Mud Slides and Rock Slides and Floods . . . Oh, My!

Last week the torrential rains caused a mudslide and rock slide on the roads surrounding us.  We were without power for a day and had three inches of water outside our doors, but that was nothing compared to what happened on Howard Gap and I-76 and to "my house" that I love so much.

Saturday the road was partially opened and we went to see if my house was still there.  These are the photos along the way.  Devastation everywhere.  A beautiful road turned to ruin.

This is what used to be the driveway up to my house.

The gardens and porches covered in inches of mud, trees down everywhere.  The waterfall on the hillside behind the house was rushing like never before.

Some of the hardest hit were the houses across the street in the low lying areas where the water rushed down the mountain and flooded their yards and literally knocked houses off of foundations.  What was once a green lawn is now mud.

Boulders everywhere.  Sad to say a lady trying to get to her car was covered in the mud and did not make it.

Today we got an evacuation notice tacked to our gate.  Right now it is voluntary, but they say once the tropical storm rains come, with all the devastation already, that if people get stuck, there will be no help getting to them.

I think our house is in a pretty good spot with the stream down below the pasture and us up on a knoll, but if there was a problem, the roads around us will be under water and no way to get out, as was the case last week.

The church on the left is directly across the street from my house.   Until this storm, we didn't realize how many streams and rivers surrounded us.  Living in the foothills is nice because you get to look up at the mountains, you just don't realize that it all can come crashing down.

Some untouched hydrangeas from my house came home with me.  I guess we'll see what this storm brings pretty soon!

That Special Project

This section of wire along the breezeway has been an eyesore to me from the start, and now was the time to clean it up!

Ivy, dead and dying, blocked the view and the foot deep leaves was a hiding place for plant eating rodents.  

Initially, the plan was to take down the fencing that was evidently put up to keep the previous owner's lab in the backyard, but as we started to tackle the project, we decided to just leave it up and remove all the ivy.

Doesn't look like much, but it was about a foot deep and compacted with a lot of wire underneath to be ripped out.

The two Rose of Sharon from my mom's yard will be moved to my woodland walk.

My old bench also needs some repair.

I've been dividing my Japanese Painted ferns to use in this area since it is all shade.

A lot of rebar and fencing to pull up, not so easy on my hands.

Ivy gone, leaves gone, now to dig up the Rose of Sharon.

You never know what you'll find under debris.  More pretty brick and a vent that not only had leaves and ivy on top, but they placed a heavy piece of metal on top.  Can't imagine why, maybe to keep the dog from scratching it apart?  I assume it's something that needs to be open since it is original to the walkway.

Also found six of these neat old metal ??  who knows what they are for, but they will be good props for plants.

All this was under the leaves.  Now to the recycling bin.

I attached netting to the wood boards to weave my honeysuckle and sweet autumn clematis on, which will fill in nicely now.

Foxgloves I grew from seed and placed here in the fall are now blooming.

Now we have a clear view through to the front and back, it looks much cleaner and neater!

I placed the ferns and coleus in this area.  Now all we need is some sun to get things going.  Now have a tropical storm headed this way, so maybe next week we'll see sun?

With this project done and heavy rain coming, you can find me at the Tiny Farmhouse painting and ripping down ceilings.  We have plans to go up the mountain to the Garden Jubilee weather permitting.  With the mudslide last week, we have been put on high alert with the rains coming.  Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

PS- Mom, found another chenille . . . 

. . . a pretty damask tablecloth . . . 

. . . and a heavy crochet coverlet.  Looks like I'm in the fabrics business instead of lamps like when I started!

And you never know where some of my items will end up!  This afghan was bought by a guy in NY that wanted it for this car!

I think this is a car that George would like!