I don't want to bring bad luck on myself, but so far, this storm is a bust here in Lexington. Rain is heavy, but the 50 mile an hour winds have not started. Do you live south of Lexington? Unless we lose our power tonight, my plans are the same: sit near the woodstove and immerse myself in another :Homer Kelly mystery ignoring a paper I must write.

idabean

nothing exciting here 50 miles inland near NH border. I've enjoyed the lounging around indoor this morning and purging closets!

Now off to the garage to organize clutter for the winter to make room for my car. I actually had to scrape frost (waaaahhhhh!) yesterday when it was in the driveway after hard freeze night before.

Ginny, you sound like you are all done outside. I still have lots of perennial cleanup to do outside, not to mention winterizing ornaments,furniture,etc. Several annuals and pots still kicking around too. There are a few things I wanted to plant and transplant, but probably will defer those to the spring now.

well...uh... on 2nd thought... the intensity is picking up and I hear lotsa thunder.... I think it might be wise to shut the 'puter down....

Down here on the south coast, the winds are howling, gusting to 50 mph and sustained at 30-35 mph. The heavy rain has ended for now. We don't need heat since the temperature is in the 60's and the air feels muggy in the howling south winds. INterestingly, I have not seen any whole trees down, just branches. I think the high frequency of really significant storms over the last few years took out the weak trees that were ready to topple (remember the ferocious storm early last December???).

Here in the CT River Valley, wind gusts to about 30 but the backlash of the storm tomorrow is supposed to be worse. 1.8+/-" of rain. Nothing toppled but was prepared -- a benefit of a "new" garden!!

Stay upright, all.

Martie

No sooner did I click "send" on my initial post than the power went out again, and the phone again too. And I have so much to do! It just came on again and I hope it stays on. Now I can do what I should have been doing at ten this morning.

Wendy, my garden is definitely not put to bed yet. The major fun project is cutting back the perennial border which I will start this week. I have been caught by snow a few times before that job has been done and it's not a pretty sight.

Odd how people had such different weather. I am north of Boston in the Merrimack Valley. We had very high winds for many hours, and a fair amount of rain. Things have slowed down now. Hate putting the clock back tonight and the dark afternoons. Where's that Halloween candy I bought and froze so I wouldn't eat any of it?

The rain is pretty much over here on the deep South Shore (Plymouth), but the wind is still battering the trees by the Bay. My little hand-held wind gauge registered about 20 mph, but I was partly sheltered and I wasn't about to go closer to the edge of the coastal bank with wind gusts out the southeast. Plymouth Airport reported a gust of 70 mph.

It's high tide now, and it looks like there's significant sand shifting down on the beach. I'll check it out tomorrow.

In the height of the rain and wind I saw that my rose arch was leaning precipitously. It's in a wind tunnel and I had a bird feeder with a squirrel dome hanging from it. I raced out, removed the bird feeder and dragged two big containers over to prop up the arch. I had been hoping to avoid staking the arch but obviously it has to be done before the next big storm.

Warm here too (60's) and we still haven't had a freeze this year. On Thursday, I put the eight Helichrysums I potted up in the pop up greenhouse - I'm trying to overwinter them for the first time. Yesterday I planted most of the bulbs I just got so the rain would soak them. Yesterday I also wrapped the Halloween post (big spider and 3 scary wood masks) with a shade cloth to keep them from blowing away.

The lights have flickered a few times but no power outages yet. A nice change from the past few years where the power went out regularly for no discernible reason.

Thanks for reminding me about the time shift. Now if I can just remember not to shift back the clocks that set themselves automatically...

Claire

Many flooded streets here, south of Boston.
Potted piceas blown over by winds.
Hope the cellar doesn't have "a river" running through it.

~ Hilda

Here on the ocean ten miles north of Boston it's still raining, but nothing like it was this morning and noonday. Unfortunately the wind was blowing strong out of the northeast, and so I learned that a townhouse basement leak which our condo association had hoped to have fixed a couple of years ago is not fixed after all......

:-(

Lol! Hilda, the nickname for my cellar really is "A River Runs Through It" because it's an old fieldstone cellar on a hill slope. It's a given that during a winter thaw rain or heavy rainstorm there will be streams a-runnin' from one end of the cellar and down the sump.

We had heavy rain and wind here on the North Shore coast, but not the 50 mph gusts forecast. Maybe on the peninsulas and promontories right over the water, but not in my neighborhood which is a few blocks from the harbor. Temps in the 60s made for a mild day.

The winds along the Cape and Islands were 35-40 mph with gusts 50mph++ throughout the entire day yesterday then continued non stop throughout the evening and have yet to die down. Some of the rain driven by high winds worked side ways around chimney caps and my guess is there are a lot of wet ceilings and I bet Cady isn't the only one with a wet basement. I am really kicking my self for nay saying the forecast and choosing (because I am cheap) to put off applying Wiltpruf to my broadleaf evergreens......ahhhhhhhhh. This is the second time in the recent past that I have chosen to ignore the weather forecast and found my self regretting it. A number of years ago when the kids were young we went without any television for a year and one of the insights was how different television, radio, & newspaper report the weather in New England. New England TV clearly has a love affair reporting about weather and IMHOP tends to over hype it. So now I have become a weather naysayer which is just down right dangerous. I am an adult and responsible for all of my own decisions but does anyone think that the television net works share some responsibility with the individual who ignores the continues onslaught of hype and finds them self facing dangerous weather conditions? kt

Fortunately, the water running through my cellar was polite and kept in a small and narrow stream. Thus, most of the floor is dry.

Katy, don't worry that you didn't Wiltpruf your shrubs yet. I don't think your broadleaf evergreens will be in jeopardy since the air was warm and humid during the storm, and will still be moist and above freezing for some time.

Technically, you don't have to spray until December, but if you want to start, just wait for the next calm, mild (40F+) day. Temps will stay over 40 for quite a while, so you're not under any pressure.

I didn't use Wiltpruf until mid-December last time I sprayed, and then diligently re-applied the Wiltpruf at 1-month intervals until March. The worst weather (dry, cold wind) tends to be Jan-Feb. Even though we always get wind near the coast, it usually has enough moisture in it in above-freezing temps that plants arent' desiccated.

I thought the damage was over; my rose arch is still standing, a few branches down, and the few damp spots in the cellar are already dried out.

However, the wind shifted to the south west this morning and a gust bent my wisteria standard over to the ground! It's supported by a steel obelisk and the wind pulled the top section of the obelisk out of the bottom part. I tied it back together and the wind seems to have died down now. Maybe the bent stems will convince it to bloom better next year...

Katy - I don't watch TV, and I get my main weather information from the internet, primarily Weather Underground, with National Weather Service as a backup. You customize them for your location.

Weather Underground?

National Weather Service

I've found them pretty reliable, and it's fun to follow the radar maps as storms approach (try the storm tracks on the local radar screen).

I also listen to NPR, but I'm in between the forecasts for Boston/South Shore and the Cape and Islands, so they're less reliable.

Claire

I feel fortunate no trees or big branches are down. But 4 wheelbarrows of lawn pine cones picked up so far and probably 3-4 more to go!!! The mowers are coming tomorrow and I don't want them all smashed into the lawn.

Still way too windy today to get leaves. I would love to bag some up for later shredding and mulching. The wind is supposed to die down later today so maybe later... there goes bulb planting... :-(

tv... yes, its all about ratings, drama...

I'm glad all you Northerners came through relatively unscathed. It wasn't so bad here. Windy today, rainy yesterday, but not too bad. I actually managed to finish planting my swap plants today - - it's the first weekend in a month that I haven't been sick!

Cady, my cellar also has a river running through it. It's not fieldstone, just cement, but the windows all leak. You can hear water running every heavy rain/snow melt. That's the project I'm spending my tax refund money on this year.

Sorry to hear of all the power outages and wind damage down there, we just got rain and a bit of sleet up here in Jackson NH. We also had a terrible tragedy where a kayaker lost his life in a swollen stream yesterday. I hope you all stay warm and safe.
We got snow last Monday. All the leaves are gone and we get scrapable frost on the windshields every day. I am so thankful for the greenhouse to keep me happily in plants.

Kathy

Well, today we got the 50mph gusts. lol
I couldn't believe how strong the wind was this morning. Thank goodness the forecast for the week is for gentler weather.