RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING

Yesterday afternoon we had a great rain. It started out as a gentle drizzle and turned into a veritable downpour. Let's see, Saturday afternoon, it's raining, can't garden, what better thing to do than to lay back on the sofa, read a book and doze to the sound of raindrops on the roof? It was great and I slept for awhile but woke up to find the raindrops had fallen not just on the roof but right through it. The skylight in the kitchen has leaked off and on forever but frankly, with as little rain as we've had in the last few years, I'd forgotten about this minor problem. Mopping up wasn't too bad (wish I'd cleared the kitchen table of all the papers and mail and junk that accumulates there) but the thing that worried me was all the little Post-its with the ink washed right off. Hope those notes weren't important. I'll be darned if I can remember what any of them said. Details.
There was a nice rainbow afterwards. Looking around the yard today at what plants the rain beat down reminds me that it's about time to do some serious cutting back. The mailman still hasn't forgiven me for the Nicotiana Sylvestris that he has to push back to get to the mailbox on the porch, and on the other side is a Graham Thomas rose that prefers to reach out and touch someone. The Russian Sage is practically sprawling on the ground, and has been helped along by the House Finches that like to land on the long wands and peck away at the purple flowers. Anyway, I won't have to water again anytime soon, and the birdbaths all got a fresh refill which helped along my lazy Saturday afternoon. Oh, I finished the book, "The Lost Van Gogh" by A.J. Zerries. Nazi-looted art turns up in the U.S., long convoluted plot. Interesting read, no gardening in it though.

MUSHROOM FARM

So, after our week of rain every day, my neighbors and I feel like we're running mushroom farms. They're everywhere, in every conceivable shape and size, some areas looking like they were colonized by Martians. This is an older neighborhood, so there are plenty of underground tree roots for the fungi to spring from. Okay, the red ones are not real, this is a picture I used to sell them on eBay a couple of years ago (heavy bidding). We have giant platter mushrooms, button mushrooms, um...anatomically correct mushrooms, and everything in between. I went out one morning to find a wee forest of some darling miniature mushrooms about an inch tall shaped just like ones in a fairy tale book. They'd sprung up through the new sod I got at Home Depot. If I owned a paint set, I would have painted little red dots on them to complete the effect. But they were gone by the time I got home that afternoon. The work of elves, I say.

SOGGY

This is a semi-arid climate, we aren't supposed to have moss growing on our trees. And so much rain on the pfitzers that it looks like frost. We've had rain for seven days in a row, and not just a gentle mist. Bucketsful! It reminds me of a vacation in the Yucatan where it rained so hard we thought all the water in the Caribbean Sea was going to be transferred to the grounds of our hotel.

If the weather gods had seen fit to spread this rain out over seven weeks instead of seven days we'd have been set for the summer. But we'll be heading back into the 90's tomorrow and the plants will be gasping as usual. It was interesting while it lasted. I can put my pots and pans back in the cupboard instead of under my leaking skylight in the kitchen. And the mailman will be happier if I cut back the floppy canes on the rose which used to be Bibi Maizoon before it died back to rootstock.
The renegade canes are now arching gracefully under the weight of all the water ready to shower the unsuspecting guy as he shoves his way past them. He only brings me bills anyway.