House Plants & Regional Tornados

I have decided to try a few house plants inside again. And hopefully not get them so wet I end up with gnats and terrified pupsters.
I've tried most everything for Abi's horrible coughing. The vet has told me to give her Benadryl, which I do. But still in the middle of the night she often coughs.

I thought, well, I've tried lavender essential oil being diffused all night. Which is nice and I'll keep doing that. 

I've tried medication. 

So now I'll try a few house plants that soak up toxins from the air.

It is quite pretty out today. The sun is shining. I hear a duck quacking nearby.

Over the weekend, we had horrible storms. And it just about tore up my gazebo. I'd say I'm about one thunder storm away from it coming apart. 

There are now holes in the canvas and parts of it are no longer attached to the hardware. On Sunday the wind knocked it over into my patio door, scaring me half to death.

Just to give you an idea of what winds can be like here, I noticed today that there are patches of bright red all over the patio concrete. 

Upon going outside to see what on earth it was, I finally figured out that the wind had blown the paint right off a round table I have over in the corner by the fence. 

These aren't tiny pieces either.
 
Not all the paint of course. Just patches of it. Never seen anything quite like it.

Oklahoma winds just are not conducive to canvas gazebos. Or even, I suppose, painted tables. 

Live and learn.

I'm wondering how, if it falls apart, I will take it down by myself. And I haven't a clue. I really don't want to climb up there.

It is not the maintenance man's responsibility. As a matter of fact, we are without a maintenance man right now. Last Friday was his last day. They moved him to another complex.

They will not tell the manager or the maintenance man or any of us if the sale of this place went through. The people who manage the company are, for want of a better word, very lacking. 

The maintenance man we did have said even if he was here, they've told him not to touch that tree against the fence no matter what. 

They said the current owner refuses to pay for a professional to deal with the tree because he's looking at thousands of dollars. 

And he doesn't want the staff cutting branches in case that massive thing drops a huge tree branch on an apartment.

Before I moved here three years ago, I actually looked at a few used mobile homes. But with the winds here, it seems a bit foolhardy to try to buy one of those. 

No telling what it would cost to insure one in a state that has frequent tornadoes. 

And just think how devastating it would be to fix one up only to have a tornado come roaring through and tear it to pieces in a manner of minutes.

The people in Canton, Texas saw that just a few days ago. I don't know if they have a final death toll yet. 

I wonder if it hit the infamous Canton flea market? Anyone from around there know?

I hope all of you are safe and sound. 

You cannot outrun a tornado. 

I recall being in the backseat of a car with some other teenagers looking out the back window at one that was dark and quite menacing.

We're foolish when we're young, aren't we? A miracle we even get through those hormonal teen years.  

Be safe during this tornado season, all of you. And whatever you do, don't try to outrun a tornado.