Surviving Irene

Although I have to say, compared what other people have gone through at the mercy of Irene, we didn't have all that much to challenge us. Power was down for 36 hours, and we had a moment of panic when the giant oak tree out front lost three of it's big top branches:



And one of them missed our roof by two feet, while another got hooked on the power line running from the street to our house! Thankfully the line held, otherwise I'd certainly be one of the unlucky ones waiting for power through the weekend.
Other than a few dramatic hours, mostly the day was just very dark and blustery, but I refused to let Hubby do anything outside for an extended period of time, and he was getting antsy. I figured since it was too dark and gloomy in the whole house anyway, why not bring some candles into the basement and clean down there?



Hubby toils away...
Thanks to my sister for that fantastic candle-lier- it came in really handy during the black-out! Hubby used to ridicule me for the number of candles and holders I always have on stand-by (any good sale!), but not anymore!
Another home decor item that was very useful during foul weather was an old, tiny brass fondue pot.



When Hubby was desperate for a cup of tea I thought of that stand and some leftover Sterno, and the top half of our Turkish teapot! Worked like a charm! A very slow, 30 minutes to boil 2 cups of water charm...
Hope everyone else is recovering well!