the end of the flower maze

hurricane + sunflowers = not good.

Bye bye flower maze.  But at least our garden doesn't look like this: 

 (source:  friend of a friend's public photo album on Facebook...)

Other than a couple of inches of water in our basement that were easily pumped out, we weathered the storm pretty well.  Now to undo all the preparations we made - extra ice out of the freezer, blankets and pillows back in the closet, drain the water out of the bathtub, etc. etc.  MUCH better than cleaning up wet carpet and clearing downed trees.

According to our unofficial rain gauge (bucket + ruler), we got nearly 8 inches of rain.

While waiting out the storm, we've been having family Lego Rockband sessions, crafting, organizing cupboards and drawers, and redecorating:

(paint + dishsoap.  Details/instructions are here.  Next time, I will remember that an old worn-out sheet is not a thick enough drop cloth.  Oops.)

This afternoon we got sufficiently stir-crazy that we defied the weatherman's warnings and took a quick walk around the block.  Kiddo brought our trusty Garfield ruler to take some measurements.

Sometimes Daddy had to help.

It was windy (go figure), and we pretty much had the roads to ourselves. 

(no, we didn't go down that way...looks a little intimidating with all those trees!)

(the wind is blowing my hood, Mommy!)

When we had made our circuit of the block and compared notes with the few neighbors that were out, we stopped in next door to check on the kittens before heading home to escape the wind.  Kiddo found two new kittens in the barn, just a few hours old.  The neighbor will be dismayed thrilled to have two more cats to feed.

On the way back to the house, we checked the garden one last time.

Note to self:  drizzly rain + humidity + 60 mph wind gusts + naturally curly hair + no shower (because the tub was full of water) + 4 hours of sleep (I was babysitting the basement) = SCARY.

But we have Indian corn!