Survivor

This here is a Crepe Myrtle. They are a quintessential symbol of my growing up in the South. I bought it from a nursery here in the Midwest about 5 years ago. They assured me it was cold hardy for zone 5.  I don't believe I've ever let it sit through a flood - I think I pulled & potted it during the 2009 flood. But here she is sprouting leaves after 2+ weeks under 6+ foot of water.  I'm gonna take this as a sign of a good summer to come!

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This is the way we go to work

go to work

go to work

this is the way we go to work until the flood recedes!  EVERYBODY SING!

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these boots were made for wadin'

one of the most popular question we get during any flood is "So are you able to live in your house?"  yes we do/can.  that is usually followed by the "how".  doesn't take much to describe to people the kayaking or john boating in and out.  yes it is a pain, especially when it floods in Feb & there is ice to consider, but hey, i'd rather sleep in my own bed.
what is hard to explain to people is the equipment & logistics.  it is imperative, no matter how high or low the water, that you have a pair of these

these are chest waders.  neoprene to be exact.  they are essential & you must keep them with you at all times!  they are also apparently the perfect Christmas gift from your hubs!
so i get up & do the usual get ready morning routine.  one exception:  do not put your shoes on!  at least i don't because i cannot wear my waders with shoes.  so get all dressed up like normal, except for shoes, and squeeze into your waders.  i now know exactly what a brat feels like!
put all your ancillary stuff in a dry bag (or garbage bag if you forgot to get the dry bag down before the flood uhg!).  do not forget your shoes unless you want to wear the aforementioned waders into work!

and for good measure, maybe wrap that in an rain jacket & cram it in the back of your kayak for the paddle out/in.   have some rope handy (preferably attached to your kayak in the event you need to tie off somewhere & you will!

 lastly, lock up said kayak when you get to shore.  you can never be too careful!

it just so happens that we got these cable locks 11 years ago from my work.  they are just simple computer cable locks - remember back when companies used to literally lock their computers down?  turns out the cable is the exact size to fit through that hole in our kayaks.  not all kayaks have that but ours do.
oh, and be sure to take your paddle with you.  this year's saving grace for me is my paddle comes apart so it's super easy to store in car.  and be prepared to keep a very dirty vehicle over the next few weeks, especially if you let your hubs use your car cuz he will be oblivious to the mud mess he creates in your vehicle.
on the other hand, buy more garbage bags!  wash, rinse, & repeat 3 times a day for at least 2 weeks & you've got it made!

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Winners

in the midst of all this flood tragedy, remember, There Will Be Hockey.

Nacho's hockey team had their annual cookout on Sat.  this year, due to the flooding, we held it at Moushon Manor!  mad props to Angie & Scott for putting up with hosting us all!

 it was the usual awesome fair of ribs, chicken, pork, and this year's newcomer shrimp boil!  two words:  yum & E!

and of course there was a trophy ceremony!  

Yes Moser that is the traveling trophy!

the important thing to remember people is.....B2B

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Yeah cuz we need more rain!

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Nothing stops a hockey player

Come hell or high water! Literally!

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River Monster

nah really it's just the concrete toad i bought last year finally peeking through.  

we are starting to see more and more of the surroundings!  i can't even remotely say yard cuz we are nowhere near that but we do have the concrete patio back as of last night.  yipee skippy!  nacho says by this Sat we might be able to walk in.  no driving in yet, but i'll take what i can get.  we still have to boat the boxers in/out for bathroom breaks but maybe by Sat the top of our berm will be showing so it will give us them some relief.  haha get it?  relief?  bathroom humor rules!

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coping skillz

not to worry, we had a little support group meeting for us flood dwellers yesterday

and it was a success.  in a very accidental way, it involved all the neighbors that we helped or helped us and/or those of us crazy enough to stay put through this whole thing!

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1 week

what a difference a week makes right?

yesterday

one week ago

well, it may not seem like much to you, but this is a big change from last week.  i am excited to say that i could actually walk on the lower concrete patio yesterday.  i was still thigh deep in water, but no danger of drowning!
and at least yesterday we could kayak into the garage without ducking!

and opposed to last week!

so it may not be leaving nearly as fast as it arrived, but we will take what we can get!

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Barbarians

in all that effort to get ready for the flood last Friday, i completely forgot to mention one of the coolest parts.    out of nowhere come these 5 kids running through our little neighborhood.  they stop at our house & ask if we need any help.  there was no car or truck that brought them, they just came running through our hood.  turns out, they were kids from the local Rugby team!

and what a relief it was to see them.  not only did they get all my heavy planters up on the deck and the super important chiminea, but there is no way we could have gotten the 3 16ft sections of our dock up on that deck without them.
and just like a super hero that shows up out of nowhere & performs feats of strength, they were gone in a flash! but they will be back because we plan to Rent-A-Rugby so they can help us take it all back down!  thanks tons guys!

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Into Each Life a Little Rain Must Fall

can someone define "a little" for me please?  this year's flood is the new all-time record!  we started out at a 30' prediction but that has since been backed down to 29.4'. whew!  that was close wasn't it?  and with so much water affecting so many more people, we were a tad bit busy the last week helping more than just ourselves.  so i'm a little light on photos but here is what i have so far:

this is my north yard as of last Friday (4/19) around 430pm.

it is one of the last gimplses i would have of it until this water recedes!  you may recall from 2008 that THIS is how it fills up.  the water started coming over at about 930pm & by the next morning, we had this

so we were definitely kayaking out to the vehicles.  you can see a glimpse of my patio under there & it was accessible most of the day Saturday.  technically, it is accessible now, it's just up to the boob line if you dare to walk around in it - which i did yesterday hence how i know!
more importantly, Sunday we were seeing the bulk of the water & realized getting The Monsters in & out was going to be more difficult than in years past.  at 11 1/2 Cookie is not having the kayak ride anymore & Baxter is just so completely freaked out that it's not worth the trouble.  so off to Tucker's we went to retrieve the john boat.  and off to Bass Pro nacho went to buy a new trolling motor because we foolishly gave our old one to my sis thinking "ahhh we'll never use this thing!"  we are mental giants are we not!  but boxers can only hold it so long, so big thank you's to Barry for taking the kids on a bathroom break for us Sunday!

later that day i decided to check out the garage & get to those hard to reach places while i have the chance!

my side sits the lowest at about 8ft.  at this point (Sunday) we still had at least another foot of water to expect.  i'd love to give you an updated photo, but i can't even duck to get in there now!  and apologies for the blurry photo here; it's hard to get a good photo in the waves & manage not to bang your head on the ceiling!

fortunately, Nacho's side sits a little higher than mine so we have less to worry about on his side.

and on the outside, it looks like this

and again, this was Sunday, so it's come up another 1ft+ by now (Tues).  

and i know you are all wondering how we do it, so you will be glad to know, we are coping just fine!

just wait though, as soon as the temps come up & the wind dies down, we'll break out the chiminea & a new Floody Mary recipe!

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here comes the flood

and so it begins!  we started the morning by clearing the beach (what wasn't under water already) and pulling the john boat & docks up to where they would be fine for the day.

we're both at work for now, but unlikely we will stay all day.  we have to get the big boat & the Z out of the garage & up to dry land cuz this thing is coming fast!  here's how fast:

that's the gauge for the little creek north of us. it went up 15ft last night.  anybody got a sump pump we can borrow!?

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Thurs River Reading

Just a little higher & ALOT more windy, but still  no real worries!

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Wed River Reading

the official River Guage Reading

and a photo from the WebCam - that doesn't upload anymore I know I know

not to fear!  we are not supposed to flood flood.  so it's not predicted to come over the berm.....but you never know!

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i got Pot ting Bench

haha! you were thinking something else weren't you?  shame on you!

after several weeks of a little weld here, a little weld there, Nacho finished my custom potting bench this past weekend.  unfortunately i don't have any 'before' pics boooo.  but the before was a combination of salvaged pallets sitting on top of salvaged landscape bricks. do you see the theme here?  as proud as i was of my salvaged goodness, i just was not confident in it's abilities to withstand a flood & that is something we have to plan for in anything we do here.  so beholdmy new potting bench!

i've got shelves for storage, a wire rack for hanging, & a wire grate (in the middle) for soil to fall through to a collection bin.  pretty nifty eh?
i still get to shout out some slavaged goodness because the boards that we used for all 3 shelves are leftover pieces of our deck build.  that stuff is pretty heavy on it's own, so this thing is unlikely to go anywhere & has already proven it can withstand a flood or two.  the wire backing is leftover cattle/hog confinement wire from the gabions.  i hate to waste anything.

so props to Nacho for a nice build & to moi for outstanding Management! now i'm free to get my garden on!

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this is how it all starts

people are always asking us what it looks like when we first start to flood. well, here's what it looks like. this is the "berm" i'm always referring to. i also call it the "transition area" cuz it's where the yard transitions to the beach. except these days there is no transition CUZ IT'S ALL FREAKIN' RIVER!!!

it starts with a little trickle in a couple places. and then it becomes this...

beyond that, it's all just water!

oh, and a post script....i now have a folder titled Flood09 for my pics. and in that i have 3 folders: Jan09, March09, May09. any bets that's the last sub-folder i create in there? a wise man once said to me "And you know this!"

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Penthouse Suite

seems more people are interested in what's happened with momma duck than anything. we're guessing she's in the final stretch cuz she hardly leaves the nest. that was a problem Sat as we started flooding. finally at 530am yesterday, thanks to Butters clockwork morning pee, we were able to get to her nest while she was out stretching whatever it is that ducks stretch when they tire of sitting on their nest. so nacho and i used the remaining mulch that was destined for the flood, one of my terra cotta pots, and some concrete fill and physically raised her nest up. she took to it without hesitation. of course she did make some modifications of her own. so fingers crossed all 11+ eggs will be just fine. let's all hope we get to see it this year cuz we think she's due any day now!

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you've seen one flood.....

yeah, again! i've given up on posting pics of the floods cuz really, when you've seen one this year, the 5th one is really just the same pic over and over again. we spent pretty much all weekend prepping. but, we're getting really good at this! i got home Friday after work and pretty much had all my stuff taken care of that night. even Nacho's stuff didn't take that long to put away. the good news is, this is not as bad as March - of which i took no pics either cuz, really... as of this posting, it's up to the concrete patio and only coming over because of the south wind we have today. they're calling for more of the same tomorrow and then, supposedly, sunny skies the rest of the week! hooray! so if you have a canoe, kayak, paddle boat, or john boat, feel free to come visit this weekend! it's likely i'll be making Floody Mary's!

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our beach - or something like that

okay, these were taken March 24th, when we still had water surrounding the house.
North beach (between us and Kim's)

South beach (no, not Miami! between us & Ray, aka Fiero house)

i believe by this level we could walk in with our hip waders, but still couldn't drive in. the only thing difference now is there is no water on the "land" side of things, the water on the beach is only down about 2 feet and we burned most of the debris on the North this past weekend. oh, and that big white metal thing is some old fuel tank. most likely off a farmer's field. Kate just had to have it for her dad. and wouldn't you know it, he just loved it. sick sick people!

we still have tons in front of the house on the beach, and on the South beach. there's easily 5 Trees...full trees people, not some small trunk...sitting on the South end. this cleanup is and will be hell for a while. i'll try to get some shots of what remains of my yard, if you can call it that. it's pretty much gone, and i mean GONE! as in, didn't you guys have a yard at one time?

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morning commute

i really haven't bothered to post any pics this time cuz it doesn't look all that different from Last September. but here's nacho heading out to work this morning. keep in mind, we do this at least 4 times a day cuz we have to take The Monsters out 3 times a day for bathroom breaks. thanks to the neighbor up there for being so nice and letting us use his yard!

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