WOW! What a summer this has been

I seem to never be satisfied with how I arrange things. This summer has been extremely productive on the home front, mostly because of DH's job. We have not been able to go anywhere this summer, not even up to our property. I so love it there, and wish we could get away. We were supposed to go this past weekend for 4 days. DH took it off, but the week before, the Excursion just quit running. That is what we haul our 30 ft travel trailer with, and the trailer is what we stay in at the property.  which brings me back to the beginning of this productive summer. 

I have a huge flowerbed in the front yard that I decided to move last year. Because of the drought that didn't happen. This year we have water, so I moved forward with the project. Had to move a lot of river rock. I was glad that my youngest son was home to help me with that. I tore out all the flowers and roses, went to the local nursery, (other son works there) and borrowed the pots to put it all in.  I dug my hole with the tracker, and moved the Castle wall stones from the bed against the house, and bought more stone to create my garden wall. Getting the four yards of Dirt that I need has turned into quite the ordeal however. We are finally going to go get it on Sunday if all goes according to plan. The river rock will now be around the bed against the house, and the bed around the walnut tree is coming out, and I will plant grass. 

School starts in 2 weeks from today, and I have to have that all done before I go back to work on the 15th. 

I am also moving the craft business into a bedroom downstairs. It is too crowded with all of it stuffed into the quilting studio. I can hardly move around in there. and I can hardly breath when I am in there. (I’m a bit Closter phobic)

I am taking pictures as I go along, of both projects, and will post them here as I finish.

The quilt/craft studio is up and running. and the first set of salable crafts will go up on the Etsy Store around the first week of March. I am so excited about this latest endeavor, and the relaunching of my Etsy store. 

I am embarking on a new journey. I have started a craft business. This means that I now have had to incorporate a craft studio within the quilt studio I am happy to report that I have managed to do that. 

North wall

North wall doors open

East Wall

South Wall

West wall

West wall sewing station open

BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THERE GO I

Exactly 365 days ago, at 4:13 P.M., My house was hit by an F 1 tornado.  It took the roof and carport off of the main level of our home in So Ogden Utah. Yes, I said Utah.
Who would have thought.
  It has been a day of high apprehension and turmoil inside me.  I found it hard to stay on task today. My thought keep filling up with the what ifs of that day. So Many things could have happened to me and the puppy.  I thank God everyday that I am still here to write about it.  I look forward to the Open house tomorrow, and being able to thank those who helped me and my family.   Words can not express the gratitude I feel for family, the Washington Heights church community,friends, old class mates, and my neighbors for their generous support and  willingness to help physically. Thank you all for the countless meals, Financial support, A place to stay for six months. For being there to encourage me to stay strong.  A big thanks to my dear friends The Rhodes, for breaking down the door and moving debris so that the pup and I could get out of the house safely.
  It has been a roller coaster ride for sure.  I am still looking forward to the day when all the repair work is done, and I can just come home from work, ore spend the week end relaxing. I know that day awaits me just around the corner.
God Bless
Wendy

Finished sewing room

It is finally put back together!!!

Tender mercies:
Today I can actually say that I lived through a Tornado.  Who would of thought that someone that lives in a quiet secluded neighbor hood nestled at the foot of the Wasatch mountains, in Ogden Utah could ever say That. At 4:02 P.M. on Thursday September 22, My house was hit by a tornado.
My neighbor and I love to watch the storms roll in while standing under our carports. She is from Oklahoma and loves to storm watch as much as I.
  I had just been sitting in the living room at the computer watching radar on KSL vortex. It looked like it was getting pretty intense outside, so I figured it was time to go stand under the car port, holler at my neighbor and have her watch with me.  By the time she got to the door, she said, I'm watching this one from in here. The wind started whipping, and then the rain and hail hit.  My neighbor's son two doors down was outside too watching.  When the hail hit, I yelled at him that he had better get in the house. We both went in our homes. I looked out the front window at my hanging baskets and the walnut tree thought that the wind was a lot stronger than usual, and it had shifted direction quite suddenly.  coming out of the North East. This is an extremely rare occurrence. It usually only happens in the winter when we get winds off the peak of Mt. Ogden.  At this point, I felt that I needed to go upstairs to watch the storm out of the bedroom window where I could keep an eye on that big ugly  tree in the back yard, (not that I could have done a thing about it.) Looking back now, that was a stupid thing to do. I should have been grabbing the puppy and heading to the basement but no, I had to watch.  I noticed an unusual pattern in the way the wind was whipping that big old tree around. I knew within a mater of a split second that that tree was coming down. Which direction was it going to fall. Panic set in, and I new that I was in grave danger, and standing in an extremely vulnerable part of the house, because you see, if that tree was going down, and it was going to fall away from my home into the patio homes, that meant the 50 foot pine tree that stands between my house and the neighbor's house was going to fall right on my house. where I was standing. I turned around to see where the dog was, and when I turned back toward the window, boom!  A roof landed in my back yard. I frantically ran to the hallway yelling for the dog.  Only to be standing looking out at blue sky!!!  The roof  in the back yard was mine, it had been ripped right off of the main level of my home. I thought that she was in all the rubble. You see when the tornado ripped the roof off, it caused the ceiling in the kitchen and living room to fall to the floor. I was now standing at at the foot of the stairs.  I ran down the stairs to see if I could find her in the rubble. Something fell to the ground in the kitchen and I turned to go back up stairs. When I turned around, Sniffles was crouched at the top of them scarred to death. I had a hard time coaxing her down the stairs and into to  the basement. When I got into the basement, I went to the Laundry room. because it is the safest place in my house. I stayed there and prayed that someone would come and get me out. I was hysterical.  I couldn't get my hands to work to call any one. I didn't know who to call first.
  I heard a loud thud on the house and wondered what that was.  I latter knew that it was the 50 foot pine tree in my neighbors front yard. It had came crashing down in between our two house on the west side of the house.  It crushed the pergola that Steven had build me 2 years ago. It broke the tree's fall. Ok, back to the rescue. I heard my side door being banged on. It was my neighbor and her son. he was trying to body slam the door open. Once they got the door open, they started to yell for me.  I yelled up at them that I was in the basement.  It took a few minutes for them to clear a path to get the door open, but there was debris blocking the basement door.  I was afraid to leave the basement, it took a lot of coaxing to get me to leave. but the dog and I finally got out of the house. I do not know why I am still alive, so many things could have happened to change the outcome of this event, but I feel that God was watching over me that day. I feel that I still have work here to do. That I have a purpose to fulfill.
                                 The big window you see on the white house is our bedroom                                              window where I was standing when the lower roof blew off.

This is the roof in the back yard.

 this is looking down into the living room from the outside of the front of the house

In my 40 years of running/walking, I have never experienced what I did today in the Ogden Marathon. It was the most intense, wickedly, wild, race I have ever been in. For those of you who were DNF’s, quit beating yourselves up! You trained hard, and you showed up. You all gave it your Best. The weather was at fault here not you. I walked the half today, and was thankful that I finished. I want to describe to you what it was like for me. When we first started out, it was a gentle drizzle. I was thinking, “Ok, it just a little drizzle this year, and it will let up.” Ha, it was just great until I rounded the curve to start for the spillway. That is when the first wind hit. I would guess that it was blowing about 15 to 20 MPH at that point. The closer I got to the Canyon the stronger the gust became. After the spillway, as I rounded the corner to head down the canyon, I encountered a cross wind coming out of Wheeler Canyon. It whipped at my rain poncho, and nearly blew off me. As I got deeper into the canyon, a gust would come up the canyon every time there was a bend in the road. When I got to Grey Cliff Lodge, I looked up, and you could see the rain bands coming off of one side of the canyon wall and going up the other side. It was like watching the movie Twister when they encounter the rain band coming off the river I kept waiting for the cow to fly by. When I hit mile 7 of the half, a gust of about 50 Miles and hour, just about knocked me off my Feet. It flipped my poncho up over my head and I was walking blind. I was glad that there were two people behind me that came to my rescue to untangle me from my dilemma. The heavy gusts continued until we hit the mouth of the canyon at the Ogden end. Once we hit the parkway, the wind had died down. I was cold and wet, and I could not feel my feet. My knees were so cold that they ached. I began to warm up rather quickly, and by the time I started down Park Blvd, I could feel again. I knew at that point I would finish. It was not a personal Best finish, but my goal was different this year due to the fact that I have been sick with Bronchitis for a few weeks. To all of you who participated today, kudos to you. We all deserve those medals. I hope that each and every one of you, wear them with pride this coming week. To all the full marathoners, I am cheering for you. That had to have been very difficult today. Be proud of your accomplishment today even if it wasn’t your PB. You finished. Unless you were in the race or a volunteer in that canyon, you have no idea what it was like out there today. Good luck runners (and walkers) for the rest of the season, and keep on keeping on. Side note: To my friend Cristina from WIM. You are not a failure, the weather today was. You keep doing what you’re doing, and you will finish. I promise you.

here are blocks 1,2,and 3 of 365