We spent the afternoon cleaning up. Here are a few photos of the day:
The southwest corner of the barn took the most damage-
We lost another tree on Gazebo Hill. This one had about a two and a half foot diameter.
It just snapped off.
On my way back to the house from my walkabout, I got this shot of the tree in the barnyard/garden. You can barely see the barn behind the downed tree:
Beginning to clear the limbs:
Tree top in the garden. Luckily, it missed the bean trellis:
Amazingly enough, the black pearl pepper survived. Two inches difference and it would have been history:
After a closer inspection of the garden, I'm not sure I will lose any plants at all! A few tomatoes got knocked over but they look pretty good and I propped them up with mounds of dirt.
We got most of the tree cleared:
We had to stop because it was getting too big for the 16 inch chainsaw to handle. Now, we've got a huge pile of branches to shred. We'll have to have a shredding party! And we'll have plenty of hickory if we want to fire up the smoker!!
Finally, a look at the damage:
The eaves have been shaved completely off a good portion of the roof, including shearing off a few rafters. There is a hole completely through into the barn on the top corner. It's hard to see but not too far from the upper window (that we just put in a few weeks ago) there is a hole all the way through the wall where the boards were cracked by a branch. No windows were broken but there is still lots of broken glass all over the ground because both floodlights in the fixture were shattered.
We knew we needed to re-do the roof on the barn, it just wasn't in the plans for this summer. When we redo the roof, we want to change the roof line so we can have big windows on the south wall of the loft. Part of the conversion to a passive solar building. We're not ready to do that yet. My guess is that we will do a patch job for now until we're ready to completely raise the roof.
All in all, we got off lucky. The house didn't sustain any damage, the garden is fine and we are all well.
Unbelievable! I'm so glad you are all okay and it missed the house and new deck! Do you heat with wood? If not, it might be the perfect time to start...
ReplyDeleteWhat a bummer! Mother Nature strikes again and there's not much we can do to stop it. But with the other projects you've been working so hard on, you sure didn't need this. Hoping you can (maybe temporarily?) repair the barn without too much expense, time or trouble. Sorry you're having this to deal with.
ReplyDeleteSorry to see the damage, but glad it didn't hit anything (more) crucial and that you are all safe!
ReplyDeleteWow I saw the storms rolling in... We got heavy rain and some hail but not like what happened to you...Glad to hear that you guys are all okay.. sorry to hear about the barn.. Is it covered by insurance??? Weird weather we are having.. Hopefully the chicken coop will dry out and other things for you...You have worked so hard.. Hopefully this is it for bad weather..Lisa
ReplyDeleteUgh so sorry that looks awful =[ Were in northern indiana and somehow got lucky and that storm just barely missed us. Our friends a bit more north than us were hit though and said it was one of the worst they'd seen in years. Hope it's an easy repair!
ReplyDeleteBoy I feel your pain but am so glad nobody was hurt!! I believe I will be cleaning up downed trees all summer long, working from those (still) blocking roads to those that are likely to fall next time! You should see my wood pile!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are all okay! We seem to be getting more severe weather when it hits. Good news about your garden & I like your plans for a shredding party.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad your garden survived as well as it did. That was a big tree! Just what you needed to add to your to-do list, right? Hang in there...
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