HAILSTORM!

Hi everyone--we just drove through a hailstorm & barely made it into the garage. I was afraid hail was going to bust through our windshield! I'm sure it wouldn't, going less than 25mph, and having hail the size of marbles, but it still struck some fear in me. It also struck our plants. :o( Here's some pics, mostly so I can show Mark while he's at work, but feel free to 'enjoy' them yourself. Ha.

There seriously were blown-over garbage cans floating down the streets of our neighborhood as we drove home. All the while, Addie was frantic--"We need to get home, Mom! This is scary--I don't like this, Mom..." When we got home, we couldn't even close the garage door because the hail was coming in at an angle & hitting our motion sensors. Addie was carried from the van, into the house--she wouldn't move or anything...just whimper. Poor girl!

Addie has brought a bit of entertainment & sorrow--this storm has her a bit shook up. The sorrow because she seems genuinely frightened and a bit worried for Mikey & Daddy, who are not home with us. Entertainment (and a bit of sorrow) because she keeps saying, "I just don't know what's happening in this world," and asking"What is happening to this world?!!!" Don't worry Addie--the world is just coming to an end. :o) That must be what she's thinking, by the way she keeps asking!

Kelli's handling it quite differently--the rain has now calmed quite a bit, and she's already been outside, gathering the most perfect bits of hail. :o) Now the hail is in a Ziploc baggie, and keeping quite nicely in our freezer.

You can see how much hail she had to choose from.

The basketball court has turned into an ice-skating rink!Garden, be gone. This was our first year at growing Jack-o-lantern pumpkins. :o(The corn is a bit sideways, the tomatoes are crushed, and the beans--well, I guess they were not doing well to start out with, so not much of a loss. You can see the pile up of hail/water in the furrows, as well as a nice little pile along the fence line (picture below). Come home & have some fun skiing in our snow, Mark! Actually, you could have gone water skiing around the neighborhood earlier. There's an extreme sport for you! Bet you'd get just as many welts skiing this storm as you did paint balling! :o) This is what's left of my most prized hosta--the hailstorm just tore it to shreds! It was just about to bloom, too--a full seven stalks for blossoms this year, too! Now I can see heads on only two of those stalks. Sigh...... This hosta has just be abused this year--first Kelli picking leaves for her 'collection,' and now this. Good thing they are hearty!

Just when you think it's all done...here comes the rain again... At least I like the sound of falling rain and thunder! :o) Days like this make me glad I didn't spend extra time waxing & buffing the 'haze' out of the van. :o) Enjoy the day!