Post Irene Post

We were so lucky. By the time Irene hit us, it was a tropical storm. And Winchester was in a "sweet spot" that didn't get much storming at all. There are devastating pictures of flooding north, south, and west of Boston, from Vermont to North Carolina. We did lose power for 10 seconds during the storm, and then for about 30 minutes late Sunday night.

This is our back yard at the worst of it.

But, we heeded the warnings to stay inside.

Today, we had to get out of the house, and met Sarah and Livy for a walk and some playground fun.

First day of middle school for Chloe tomorrow!

Weathering the storm (Part I)

We're ready for Irene. Which means it's time for a party. Hurricane party. Or at least a tropical-storm-force-winds-and-two-inches-of-rain party. Whatever.

As I set off to get the ice cream, Pete asked me what I was going to do if the electricity goes out tomorrow.

Eat, of course.

Calm Before The Storm

On Monday, we went to Wright's Pond with Kasandra and Ava. The weather was perfect - high seventies with a nice breeze.

The east coast was rocked (albeit gently) by an earthquake on Tuesday. Pete felt it at work, but I was in the car and missed it.

Chloe came home yesterday; school starts next week. The past 24 hours have been packed with heart-melting moments of adoration between sisters. I was enjoying watching them too much to grab my camera and attempt to capture it. Luckily, I sense the moments are not fleeting, and I will step back and have some picture of the pure love to share soon.

We're gearing up for Hurricane Irene. We're not supposed to get a direct hit, but the forecast keeps changing, so we're prepared. We have bottled water, flashlights, batteries, and even MRE's. I brought in all the toys from the yard yesterday, and did some canning today. I'm hoping my over-preparation means that we won't even lose power. If we do, everyone can head on over. We've got supplies.

We went out in the muggy heat to walk around the lake tonight. It's actually the reservoir, which the town has drawn down as they prepare for the rain Irene will bring. Just a reminder that I'm not the only one getting ready for the storm.

God, I have missed this silhouette. Welcome home, Chloe.

Peaches.

It's been a quiet few days. We've been talking about going peach picking, and buoyed with the energy from a ho-hum week, we set out for the peach farm today.

Addy discovered if she just propped the peach on Pete's back, she could just eat it continuously. No hands!

Our friends, Kasandra and Andrew, and their daughter Ava joined us for a day in the orchard. We laughed and strolled through the peach field, filling our boxes. In hindsight, we probably should have asked how much a box can hold, or even how much a filled box may cost, because there was a great deal of sticker shock at the register when we weighed in. And they don't let you put the peaches back if you over do it. We took the girls to the FREE farm/playground area and tried to forget the wads of cash we had to hand over to pay for our peaches.

So, please, if anyone has any good peach recipes, send them my way. I have 25 pounds of peaches that I am grim and determined not to let to go to waste. Not that it kept me from talking about pumpkin and apple picking on our drive home.

Peach pops. Done.