ISN'T IT IRONIC ...

Don't you think? 

That on the day that we have not had power in four days and the day I get my highest most expensive power bill ever, ever  ... WE GET POWER BACK ON!!!

I would have paid double though to have kept my power and have paid what ever it took to keep it on for everyone. We are just grateful to have each other our health our loved ones and our home intact. 

The power crew that got our grid back up and running were from New York and Arizona. So amazing how people from all over have come to help us here in Florida. They were all so nice. We tried to give them cold drinks but they had some already. They were even told 'We would make you brownies if we had power! 

;-)))' Then they thanked us for offering and said the neighborHOOD they worked yesterday only wanted to know when they were going to get their power back. I know that's the million dollar question but so many people are working as hard as they safely can to get the job done. It's not about who has money or who's who. None of that preference shown here. There is a 7,000 square foot house one block from me, our mayor also lives a block away and an Orange County Commisioner lives directly across the street from us. None of us had power. It was just selfish people wanting to be put above others because the world revolves around them and they are more important. 

During this catastrophic event we have heard so many stories of selfishness, disrespect and fraud. I even chased one group of men from a neighbors home. Even with all that has happened this has really brought our neighbors together more. We met people we would have otherwise never met. People would stop if they saw us and ask what news we knew. Cruising around town on our golf cart made us realize how lucky we are. Neighbors helping neighbors, a community coming together. 

We have not seen or know of the full extent of damage that Hurricane Irma caused elsewhere. Still just little blurbs on our phones. We should be able to venture out further tomorrow to see what has happened. With no power that meant no TV. Now that we have power we have no land line, internet or cable. Tomorrow we get an indoor/outdoor TV antenna delivered that will receive stations 70 miles away. Hoping to get more information then and to cut the cable soon!

I'm not sure what travels will be next for us. Going to the Keys is completely out of the picture now. Not sure there is anything to go to. Two places we had reservations for cancelled me. A third location located directly in the eye of the storm I have yet to hear from. A friend in Michigan told us today that everything south of Marathon has been destroyed. Would love to go help but don't think they could even support that. 

Tim and I have a few more days to put the pieces back together here. Now that we have power we can pressure wash both porches prior to resetting them. Over the next week we will decide where our next adventure takes us! 

THE WAFFLE HOUSE INDEX ...

The picture above is just over a mile down the bike trail from us. 

I just found out about The Waffle House Index. I had never known about it. Tim had and here are the details:

FEMA actually uses what's called The Waffle House Index to help measure a storm's impact.

If a Waffle House is open and serving a full menu after a hurricane, FEMA knows things are going well and the index is green.

If the 24-hour diner is only serving a limited menu, it means there may be supply or power issues in the area. The index is yellow.

But if a Waffle House is closed -- the index is red.

We were in the RED! 

Not much has changed here today. Still no power. Tim was able to talk to a Duke Energy Accessor. He was making a list of materials needed in our area for repairs. We thought this was great news! At earliest maybe we will have power by late Friday. The Cyclone Sweeper came today. What a big help! Again thank you Jim and Jan! The worlds best neighbors!!! 

The picture above was taken after all the big chunks and limbs were removed. 

And this picture we took this evening! The Airstream is back in place. We still have more piles to clean up but for the most part we are looking much better. So many others are way worse than we currently are. 

Looking back ... the picture above was taken the evening before the storm hit. Notice in comparison to the other after pictures above how stripped our trees are of leaves. Below is a screen grab of the radar where we live (blue dot) in comparison to the center wall of Hurricane Irma as she passed. 

I drove around on the golf cart again today and realized just how lucky we all are. No loss of life in our town. 

I was planning on running in the morning but not sure if the trail is clear yet plus somebody fell and busted their knee today. So it just depends on how how the knee feels in the morning. They say most injuries occur during cleanup from a storm. No kidding! 

LIFE IS GOOD ...

Yesterday ended with the brightest rainbow ever! That's when I realized life is indeed good and tomorrow would be better. 

Right as we were finishing our breakfast / lunch the Calvary showed up. Our next door neighbors, who had their grandchildren and their boyfriends and other relatives over cleaning their yard, sent them all our way when done over there to clean our front yard. Plus The Cyclone Yard Sweeping Machine made an appearance. It was all finished in about 20 minutes! Life is good! 

Thank you! Thank you! Love you all. They helped us. Then we helped them with chainsaw work and gas. Helping our neighbors. Life is good! 

Ape Baby survived the storm. Jett cooled her ... jet. Mattie tried her best to stay cool as well. Life is good!

This afternoon Tim and I picked up the big pieces in the backyard and hope to finish the major yard work tomorrow. I believe The Cyclone Yard Sweeping Machine will make another appearance! Life is good! 

This is the tree, power pole and transformer one house over from us. Still no power. Not complaining. So many people have lost everything. Others are more important. We have guessed a few weeks before power  comes back. Maybe a month. This evening right before dark we could see street lights and a few houses two blocks away with power. Fingers crossed. Life is good!!! 

IRMAGEDDON ...

Our front yard above is covered with limbs and debris. 

The back yard is just as bad. This will take us at least a week to clean up. 

The cleanup effort in our town will take many weeks if not months. We drove around in our golf cart this evening ... it's pretty bad out there. I have lived in Florida since the late 60'a and have never been through a hurricane like this one. Relentless winds for almost 24 hours! Finally by 6 pm this evening the winds subsided. 

Many roads are impassable. And many more power lines and poles are down. During Hurricane Charlie we were without power for four days. This event will take even longer. 

We realize just how lucky we are to have survived this one. Grateful to have each other and be safe. Thankful our home still stands. Now the cleanup begins and hope the power comes on sooner rather than later. 

Be safe all during your cleanup and check on your neighbors. XOXO

RELENTLESS ...

Just a quick update:

Still hanging on. Roof is still on house. The winds have been relentless. Still kicking our butts! All those here with us are fine. Front and back yard look impossible to walk through. Fence damaged in places. Waiting on sunrise to survey damage. 

The picture above I took from our front porch around 5 am. Then Jett had to go out. Tim was able to guess that our shed is intact and the 1948 Airstream Liner looks fine for now. Not sure the status of our other Airstream. We parked our vehicles across the street in the neighbors open front yard they appear to be fine. At least no trees on them. 

Sunrise will be at 7:09 am. I'll update when I can. Stay tuned! 

IRMA HAS ARRIVED ...

Most of the day we had light winds and rain all day. Currently we are at 3.13" of rain. I hate it when The Weather Channel has someone reporting in Orlando and someone else in Tampa and here we are right in the middle. 

This morning right after 9 am the eye of Hurricane Irma passed over the Keys at Cudjoe Key. If you look at the image above the three pins were to be our locations for our trip to the Keys this month. We are hearing not all faired well. Not a lot of reports yet from there. Daylight tomorrow will tell more. Best to all! XOXO

Ape baby spent the night on the back porch. 

The strong winds began around 7 pm this evening. Now around 9:30 pm the winds are much worse and the worse is yet to come. We believe we will be in the peak of the storm around 2 am. 

We've had some really great company. The Dark Knight has been keeping us all in line. 

There are many weather warnings currently. This is the worst storm as of yet that I have been through. Our cable constantly was going off this evening. All power was lost around 9:10 pm. Extremely windy now. Doors popping in and out. Just saw winds sustained at 42 mph here. Hearing gust of 74 mph at Orlando International Airport. It will be a long sleepless night. 

#stayawayjimcantore

HUNKERED DOWN ...

Not much change today except the eye of the hurricane has moved farther west. This puts us on the other side of it as it passes and means stronger winds for us. 

Poor ape baby spent the night outside. 

We moved the Airstream about 40 feet forward to inbetween the houses and out from being directly under the oak trees. Hello neighbor! 

All our final prep was finished. My brother Robert and his son Batman (Jax) came over to wait out the storm with us. Safer knowing the Dark Knight is under our roof! 

All weather conditions stayed the same as yesterday except the rain. We did receive some but not enough to register. There was a band from the storm that passed just north of us. Tomorrow will be the game changer. We first thought tonight around 8pm would start the winds ... nothing as of yet. Now that has been delayed until 8am tomorrow morning in Central Florida and should last through mid-day Monday. 

We are hearing that Key West and south Florida are now beginning to get tropical force winds and storm surge water. Hang on! We are hoping for the best for all. 

#stayawayjimcantore

HUNKERING DOWN ...

Today was spent boarding windows and taking care of more outdoor items. I started the day at Publix, said I wouldn't go but I did at about 7:15 AM. It was not crowded. Some shelves were empty. I got what I came for. Maybe not my regular brand but I got it. 

We cleared most items off back porch ...

Our bay window will not be boarded for now. It's the only window that has hurricane impact glass. 

I decided to fix ape baby. It only lost part of its nose and half an ear. Jett happens! Figured I better have as many toys ready for these girls during the storm. 

Late this afternoon I went out to get some Jack's BBQ. And .... squirrel ...

I did get the BBQ and received homemade fresh brownies from our neighbors when I got home. They rock! 

It snowed on the back porch. Jett happens!

High temperature: 88*

Humidity: 86%

Rain received: 0.09"

Wind: gusted to 7 mph N NE

Barometer: 29.94 dropping 

#stayawayjimcantore

EVERGLADES VACA DAY 1

Not happening. Today was to be the beginning of our vacation. My retirement gift to Tim.  As of now I think we will be slightly delayed, if not completely canceled by the time Hurricane Irma is done with Florida. We were then scheduled to be moving into the Keys on Saturday. 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to not just south Florida and the Keys but to everyone in the state of Florida and in the path of Irma. Be safe. Be prepared. Take care of your family. This is a game changer. So change your priorities. XOXO

Our priorities have turned to securing our home. All of our Hurricane purchasing prep happened on Sunday. Way ahead of panic. We are 50 miles inland in Central Florida.The shutters go on tomorrow and the final prep of buttoning up all the hatches here will be completed by end of day Friday. Now that Tim has retired this will be his first storm ever at home and my first storm with someone here. 

Since all the adult beverages had been purchased for vacation it looks like the Hurricane Party is here! Tim says the generator will run both the refrigerator and a blender. ;-))) 

This evening after a hard day of Hurricane prep we went out to eat some Mexican food. Ay Jalisco in Clermont has the biggest coldest beer in town. On our way home from there we decided to stop at Lowes. We just wanted to look at an old school tv antenna because once we get back from vaca we want to drop our cable company. Anyway while there I asked Tim if he wanted to go visit the plywood aisle for S&G's? Oh my! No words can describe it. What a shock ...

My plan is to update the blog as we proceed through this horrific storm. Tim finished installing our weather station today so we should have some accurate stats to report. 

Standby for Plan C and possibly Plan D ...