Stormy weather

We had a rude awakening about 2:45 yesterday morning. A severe thunderstorm blew through and woke us up. After about 10 minutes of watching and listening to the rain, wind, and hail, I went back to bed. Dave, however, couldn't get back to sleep.

As it started getting light, Sophia looked outside and said that a tree had fallen down. We couldn't believe it. It was right outside our bedroom window, and we didn't hear it fall!

It landed on our gazebo, but luckily it didn't do any damage.

As it got lighter out, we were able to see that a pine tree east of the tree house had fallen down. There wasn't anything I could do, so after breakfast I headed out for Tollway Tatters.

Sue Anna was all smiles, as usual!

She was working on one of Marilee's earring patterns. I think Sue Anna has tatted more of Marilee's patterns than anyone I know, except for Marilee!

Barbara was Sue Anna's travel companion for the day.

She was working on a heart pattern. Barbara is very particular about her work, and she would rather take the time to undo a couple of rings than have her project look less than perfect. I think I know a few tatters just like her!

Glenda traveled all the way from Iowa to be with us again! We love having her with us. It's hard to believe that she would drive six hours just to spend time with us!

Glenda like to make notes as she's tatting. I think that's a habit I should develop!

Thea and Gail met at a tatting class that Gail taught. I met Gail at Tatting Corner Tat Days last summer. These two ladies are a wonderful addition to our group!

Thea was working on Christmas ornaments. I should start thinking about Christmas ornaments also!

Gail was working on a pattern from a class she took at Tatting Corner Tat Days. The class was taught by Kaye Judt, and the two patterns Gail had from the classes she took with Kaye will be in Kaye's new book, which will be available soon.

I worked on an Ice Drop. It seems to be the only project I can do while talking!

By the time I returned home, Dave and our son-in-law Jan had taken care of the biggest tree. However, both chain saws died, so they stopped much sooner than they had planned. I took this picture today. I guess we'll be relocating hostas. I'm pretty sure they can't take that much sun.

Initially, we thought we had lost two or three trees. However, as Dave and Jan cleared away debris, it was clear that at least seven trees need to come down because of the damage done to them. As Dave and I were driving home from purchasing a new chain saw, we could see that although we had a lot of tree damage, there were others west of us who had been hit a lot harder. Luckily, we didn't see any damaged buildings, just downed trees and flattened crops.

Joanne and family headed back to Minnesota about 6:45 this morning. It's a good thing they left when they did. The rain came pouring down about five minutes after they left. It would not have been fun trying to get three kids into the car during a downpour. Joanne said it rained until they were well out of Illinois and into Wisconsin.

As soon as they left, I set a few goals for myself. The first was to finish the Ice Drop I had started at Tollway Tatters.

Nest, I finished an Eightsome Reel motif by Mary Konior. The thread is Marilee Rockley's Lantana Citrus. I'm hoping I have enough thread to tat a nine motif doily. I think I should be okay.

As I was cleaning up my tatting space (I don't know how it gets messy so quickly), I found a few Ice Drops that needed ribbons.

I usually am very good about attaching ribbons right away, but somehow these were left undecorated.

I'm starting to feel like my Ice Drop stash is growing again!