Monday, July 2, 2012

Barn Charm

Happy Birthday America
(1776-2012)
236 years

This barn belongs to one of my neighbors. The propane tank that you see to the left is painted to look like a cow.

***As I type this I am without power and have been so since early Friday evening when severe storms devastated our area.  We are running a small generator a few hours a day to power our refrigerator and freezer to try and save what we can. The devastating storms have left us powerless - literally and figuratively. We are sweltering in temperatures that reach near 100 daily with the heat index going higher than that.  The hardest so far is no AC and the city has issued a boil water advisory so who knows what's next.
A less severe thunderstorm passed over us again last evening but was daunting to nerves so close on the heels of the previous storm. It knocked out some power that had been previously restored. I live on a paved rural road about one mile from the main highway. On Friday night five trees fell across the road at different intervals and needed to be cut away to allow passage for travel. A telephone pole was also snapped in two. A huge tree fell through the roof of a home just up the hill from where we live. Luckily, it was a rental and had been empty about two weeks. Three small trees fell within a couple of hundred feet of our front porch on property belonging to our neighbor.
For us there is much cleanup to be done gathering up fallen branches and putting our little acreage back in order and trying to be patient while we wait for power to be restored. We are fine and escaped severe damage and for that we are truly thankful.
This will probably be my only post for a few days until power is restored which we are being told could be as late as Saturday. I've only been able to have phone and internet within the last half hour and it is near midnight.
 I wish all of you in the US a wonderful and safe 4th of July.
To my Barn Charm and Ruby Tuesday friends I will be around to visit you all; just know it will take me a little longer than normal as we cope with phone lines that come and go.
Linking to Barn Charm and Ruby Tuesday 2.

36 comments:

Janie B said...

Oh, Carletta, I'm so sorry! How awful it must be. I've heard so much about the devastation on the news lately and can't believe I actually know someone who is in the middle of it. I hope your power is restored soon and all gets back to normal. Thank goodness you are all safe. God bless!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh Carletta, I am so very very sorry.. I had been wondering about you... Glad you are okay--but hate to hear that you are without electricity... Hope they get it restored soon...

Take care and enjoy your 4th --as much as you can.. God Bless You.
Hugs,
Betsy

George said...

I'm glad to hear that you got through the storms fairly well, although I do hope that your power is restored sooner rather than later.

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

I've been hearing about all the people without electricity and wondering how they are surviving in this awful heat.
Sorry to hear you are one of them but glad to hear you are ok. Hopefully your electricity will be restored soon.

Colin (HB) said...

So glad that you are in one piece.
I suspected something was wrong as the storms were all reported and some of the devestation was shown here on TV channels. Some of the scenes shown were horrific. Thankfully it appears that your home was not subjected to any destruction, losing power is bad enought, losing a roof is far worse, and of course the whole house is too horrible to contempt.
I suppose you can "pretend" that you are early settlers where aircon, electricity and all the now available modcoms were not even thought of. So for the 4th July, 2012, imagine you are early settlers of the area. Don't worry about my e-mails of concern etc.
Have a great 4th July and hopefully all will be restored ASAP.
Take care, all will be back to normal soon. I shall refrain from my usual Brisbane weather report.
Cheers
Colin (Brisbane.Australia)

lina@women said...

Hope everything will be back to normal soon.

eileeninmd said...

Carletta, sorry about your power being off. It has been awful in areas around here too. I love your barn shot. And I hope you are back to normal very soon. Take care and I wish you and your a HAPPY 4th of July!

Nancy said...

I've been wondering which of my blog friends are affected by this storm. I'm so sorry about this -- especially in this heat. Take care and we'll be here when you return. xoxo

Linda said...

I am so sorry you are still without power! But, thankfully, you weren't injured and your property is still safe. The barn is gorgeous and very appropriate for the coming holiday! Stay safe, and we will watch for you when you are back online. Take care of yourself - we will still be here when you get back!

Robin said...

Wow, it's shocking how much damage this storm did. I'm glad you've escaped serious damage and hope the power (and A/C!) will be back on soon.

Happy 4th of July despite it all.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

perfect for this week. love it! happy 4th to you! the storms here were nuts. we had some wild wind. huge branches every where. i'll never be finished picking the things up. it is wild. no rain just wind. what will happen next is my question? nothing i pray. hope your power is back soon. (:

The Farmers Daughter said...

Perfect photo for the 4th! So sorry to hear about the storms and power outage. . .

Mimi said...

Carletta, I'm very relieved to see this post. The minute I saw on the storms in Virginia on the news I wondered if you were ok.
Hang in there, it can only get better.
Thinking of you and praying power gets restored soon for you. Happy 4th!

Jan n Jer said...

My heart goes out to you n all the folks that were hit by the storm. Guess this is a real test of survival! We take so many things for granted and we find out during times like this what really counts. Hope your power is restored sooner then later. This has been one "HOT" summer so far!!! YIKES BTW Love your neighbors barn...very patriotic!

Maria @ LSS said...

Great shot of the beautiful barn. Happy RT2!

Mine's here.

Kathy said...

Glad to hear you are safe. Hang in there and we all hope you get back to normal soon.

Love the patriotic scene of your Barn Charm photo. It's perfect for this week.

Jeannelle said...

Perfect barn for this Barn Charm. Sorry to hear of the storm damage in your area. Happy 4th of July!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness gracious, Carletta, I'm terribly sorry about all the damage & storms! I'm glad you're both safe... I wish I could pipe some cool A/C to you, that's something that would certainly make life miserable being without! God bless you & I sure hope you get power back waaay before Saturday, like RIGHT NOW!!!

Don't worry about visiting Barn Charmers, we understand... we'll be here when you get power back & are able to return =)

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Sorry to hear about the damage and loss of power. Love your patriotic barn! Stay safe and have a happy 4th!

TexWisGirl said...

first, this is a beautiful place! :)

i appreciate you sharing it with us for the 4th. and am SO glad you are okay, even if you are suffering without electric svc and in the heat! so many folks needing relief from heat, drought, fires, storms.

take care of yourself!

ZielonaMila said...

Take care and enjoy your 4th,as much as you can. I am greeting

Red said...

We don't realize how much we depend on electricity until we lose it. Hope things improve in the next few days as far as power weather and clean up.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Such a beautiful; barn. Happy 4th to you Carletta. Are you guys affected with the storm that hit? I hope not. Visiting from Ruby Tuesday.

Sliced Strawberries is my RT post. Come and see when you get a chance, thanks!

kayerj said...

I'm glad you are ok--hope they get the power up soon. your picture is so very patriotic.

EG CameraGirl said...

I'm glad you have a generator for such emergencies! I wish you a safe and happy 4th of July!

Judy said...

Glad you're okay. Hope you have a safe 4th and your barn is so fitting.

Mary said...

Very nice barn...good choice with flag for our holiday.

Elaine said...

Glad to hear you're safe with no damage to your home. You're fortunate to have a generator to keep the refrigerator going, but I hope your electricity is back soon. Lovely choice of barn for the 4th. I'll keep you in my prayers.

don said...

I'm sorry to hear you are having such a rough time with the temperatures and all the storm related problems. I hope you're electricity is restored soon.

Neal said...

So sorry to hear that. There are people around here that lost power for several days. Thankfully, you guys are safe and that is the most important thing.

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

The propane tank is more charming than the barn!


Red Blossoms

Anonymous said...

Love that rural show of patriotism... Have a good 4th!

Tanya Breese said...

i'm hoping you get your power back soon. they were telling us sunday evening/monday of next week but we were fortunate to get ours back on tuesday evening...

Debbie said...

Oh Carletta, I had no idea that I have been praying for YOU! I've worried about all those affected by Friday's storms.

I am thrilled you have your power back on now and am so relieved you and hubby were not injured.

I had A/C problems but not the power part.

((Hugs))

Oh and the deer drinking out of the bird bath is awesome :)

Rose said...

Oh, wow, cannot imagine being without power for that long...but sounds like you were really blessed to come away with nothing major.

Sarah and Lorelei were here and I skipped blogging for 3 or 4 days...and I have had your blog open to catch up two or three different times and not got it done.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh my gosh -- I had no idea you'd gone through all that -- sounds like your power company was on top of it all though. Good grief. (I got way behind on blog reading while we were on our road trip and visiting kids and am just catching up). I'm glad you are OK>