Yes Virgina there was a funnel cloud!

I guess the rumors were alittle true. A funnel cloud was spotted near Canatara park in Sarnia. It was a nasty storm. I had left early from home to pick the kids up and ended up being there till 2:50pm. The principal announced over the pa that the walkers and bikers were to stay till further notice, then the power went out and we were all to line up in the hall with the walk way clear. Some of the younger kids were crying and if their parents weren't there some of other moms and dads were comforting them. I even saw some of the bigger girls crying. It was alittle scary but I think the principal and the staff of our school did a great job. They kept us inform and were all very calm. Now I know better what to do next time. I did take one of my daughter's friends (with the teacher's permission) to her big brother.

We did end up having our little end of school party -by 4:30pm we were in the pool (the kids any way) and having fun. The pool was 80f at that point. Today temps are 21C and it feels cold after having temps at 28C or 94F.

Here's the article that was in the Sarnia Observer today.
Tornado warning spurs panic

Jeffords, Shawn; Huebl, Stephen

Thursday, June 28, 2007 - 16:00

Local News - A violent storm that ripped through Sarnia-Lambton and spawned at least one funnel cloud near Canatara beach Wednesday also produced some confusion in the emergency response system.

Sarnia police interrupted local radio broadcasts to issue a tornado warning, even though one was never officially issued by Environment Canada.

The emergency broadcast sent school children, city hall workers and Sarnia courthouse staff scurrying for cover in basements and hallways.

The officer was acting on information gathered from emergency officials in Michigan, 9-1-1 calls, CB radio chatter from truckers and Environment Canada's own CanWarn weather watchers, said Cal Gardner, Sarnia's emergency management co-ordinator.

"It would have been worse if we did nothing and it had happened and someone had been hurt," said Gardner, who wondered why an official warning was never issued.

The skies darkened shortly after 2 p.m. and driving wind and rain blasted the city, downing power lines and tree branches. The power went out for about 6,000 city residents for up to two hours.

Wind gusts reached 67 km/h at Sarnia airport and the Blue Water Bridge Authority for a time considered closing the border crossing. "It was getting close," said operations manager Joe Lopetrone. "We kept a very close eye on it."

Residential streets overflowed and there was localized flooding in south Sarnia. The backed-up sewers discharged an enormous brown plume of storm water and raw sewage to the St. Clair River that lasted several hours.

All 25 of Bluewater Power's linemen were busy repairing damage from fallen tree limbs and lightening strikes, said president Janice McMichael-Dennis. Staff had monitored the storm and were prepared to deal with damage, she said.

"We're very concerned about restoring power quickly and safely to our customers, and we take that very seriously."

Jeff Coulson, of Environment Canada, said three storm fronts passed over Sarnia-Lambton yesterday. He confirmed a funnel cloud appeared over southern Lake Huron and briefly formed a water spout, an event captured on camera for The Observer by Sandy Lane resident Brian Sawkill.

The Sarnia fire department fielded dozens of calls from residents concerning about downed branches and arching power lines. Queen Street was closed after three utility poles were snapped.

And a resident of an apartment building near the Sarnia Arena was reportedly stuck in an elevator until a backup generator kicked in, the department said.
ID- 590770
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The garden at the farm

Here are some photos of the garden I have up at the farm. The beans, tomatoes, and my in-laws garden, the watermelon that's not doing so hot, the pumpkins, and a view of the rows of carrots, onions and beets. Not too bad so far.

My knitted tea swap 3 goodies

I have finally gotten all the photos off of my camera. Wow! I had over three hundred to down load. But they are worth it. This is what Lynda sent to me from WV.

Thanks again Lynda!

Update on accident at Hiawatha Horsepark

I was at Hiawatha that night with the Guide Leaders of our district. We had a race for our division (race 6 where we got our photo taken with the winning horse and jockey). The accident happened in the first race. Put abit of a damper on the night but we did enjoy ourselves.
Update On Accident At Hiawatha

June 22, 2007

Driver Gord McKnight is in good spirits today after suffering a cracked pelvis in an accident last night at Hiawatha Horse Park.

"He cracked his pelvis so I'm sure he'll be sore for a while," race secretary Dave Walls told Trot Insider this afternoon. Walls had seen McKnight earlier in the day when they arranged to have J N C Diamond transported to Guelph. The horse died tragically in the accident.

"Gord just basically said it happened so quickly he had nowhere to go," said Walls, who witnessed the accident from the announcer's booth. "He left with crutches (en route to the hospital last night). He seems to be fine; he was talking and joking around. Obviously he's going to be very sore in the next little bit."

McKnight's horse, Clever Coquette, fell approaching the half and J N C Diamond (Gord McDonnell) could not avoid them. McDonnell was unharmed but J N C Diamond was killed on impact.

"I'm surprised Gord got up because he got hit so hard," Walls said. "The ambulance got there quickly and our ambulance attendant is very good. They did all the precautions to protect his neck so it might have looked worse than it was, but he was conscious the whole time."

Walls confirmed that McKnight's horse, Clever Coquette, suffered only scratches and superficial wounds.

Please join Standardbred Canada in wishing Gord McKnight a speedy recovery, and in offering our condolences to the connections of J N C Diamond.

What a great day!

What a great day it was today! The weather was awesome. Today was
Bright's Grove's annual Canada Day parade and the kids and I
participated in it. They with their bikes and myself with the my
brownie unit (dd didn't want to walk she wanted to ride her bike). We
had a great time. Our local Optimist host it every year and all
participates get a free hot dog and pop. Not bad for a short walk.
The people and friends I got to see was fun.

Bright's Grove is a small town, population about 2500 (and we are
amalgamated with the city of Sarnia) and it had that real family
feeling today. The kids wandered where ever and I didn't have to keep
an eye on them like I would in the city. Dd even took second prize
for her bike!

Our parade is always a week earlier than the city, better selection of
stuff from the dollar store too! hehehe

Well off to start summer and get something done around this neglected
house. The kids are having a pool party on Wednesday and I want the
house to look half decent.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Leigh Ann

And the winner is....

The winner of my Contest is Regina/Garnet. She guessed 54 projects that needed ends tucked in.

The actuall number of projects were: 70!!!! I do have 35 done as they were for my brownies.

Here is how it is broken down:

dishcloths - 58
Tea Towels - 2
baby booties (sets) 3
baby hat - 1
scarves - 4
purses - 2


Regina email me at leigh33ca at yahoo dot com and give me your mailing address so I can pop something into the mail for you.

Thanks to everyone that made a guess!

Survived Brownie Camp

Well we had brownie camp last weekend and it was a hit! The girls had a blast! We thought we werer going to be rained out or be in a major thunderstorm but it pasted over us. Setting the tents up in the wind was challenging but it all worked out and we did a craft and had smores the first night.

The second day we went for two hikes and did some crafts. The second hike took us to Rock Glen where the girls got to see the waterfall and we went to the musuem there. Also we went down 150 stairs to where you could look for fossils and they all found one. Kind of neat. We should of done that first and then went to the museum so that they could match up what they found with what the museum has. We then had to climb UP a 100 stairs. Lets just say everyone was pooped after that hike. We invited the guides from Corunna to join us for a campfire and sing songs. Both groups behaved excellently and got along amazingly. We brought out the smores again and gave everyone juice box (good way to clean them up). Our girls were saying can we go to bed as we are tired. Makes for a great camp when they are tired! heehee

We had dd class first communion on the Sunday as well so it was a very busy weekend for us. It went great as well and it was nice to see all the kids in their outfits and gowns. I had a tear in my eye as well.

Will post pictures of camp later.

Leigh Ann

Contest Winner to be announced on Sunday

I got unexpected company yesterday. My sister and her girls came up to visit us and I didn't get a chance to count all of my projects that need ends tucked in. I was trying to pack for us to go away for the weekend and well.... that ran late too. But! I did have a good visit with my sister and my nieces.

I have brought some knitting with me, I guess I should of brought the basket with me and I could of worked on that this weekend. I know it won't take me long. Hopefully when I get home I cang et them done. It will be a priority.

Have a great weekend!

Leigh Ann

More photos

Quincy before a hair cut.




Quincy a few weeks after his hair cut.

Picture Tuesday

Our cake for our final night of Brownies.

June Contest - Guess how many projects need to be finished off

I am going to fun a contest on my blog from today, June 2 to June to June 16th.

Guess how many projects need to have their ends tucked in or sewed together. NO! There are no sweaters or ponchos in here. They are in a tote. The person closest will win. In the event of a tie (or more people get it right). I will put everyones name in a hat and draw a winner.

What is the prize? Something from my stash and I will make it worth while.

Happy Guessing!!!

Here are two photos of the basket that has the projects in them. Some you can see others you can't. Hint... after this picture some of the items are finished and gone.

Well a week into 2007 SSO

Well its been about a week or almost two since I started the 2007 SSO and so here is the May progress report:

3 balls used for 3 dish cloths knitted ( blue, pink and light green) trefoil pattern.
5 balls used for a Fiore scarf knitted (donated the scarf to a friends silent auction at her school).

Returned the following yarn. Yes! You read right

12 balls of Bernat Satin 100 grams each
2 ball of Bernat Cotton appr. 50 grams each
8 balls of Primavera Nova Yarn 5o grams each
1 ball of Bernat Denimum 100 grams

So grand total of 1450 grams of yarn returned. I still have alot of knitting. I did put an order in for yarn for sweaters for my nieces. My Just for Kids book came in and I have the yarn on hold till August (downpayment came from the Primavera yarns - so basically switching out).

On the needles to finish that I started this month is:

A+ apple dishcloth for teacher helper (need to do two of these maybe two for dd teach too)
scarf for a Christmas gift and I can do a matching hat and mitts if I have enough of the funky yarn.

So not a bad month and hopefully will get more done after next weekend. Brownie camp!