Friday was a very scary day.  I thought it was just another very windy, rainy day.  It got really dark, really fast and stayed that way all day.  It was very windy, but we'd had days like that before, and nothing more than a few leaves or a stray branch being the worst.  But Friday, we got more than just a few leaves blown around!  I watched from my kitchen as the large tree in front of my house weaved around like one of those crazy flailing-arms balloon men used to advertise stores. The wind howled and my ears even popped a few times.  Then... CRASH!

Around my area of geography (Ottawa, Canada), we had not one... not two... but three tornadoes touch down around the area!  One of my neighbours actually spotted one of them as she was coming home from work, and many people later posted images they took from their phones of the twisting chaos.  There was a lot of damage done: hundreds of trees were pulled up by their roots or broken off like twigs, telephone poles were knocked over (like dominoes), roofs were pulled up, sides of the houses were ripped away, there were even a few trees sprouting a car!  One of the main generators for the city was damaged... in fact, many folks are still without power as I type.

I was luckier that some. In the aftermath of the tornadoes, some folks homes looked like a doll house, where each level was open on the sides. Others lost their whole house!  Some were much luckier and all they lost were a few shingles, or some siding, or a window.  I was one of the luckier ones.  I My bedroom window was completely smashed and the winds ripped everything inside the room around like a child having a major tantrum. Many of the items were even pulled out of the window and flung around the yards of the neighbourhood. Even some of my bedding was gone.

In my last post I mentioned my lovely dolls I had been working with. Sadly, my lovely ladies and their stuff was right under that bedroom window. The dolls, along with the little box holding clothing and accessories, the set up I made of a lab for my doll, and even my camera I was taking pictures of the dolls with... all wound up outside in the muddy, wet yard.  Everything was stained, broken or just not usable in some fashion.  I might be able to rescue one or two bits of clothing, but pretty much everything I had for my dolls was stained badly, ripped beyond repair, or simply lost from flying off somewhere.  The saddest part was that both my dolls were also just as bad.  One doll lost her hair, an eye, and an arm, as well as soaked and stained from laying in the muddy water for so long.  The other doll I found impaled on a large branch of  tree that fell two yards away... both legs and and her head was long gone.  I cannot even post photos of the damage because the camera I have had for years was smashed and sitting in a puddle... it's broken beyond repair.

I'm thankful that I didn't lose any more than that.  My window has been covered for now and will be repaired within the next few days.  I thankfully have no water damage to the inside of my bedroom other than on the bedding itself, and a few stained dirt spots on my rug.

I have no money to replace the damaged items, including the mattress... or my dolls.  I guess I should count my lucky stars... but I am very sad that I am not able to continue to work with the dolls I love, nor can I afford to buy a new one any time soon.  It may not be until long after Christmas before I can think of buying a new one.  And I have no idea when I'll be able to afford a new camera... if at all!