It was a WHAT?!?!

As you may have read on other blogs or heard on the news there was an amazing line of thunderstorms that hit Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia about a week ago.  Come to find out it wasn't *just* a scary thunderstorm with lots of wind, it was a derecho.  A derecho you ask? Well you may not, but I sure did.  According to the National Severe Storms Laboratory, "A derecho is a fast-moving windstorm that is made up of thunderstorms that repeatedly develop along the leading edge. These lines of storms can move very quickly and produce widespread straight-line winds over long periods of time. Derechos can move anywhere from 35-70 mph and last 8 hours or more. Most derechos that produce severe weather move at speeds greater than 50 mph. Warm season events probably move a little slower than cold season events." Seems the up- and down-drafts just keep feeding existing and creating new thunderstorms. Whatever you want to call them, they were scary.  The wind just would not let up, and I honestly kept waiting for something to come down on the house or the house to come down on something. We were fortunate that we did not lose power - it flickered but never went completely out.  We have several large branches down in the yard and a tree that came down, but no damage to any buildings.  As soon as it cools down some probably October the way this summer's going we'll get out and clean things up.  That is one of the advantages of living in the middle of not a lot, no homeowner's association to make a fuss if we don't pick up immediately.

So what else have I been doing since my last post?  Oh yeah, I was in Detroit for a week.  It was a very nice trip as I only had to speak once and basically hang around for questions/discussions the rest of the time.  DSister and DBIL were wonderful hosts.  Picked me up and dropped me off at the airport and trekked into Detroit to take me to dinner a couple of times.  I was able to take a couple of days off and see the rest of the family so all in all a good week.  Probably the only bad part of the trip was the building the hotel was in.  The hotel was in the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit and while it's a very beautiful building it is near to impossible to get around in!!  You could see where you wanted to be but could not get there.  The building is four towers connected by walkways - here is a photo from one of the walkways:

The tan/beige walkway is tile and it actually looks like a tire tread General Motors is headquartered in one of the towers.  It was definitely one of those places that you did not try a new way to get somewhere, figure out once and don't deviate!!
I did get a little stitching done in between travel and work.
Chatelaine's Winter Watergarden. Stitched on White Belfast with recommended fibers.

  

Before

After

It is really hard to tell what was done but if you look really hard you may see some additional filling stitches just inside the outer border. I *did* say a little stitching... 

Next is By the Bay Needlearts' Summer SAL.  It's stitched on 32-count Silkweaver's Lavender Swirl with the recommended DMCs.

Before

After

I think I am going to push through with this one as I'm so close to finished.  I took tomorrow off and Friday is my regular Friday off so I am hopeing to get some good stitching time in.  Chatelaine's Hawaiian Garden and Mirabilia's Holly are both moving back into the rotation.