Storm Damage

  We'd had advance warning that late Wednesday (06/18) there would be the potential of severe weather. During the afternoon I watched the radar and that forecast quickly became a foregone conclusion.

NWS 06/18/25 3:39 PM

 Most of Indiana was placed under a Tornado Watch. I knew the storms would get here after 6 pm, the peak heating of the day and the most dangerous time for damaging thunderstorms.

 Later it looked like we might have a Tornado Watch of our own. We didn't ... but we had an area-wide Severe Thunderstorm Watch till 10 pm and also a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for us.

 Late afternoon I walked back to the field behind our house and watched the line approach. When I took these two shots the storms had just crossed the Ohio border and was no farther away than 20 miles. This first shot looks NW.

 And this one, minutes later, looks SW. I noticed that the line, which was advancing east, was being accompanied by two thunderstorm cells sliding NNE from the Cincinnati area. The  two met atop us.

 Just after 7 pm the storm was in full force. Our power went out about 7:10 pm and was off for about two hours. Tom got out a candle and lit it. Parker continued to play as usual. I read that nearly 50,000 AES customers were without power in the Greater Dayton area. We're lucky the power was restored before we went to bed.

 Now, the next  day (Thursday, 06/19) I went out for my morning walk back Millie's lane and the first thing I saw was a spruce which had been topped by the wind and the top laying across the barn roof.

 As I approached Millie's I saw that a tree was laying down in the field.

 It had fallen over, ripping its roots out of the ground and just lying down intact. Recent rains have made the ground soft. This storm, by the way, dropped 1.05".

 Back to our property, our wild cherry at the western edge, had a major limb snapped off.

 Another white pine lost a large branch.

 In our nature reserve, a tree snapped cleanly off and was laying in the path I mow.

 And yet another white pine lost its entire top. It's lying to the north of the tree in the nature reserve. We're going to have to have professional help with clean-up. This is too big of a job for two older guys. Plus we don't have the proper tools.

 Along Clayton Road branches of various catalpas lay in the yard (and also in the road just north of our property). They've been run over and mashed and were small enough to cause no traffic problems. I understand Farmersville Pike was closed with downed trees and power lines.

Our north lawn looks like all the others, covered with scattered debris. We'll be picking up limbs for days.

 On the bright side, I've found no damage to the house.

Added 06/19:

Credit: iWindSurf.com

Dayton wind speeds

 I wanted to mention that the airport recorded a high wind speed of 69 mph, pretty much at 7 pm. That's when we had all the damage.

 Another view of the White Pine nearest the potting shed.

 Tom's got quite a stack of twigs and branches to burn. We picked these up from the yard today.

 And here's a view of the path I mow through the nature reserve. There'll be no more mowing until we get this tree removed.

I called Westfield Insurance this morning and filed a claim. This afternoon a rep called back. I have a $2500 deductible for "hail and wind damage". I doubt this will cost that much to clear so it's all on my shoulders. I also called my tree guy but I haven't heard back yet.

Johnny Appleseed & I Cross Paths

  I remember when I was a little kid in Miamisburg Mom telling me the story of Johnny Appleseed. I never knew the two of us would cross paths.

 Recently Tom brought me this book to read ...

 In it the author mentions Chapman's travels and they include southwestern Ohio.

 I did a little research on the Internet and found that Chapman was actually in the Dayton area. Oddly, he was known to plant some of his apple trees in what is now Moraine, Ohio. And specifically at the foot of Dorf Drive. I lived there from 1980 through 1986 and passed the spot in my car daily. I didn't have a hint at that time.

In 2010 Moraine honored Chapman with this plaque on his 236th birthday. It commemorates the planting of apple trees at this site in the 1820's.

 The apple trees that are growing there are actually second generation Appleseed trees.

 To learn more about Chapman, click here.

Jim Visits

  It's been almost five years to the day since Jim last visited here but he and his wife are staying near Cincinnati and yesterday Tom and I had the pleasure of spending some time with him. I met Jim at Miami University - Middletown in 1970 and we hit it off in a geology class and have been dear friends ever since.

Jim (l-r), Tom and myself

 He arrived about 11:15 am in his wife's ruby-red Ford Bronco and after maybe half an hour to get reacquainted, we drove to Brookville where we had lunch at a fairly new Mexican restating, El Bronco.

 Of course we had plenty of time for conversation, but Jim offered to do some work: show me how to remove honeysuckle stumps. How could I turn him down? He said he figured out a technique when he lived on a farm in West Chester, Ohio. It involves cutting the side roots with an axe and them hitting the stump with a sledgehammer. It works!

 He removed more than two dozen in half an hour and I am grateful that I can now mow the path in our nature reserve without hitting stumps.

 Larger stumps remain and this technique won't work as easily for them. But at least now I know there is an option rather than burning or digging.

 Jim took a shower after this exercise and left about 5:30 pm to head back south. Let's hope it's not another five years before we get together again.

 [For my own record, it was five years ago (06/2000) when we found some Kentucky Coffee seeds at Miami University and I brought them home and managed to get one to sprout/ Tom even filed the hard shell to get germination underway. That tree is not about five feet tall!]

No Bake Pineapple Pie

  I found a recipe for a No Bake Pineapple Pie, though I can't find the source. It's easy and can be and with the added toasted coconut on top it reminds me of a Pina Colada.

 The recipe doesn't say how many pies it makes but I found one graham cracker crust was easily filled and there was plenty of filling left over. I made two dessert dishes as well as the pie and it's just as good eaten that way ... and easier.

 I think if I make it again - and I likely will - I will just make two pies or all dessert dishes.

Recipe:

 1-9" graham cracker crust (I think it will fill two)

For the filling:
1-20 ounce can crushed pineapple (reserve 1/4 cup of the juicer)
1-8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-8 ounce tub Cool Whip, thawed

For the Topping (optional)
Extra whipped cream (unnecessary in my opinion)
Toasted coconut flakes

Step-by-Step Instruction
1. Prep the pineapple: drain and save 1/4 cup juice for the filling
2. Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and reserved pineapple juice until; smooth
3. Assemble the pie: Pour filling into crust and smooth the top. Chill for at least 4 hours
4. Add the toasted coconut flakes (as much or as little as you like)

 It's a great and easy summer pie.

Basic White Bread

  Low on bread, I made three loaves the other day. The recipe was in mom's Mennonite Community  Cookbook (1950). I won't post the recipe here because the book is still available. Look on page 3.

 Mom made notes on the recipe and I wish I had read  them before starting. She mentioned making half a recipe. Good idea since the recipe "makes 3 large or 4 medium loaves". That's way too much dough to work with, plus I only have three standard bread pans.

 But once I started I kept going and the result was delicious bread, although a bit too much (Tom doesn't eat it). The loaves are a bit crusty and  even tough, but that's what I like. Something I  can sink my teeth into!

A finished loaf

 Wow! Did that dough ever rise well! My largest mixing bowl almost failed to contain it.

 Here's my three loaves. I made two in my metal bread pans and used a Corning glass pan for the third.

 Look how the largest loaf spilled over the pan during baking. I probably didn't  do a great job of dividing the dough but the result was wonderful.

 Here's a side view of the largest loaf. I've been having it for breakfast each morning this week. It's great with blueberry preserves.

 I couldn't live without bread, especially homemade. If I ever become gluten intolerant, just shoot me. My life will be over anyway.

We Visit Stockslager's

  It might even be a little late for us but Tom suggested our annual trip to Stockslager's last weekend and I suggested waiting for a weekday when things wouldn't be quite so busy. And it worked out perfectly. There were few cars and a spattering of rain drops probably convinced others to stay away.

 My goal was to buy the vegetable plants we'd need for this season. We bought tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and butternut squash. We don't have room in our garden for more.

 It's always a joy to shop there. The colors are almost blinding. Tom brought home several large potted plants for his house, too. So now the garden is tilled and soon our vegetables will be underway.

Mug Cake (One Minute)

  I saw a recipe on Facebook for a 1-Minute Mug Cake and saved it. Today I had for myself a slice of pineapple pie but nothing for Tom (he doesn't care for cream pies). I made the mug cake in a ramekin.

There's just six ingredients:

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk
2 tbsp oil
a few drops of vanilla extract

 I just mixed everything (thoroughly!) in the ramekin and microwaved it for 1-1/2 minutes, I placed a paper plate over the top to prevent splattering but it was both unneeded and prevented the top of the cake from billowing up properly.

But in that time it was perfectly risen and done.

 Tom thought it was a little bland and suggested the addition of fresh blueberries to the batter. Why not? Or a few chocolate morsels? I think it could be improved visually with a dusting of powdered sugar.

 In any case, it's an almost-instant recipe for a dessert.