Phase 1 done!

Yes...Phase 1 of clean up is done. It took us 7 days and we would still be working if a neighbor hadn't lent us his cart! PHEW! I think I'm finally not sore and had to go to the DR to get my allergies back under control...gotta love steriods! We were able to burn everything on Saturday and Sunday before the rain started!

Phase 2 will begin when we get back from vacation. We have to get a tree service to come out and get down the high stuff.

I feel like I haven't scrapped for a month! And vacation is starting in a couple of days...so I don't think I'll get back to my scrap table until the second week of August....hopefully the mojo will be flowing!

Derecho!

Well we are into day 3 of clean up after a Derecho blew through. Yes, that storm had a name. A derecho is more rare than a tornado. It is categorized by its direct path and they are known for their longevity, incredibly high-sustained wind speeds and fast moving nature. This one covered a 60 mile wide path from Omaha through the quad citys and on towards Chicago.


Great! Just what we needed! LOL!! Anyway, after 3 days of clean up, I think I finally have a plan. My husband and neighbor cut the wood after work and I haul it up. I think we will create a burn pile and burn the small stuff. I'm looking for volunteers to take the bigger stuff. Another neighbor has a wood burning furnace and will be taking some.


Anyway...here are some photos of what is done after 3 days. Although I got a slow start on Monday and Tuesday. Monday I had chainsaw problems. I bought the last one in town and it did not work well. Tuesday I exchanged it...Yeah! It works...but it is too heavy for me. I could cut for about 15 to 10 minutes, then I would haul wood in a wheel barrow. Tuesday night...Mike and our neighbor got a bunch cut. Another neighbor lent us his cart for the lawn tractor. Today I haulled and stacked all the wood.


There still seems to be a bunch more to do. I don't even feel like we got a dent into it...Check it out-->
This is 2 full rows with a third started. These logs ar at least 4" in diameter...a few are more than 12" in diameter.
This is the second pile of smaller stuff...There are piles all over the yard of smaller stuff that will eventually make it to the burn pit/pile I create.
This is one of 2 whole trees that came down still needing to be cut.
This is the other. It is hard to tell, but at about 8 feet up the tree snapped and fell over.
More limbs to be cut. Again, these are at least 12" in diameter at the widest point. There are at least 3 of these large limbs and many more smaller ones still waiting to be cut.
This is not a good photo...but there is an equivalent of a tree stuck in the tree. I have no idea how we are going to get that down. We have numerous stuck branches in the big Oaks and many of the Ashes have been topped.

Tornado?

Oh my goodness!! What a storm! No tornados, but winds blowing at 95 mph! We spent a good 30 to 45 minutes in the basement this morning...We probably should have gone down 15 minutes earlier. Check out our backyard, it looks like a war zone. We lost at least 2 whole trees and maybe another. There are 3 huge oaks that all have been basically topped. I think at least one and maybe another will survive. I have a feeling too much was lost on the other...which was our major shade sorce for our deck. But...the house is good and there is no damage. PHEW!! Needless to say...we now own a chainsaw!

Finally done!

Yep...Kelly's 4th year album is finally complete!!! Yeah...I got the last 2 page spread done during Scrapword's online crop. I even got done a card stock only layout! I'd been meaning to do one of those for a while...Check it out:

Wow...one photo of a 2 page spread is awfully tiny! Anyway the PP, rubons, tags, and stickers are all Daisy D. The circle thingys are MM grommets. One of those tools I had to have and just never used...until now!

I love how this layout turned out...card stock only, ghost letters with rubons, and silver stitching!

Anyway...do you have a tool that you just had to have and have never used it? Which one?

Scrapwords Crop

Well...I've been participating in the Scrapwords day crop today and am having a total blast...You've got to come check it out --> http://www.scrapwords.com/

I finally got my Battles layout done and another....2 layouts in one morning...amazing!

Comment verification

Well...it seems I have comment spam...so I have enabled comment verification. Bummer...I really didn't want to do this, but I never requested anything from a pharmacy....LOL!!! Now, if I could just figure out how to delete that comment with out verifing every comment!

I've been tagged!

So I might as well go for a record and make 3 posts in one day! LOL!!!

10 yrs ago: I was still single and living in Carol Stream. I was a system administrator turning into a capacity planner. WOW...a lot has changed since then.

5 things to do today: 1. Balance check book. 2. Pay bills. 3. Vacuum floors. 4. Clean kitchen. 5. Cook dinner. and 6. SCRAP!

Favorite snack: This is a toss up...for sweets --> dark chocolate m&ms. for salty --> pretzel flats with spinach dip.

What would I do if I was a millionaire: I would travel with my Hubby...live in a warm climate year round and scrap, scrap, scrap!

The places I have lived are: Homewood, IL...Champaign, Il (during my college days), Carol Stream, IL; Grayson, GA; St. Charles, IL, and now...Muscatine IA

The 4 people I will tag are: Shannon, Meg, Ally, and Jen