queen of the indoors

This is my new title. I am Queen of the Indoors. You may feel free to spread the news of my fame to every land you visit. I proudly wear this crown after a very interesting Saturday here in North Carolina. It was a day to remember. Why?

First, I weeded. Yes, I took pity on my poor husband and went outside to help him clear out the weeds and leaves under our Magnolia tree. Did you know that their leaves fall in the summer? I do now. Well, he was out there blowing the leaves out from under the tree and he got almost all the way around the tree. Then he ran out of gas for the blower, when he was about 3/4 way through. So, being the faithful wife I am, I went out and got the rake and pulled most of the rest of the leaves up, taking care not to pull the pine needles from underneath.

"That's as good as it's gonna get." I said when most were up.

"You're not gonna get them all?" He asks.

"I'd have to crawl around and pick them up by hand!" He is CRAZY to think I am going to do this, but he looks at me like this is EXACTLY what he expects.

"Fine...you'd better take a picture, cause this is the first and last time I will be doing this."

He got the camera. Smart man.

We worked for about an hour. I sweated. I hate to sweat. I pricked my fingers and got hot. But it looked nice. I even sprayed Roundup...points for me right?

Then in the afternoon, here comes the rain.

Not just rain, HAIL. In North Carolina. Where it was 85 degrees when I was pulling those darn weeds.
Here is it pooled up in my umbrella. Sorry the pics not so great, but hey, I am Queen of the INDOORS. Pay Attention.

The hail shooting of the roof.

And collecting on the back patio.Five minutes later.


I took a close up for you. This time I actually did open the door and use the ZOOM.

I must mention that it is thundering and lightning and I am cooking during this and taking pictures. All because I think this will make a great post.

This from the front yard. When I walk to the back...

"Honey?" I say.

"Yeah?" I hear.

"The patio umbrella's gone!" I shout.

Um, yeah. It flew over the house and ended up in the neighbor's front yard. From our BACK yard to their FRONT yard. Past our two cars and driveway and hits their tree.The rain stopped and everyone came outside. This is my neighbor Janet's front walk.
Our neighbors Mike and April have an L shaped house and the hail piled up in front of their steps.
See how deep? I stuck my foot in, and then I had hail in my shoe. Cold! If you notice, I am wearing my apron. I told you I was cooking.

Hail in my hand. See how big!?

Then the sun came out.

Everything started steaming up. The street was covered with shredded leaves and our bags of leaves that we collected in the morning had washed down to the corner.

Our umbrella on the curb for trash pick-up. Bye bye, Pier One Umbrella. You were good for two summers.

Our peaceful front yard after the storm. All quiet and pretty. So I finished cooking my dinner and we watched a movie. All hail, the Queen of the Indoors. Inside is best.