Be Merry, 3

NOTE:  Continuing my luck of yesterday, tonight I had written a long, descriptive account of yesterday's occurrences and a discussion of my stitching progress--and, I thought I had saved the information, but somehow I hit something on my way to hit Publish---and the entire blog entry vanished.  So, this is a repeat!

Last night I wrote an entry on Facebook describing my day fighting 11" of rain in Vero Beach.  Needle Nicely is in KMart Plaza.  By 4:30 the parking lot was a lake, with waves, and water about 12 or 14 inches deep.  It was threatening to seep under the front door when I left at 4:45pm. The men in the computer store next door gave me a large towel that I placed in front of the door when I left. The back lot was just as deep, because the swale wasn't draining and every time a vehicle drove by, a wave came under the back door.

Needle Nicely moved into this location 11 years ago after Hurricane Wilma took the roof off the building we were occupying at that time.  When we moved into this location, the carpeting in the back room smelled so I had it removed.  Thank goodness, I never replaced that carpeting because yesterday, the water coming in the back door would have ruined it.  The thing that saved Needle Nicely, though, was a drain in the bathroom which is situated to the left of the back door.  I had put tape over it because the drain part was loose, and I didn't want anyone to trip over it.  Yesterday, I peeled the tape off and the water from the door miraculously found its way from the door to the drain.
I was concerned because leaves and twigs came in with the water and covered the drain.  I had to find a way to keep that debris out.  KMart had closed about 3pm because of the liability of wet floors, which is when I realized I needed supplies.  So, I improvised with the following contraption:

I duct taped a garbage bag on the door about 6" from the floor.  Then I placed two empty bins, upside down, flush against the door, but with garbage bag under them.  To keep them in place, I put two cartons of water bottles on top and then threw in a bag of large skeins of a cotton yarn that I have yet to find another use for.  This managed to strain all debris from the water, so I could leave knowing that the drain wouldn't be clogged by leaves and twigs.

I then devoted some time to picking up things from the floor throughout the shop in case the worst happened and water came in from both front and back.  That included lifting my desktop computer stack off the floor onto a counter.  Throughout the shop, I had things awkwardly placed to get them  off the floor.

I called my husband to meet me on the street behind KMart.  The water in front of the shop was so deep, I didn't want him to drive through it.  At 4:45, I closed the shop and waded through the water to meet Arthur.  The water was mid-shin (my slacks definitely got wet!).  Along the way, two people stopped to offer me a ride, which I thought said something for their humanity.  Our drive home was a nightmare on US #1.  The police had started blocking streets, though none that affected us.  There was a single lane of traffic (it's usually 2 lanes with a 3rd turn lane) because the water was so deep in the right-hand lane.  Some people, feeling invincible,  would pass on the left or right regardless of the depth of the water.  Our development is located on the side of the "old airport", so it is higher ground and we had no problems, though our "water retention pond" was as high as we have ever seen it.  There is a system for slowly draining this so that it doesn't overflow, so there is nothing to worry about.

At 8am this morning, Arthur and I (with trepidation) drove to the shop to survey the damage.  Imagine our surprise when the roads were dry, as was the parking lot at Needle Nicely.  When we went in the shop, I discovered that it was in the same condition as when I left it.  Miraculous!

An anticlimax occurred later today.  The Weather Service has predicted three more days of afternoon thunderstorms.  Mercifully, thus far today, most of the weather has gone South of Vero.  Though the weatherman just mentioned that something was coming later tonight for Vero.  Ah, well!

On to the stitching of Be Merry.

I've continued stitching the blue background.  I don't like to do the design first and then do the background, primarily because the interior stitch lofts better when it is the last to be stitched. I started the Y using the woven stitch.

I completed the alternating Scotch stitch, then did another fern stitch, followed by a row of slanted gobelin.  Next I did a wide row of diagonal mosaic with a sprinkle of French knots so it resembles dotted Swiss.  I continued with another continental row, and ended with a row of alternating mosaic stitch.