Hi cAROL - I'm back and the power is on after two days. It was a very nasty storm that affected millions of people. I haven't caught up on the news yet--only got power back last night and was too tired to sign on here. I'm fortunate--and gratful--my little green acre suffered very little damage. Others weren't so fortunate, many homes were damaged or destroyed.

Sure hope Nan checks in soon...

Eileen, Thanks for reporting in. I was just searching google to see how bad Ct. had got it. Found a posting that on Sunday, over 470,000 in Ct. were without power, so I figured we might hear from you when you were able. Glad you are okay. Besides the inconvenience, did you have much damage? Did basement stay dry? We've all been thinking of the people Irene may have effected. In our area, we were lucky. Winds were reported to get as high as 72 mph and in our neighborhood, we did not lose power. Others were without for 2 days or more. My niece had her freezer full, but she didn't open the door and somebody came with a generator so hope all was saved. Guess what she's buying before the next storm? I know another friend had to drive as far south as Richmond, over 103 miles to find one.

Wonderfull news Eileen,I got your e mail.
Sure do hope nan is ok.
From our news sourse,there are a lot of roads washed away, it is going to be hard on a lot of people for some time yet, this has been one scarry storm.So happy you are ok. :0)
cAROL

Generators were scarce as hens' teeth here as well, with many folks sharing the ones available just to keep refrigerated things from spoiling. I'll probably have to toss much of what's in my 'fridge but it's a small price to pay for no downed trees, no structural damage to the house, etc. Water did come into the cellar, all four sides of the house. I set three large, deep plastic storage bins under my gutters that overflow so that's 150+ gallons of water that didn't get into the cellar (but could be used for flushing). The rain came so hard, so heavy and for so long, it didn't surprise me that water came in where it never has before. Our phones were out all day yesterday in addition to no electricity.

Met a gardener who stopped her truck, got out and waylayed a power company truck that was surveying for damage. Lynda is a petite blond but she climbed right up on that truck to tell the driver about her 93-year-old neighbor who had power poles & wires down across her driveway. She wasn't asking to have her own power restored, she chased them down to tell them about the downed poles/wires. I walked over to ask her what they said and we ended up talking about gardening, I showed her my pot ghetto (inside the garage where I'd moved it) and told her about winter sowing. She's all excited and is coming by next week to spend more time & take home some perennials.

Also got to meet & visit with the new neighbors who live behind and slightly north of me. The day was a long & exhausting one that overall ended on a positive note.

From what I've seen on the Internet news, damage & flooding were much worse in Vermont than here in CT. The storm tracked just west of where I am so the rain was supposed to be heavier (or the wind worse, I can't remember which). My rain gauges both showed a total of 5" once I could get out to check on them. I haven't heard from my son about his cottage that's on the very edge of a steep bank beside a small river up in West Wardsboro, VT. Some towns up there are so completely cut off by raging rivers even the National Guard can't get to them.

Glad to hear you're okay Eileen.

Isn't it nice how neighbors come out during national disasters and everyone gets acquainted? During the blizzard of '67 when we received 23" of snow, everyone was out and about the next day swapping stories with neighbors they had never met and everyone helping each other. As a kid, I remember it as a lot of fun (other than shoveling all day long.) However, I realize a hurricane with incessant wind and rain and flooding is not the same as a snowstorm and definitely does not fall into the "fun" category.

Glad your ok too ladyrose.

Thanks for asking....We were out of town for the hurricane. Returned home yesterday (Thursday) to good and bad news:

The good news: The gardens, though very wind whipped and most flowers gone, look OK. No fallen trees (lots of branches). The 9'tall sunflowers took it the worst but I'd expected that.

The bad news: No Power Sunday -Thursday meant throwing out an entire frigde/freezer of rotten food (expensive and gross.....)

Power back on today - lets hope it is staying! But many people out here still do not have power. Many are dealing with flooded basements and large downed trees. Nassau county (west of here) was hit even worse. My brother, who lives on the south shore of the island right on a canal, had to evacuate and his house took in a foot of water. Thank goodness he has flood insurance and can take his family to live at my mom's for a few months while repairs are being made.

Trudi is up there too...Trudi, you OK?????

nan-6161 - Glad you're okay and didn't come home to extensive damage but sure am sorry to hear about your brother's place. My son & DIL didn't get power back until Wednesday but at least they had a borrowed generator to keep the 'fridge cold. Their cottage up in Wardsboro, VT on the edge (less than 3 ft. away) of the West River is still standing but the town was cut off due to so many roads/bridges that were washed away. The normally quiet, 2-3 ft. deep river grew into a raging torrent 60 ft. wide and 10-15 ft. high. The link is to a short video.

Folks who still don't have power are beginning to speak out & are angry about the long outage. The utility company is saying some won't have power restored until next week.

My boss fell off his roof and is walking wounded. My neighbors' gazebo was picked up and dropped into their swimming pool. Score: pool 1, gazebo 0.

Here is a link that might be useful: West River, VT 8-28-2011

Bev..it is nice how National disasters do bring out neighbors that maybe you didn't know before. At our former home, we had only lived there about 2 mo.(1978)and my husband and son had gone on a Boy Scout trip to Philadelphia with the troop that they belong to. My daughter who was 10 yrs. old at that time and I shoveled through 26 inches of snow. Once the snow stopped everybody started getting out shoveling and walking to the grocery stores which was about 1/4 miles or less. That is how we met most of our neighbors..after that snow storm. My husband and son and the Boy Scout troop were snug as a bug at the Breyer's Ice Cream Estate, having a ball. Their trip was extended for a day or two because of the road conditions.

The other long time WSer I'd love to hear is OK is Donn - he lived up in Nassau county near the water too.He's not been active for awhile but maybe he still checks in. Grows amazing landscape grasses through WSing (and lots of other things too). Donn, if you're out there - everything OK? And Trudi, where are you? - please check in .