Hailstorm!

Last Wed., 10-5, we went over to the farm. Tues. had been rainy, so we played Rock Band with Titus and Jane rather than farming. So we figured we better get on over on Wed. to feed the chickens and such. It was cold enough that a cheery fire sounded great. First fire of fall!

Soon we noticed this weird dark swirling cloud approaching. It looked ominous, and we kept an eye on it.

Buddy hurries to get the chickens in before it cuts loose.

We could see a definite edge, and it looked like we'd miss the brunt of it. We pondered running home but we didn't see any funnel clouds, so we stayed.

We got a few moments of that same lovely golden glowing precipitation before it actually hit us, but when it did, it hailed like crazy! The yard was totally white with hailstones the size of marbles. Rick, me, Buddy, and Catherine all took shelter in the bar, and the sound on the roof was deafening. We had to shout to be heard. The hail tore the leaves off the trees, so it was raining green leaves as well as hail. I was a little concerned because I was afraid the hail would get bigger and punch through the roofing, but we were all safe. The hailstorm was just that one cell, so when it passed over, the storm subsided, but we still waited a while to drive home so the hail could melt a little.

The temp. dropped to about 48 degrees.

Sadly, the garden took quite a lot of damage. We'll have to see what bounces back, but all the young starts, such as the lettuce and the broccoli, were just devastated--torn to ribbons, smashed, and frost damaged. I can't go back to July to plant more broccoli starts, so we may be eating a lot of chard and kale this winter.