Archive for August, 2020

Rain and More Rain-August 2020

The inches are adding up. After a hot, humid, July (we did get 2.2 inch of rain in July which is unusual) it is raining and raining and raining some more, and calling for more days of rain. As I write this we have had 12.2 inches of rain in August with 6.2″ of those in the last twenty-four hours.

This afternoon I braved the rain and went to Food Lion. Coming home on our road, there was a fair-size tree laying 3/4 the way across the road. Facebook is “flooded” with pictures and reports of flooded roads and downed trees in our area. Our driveway is one large water puddle!

During the night it apparently rained really hard. The picture below shows some gravel from our driveway in the middle of the road heading almost all the way down to Route 60.

It is a dreary, quiet, peaceful afternoon with nothing to do except for what I want to do-in the house. I was planning to process my second patch of sweet corn this afternoon, pick tomatoes and okra and finish mowing the lawn. Instead I have read the mail, checked email and facebook a dozen times, and pitter-pattered around the house, restless. Church is cancelled for tomorrow so it will be another long day. I don’t have any new puzzles to put together and I can’t convince Gene to play a board game.

The conversation went like this…

Me: Let’s play a game of Settlers.

Him: It’s almost supper time.

Me: It would be fun.

HIm: Supper?

After supper I announced I had fun eating supper and that the Blackberry Crunch in the oven was for those who played a game. I have a feeling he will still get his share of crunch, without the game! Where are my grandkids when I need them. Guess I’ll have to get motivated and make a batch of truffles.

One sad thing for us is the new creek-crossing and bridge we put in late February for cattle crossing and stream exclusion has been badly damaged-twice this month. I’ll show you some before and after pictures.

February 2020
You can see how far up the hill the water was. That steam is normally a trickle.
The bridge, early November 2018
The support posts on the sides of the bridge held.

Gaggles of Canadian geese have been feeding in the fields the past few days and the cows are grazing. The rain is not bothering them one bit.

Neither has it fazed Mr. Squirrel who has been savaging the seeds from the ground under the bird feeder.

At least we have not had wind or fire as some areas of our country are experiencing. Our damage is very minimal, the water table is being replenished and there should be a good hay crop this fall.

We are blessed.

Homegrown Tomatoes

One of the highlights of my garden season is picking fresh, homegrown, tomatoes. Nothing quite beats a flavorful, juicy, garden fresh, red, Better Boy tomato. You know, the kind that squirts juice and drips down your hands when you bite into a thick slice on a mayonnaise laden bread. It makes my mouth water to just think about it.

For the ultimate tomato sandwich choose a big, fully ripe tomato fresh from the garden; one that more than covers your slice of bread. Cut a thick slice an inch thick-yes, an inch thick-because for a tomato sandwich you just need a thick slice! Slather your bread with Real Kraft Mayo and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Lean over the kitchen sink and sink your teeth into that baby. It just doesn’t get much better! You still might have to change your shirt!

Johnny Denver sang a song about homegrown tomatoes that I really like. Crank up the volume and sing along.

“Homegrown Tomatoes” by Guy Clark.

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