Greetings and saluations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to tell you how totally soaked we are. You may remember me from similarly-themed posts as “Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain”, among at least a few others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
Maybe you can see that I’m checking the garden to see how wet it is. Really, really wet.
Since about two o’clock in the afternoon yesterday, we’ve gotten an inch and a quarter of rain (that’s a little over three centimeters). There wasn’t any thunder, either.
This is really typical for June, here, and after all the dry weather in April, and the fire warnings, it comes as a huge relief. But it’s wet, and so there’s going to be no gardening.
Let me back up a couple of days, though, and tell you what happened to the guy I live with, who isn’t as strong as he used to be, but thinks he still is.
He went over to help his neighbor saw down a big broken branch off the honey locust tree in their front yard. He showed his neighbor the right way to make the first cuts before making the one by the branch collar. The branch came down just fine, but the guy I live with thought he could hold up the branch and let it fall slowly to the ground, without damaging the new fence that the neighbor had put it.
Well, naturally, he couldn’t lift the weight of the branch like he would have been able to do twenty years ago, so the branch sort of slipped, and smashed the end of his little finger. Not badly, but enough.
I also got into a little trouble when I saw a fairly large eastern yellow-bellied racer in the cactus garden. I really wanted to get it, by crashing through the cactus, and the guy I live with kind of lost it when I started to go into that garden. He yelled at me really loudly.
I guess he really does have my best interests at heart, though, because he explained afterward that it would have meant a trip to the doctor’s office, for me.
The snake is now in the front yard. It must have slithered all the way around the house. Just thinking about that gives me the creeps.
Well, anyway, back to today and our soaking-wet garden.
The only action here is the constant racket from orioles, demanding grape jelly. You can see the feeder off to the right, there.
We can’t find the holding rod for the other feeder so I guess we’ll just have one, all summer. The rain, of course, washed away all the jelly last night, but I think it’s been rejellified at least twice, just today.
We also have goldfinches and nuthatches, but the regular feeders are empty, because of the bird flu, I guess.
On my morning walk, I thought it would be a good idea to check the water level in the creek. Somenody needs to do it, after all. The guy I live with said that when he and his wife moved here, there was always water running in it; now it’s mostly dry. But not today.
You can see that the field was mowed, which annoys the guy I live with no end, because he says the grass will easily out-compete any weeds, but no one ever listens to that, even though it’s super obvious. The mowed parts become full of weeds, and the unmowed parts don’t.
That’s all for today. The guy I live with said it’s so wet we might even see a slug, but somehow I don’t think so.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
Oh no! When I get sick, Rhody snuggles to make me better. He does the same for anyone who is sick or sad. You know how canine people have those super powers for healing. Do you let the guy you live with pet you more than normal to help with his owie?
Oh, his finger is okay now.
Oh, you must have gotten petted quite a bit!
I always do.
Now, almost to be perverse, we feel the garden here has become dry and is badly in need of rain!
The guy I live with said this rain will be good for a couple of weeks, maybe.
Very heavy rain forecast for Sunday here!
The guy I live with says we sometimes get heavy rain, but not as much as there used to be, back in the last century. So much so that cars had to just stop on the highway. Couldn’t see anything.
Colorado, by the way, is over three times larger than Ireland.
It’s about a seven-hour drive, maybe more, from one end of the state to the other (east to west).
Just to give you an idea of how large it is.
To put things in perspective, America is occasionally referred to as the next parish west of Ireland. Or, we would reply to the guy’s comment about the seven-hour drive with a “I used have a car like that one time but I got rid of it, useless old thing!” With motorways I suppose it’s four hours south to north here.
I suppose it’s about seven hours at seventy miles an hour, all the way. The guy I live with tells this story of being invited to a talk in Grand Junction (four hours from our house), and sliding down the western side of Vail Pass (3.250 meters), on ice, and in snow, in the old pickup they used to have. Something he’ll never do again.
LOL That’s a picture!
I hear it was pretty scary.
Mee-you Mani!! Furianllee RAIN!!!!!
THE backyard lookss much bettur than it did!!
Sorry gardenin has to be put off…..butt then again it iss nice to just sit back an admire THE garden!
Guy mee iss sendin dubbell POTP fore yore fingur to heal quiklee. You an BellaSita Mum are SO-O alike. Shee furgetss shee not inn her 20’ss or 30’ss anymore….shee iss an accydent waitin to happen sum dayss!!
THE Creek has water? GRATE!
Now if THE grass was cut nicelee it wuud bee purrfect rite Mani? Or wuud it bee bettur uncut?
Our Custoadeean lowered blade on ridin mower an gouged holess inn our lawnss…it lookss PAWFULL!!! An this mornin hee tooked THE LOUDEST Hedgey Clippurss wee EFURR herd an brutalized THE Hydrangea bush that was just startin to flower…BellaSita told him MANY timess to trim gentlee AROUND flowerss…Our Hedgey lookss square an nekked too…..
**slapss** paw to forehead….Efurry yeer wee go thru this!
Anywho’ss wee wish you a lovelee day an hope it is not snowin, rainin, windy or too *hot* an youss’ can enjoy outdoorss porpurrley!
~~~head rubss~~~BellaDharma~~~ an Guud Wishess BellaSita Mum
Thanks; his finger is all better now.
He also said that butchering plants is what some “landscape maintenance” companies seed to do on a regular basis.
I think there’s no water in the creek now.
It was pretty nice today but instead of working in the garden we both took a nap.
Wee happy Guy’ss finger iss all bettur! BellaSita Mum cut her middle right fingur on upper rite side on broken Corelle peece….it bled ALOT! Man our Hu’manss are accydent prone aren’t they Mani???
An wee heeer you ’bout Lawn Maintain…wee call it “Diggin an Gouginn” 😉
THE creek iss dry again…oh nose…..
Say a nap soundss like a purrfect idea! Tahnx!
Naps are always excellent.
I sometimes hurt my paw pads, but the guy I live with can usually fix that. I have had to go to the doctor’s office, once, but they’re not very far away at all.
Mee-yow Mani you probablee beehave fore Guy! If mee hert mee self mee wuud lassh out at BellaSita….an mee Vetman iss 1/2 hour car ride away….
So BellaSita iss tryin to fin efurry last shard! 😉
My doctor is about five minutes away. I guess that’s good.
5 minuttss iss MUCH bettur than 30 minuttss!!!
Definitely.
” the rest is this horrible clay gunk six inches to a foot deep”
Do you get “standing water” in the garden?
Never. Except in winter, where there’s sometimes water near the “way back” border, if the soil is frozen there.