Finally - some post-hurricane Ike photos!

Happy to report that we were lacking for nothing, except ice, during the aftermath of Ike due to my excellent preparations (see previous post with photos) and we fared much better than our neighbors regarding damages as these photos will attest.

Our cactus was actually at a 90 degree angle when I first saw it. Gina had already straightened it by the time I got my camera out to assess the situation. I now have it standing tall and straight again.

Unfortunately, the middle part of it was beyond repair... a moment of silence please....

There must have been quite a strong wind gust coming through our front porch area. The trellis was flattened out as well...

The backyard fared much better. No damage to any of our landscaping, despite nearly 100 shingles strewn across the patio and lawn.

Our crepe myrtles, all the shrubbery, and even the maple tree are still standing, despite having a more pruned look than they did the day before Ike hit.

Here was the biggest damage we sustained - 2 panels of our fence blew down. Flat. This was between us and the neighbor behind us (Scott & Tiffany). It left quite a big hole for the dogs to run through! As you can see, my maple tree stood firmly in place. Not so the willow tree in their backyard...

A third panel of our fence partially blew down. This is between us and the neighbor to the right of us (Ken & Gwen). But, we were able to make repairs to all 3 panels before the sun went down. Scott is handy with a hammer and a few 2x4s.

We only lost 4 shingles on our roof. Two on each side of the gable covering the front porch & unlike many of our neighbors, it didn't seem to go through the tarp to the wood.

I figured I'd just wait until I see someone working on one of the neighboring roofs and ask if he will come over and repair ours as well for $25 - think that's enough to offer?

Fence About to Blow Away

I was out walking the dogs about 11AM and taking photos of neighborhood damage from Ike. There was sporadic rain, but the wind gusts were still quite strong as can be seen in this video.

Post-Hurricane Ike Videos

This was taken about 9AM Saturday 9/13/08. Ike's eye was somewhere north of Houston, but we were still feeling strong winds all day Saturday. This shows my next door neighbor's garage door apparently breathing due to the wind.

P Boy is the Winner!

By sheer determination Porch Boy is victorious in the Pink Bunny Tug-o-War game. He is not as strong as Tater, but he has that winning "never say die" attitude of all champions.

Congrats to my numero uno dog - to the victor goes the spoils!

The Tug-o-War Game Continues

After One Week With Our Dog Pack

Trip has learned to play P Boy's favorite game - Tug-o-War! Even Tater got in on the action!

Trip Running Around on Patio

Trip's First Day With Us

How Mr. Trip Came To Live With Us

Our family grew by one during the storm – just a tiny one. Donna, the woman who cleans our house, lives in the old part of Pearland, next to some folks who have had a Chihuahua/rat terrier mix since the beginning of the summer and she said that they often left him in the back yard tied to a tree while at work. Can you imagine? In the Houston humid sweltering heat? Poor baby. Well, her kids heard the dog whimpering and barking on Thursday, the day before Hurricane Ike was to hit, and they found he had once again been tied to the tree with no food nor water. And the people had evacuated because of Ike! So Donna untied him and took him into her house to ride out the storm. She didn’t want to return him when these people returned home so she asked if I’d foster him until she could take him to the Humane Society. So, he’s now living with us - but we are failures as foster parents. We've already adopted him!

Everyone on Donna’s block was in on the rescue and when the owners returned they all said that they had no idea where the pup had gotten off to. Probably ran away during the storm. The bad thing is that they will probably just go get another dog and abuse it as well. But at least this sweet little dog has been saved.

I was amazed that Porch Boy and Tater took to him right away. They usually are quite ferocious about protecting their territory. But they just accepted him, tails wagging, rump-sniffing galore. Clearly he had never been walked on a leash. About an hour after he arrived, I put one of P Boy’s harnesses on him and took them all out on a walk. He was freaking out. Kept rolling over on his back to bite the leash and when he got all wrapped up in it I tried to release him. He bit me. Not enough to bleed but a hard bite – enough to say “What the heck is going on here???” I just held him close and petted him. Now I use the double leash with him and P Boy - he loves P Boy and feels more secure when I have them both leashed together.

The first night he stayed in the crate that Donna provided. When I let him and the other dogs out for their morning backyard pee, mine came bounding back inside but he stopped cold at the door and began to shake. I encouraged him to come on inside but he just looked up at me with his ears flat back on his head, kind of cowering. Broke my heart. I picked him up and held him awhile.

He seemed quite bewildered by the cats, but hasn’t bothered them so far. Keeps his distance. The second night I invited him to join me and the rest of the pack in my bed and when I picked him up he was more than happy to sleep in my armpit all night.

I’ve named him “Mr. Trip” but call him “Trip” which is short for “Triple” since he’s the 3^rd dog that has come into my life and my heart. He is a great addition to the family. So sweet. I taught him to sit today. He's definitely the smartest of the 3 dogs. He learned to sit in less than 8 minutes.

Good news from the vet is that he is heartworm negative, but unfortunately he has hookworms. Typical for an outdoor dog. He will need to finish 2 weeks of meds for them and then we'll have him fixed. The vet says he is probably 6-9 months old, based on the number of puppy teeth. We did get him microchipped. I will post several videos but some are a bit dark. Can't wait for everyone to meet our newest baby!

Ike ARRIVES!

1.5 Hours Before Ike Strikes

A Few More Pre-Ike Strike Videos

3:00 and counting

Around 2:30

A little after 2:00

About 2:00 Awaiting Ike

At 1:00PM

Video Before Ike Came

I'll be posting a few videos I took awaiting Hurricane Ike's arrival on 9/12/08 - this one was about noon.

Preparations for Hurricane Ike

You can see in one of these photos the hurricane shutters that are on every window of the house - except the one in the back door. We also don't have anything protecting the window in the front door. So I guess we're still vulnerable to the wind and or tornadoes, but they'll have to come through one of the door windows. And I'll just put out the "not welcome" sign. I'll take more photos tomorrow to show the aftermath but with possible power outages of up to 2 weeks I'm not sure when I can get them posted. We're scared, but as prepared as we can be.

7AM - the calm before the storm...and we are prepared...

200 tealight candles, 2 battery operated radios & a TV

More candles, batteries, and flashlights than we could possibly need

Every available pot and pitcher filled with water

Ice chests and stuff moved inside from the patio

P Boy wonders what happened to the glider while Tater ponders the disappearance of the table

Here they are! Holding hands and hoping to survive the winds of Hurricane Ike!

Only things left on the patio - all else is either in the house or garage. Pray for us!