Today is batten day - at least this gives me impetus to put away (or lash down) all those empty pots lying under the deck. I also need to secure the remaining furniture out there.

Birdfeeders go on the ground in sheltered areas. I already took down the Halloween stuff, although the ghosts would probably have loved flying in hurricane-force winds.

Claire, not looking forward to the weekend.

Thank you for the reminder about the bird feeders.

My husband did notify some neighbors at our house in coastal RI to put away some deck chairs for us.

I put away my outdoor furniture and flower pots when I was cleaning up my mushed up tomatoes and annuals.

I guess just hunker down tomorrow. At least it will knock off most of the remaining leaves, so I can get raking.

Yes, thanks for the reminder for the bird feeders! I positioned my sprinkler poorly about a month ago and it soaked the birdfeeder. I didn't notice it until a couple of weeks later i had sunflowers growing in the middle of the birdseed inside the feeder. [g] We just got it all cleaned out and refilled...so thanks! :-)

pm2

NE winds picking up, light rain here in Plymouth.

At least this storm has the decency to intensify during daylight hours, unlike the noreaster last April. I now have a full pot of coffee in case (no, when) the power goes out. And lots and lots of Halloween candy .....

Thinking of sooey out there on the Cape bearing the brunt of the storm. And all of the coastal people in the path.

Unplugging the computer for now, will check in later.

Claire

Just realized, Martha's Vineyard is really hanging out there in the water and probably about to be blown around. Hope kt is OK.

Claire

The wind is blowing and the rain is falling. We just got pots and plants stowed under the deck, chairs in the garage, table is upside down, cover is off of the grill. I still have some hanging pots on their hooks that but I will take them down as soon as I finish this post.

My husband is on a conference call with the Red Cross right now. They have been getting ready for this weather event since Thursday night. They are holding tight but ready to open shelters if needed.

Poor Chatham...homes/camps will be lost with this one.

OK...time to get those pots down. Good luck everyone...stay dry!

sooey

i've lived in this house for three fall seasons and the same thing has happened each year -- by this time, the oak trees have dropped their leaves, filling up the yard, and then one day a big wind comes & blows most of the leaves into convenient windrows up against the back fence. the next day i'll go out & easily scoop the leaves into the compost bins.

the oak trees are holding onto their leaves longer this year because the weather's been so odd (we haven't even had a good frost yet) ... yet today the lovely wind arrived, trying to be helpful.

yeah, i tend to anthropomorphize ...

:0)

They say the worst winds will come between 3pm and 9pm. My wisteria standard is already bent to the ground. I'm not going to set it upright until tomorrow.

Poor Chatham is right; they may see that channel open even further which will basically remove their barrier beach.

Wasn't it triciae who got seriously flooded during the April noreaster? I hope she's OK.

malorn hasn't posted in a while, but I think she's on the Cape too, as is diggingthedirt.

High tide is around 7pm here, and that's when the waves will be pounding perilously close to the bottom of our cliff.

We've still got power and I'm eying the Halloween candy...

Claire

I think malorn is in Wellfleet (?) and digging is in Falmouth. My husband just got back from Yarmouth and said it is much worse down there...on the south side of the Cape. I think triciae was hit by the April storm when the high water hit Mystic.

Yes, claire, high tide tonight at 7 could be a problem. I think you said once that you are in So. Plymouth, right on the Bay with about 40 ft of lawn and then a 40 drop to the beach below (?). I hope that by 7:00 tonight the wind direction is in you favor. The one good thing about this storm is that it seems to be moving so fast. Storms can be so awesome but, not so much when they are in your back yard.

I'll keep a good thought for all of us.

sooey...who thinks that all that left over Halloween candy could be looking kinda good in a few hours.

I gave out all my halloween candy, thank god. What is it about New England nor'easters and junk food? Good winds and rain here in Rhode Island, and I am thinking of baking a cake.

I love storms.

Hope you all are battened down and damage is not to extensive. I have survived many a Cape storm and know how scary they can be. Speaking of Martha's Vineyard.....

KT, please forgive me but I know that your many friends here will want to send you sunflowers. In a recent note I received from her she said..."I recently ripped my cornea from shaking leaves off a plastic bird netting of all things so reading and writing has become a limited pleasure." When your power returns I know you all will want to wish Katy a speedy, full recovery.

gardenscout...ummmm...cake....

It's 4:25 and I just took some chicken out of the oven. We still have power as of now...duh...but I did not want to be caught later with no power and no dinner. I'm gald to have it finished...but I wish it was cake.....sheet cake....

ms claire...it looks like the worst of this storm will be between 4 & 8 with the biggest winds around 6. North facing beaches on the Bay will be the hardest hit. All acording to the WC and...it could all change but, what does that do to your cliff face and beach?

I would really like all of this to be over...RIGHT NOW!

gardenscout: Actually, I thought of baking bread, but with my luck the power would go out in the middle. Irrelevant right now because the Halloween candy won.

The wind seems to have shifted primarily to the north, with maybe a few gusts from the NNW. Hopefully that means the halfway point (AKA the center) is up here.

nandina: The storms you have down in Florida are a lot scarier than ours -- but I do wish that when you batted Noel away you pushed him much further out to sea.

sooey: We face east - at high tide the waves will probably skulk up to the foot of the cliff, but there's a small buffer zone of beach grass, rugosas, bayberries, etc. that will absorb most of the force.

It will be worse down the beach a bit where there's little protection.

Up by the house I just looked out and saw a tree down on the property line. An old wild cherry. It missed the toolshed and my pop-up greenhouse, and I THINK it missed the neighbor's hot tub. I'm not going out to see (nothing I could do about it now anyway). The local arborist knows this yard well - guess he'll be back soon.

The lights flickered once, oops, twice (just now), but not out yet. I'm going to log off now.

Claire

So far it has been pretty tame here. Some steady amounts of small amounts of rain and not much wind at all. Every once in awhile we get a few gusts and a little stronger rain...that's it. I am a little disappointed we aren't getting more rain here. We could use a lot.

Hope everyone on the cape is safe and sound.

pm2

Happy Holidays! We southerns wanted to send you a little Holiday cheer early so we sent you Noel! We do love to share

I'm just up the road from claire in Manomet. We lost power for about three hours from 5:30 to 8:30pm, and I imagine some folks are still down. I'm anxious to hear from those on the cape and islands. Hope all came through the storm with no issues.

Lisa

The weather forecasters were wrong about northwest of Boston, I'm glad to say. Some rain, occasionally heavy, and some wind but nothing worth talking about. My hope is that family and friends on the Cape and Islands, and well south of Boston, are powered up and cleaned up very soon. All the best to those of you living there.

Yes, I hope everyone along the coast is okay? I keep checking in here today to see some reports, but nothing. I hope that means that everyone and everything is alright.

:)
Dee

Hi Kids,

We made it thought with no damage at all to our litte wood lot in Brewster. We are covered in pine needles but no trees fell and no limbs. We did not lose power but many locations along 6A are still dark. I just took a drive through Brewster and Orleans and found only minimal damage. I did see one HUGE tree that had fallen across 6A in Brewster but it had been cleared during the night and early morning. Millstone Road was closed for most of the day because of fallen trees. I think we got off lucky. Today has been a beautiful day with blue sky and a gently breeze.

I hope everyone else is OK. I'll bet claire lost power...

sooey

Oh yes, we lost power... It went off at 5:30 pm EDT Sat. night and just came back at 5:15 pm EST today, Sunday. 24 hours and 45 minutes (but who's counting). Our line goes over the river and through the woods and they always seem to save it for last.

Telephone went off today too, so I couldn't get online (dialup).

Temperature in the house got down to about 51 degrees by this afternooon. At least I had my pot of (cold) coffee and the Halloween candy...

I went down to the beach this morning - the beach grass buffer zone repelled the waves and there's no damage to the cliff. The beach looked wonderfully smooth as if the storm had ironed it. Just one guy and two happy dogs walking on the sand. The danger zone down the beach was OK too, the water was up to the cliff, but didn't take a bite.

I checked with my neighbor - the tree that came down on the property line laid a few branches on his hot tub, but it still holds water, so he's not worried. I'll get an arborist to remove the tree.

Last night was hairy at the time of high tide, when the winds and waves were roaring. I was very thankful for my battery-operated radio which helped distract me from the sounds - it was dark so I couldn't see what the trees and waves were doing - all I could do was listen and hope.

I jury-rigged a support system for my bent-over wisteria standard so it's upright until I figure out a better support. The good thing is that it will probably bloom beautifully next year. A storm got it last year and this spring was the best bloom it's ever had. Some people beat their wisteria with bats and savagely root prune them to force bloom - I just wait for another storm.

Did I mention how nice it is to have heat in the house? I was NOT looking forward to another cold night, or morning rather, with temperatures forecast for low 30's overnight. Bed is nice and warm, but getting up in a cold room can be unpleasant. Not to mention getting dressed. I was also worried about the more tender tropical houseplants

And now I can open the refrigerator and freezer without fear.

Is the hurricane season over yet?

Claire

Oh My goodness...ms claire...You get the award! What a night you had! I hope you were able to sleep through most of it. At least today was bright and comfortable. Good news about your cliff. It sounds like it is stable and in good shape. I hope your plants are OK. Isn't it funny what we worry about when we have no power. And, thank goodness for Halloween Candy! My husband had almost all of our left over candy during the storm...but we did not lose power...

I'm glad you are OK. The Wisteria will bloom again and the Hot Tub will hold it's water...life is good!

sooey

VERY mild here on the outskirts of Boston... some wind and 1.8" of rain which we badly needed. Claire, I was on the edge of my seat with curiosity about the candy. *G* I'm glad you had some comforts during what sounds like a distinctly uncomfortable time.

Halloween candy is a fine comfort food .... unfortunately, it's time to move most of it into the freezer (I think there's a small pack left over from last year in the back). I've got the zipper bags ready, just got to fill them and stash them away (sigh). I'll bring out a little on next weekend.

Can you stuff a turkey with Halloween candy? Wrappers removed, of course.

Now if you could get the kids to make reservations for Halloween, I'd have a better idea how much candy to buy. I just can't stand running out so I buy too much. Naturally, I always buy candy I like just in case I need to eat the leftovers.

Claire

We did ok with the storm here on the Southcoast. Very windy, of course, and some trees were down in the neighborhood (we had our likely candidates taken down a few years ago - smart move, I think). We had power outages two or three times, but never longer than 45 minutes.

Halloween candy - can't win for losing - I always buy too much too, but that's because we typically get zillions of kids, and who knows how many in a given year? Claire, I think reservations are a great idea! I get a little leftover help, though - as a piano teacher, I push the bowl in front of the students at the end of their lessons. It doesn't stop me from dipping into it every time I walk by though - sigh.

I have one unexpected benefit from the storm.

My rose arch is overloaded with a rambling rose and has been leaning over for many months. Not so far that it will fall, but far enough to partially block my view of one bird feeder. The bird feeder can't really be moved any more than I have already.

I'd shoved two deep, heavy containers next to the arch and tied up the rose canes, but I couldn't push the arch upright, even with much grunting and groaning. I'd been thinking about guy wires and turnbuckles to try to straighten it.

But then came the storm!

The arch has been blown upright, and there was about 6 to 8 inches space between the arch and the two containers. I've moved the containers over and I'm hoping the arch stays upright.

Just in time for the start of Project FeederWatch on November 10.

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Project FeederWatch Home Page