Some years ago, my neighbour needed to remove the pots from our joint chimney stack and fit cowls, so that he could have a back boiler (a boiler behind his gas fire). He gave me my two to use as garden ornaments, as was the fashion.
Over the years I have placed plant pots in the tops of them for decoration. This year I put some tomato plants in one. They grew lots of leaves and not much fruit, and the first two tomatoes were nearing ripening thanks to our lovely summer.
Then yesterday's heavy winds came along.
They caused a lot of damage nationwide, though fortunately only one death. Even though our winds were lighter than the north, over 40mph can be devastating.
As my elderly chimney pot discovered, with the wind whipping through those leafy tomato plants and crashing the pot to the ground.
Luckily it missed the chicken run by inches. The shards are incredibly sharp, as my arm can testify. And so 100 years of history are smashed to smithereens.
As for the tomato plants...
...oops!
11 comments:
I keep expecting to see our greenhouse and it's resident tomato plants sailing passed my bedroom window (we've had gusts of 60-75mph since Sunday), but so far so good - touch wood!
The only casualty here was the felt fromthe shed, which wasn't very well attached in the first place..my mum was assaulted by the oak tree in her garden..it hit her on the head with acorns :-)
Oh my, I hope everyone is alright. It seems to be a season of hurricanes on both sides of the pond. Although Diane's use of the word "gusts" reminded me of when I was on a Polish passenger ship (The Stefen Batory) which crossed the N. Atlantic w/out incident only to get stuck in the middle of the Thames. This was in either 1986or 1987(reported as the worst storm in 300 years at the time). Anyway, the weather reporters kept saying "big sustained gusts of winds" and I kept thinking its a hurricane people--a hurricane!! So, please, please everyone stay safe.
Oh man! That sucks Val! So sorry to see this casualty of the storm! But as you say, the chickens were spared and that's the most important thing.
Vikeau, the storm you speak of, I believe Val has talked about that hurricane of 1987. I understand it hit England quite by surprise, am i correct?
One of the scarest nights of my life. Ever been on a ship that's tilting at a 45 degree angle? The ship dropprd both its anchors just so we didn't capsize. Took 2 days to be towed to the Port of London, Tilsbury. Plus there was a stock market crash and I lost my paultry investments. But I'd do it again in a heart beat. Glad no major injuries.
You're right, JoJo, what a memory - 16th October 1987. The weathe forecaster actually said, "Mrs So-and-so has called to say she's heard there's a hurricane ont the way, well, don't worry, there isn't". Apparently technically it wasn't a hurricane (says who? The experts who didn't see it coming?), but that's how it felt and that's how it's known. It was much stronger than this one, winds of well over 100mph in gusts.
Vikeau, I don't remember hearing about that boat, you'd have thought it would have been big news, even in such a serious situation. Glad you survived - hope you weren't too seasick!
sadly nothing lasts for ever :o(
... and your tomatoes look terribly sorry for themselves - rach i believe has had a bumper crop this year
luckily we sustained no damage - i was rather afraid for my precious olive tree, but it held its own against the 'gusts'
Glad all of you are relatively all right! Be safe, all!
Polish registry, communist government at the time. Probably didn't want any bad publicity. But I do remember Coventry Gardens was a mess.
How sad to have such an old piece of pottery and memory be destroyed. Although I'm glad you are safe and your house held up. I remember there was a vase we had that I always jokingly said I wanted to inherit. One day my Dad accidentally knocked it off a dresser and it broke in a million pieces. He felt the worst for me because he knew how much I loved it. Now that my Dad is gone...I'd take him back more than any silly old vase.
You know, if you are crafty, or know someone who is, the chimney pots could be further broken down into smaller shards and then made into garden stepping stones w/ cement.
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