatoes need to be pulled for they are done for the season.

Look for better harvests at Daphne's Dandelions.