After the Storm

After the storm tonight. The rain moved out and the skies opened up, it was beautiful.

Oops!

Storm, after storm, after storm! As the new storm approached tonight around 6:30 pm, Bike man saw one of our large oak trees loose a limb in the gusty wind, plus another large limb from the property next to us. Both of them went down together. Geez

Actually, in one of last week's storms, this large oak limb broke off and got hung up in the pine tree. Well, tonight's storm did the job of taking it all the way down. At least we don't have to worry about how to get the limb safely down. Hummmm, I'm thinking this would be a nice job for the Son! Welcome home Son......you said you missed the chain saw right?

Here's a photo of limb #2 from the neighbors tree. Oh gosh, our poor hosta plants. It could have been worse however. Received lots of rain again, but nothing like Tuesday night's flash flooding.

Our son called early tonight to tell us he had just crossed the Wisconsin border and was heading towards southwest Wisconsin, where he will stay overnight at Trisha's parents house. Not bad timing since our son left Cleveland around 11 am our time. Can't wait until he is on home turf!

More Rain Coming

Yikes! Went down to the dock tonight to take a few photos of the storm clouds coming in.

Based on the radar it looks like more storm and rain moving in from the west tonight. I hope this isn't a repeat of Tuesday night's flash flooding. The nearby fields are rain soaked and people are still dealing with water in their basements. Guess we don't have to worry about that because we don't have a basement!

Bike man and I had good intentions of heading down to the RC trail for a bike ride tonight, but the heat index was in the 90's today with high humidity, so we didn't ride. Bike man did cooked up over 6 dozen ears of corn this afternoon and froze it all. Quite a solo chore on a hot day! As for the bike ride, we'll shoot for a ride on Saturday and Sunday. I am so looking forward to cooler temps by Sunday and Monday.

On a brighter note, I'm looking forward to two weeks of cycling down the great Mississippi River....remember, in search of ice cream!!!!

Buckets of Rain Last Night

Had quite a wild night last night with all the intense rainfall here in northwest WI. Woke up this morning and headed to work, only to discover roads and bridges had been washed out. This picture above shows 18-Mile Creek that runs through Colfax, the village where I work. Now normally, this is such a small creek, that you can hardly see the water among the tall grass. Well, this morning it looked like a small river.

This is 18-Mile Creek that flows into the Red Cedar River. This creek is 1/2 city block from my work place. On my lunch break, I walked down to the bridge to take a photo of the fast moving water.....this was taken at noon today and the flash flooding happened around midnight.

The amount of water coming down the creek was four time what it normally is. Besides the high creek, many homes in Colfax had basements flooded. One home I drove by today had it's basement wall collaspe.

I think we received around 3-4 inches of rain last night, but other areas in Dunn County received 5, 6 and 7 inches of rain. Unbelievable!

Bike man returned from the city later today. I forgot to mention yesterday that Trisha rode along with Bike man and then he dropped her off at her parents house in southwest WI. Trisha will happily return with the Son on Saturday. One more time....yippee! Can't wait till our son is home safe and sound.

As Soon As I Got Home......

Gosh dang it. As soon as I got home from work, I heard that familiar rumble, which could only mean one thing.....thunder. I had been watching the Doppler radar at work and saw storms developing to the west and north. Since I'm kinda wimpy, I decided not to chance it on a bike ride. Lightening/thunder (and me) don't go together well.

Instead, I decided to head out to my garden and cut some dahlia's. I've always loved these beautiful flowers. The gladiolas are just starting to bloom as well. I've been spending a quiet night alone since Bike man is off to the city to pick up anchors for the lake buoy's. He just happens to be spending the night at my folks place tonight in Southern WI.

Being a mom like I am, I just have to tell you this.......the Son is coming back from Cleveland this weekend! Yippee. His ten-week internship is finally done and he will be driving back home. I can't wait to see him safely home in Wisconsin.

Our daughter will also be arriving back to Minneapolis this weekend since she's been out in California attending a conference for autism. If you are a parent, you will understand my unsettled emotions as our children travel here and there. Instinctively, I just want the kids to be safe and happy.

My New Love

I have a confession, my new love is not anything related to humans, but rather, in the form of beans! When it's hot and humid, I don't like to cook. But, I found these new El Paso black beans in Mexican sauce which satisfy my hunger.

Cook up some brown rice and heat the black beans. Add a little touch of shredded cheddar cheese and then top it off with spicy salsa, and you have a perfect meal! Rice and beans, that's my signature now!!!!


Too hot to do anything today.....not even riding my bike.....gasp! Tomorrow's another day.

Bike man took the little boys back home to Minnesota today, and Trisha rode along too. The house is quiet tonight, just how I like it.

On the Water

The boys had a full day on the water. Grandpa Bike man took the boys out on the lake so he could show them how he checks the lake's clarity, which he records for DNR. Then they all came back to the house and picked me up so we could go up the river for an afternoon of swimming.

Guess who followed us up the river? Uncle Mike, and cousins Rissa and Dria.

On a hot humid day, this is the best place to hang out......the Hay River, which feeds into Tainter Lake. The water is clear and refreshing.

Who wants to pay money to play in a water park, when we have nature's best gift.....a shallow river with lots of birds and wildlife.

Ian's prize treasure today.

Besides finding clams, Ian spend several hours collecting river sticks so he could build a tee pee with Rissa.

After nearly three hours on the river, we were all ready to head back to our house. Just in time to beat a late afternoon storm. The boys were exhausted and in bed by 9 pm tonight. Grandpa drives them back to Minnesota tomorrow morning.

All in all, it was a good weekend and the boys had fun.