western australia

Cleaning Up After the Storm

@JudyEv (325759)

Rockingham, Australia

May 25, 2016 7:25am CST

Winter has set in here and we've had quite a bit of rain over the last week or two. While we were away over the weekend we obviously had a bit of a 'blow' as when we came home we found this tree had blown over. You can see the music shack behind it. We have a car trailer so today we cut off the big branches and loaded them on the trailer. then we unloaded them on to a big heap of dried vegetation. One day soon we'll have a lovely bonfire. Tomorrow, if it's not raining, we'll cut up the rest of the tree into manageable pieces and put it in our small shed to dry out over the months until next winter. At least we'll be replenishing our supply from our own trees. To the right of the Music Shack you can see several other trees that tried to fall over but got caught before they hit the ground. This happened last year. They are still growing so there isn't much we can do with them.

31 people like this

28 responses

@LadyDuck (458091)

• Switzerland

25 May 16

I hope you had no major damages. Last Monday only 2 Km from our house there has been a small tornado. Many trees have fallen, some cars have been damaged.

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@cacay1 (83223)

• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines

26 May 16

@LuckyDuck, Really? Tornado is deadly.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

No, no major damage thanks Anna. A small tornado? Would this be unusual for your area?

@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

@cacay1 I would be very frightened if we ever had a tornado here.

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ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12074)

• United States

26 May 16

You have lots of trees. How much land do you have?

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ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12074)

• United States

26 May 16

@JudyEv Wow. That much land around here would cost a fortune. Do you use it for something?

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

27 May 16

@ElizabethWallace No. Vince had a very full-on job and there didn't seem any 'occupations' that we could do that didn't take a lot of work and/or money. So we just enjoy it. There are lots of small blocks around, some more expensive than others depending on the house, water supply, etc.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We have 18 acres and have a patch of natural bush (probably about an acre) and the rest is pasture. We have also planted quite a few mostly deciduous trees as well.

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Belle Starr (Iz)

@BelleStarr (61047)

• United States

26 May 16

That looked exactly like our woods looked after the hurricane came through a few years ago. I am glad the music shed wasn't damaged.

3 people like this

@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We haven't given much thought to the fact that the Shack could get damaged. Luckily it is a simple structure and we could probably repair it relatively easily.

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@Jessicalynnt (50525)

• Centralia, Missouri

25 May 16

yikes, I can see the one's that got stuck and need taken down and cut up too, just have been quite a storm

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@Jessicalynnt (50525)

• Centralia, Missouri

26 May 16

@JudyEv I could see that... would almost need a bucket truck

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

The ones on the lean have been like that for several years and are still growing. It is very difficult to take them out without removing their supports. We'll be leaving them as they are.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

27 May 16

@Jessicalynnt It's not worth the bother for us at the moment.

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Claudia Kirkland

@CRK109 (14558)

• United States

25 May 16

Love your property. You have quite a few lovely trees there!

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

Most of it is pasture but there is a small patch of natural bush which we love. Further down the property we've also planted quite a number of (mostly) deciduous trees so that we can enjoy the autumn colours.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

28 May 16

@CRK109 To each his own. It's what you used to sometimes - or what you get used to. Growing up on a farm, I always hankered for a bit of land somewhere. I didn't like living in the city.

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Claudia Kirkland

@CRK109 (14558)

• United States

27 May 16

@JudyEv Well it all sounds great to me. I've always only lived on small pieces of land so I've never known what it's like to have a lot of open space!

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@Daljinder (23233)

• Bangalore, India

25 May 16

Yikes! That was some storm. Blew a whole tree. Thankfully music shack looks fine.

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@cacay1 (83223)

• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines

26 May 16

So strong storm that it uprooted trees.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

@cacay1 I think the ground around it is quite wet and possibly it doesn't have a very strong root system.

@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We would have been a bit sad if the Music Shack had been damaged.

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@velvet53 (22528)

• Palisade, Colorado

5 Aug 17

Wow! What a surprise you had when you got home. It is nice though to have the wood from your own place for a winter supply.

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@velvet53 (22528)

• Palisade, Colorado

5 Aug 17

@JudyEv That is good to hear.

@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Aug 17

The wood kept us going for a long time.

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@marlina (154166)

• Canada

25 May 16

Aren't those leaning trees dangerous?

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

They are held up by other gum trees and we never hang around under them so they're quite safe really.

@jaboUK (64361)

• United Kingdom

25 May 16

It was lucky that didn't hit the music shack, wasn't it? At least the wood won't be wasted.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

It is. The way it's fallen it could easily have been a tree behind the Shack. We'll get warm several times organising the wood from this tree.

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@amadeo (111948)

• United States

25 May 16

wow,some damage there.Cleaning up is a lot of work for some

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We are doing it in stages as we're not as young as we used to be. :)

@TheHorse (205716)

• Walnut Creek, California

26 May 16

What kind of tree is it? I'm glad it didn't take out the music shack.

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@TheHorse (205716)

• Walnut Creek, California

26 May 16

@JudyEv If I (as an American who see Eucalyptus trees imported from Australia in Caliifornia) saw them, would I just call them (recognize them as) Eucalyptus?

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We have mostly redgums (marri) trees here with a few jarrah thrown in. Both are eucalypts. We haven't given much thought to the Music Shack being damaged. We did make it so we could remove the walls if we thought it necessary but that might make it even more vulnerable.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

27 May 16

@TheHorse Yes. Someone else commented about the Queensland blue gum plantations in California and how the blue gum has really taken to the conditions there. Our fallen tree is a red gum. I hadn't thought about blue gums and red gums. There is also a white gum! I feel a post coming on. :)

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@Lucky15 (37346)

• Philippines

26 May 16

Can relate.with those trees.falling down during thenstorm

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We don't often have a tree come down luckily.

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@fishtiger58 (29823)

• Momence, Illinois

25 May 16

wow you are lucky it didn't land on the music shack.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

Yes, I don't know which direction the wind was coming from but the way this tree has fallen suggests that the wind came from behind the shed.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

31 May 16

@fishtiger58 This wasn't one we expected to come down - but then there are not many that we really expect to fall.

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@fishtiger58 (29823)

• Momence, Illinois

30 May 16

@JudyEv I hate when we lose trees, thankfully most of mine are now stronger. I do worry about my 3 year old cherry tree but it seems to be pretty strong.

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@miniam (9154)

• Bern, Switzerland

25 May 16

You have a lot to do but it will give you a supply of wood.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We have made a space for the wood so that is a start.

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@miniam (9154)

• Bern, Switzerland

26 May 16

@JudyEv Im sure it will be hard work,hope you dont have to lift up heavy logs physically

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

@miniam Vince will use the chain-saw to cut the trunk into smaller pieces. Most I'll be able to lift onto the trailer but we'll do the work together. He will saw while I load but if the pieces are too heavy I just leave them for him.

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@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

27 May 16

You sure did have a blow with all the trees down. At least you will have some kindling wood for next year.

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@Marcyaz (35316)

• United States

28 May 16

@JudyEv No, of course you can't use wet wood.

@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

28 May 16

We cut it up yesterday and it is stored in a shed now. It will need to dry out before we can use it.

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@Juliaacv (48420)

• Canada

26 May 16

You did have quite a storm there! Will you drop the trees that are on their way to the ground also?

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

No because it is too difficult. They are caught up in other gum trees and there is no easy way to get any of them down.

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@sueznewz2 (10409)

• Alicante, Spain

27 May 16

I'm glad it didnt take out the music shed on its way down.... like you say the rest of the wood will come in handy for winter....

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

28 May 16

Mostly the trees seem to fall the other way and we've never given much thought to one landing on the music shack. We wouldn't like it!

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@Inlemay (17714)

• South Africa

26 May 16

are those Blue gums? Blue gums which originated from Australia and are now being eradicated in our area as they are taking over all our own indigenous plants - they take up a lot of the water. So about a kilometer from my house there was this Blue gum Forrest, and yesterday as I drove to bowls, They have al been felled and gone - so sad to see a Forrest one day and almost nothing the next.

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

They are red gums! Haha. I've never thought about the colour connection before. Blue gums are a plantation timber here and grown mostly for wood chip. And yes, it is sad to see a forest disappear. We see it here too.

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@Castlerock34 (2259)

• Minneapolis, Minnesota

25 May 16

luckily those trees didnt come down on your house, your lucky. But what a mess to have to clean up

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We don't have any big trees near the house thank goodness.

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@Castlerock34 (2259)

• Minneapolis, Minnesota

29 May 16

@JudyEv Thats great, you are very lucky

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@sabashekh (1218)

• Bhopal, India

26 May 16

I hope the damage was less .. Btw good to see so many trees :)

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@JudyEv (325759)

• Rockingham, Australia

26 May 16

We only had the one tree come down this time so that was good.

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