Hello Tartlets and Tartgents- thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. We are fine- we returned home last night from Fort Walton Beach, and other than almost a foot of muddy water that got into the garage and a massive debris field, we were spared. No power or internet, but we have a house generator and loaned our spare to a friend. Our air con is not working with the gen set, but we keep a spare window unit on a shelf in the garage so that came in handy for our master suite. 'Spent the day emptying and cleaning out the garage. We had put the majority of lower lying contents (like lawnmower and tools) on tables where we park the truck beforehand, but the stuff we could not raise (NordicTrack, stationary bike, big metal tool chest, refrigerator, and freezer) have to be replaced, along with the lower cabinets on one side of the garage. While the lower cabinets on the other side of the garage are plastic composite, we still have to remove the worktop and pull those out to clean under them. My SUV is fine, but my little convertible is acting wonky. No ingress to the house or pool, so we are counting our blessings. We have a lot of systems that were under salt water that will need to be inspected as well. Sailboat is still floating, and powerboat is still on the lift- but they sustained some damage. I cannot complain, though, as many of my neighbours had it much MUCH worse. They had just cleaned up the mud in their homes from Helene, cut out drywall and removed furniture and flooring and now this. All of the pools we saved last week are once again trashed.
But, we're a resilient lot, and everyone is trying to find the humour in it. Almost everyone had furniture wash up in their yard- there was a sofa in mine, my next door neighbour had a full-size refrigerator and an end table in his. Only 2 houses on my street were unscathed- my 77-year old neighbour (who cleaned up debris in my yard for me) and another who got out his riding mower to tow stuff to the curb. After blowing up my Breville toaster oven (bad idea to plug in when on generator power), I texted
@mrsp67 to see if they were open to order lunch delivery (our grill is behind the boathouse furniture stacked on our lanai), and she sent some soup and cheesecake as well with our subs. (She also saved me because in my haste of grabbing cash to pay the driver, dropped some in the house, discovered it in Luna's mouth after the driver left prancing around like she won the lottery- apparently, Luna had plans for this "windfall" because it wasn't shredded into a million pieces- SMH! I had to trade it for a treatie and texted
@mrsp67 to spot me for the rest of the tip until I can get to the shop to repay her- I was pretty mortified! Thank you
@mrsp67 for saving me from being the worst tipper in Port Charlotte, and for the delicious lunch and supper! We ❤ you!)
Both Mr. T Rex and I are each other's "reality checks"- when one complains about something, the other remarks, "It's not so bad. The house is fine, we're not tearing out drywall and baseboards and those around us have it far worse." Counting our blessings. We have great insurance, so that's a plus. Hugs and love to you all, and thanks for the prayers and good vibes!