came roaring through Chicagoland yesterday morning. Non-stop winds were clocked as high as 68 miles per hour at O'Hare Airport and 88 miles per hour over Lake Michigan. It's a good thing there wasn't much snow with this nasty wind storm, or it would have been a blizzard. The wind wouldn't have been so bad had the temperature not soared to nearly 50F on Saturday, melting all the snow and thawing the ground. The result: my arbor blew over! The damage? Cotinus 'Nordine' lost a major branch.
I didn't take a photo of the fallen arbor because I was too distressed and not quite fully awake. I was out there in my PJs and robe getting the arbor back up. Amazingly, neither free-standing trellis fell. I chalk that up to the rebar pounded into the ground on either side of each trellis and attached by velcro. At least I've got these decadent confections of my own devising to cheer me up, "Little Balls of Comfort & Joy."
They're chocolate and booze - what's not to like?