A Bit of Humor After a Hurricane

Center Point is the electric company that services most of the South Texas area!

This is Crazy!

I am so tired of seeing this sign!

I am at work and our office is functioning off of a generator. Roughly 1/3 of the work force is not here for one reason or another..but they all point in the direction of Ike!

Most do not have electricity. WE had it last night - but not this morning.

No electricity means no working gas pumps..

...and no gas makes it really hard to get to work!

I have 2 more days worth in my tank...and a few 5 gallon jugs I will have to share with Don.....after that....????

But Mom - Why don't the Lights & Phone Work?

Our neighbors tractor shed was cut in half by a tree!

...Umm - this is the ONLY gas station in Plantersville!

A line down here...

...a line down there...

..a line down EVERYWHERE

...and more

About 24 hours after the storm hit, our electricity came back on! We frantically refilled water buckets and troughs, started laundry and anything else that required electricity....then it went off...and then on..and then off again. This morning it was on again...so no one here at work can call me "Stinky" - at least not today anyway! The phone is another story. We did not lose our land line service until Sunday, which is confusing to me and last night we lost all cell phone reception from our farm. When I drive away from the farm - about 10 miles or so, I do get reception...??? Also - no internet, even though I have a wireless card. Today is my first day back at work - which is the only reason I am able to post.

Late last night a text message came through that was disturbing to say the least. Emily sent a text for us to contact Joy, our youngest daughter, immediately. We left (in our PJ's) and drove until we had cell phone reception to call her. My sweet 25 year old daughter's apartment ceiling collapsed in on all of her belongings! This broke my heart. You see - this is not some lazy, always trying to get something for nothing kind of a kid. She is a hard worker. She earned a double business degree, secured a wonderful job earning 1/3 more than other companies were offering her classmates, found a great apartment, and was working hard to furnish it piece by piece. My heart just sank as I listened to her cry her eyes out on the phone to me. Thankfully, my smart girl was smart enough to secure renters insurance! I will post pictures from this when she sends them to me.

Minimal Damage - PRAISE GOD!!!

Each of these trees were blown down in completely different directions, giving you an idea of the cyclonic winds that we experienced.

This tree fell atop the horse fence in the back pasture bordering the woods.

This part of the fence just could not stand the 90+ MPH gusts of wind we experienced.

The copula on top of the barn is either twisted and broken - or our house turned around...because the metal sheeting peeled off of it and it now says North is South!

There are plenty of these around..and in time Don and I will get them cleaned up.


Something good... well the lambs are nice and white again! Hopefully it will not get too warm tomorrow though - It sure would be a shame if they shrunk!

0700 AM

Ike is here! We have no electricty. Torrents of rain. The winds are screaming outside and if you place your hand upon the North facing windows, you can actually feel them move. Don went downstairs to check on everything. When we opened the door, a huge tarp or piece of fabric blew right by and scared the be-geebies out of us! So much small debrit is blowing around he had to wear goggles just to be able to keep his eyes open. There is a hum with the wind that sounds like someone that is blasting their base sterio, that continues on and on. The wind gage broke a long time ago because it is no longer registering. It probably spun completely off the pole! The highest wind speed it recordeed was in the high 40's and as I said - that was a LONG time ago. It is blowing much harder now. He said the gazebo (to my thrilling surprise) is stil in tact. The lambs fence is also still standing. Those are the 2 things I most worry about.

All animals in the barn are fine. The lambs are standing in a circle all facing each other. Part of the horse fence in the back pasture is down - but thankfully it is a part that leads to a riding arena. It is starting to get light outside - so we can see a bit better now. The trees are bending back and forth so much I cannot believe that they have not snapped.
..to be continued..

9 PM

The wind gusts have increased dramatically! - now over 40 MPH. The sky has an erie color to it.

Still no rain. These pictures look tranquil compared to the feel of it when we are outside.

As we switched horses around, bringing 3 into the barn from the outside and moving 1 from a front paddock and into the back pasture, the wind was whipping! It was difficult to see because sand was being blown everywhere. It felt as though my face was being sand blasted! The horses were better behaved than we expected, but nervous. Each of the horses in the barn are now bedded down in stalls feathered with clean shavings, fresh hay, water and feed. The 3 that are in the back pasture headed down to the bottom - instinctively I am sure, because the wind is not nearly as bad down there. I tried to get a picture of Blondie's mane blowing in the wind.


This is our wash stall. It now holds our motorcycles and crates where 3 of our dogs will stay until the storm has passed.

All 3 vehicles are safely in the barn too. Interesting timing though - Don's car battery died today!

These are the huge double doors on both sides of the barn.

The doors latch at the top and lock into the concrete as well.

The exterior stall doors and windows have been closed and locked.

We can now hear the wind when we are inside. The electricity has flickered, but it is still on. Many to the South of us are not so lucky though....so far so good.

Thank you so much for your prayers and good thoughts!

6:45 PM

I want you to know that we are not in a mandatory evacuation area, but because of the route of the storm, we have to prepare as though we are. We have heard that 40% of the residents of Galveston have not evacuated...which I can only define as pure stupidity! Calls are coming in already where people are trapped on their roofs...and in some areas, the wind and water prevent anyone from being able to rescue them.

At our farm, the wind is consistent now, instead of just gusts and still increasing in speed. The sky goes from being dark to light gray and the clouds are circling with the wind coming at us from the North - North East. Conroe, Humble and other neighboring towns have issued curfews. We spent most of the day inspecting our farm for possible dangerous items that could become "missiles". I plan to remove some of my favorite things from my window seat shelves...just in case!

We are getting ready to bring the horses into the barn. They will be hyper which will make this difficult.
...to be continued..

3:30PM Update

The wind has picked up a bit - now at about 32MPH. We have 8 horses but have decided to only bring in 5 and leave 3 in the back pasture. We have 7 stalls, but one is occupied with things we own and another will house other animals. The animals KNOW something is going to happen. We are waiting until the last minute until we bring them in the barn. One horse has jumped a fence - and keep in mind ..we do not have Hunter Jumper Horses! The fence was over 4 feet tall! One of my dogs has consistently dug his way out of the pen and keeps coming into the barn. I think he just wants to be with us, but I do not want to pen them up too soon.

Our barn is constructed in such a way that there is a 13 foot isle in between the stalls, where after the horses are in, we will be able to pull in our vehicles - even the dually truck. I am more worried about the wind as it is impossible for our farm to flood. The back pasture has a huge elevation drop.

We heard not long ago that a family in the town just South of us was taking down a dead tree this morning. A wind gust caught the tree, sending it down in an unexpected direction, falling on their 10 year old son. Sadly the child was killed instantly.

Hurricane Ike is Coming Right At Us!

I returned to Houston yesterday morning only to find out the hurricane is headed our way. I made the decision to stay at the farm. I was suppose to drive to Dallas to cover the first horse show of the season for the magazine. I thought that I might just go for the Thursday and Friday classes, but was too worried that if Houston activated the counter flow lanes on the highways, I would have a difficult, if not almost impossible time getting back. I know I made the right choice. We have a complete weather station at our farm and are already having wind speeds of 25 MPH. I cannot imagine how high they are going to get when the eye passes over us in about 18 hours. I will update you as often as I can - and as long as I have power. Please keep us in your prayers.