Coming in like a lion..

And it's not even March yet! These photos are from the tornado that touched down last Wednesday about 9 miles from my house. There were 10 reported tornadoes that touched down in Georgia and one person died. So I don't mess around when they say "Tornado Warning for Oglethorpe County" - this also has to do with the fact that I lived through a tornado in 1994 in Floyd County (where I grew up). Debbie (my pupper) and I were in the hall closet with our bike helmets on and yes we did look ridiculous ;). Dan was at a convention in Columbus, GA which is about 3 hours away so we were on our own.

I remember growing up and my mom pulling us out of bed and making us get in the hall with a mattress over our heads and sitting in the hallway at school with our heads tucked between our legs. Tornado warnings were a regular occurrence every spring and they always terrified me. It's one of the reasons I am now obsessed with the weather.

It really just broke my heart to see these huge, old trees lying on the ground. The house above had a backyard full of downed, large pecan and oak trees. They also had a glass sun porch that was shattered to bits and were missing quite a few shingles from their roof. I'm certain they feel lucky that their house is still standing. There was also some sort of shed in their backyard that didn't fair nearly as well.

This poor tree was HUGE. If I had to guess I would have said it was well over 200 years old and sadly it didn't make it through a direct hit from an F1 twister. There was also an F5 (the strongest recording on the fujita scale with winds up to 318 mph) tornado that briefly touched down in the next county over and completely demolished a home. Luckily they had a storm shelter under ground so the entire family survived. Scary stuff!

Get your bike helmets on folks and hang on - spring is on the way!

Cold Sunrise!

Even though the sun looks warm and toasty coming up over the hill off my front porch this morning it's definitely deceptive! It was 14 degrees when I woke up! Now I know that some of you northern folks are thinking "That's nothing - that'd be a heat wave here!" but you have to remember that's the coldest temperature we've seen around here in 6 years! So I had to bundle myself up to go feed all the "kiddos" this morning and I'm about to have my 3rd cup of coffee to thaw out!

Thelma and Louise have become my "house chickens" because it's just too cold outside for them and they're still not quite 8 weeks old yet. And honestly I enjoy their company and their little chatter during the day ;). There are several people who think I'm just a little looney for keeping chickens inside (I won't name any names but "hi" mom) and maybe I am ;). Maybe I'll just tell everyone they're a new breed of parrot and no one would think twice about them being indoors ;).

Hope you're staying warm!

Rain, rain

I would say go away but the lakes around here need it! I love the rain but this is a little excessive. We've had nearly 5 inches of rain in less than 24 hours and we're forecast to get another 1 to 2 inches today. So it's no wonder Oglethorpe county is in a flood watch.

Thank goodness my rain boots come almost up to my knees because I've needed it on my daily treks to the barn. At least the geese are having a blast!

Hope you're enjoying decent weather and if not be careful out there!

Ummm...

Who is this and why is he wearing my crown AND giving me a dirty look?!

It is cloudy, rainy and we're under a tornado watch until 3pm today so I let the little chick-a-loos out for a bit before the really nasty stuff gets here. Chick Pea, who you might recognize from my custom item listings in my little shop, doesn't seem to remember Mr. Toad who she has "met" several times before. I think it's the dirty look that's throwing her off ;).

Hopefully none of us will have to duck in the closet today but we could very well get washed away! It's pouring!

Hope you're staying dry and cozy! =)

It's a Beautiful Day

Bright, clear blue skies - the perfect back drop to the plump little yellow berries on my China Berry tree. It's too bad I don't feel up to enjoying it. I think I'm trying to come down with the flu or a cold =(. So instead of enjoying the beautiful weather outside I think I'm going to curl up in my big chair next to the window and enjoy it inside with a couple of books, a big glass of orange juice and a bottle of Nyquil. And hopefully nip this thing in the bud - I've got pecan pies to make tomorrow gosh darn it! And I'm trying to get several new pieces listed in my jewelry shop before this weekend. I refuse to be sick!
Hope you're enjoying lovely weather!