Adirondack Almanack: Irene Leaves Widespread Damage in the Adirondacks

We thought about going to Keene NY to the Adirondacks this weekend since we are nearly camping anyway. Staying at home sounds better based on this sad report. We have fond memories in many of the places mentioned, including hiking/scrambling on Mt Colden, sleeping under the stars on Dix slide, carrying Kelsi down Wright peak and arriving at Marcy Dam after long hikes - with a few more miles to the car.

http://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2011/08/irene-leaves-widespread-damage-in_31.html?spref=fb&m=1

Sheri

Irene update #7

The outage map is still very dark in our parts.

Irene - part 6

Another beautiful day dawned in Connecticut with the Governer saying that we could be without power for over a week. All the signs are that he is being rather optimistic! Hence, we started our day with a breakfast of eggs and toast cooked on the BBQ grill. This helps eat up some perishables and saves on washing dishes. Otherwise all is normal and well at home on Hangman Hill. Oh, and we got another ten hours of sleep last night too :-)

Irene update #5

36 h in and the large trees lying across the state road that connects us to I95 are untouched; power, cable and phone lines are hanging on the road. But we had showers at work and stocked up ice. At least we have candle light dinners and are getting lots of rest.

Irene - the aftermath

Monday has dawned as a beautiful day. It's bright and sunny. We've had a good nights sleep after going to bed at sundown.

We've seen enough tree damage that we don't expect to get power back for several days (best case). Last night we moved our freezer full of garden produce to Mark and Jen's garage and plugged into their generator. Once again we owe them a big "thank you" for their help.

No power means no water when you live with a 250' deep well. So, we expect to take showers at work for the foreseeable future. It was good that we remembered to fill the bathtub with water before we went to bed on Saturday night. At least we can still flush!

This will be the situation for the next few days. It's a good thing that we are experienced campers! If we can charge our cellphones at work we will keep on posting blog updates as the week progresses. Needless to say our landline doesn't work!

Stay tuned!

Irene - part 3

It's 4pm and the rain has stopped. Still very windy. A few big branches down, but nothing serious. Still no power!

Irene - part 2

We have been without power since 6am. Lots of wind and rain (no surprise!) and several branches and trees down. No sign of the power company! Enjoying a quiet morning reading and napping.

Irene - part 1

We spent the day preparing for Irene's arrival. We staked plants in the garden, moved patio furniture, and filled the cars with gas. We also had fun removing a wasp nest from a downspout and re-digging a ditch in the yard to take water away from the house. All this activity was finished off with an impromptu dinner with Mark and Jen, and swapping past flood and huricane stories. As of 11pm we have received only minimal rain and almost no wind. All this is expected to change by tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Dinner at Spain

One of the best parts of living in Southern New England is late August and September when the water temperatures are warm, the weather is great and the summer visitors have returned to their homes.  We took advantage of this late August midweek evening with a trip to Narragansett RI for a stroll along Scarborough Beach at sunset, followed by dinner at Spain.   Spain has been highly recommended as a place to dine by several friends.  We weren't disappointed!  We enjoyed a really nice dinner outside, with friendly service and terrific food.  Perhaps we have finally come to the point of celebrating our employment status (for now!).  We were also reminded that we live in a really great place. Una gran noche!

A Long Week

We enjoyed a delightful evening on the beach with Mark and Jen on Friday night.  It was a cool and quiet evening. We had most of the beach to ourselves since many of the summer visitors seem to be headed home.  We had a quick swim (partly due to lots of seaweed), followed by a picnic of sandwiches and other goodies from Sandy's Market in Westerly.  

The evening was a great way to unwind after learning about the 50% reduction in employees in our department at work.  We were relieved to learn that we both still have jobs, but also very sad that good friends and colleagues who we have enjoyed working with for over ten years will be leaving in the next few months.   With heavy hearts we focused this week on taking some walks with Kokee, spending time in the garden and taking in this peaceful setting on Hangman Hill.  We are also grateful to have our friendship with Mark and Jen who have been so supportive.  They are always willing to head to the beach, take a walk or share a great meal...oh and dig holes with a tractor.

Bathroom renovation - part 1

Our 1st floor bathroom has no windows, so it needs redecorating on a frequent basis.  It doesn't help that it is also the location of the cats' food, water, and litter box.  Need we say more?

This time around we decided to redo the maze of pipes in the basement that passed for plumbing, and to add some tiling above the shower.  We are also planning on moving the vanity and to tackle the condensation problem from the toilet cistern that occurs at this time of year.  The well-water is just too cold when the humidity is 95%!

Tiling was our job for last weekend (see below).  Next weekend we hope to be painting, assuming that the humidity drops low enough for the paint to actually dry!

Damsons?

Somewhere along the way we developed a healthy respect for damsons.  For the uninitiated, these are a variety of wild plum that makes great jams and tastes really good when stewed and eaten with ice-cream.

So....... several years ago we planted three small damson trees in our yard and patiently waited.  This year we have been blessed with our first crop of home grown damsons.  We couldn't rests eating them immediately, and they were everything we had hoped for!  With any luck we'll get a second crop before the summer is over.