Diana, good luck to you and yours. You'll be alright, you guys are tough,
(after all you insist on growing orchids, a family of plants that developed
a reputation for being hard to cultivate ..

I am sorry about your fingers and I hope that the pain subsides! Please
write as soon as the storm is over! We'll be waiting.

Mariana

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
ink.net...
Okey dokey, kids, here we go. Unless this storm does some major
calisthenics, we're going to get whacked.

Storm panels are up here at Frank and Di's. All plants from the lanai
extension are on the (shuttered) patio. Vandas come in tomorrow AM, after
they get watered. Most folks in our area are panelled up, as are many, if
not most, small businesses. I was at Publix (supermarket) yesterday, and
it's amazing what people stock up on! Bottled water was available.
Batteries were available. But the wine and beer aisle was decimated!
Southern priorities, don't ya know.

And we have the first casualty of the storm, right here in the Kulaga
household. I am typing with 8 fingers instead of 10. When Frank put down
the last piece of channel (which holds the storm panels) this afternoon on
the patio, he made a big deal of reminding me that it was there. After
which I promptly tripped over it, sending pots of herbs flying through the
air and terrifying Casper the Wonder Cat. I looked like a deadly auto
accident when I got up, knees skinned, shins bloody, and my right pinky
doing some curly bended kind of stuff.

We went to the E.R. eventually, since all the private MD's have gone to
ground. After an hour, I was able to determine that it might be 6 more
hours before someone might put a splint on my broken paw. We came home,
and
Frank taped two of my fingers together and informed me that I am not
permitted to cross that piece of metal again. Oh, sure, telling me not to
do something really works! I went out and did a back and forth dance on
the
stupid thing.

By the way, we stopped at the packie on the way home. Wish us all luck
down
here in FL.

Diana