Stormy Weather

We've had a lot of rain and wind here in the Northwest over the past week. Erik called yesterday to say they'd been without power for more than 24 hours, which is unusual except in the worst of weather. The local newspaper carried a big article with lots of pictures this morning.

It didn't seem as if the wind was anything unusual here at the Three Cats Ranch. We nearly always get big wind storms in October. Just at the peak of the pretty leaves, a big wind comes along and blows everything down. Including big trees, it seems. We didn't realize it until yesterday because this tree is on the "lower forty". And look at that!

We've had big trees come down before, and they usually pull up from the ground, roots and all. This one broke off at ground level.

I posted these pictures to Facebook, and my entomologist friend says this looks like longhorn beetle larvae damage. (Did you catch that I have an "entomologist" for a friend?)

I was out filling the birdfeeders and emptying the compost pail during a brief moment of sunshine this morning, and I wandered around the yard taking pictures of a few things. We lost a few branches off one of our flowering plums, which is a shame. These trees just weren't meant to be growing in our yard. We've had the hardest time getting them established.

Every time they get some size to them, something happens to break off branches, or even the entire tree. We hired an arborist a while back to help us with our trees, and the difference in the flowering plums has been remarkable. They are much larger after just one year in his care. Nevertheless, these branches broke off. Fortunately, the tree will survive the damage.
Mr. Smitty was beside himself that someone came outside in the wet with him. Of course, I wouldn't have been out in the rain, as he often is. He doesn't seem to mind. He just comes in wet as a wet dog and stands still while I dry off his fur and clean his muddy paws. He does, however, come inside to use the litter box. How's a cat supposed to dig in all that mud? Ew.

The mighty hunter stalks his tiny prey.

He's figured out that, with patience and watchfulness, he can sometimes score a gopher from one of these mounds.

Go home, patio furniture. You're drunk.

We always know when spring arrives in the Northwest from the abundance of gopher mounds that start popping up in the field. Conversely, when the herds of huge slugs start showing up, we know the rain is here to stay. Ick.

Although it's been rainy for the past week, the temperatures have been relatively warm. We've been sleeping with the window open. Our trees haven't started changing colors much, but I noticed this one is starting to turn. It will be bright orange before it loses its leaves. I'll keep you posted on its progress.

These Japanese Maples are starting to turn as well, but they'll be bright red...I mean really bright red before they are finished.

And in my wanderings, I noticed this on our fifth wheel. Oy. The tire gods must be off in their timing, however. Usually, they would do this while we're on an actual trip.

Don't know when that happened, but there you go. One more thing for the man of the house to fix.
So I've been off to a slow start this morning. Today I'm going to do some laundry and run the vacuum around a little bit. I might play on Eliza a little more, but I want to keep moving on my Wind in the Whiskers block as well. Mike and Matthew are meeting up at Mike's workplace this evening to work on a side project Matthew has been putting together. They need the equipment in Mike's lab. Which just means I'm not making dinner tonight. Mike will be home late, and that means I'm moving slow.
How's your Monday going so far? Any trees fall down? Any tires go flat? Any slugs slime your path? Let's hope not.
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