Southern TE'ers: tornado outbreak tonight

[Zen]

I have a root cellar to go to but no tornados here tonight.

[Tuckervill]

We have managed to avoid all the rounds of severe weather this week. I don't know how. I got out early to do some gardening, and about 9:30 it started to sprinkle and the sky darkened. I gathered up the tools and loaded up the tractor and put it all away, then ate a PBJ on the porch. By the time I was done, the sky was blue, my energy was back, and I ended up getting A LOT done. I shall list here for my pleasure:

*tilled and weeded the northeast flower bed.
*transplanted eonymus, vinca and some other thing into said flower bed.
*yelled at the dog for running through the transplants.
*dug a 40' long by 8" deep trench to make way for a brick edging along said flower bed (gotta get below that grass!).
*removed and cleaned enough salvaged bricks from the currently-being-dismantled 107-year-old smokehouse to line the trench.
*dug up 3 wheelbarrow loads of dirt from the bottom of the old mulch pile to fill in the trench
*poured 8, fifty# bags of sand into said trench.
*crushed up leftover mortar and crumbled brick to make more sand for said trench.
*leveled and tamped sand and laid bricks in trench.
*crushed up more leftover mortar and crumbled brick to wash into the gaps between bricks
*moved all the tools off the porch and tidied up.
*Pressure washed all the white trim and concrete around the front and back porches.
*ordered pizza.
*collapsed into bed.

I did have help with some of the brick work from my two youngest sons. Wouldn't have gotten this done if the weather hadn't changed!

Hope everyone is safe. I have lots of friends in Memphis, and both my husband and my son and his family are visiting Central Arkansas this weekend. They're safe, though.

Karen

[Selkie]

Karen, it's good that you had to yell at the dog only once! I bet you slept like a rock--that's a lot of hard work.

[sundial]

Karen-- good grief girl!! You were a busy bee! Glad the weather didn't interrupt your yard work. There's something cathartic about getting really dirty and tired from doing this kind of work. It gives you such a sense of satisfaction when it's completed.

Had several thunderstorms pass over during the night but nothing like the Friday night storm. Mr. Sundial had to get up and put the girls in the bathroom and shut the door so that they would calm down. I evidently slept through it because I awoke this morning and was surprised to see Kali and Niki's empty bed.

[crazycanuck]

Why do you need to wear a safety helmet in your house during a storm??

[tulip]

Why do you need to wear a safety helmet in your house during a storm??

Never been in a tornado, eh?

Glad everyone's okay. I have family outside Nashville. They are wet.

[crazycanuck]

No...

Keep safe!

[sundial]

Why do you need to wear a safety helmet....

Crazycanuck, comedian Ron White (Blue Collar Tour) made a joke about the Homeland Security threat level. To him there is no blue, green, yellow or red levels of threat. It's either "Get the d*** helmet!" or "Put on the d*** helmet!" In our case it was Put On The Helmet day.

[ny biker]

I have no root cellar. Just a 1BR condo on the second floor of a 3-story building. One night a couple years back they forecast possible tornadoes overnight. The only "interior room without windows" that I have is my bedroom closet, so I put my bike helmet, some pillows, my down quilt, several flashlights and a radio in there. Happily I had no need to duck and cover.

My other option would be to run screaming into the building hallway and hope one of my downstairs neighbors is home and lets me into their basement...