Calm After the Storm

About 2 a.m., the thunder and lightening came through, and roared and blew for about 10 or 15 minutes, and by 2:20 everyone was up in the cabin....including the six who were in the boathouse trying to sleep. We survived pretty well....the only big damage was the roof of our screen house down by the boathouse blew off, and is wrapped around a tree near the patio door of the lower level of the cabin. There was an extra boat near our dock...but it's gone already this morning. Somehow it also blew the potted plant out of it's holder on the deck railing, and I had to re pot it this morning and put it back in place. The cabin that I worked so hard hosing down the other day it pitted with leaves and twigs and the newly stained deck it covered with debris as well. We now have our work cut out for us today to get this place back in shape for tomorrow and the rest of the weeks festivities. Yesterday, Annie, Nicole, Allie, Matthew and Katie all came up early in the afternoon, and the kids pretty much headed for the water as it was sweltering hot. My thermometer on the tree outside my window in the shade never got above 85, but in the car the temps were in the 90's. I stayed inside as much as possible listening to a book on my ipod. Earlier in the day, I did make a trip to get the groceries I needed to make dinner tomorrow, and Annie brought me a turkey she got at Rainbow. I was so worried she wouldn't be able to find one, and when I was at the County Market in town, they had turkeys on sale for .99 a lb.....Oh well...I do have one thawing in the fridge now. Karen and Tom had a late start getting out of Chicago, and fought traffic and a big accident in Wisconsin that caused them an hour delay and detour. Then when they got to the city the traffic was horrible there too. They finally got here about 7:30 or 8...I'm not sure...but we had spaghetti dinner waiting for them. Nicole had made that for us for dinner, so she just cooked more noodles for them. Their kids also headed directly to the lake, (after they were made to eat) and Matthew was so excited for now he had someone to swim with, and he and Presley did just that. Sitting on the deck by this time in the evening was really enjoyable, with a nice breeze coming off the lake. We spent a good deal of time out there, and then retreated to the cabin dining room table and visited till about 11:30 p.m. when everyone had headed to bed. After the storm, everyone went back to their beds, and the rest of the night was uneventful. I was up at my usual time, and am just sitting here by myself typing this blog. I'm sure the teenagers will sleep till atleast 10, but I expect the Adults will be up shortly. I have at least six orioles fighting over my grape jelly, and also they have to fight off the grackles and squirrels for it. Yesterday I had to refill the jelly 3 times, and I was being generous each time I filled it. It looks like it is ready to be filled again...so that's what I'm off to do. Have some more shopping to do today, and lots of cleaning of the deck, but other than that...we will just enjoy the day and our time together. Love and Prayers, m