Irene

Floyd county remains dry as an old bone. There were high hopes for Hurricane Irene breaking our drought but she has steered too far to the east to have any effect. At 14:30 EDT, she is probably at her closest approach - nowhere near enough to us. Here is the radar from Roanoke; Floyd is indicated by a cross in a circle, just down from the wee cross at the very center. The five day forecast is for 10% or less chance of rain. Sad.

Cute Chicks

Gratuitous photo of the twit-twits aged 5 weeks old. Persimmon is facing you and Poppy is turning her back. A usual position for both girls.

Rockin' and rollin'

Well, dear readers, it has been an interesting day... the Fuzzies performed some minor tasks in preparation for receiving hurricane Irene on the weekend and as we were in the town, the earth moved beneath our feet.

From Wunderground: "This earthquake appears to be the strongest to occur in Virginia since May 31, 1897, when a magnitude 6 (approximately) struck Giles County. Reportedly, shaking was felt from Georgia to Pennsylvania and west to Indiana and Kentucky, which is an area that covers approximately 725,000 square miles. It's likely that this quake will have a similar extent when all the reports come in."


The farm is still without measurable precipitation; many tree leaves are now curling. There is little doubt that Irene will bring us rains but they will be too late for most plants and trees.

Hurricane Floyd, only a Category 2 storm, devastated Floyd county in 1999, including washing out bridges and a lack of power for ten to fourteen days, depending on your fortunes. Some models forecast Irene to be of equal or greater strength after landfall. The real question is not so much the issue of strength (nearly all models agree on Category 4), however, but where she will make landfall.

Batten the hatches, mate!