There's Always The Weather

[Peter47-NL (imported)]

The last weeks were tropical and humid here in Holland and then I hate my scrotum even more. It feels like a damp salty slice of smoked beef that irritates the skin of my groin.

[sduyck_2000 (imported)]

drought broke last night

we received a surprise rain last night

picked peaches all last week...finished saturday

[A-1 (imported)]

Same here...

We got 1.4" inches of rain in about a 1.5 hour downpour at about 5 AM... It woke me up when it started, but then I slept through it...

[moi621 (imported)]

Isaac may dump significantly more rain on you in a week as it passes up the Mississippi valley.

I am envious of the rain.

The humidity is finally gone and the weather more appropriate, and warming up.

I sensed Autumns approach looking out the window and noticing the world seemed bathed in a blueier light. In the Summer it seems more yellow.

Everyday I pick a few large plump Mission Figs. Huge, Heritage Beefsteak tomatoes are reddening but the branches and leaves look really bad. I have never been a good tomato grower.

Moi

Send Rain, Please.

[A-1 (imported)]

We are being set up to get the remnants of the Hurricane ... 4 to 6 inches of rain over 2 days...

Paolo, get the Ark ready...

[moi621 (imported)]

Anyone getting any of those storms on the Atlantic coast or the northern Midwest?

[Dave (imported)]

We had a rainy Saturday here but not "storms" just rain and tonight it's going down to 60F ...

Probably too far west to be affected.

[Paolo]

We have had about 9 inches here since mid August, by my gauge, but no severe weather. Some wind.

Some garden plants really took off, but tomatoes are winding down.

Grass is green again!

[Dave (imported)]

My lament over the past probably two years was first the black stink bugs with that funny shield shape that simply crept into every crevasse you could open to air out a house. They thankfully have gone away, died off or moved on to other places since last March.

I used to open a window during the day in either my bedroom, the kitchen or the living room and they stopped that practice. I spent months almost to February or March before I killed all of them in the house. Every time I change a light I find their little dead bodies. They liked heat.

The after the long dry spell this summer the entire neighborhood is overrun with fleas. I spray my garbage with RAID twice daily, never open a window in the kitchen, rinse every dish, tediously pick up every crumb they might live on, leave nothing wet like a demented cleaning lady... and battle them one by one. Thankfully, I don't have pets. My friends that do are overrun and have extra flea collars hanging around the pets dishes and beds etc... They'll die off this winter like good little pests.

I see signs that this winter will bring a bumper crop of leaves to clog the gutters. It's starting already.

I wonder what pest will be next.

[Paolo]

I have noticed a lack of things this year. No large butterflies. In fact, few small ones. I have killed only 2 tomato worms. When I was a kid, it was a daily job to hunt them. Fewer wasps. I used to fight them all summer long. I did notice an abundance of HUGE cicada killer wasps, literally the size of hummingbirds. I have seen few orange honeybees. Lots of the mini-bumblebees.

As for plants, very very few milkweeds. Hence, no Monarch butterflies. The wild phlox is blooming for a 2nd crop.

There are fungus popping all over, of all varieties. Some I have never seen before.

I saw a beautiful white "Angel of Death" amanita last week.

There are loads of crayfish in the lower field and creek. Minnows are abundant. Some of them are huge - the dark 1-stripe type. Big enough to clean and eat. The blue heron loves them. I also saw the biggest soft shell turtle I've ever seen about a month ago.

I have seen 1 box tortoise this year.

It's been very odd, and I have a headache. Amazing what you come up with when you cannot sleep.