I’m in my Upstairs Fort, relatively safe from the thunder that was shaking the house today.It happened yesterday, too. I got some Rescue Remedy, but things were still very scary.
June 12, 2023 11:34 pm
Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to talk about thunder, lightning, and rain. You may remember me from such posts as “The Rain Movies”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
I’m in my Upstairs Fort, relatively safe from the thunder that was shaking the house today.
It happened yesterday, too. I got some Rescue Remedy, but things were still very scary.
In other words, it rained yesterday.
This morning, everything looked okay, but all of a sudden, the way things happen here, there was a “special weather statement”, with a warning that a big storm was headed our way. We didn’t get any hail, just rain, but the guy I live with took a picture of part of the garden in case bad things happened.
He took some other pictures, too.
This is Echinocereus caespitosus, though it probably has some other name as well.
And then there are the ixiolirions. The guy I live with said last winter, which he complained a lot about, was “wonderful” for all the bulbs here, so he said he won’t complain any more. We’ll see about that.
Ixiolirion tataricum.
And then, well, this is sort of what you might you call an object lesson, the guy I live with spent all this time and effort trying to get buffalo gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima) seedlings, in the propagators upstairs. The seeds germinated, but the seedlings died.
So he sowed some seeds directly into the garden, and look what happened. One left, and one right.
Yesterday, and I know I’m kind of going back and forth, the guy I live with spent some time mowing his neighbor’s lawn. The lawn was getting more and more overgrown, but there were reasons for this. His neighbor’s wife died after a long illness, so he decided to do this, since it seemed like the right thing to do, and it was a lot more work than he thought it would be, since all we have for a lawnmower is this “push mower”.
This is a high-quality mower (Green Mountain Mower), but not really suited for mowing tall grass.
He also pruned the rose bushes, and tied up one climber with the Nutscene twine he got a while ago. He got a refill for the can that holds the twine. (You may remember the issue with the Nutscene and Earl, if you’ve followed this blog for any length of time, when Chess, the purebred border collie who lived here before me, was the narrator. If not, see the post “What The Fescue?”.)
He hurt his back, and was very sore from arthritis and stuff, but the lawn got mowed.
He talked to another neighbor about mowing the back yard, with a gas mower, but then it rained. And rained some more.
Well, anyway, it rained today. I had to stay inside, just in case I might get struck by lightning. I hear that’s bad for you.
When the rain finally stopped, I went on my evening walk.
There was a lot of water in the creek.
I kind of wanted to walk along the creek, but the guy I live with said maybe that wasn’t a good idea, because of ticks, even though I have a fancy flea and tick collar which seems to work. It kind of reeks, though, He got it from Only Natural Pet, though he doesn’t think of me as a pet, but rather as a companion with equal standing in our house, and in our lives.
And there are an awful lot of mosquitoes this year.
I think I’ve covered everything. Really not much to report. Except for all the rain.
Until next time, then.
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Did you star in Rain Man?
By tonytomeo on June 12, 2023 at 11:48 pm
I don’t know what that is.
By paridevita on June 15, 2023 at 2:31 pm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_Man
By tonytomeo on June 15, 2023 at 10:50 pm
The guy I live with has seen that movie, but I don’t get what this has to do with the post.
By paridevita on June 17, 2023 at 10:20 pm
We have had similar rain warnings here in southeast Ireland – thunder storms with possible flooding – but it passed us by with only a sprinkle of the lightest rain when we were hoping for a decent amount of rain to revive the garden. Sorry to hear of the neighbour’s loss.
By Paddy Tobin on June 13, 2023 at 1:58 am
It’s hardly rained at all in the last three or four days. Maybe the garden will dry out, some. Next week is supposed to be dry, too.
The summer after the guy I live with’s wife died the garden got really overgrown here, so he and another neighbor thought they would help out.
The guy I live with gave away his gas-operated lawn mower a long time ago, after he got sciatica pulling on the starting rope.
By paridevita on June 15, 2023 at 2:37 pm
I sympathize with you Mani, all of my companions have been afraid of thunder too. Very nice of your friend to mow the neighbours lawn. These little acts of kindness are appreciated and gratifying too. You seem to be having lots of rain this year. We are expecting two days of rain and then several of showers and much cooler temperatures. Can hardly wait.
By Elaine on June 13, 2023 at 9:22 am
Thunder is really scary. The guy I live with was disappointed when he saw I was afraid of it, but all the other purebred border collies who lived here were, too, so it gave a sense of “continuity”.
It is normal for it to rain here at this time of year, but maybe not so much as it has been.
If the guy I live with had purchased a battery-operated lawnmower for the five minutes’ worth of mowing needed in the back yard here, he might have been able to mow his neighbor’s lawn without disturbing him. But he didn’t. He talked to his neighbor’s daughter to see if it was okay for him and another neighbor to go into the back yard for mowing, because she knew the guy I live with knows exactly what this feels like. She said yes, of course.
By paridevita on June 15, 2023 at 2:47 pm
Mee-yow that WAS a grate reeport Mani!!!
HURRAH fore rain! Phooey about Funder an Lightinin… glad you had Rescue Remedy on board….
Say does Guy know they make Feliway fore Poochiess?? Adaptil it iss called….maybee youss’ all reddy use this? Sorry mee furgetss….
THE creek lookss purrty full. An wee been heerin horror storiess ’bout Tickss this yeer from all over THE States. Pleese bee carefull…those bugss are UCKY!
You look so hansum snuggelled inn yore upstairss fort. Soon as wee saw foto wee NEW it rained! Wee had sum rain which cleered our smokey, hazy air. Wildfiress are still burnin on inn North Ontario an Quebec’ an out West!
All yore flowerss look purrty! Wee are allwayss amazed Guy has such a green thumm 😉
***nose bopss*** BellaDahrma an (((hugss))) BellaSita Mum
By BellaDharma an BellaSita Mum on June 13, 2023 at 11:17 am
Thanks. I have a flea and tick collar that works really well. And I get checked for ticks. I get Rescue Remedy for thunder, and that seems to make things okay.
It hasn’t rained much in the last three days, and now the sun is out.
By paridevita on June 15, 2023 at 2:51 pm
Wee were apposta have rain today Mani an not a drop!! It iss so weerd!
Ressue Remedy iss guud….like THE Feliway iss fore mee.
An wee know Guy makess sure you are safe from Fleass an Tickss UCKY thingss!
**nose bopss** BellaDharma
By BellaDharma an BellaSita Mum on June 15, 2023 at 6:46 pm
Didn’t rain here today, and it’s supposed to dry out this next week, which is fine with the guy I live with.
By paridevita on June 17, 2023 at 10:19 pm
Given our multi-year drought, we are trying not to complain about the daily rains nearly every day this month. Our mom went to Hawaii for a wedding and there was less rain there than in Denver. But boy-howdy, when she got home she nearly fell over at all the lushness of the poppies and peonies. They seem very happy with the wet conditions and knowing that it’ll eventually get hot as heck soon enough are enjoying the cool temps. We could do without the thunder (and fireworks from the Nuggets win last night) too. We’ve been busy emptying the catch trays to minimize the mosquito pool parties. Quiet days are so much more enjoyable. Stay dry and safe and tell the man you live with what a nice thing he did for the neighbor by cutting the grass.
Your canine pals,
Norman & Elsa 🐾
By Tails Around the Ranch on June 13, 2023 at 12:55 pm
There are an awful lot of mosquitoes this year.
The guy I live with is “rethinking” the idea of having just a push mower because he gets very tired using it. Arthritis and all.
I’m lucky that the guy I live with stays home with me most of the time.
His sister and her husband have neighbors to retired to Hawaii, but in a part where it rains a lot. It poured rain almost every day of the year. They moved back here.
By paridevita on June 15, 2023 at 2:54 pm
Sounds like they were on the Hilo side. It’s drier on the Kona side.
By Tails Around the Ranch on June 15, 2023 at 3:36 pm
Probably. The guy I live with has never been to Hawaii. His mom was born there, but that’s about it.
By paridevita on June 17, 2023 at 10:19 pm
It’s a very special place. If the man you live with ever gets the chance to visit, I’m certain he’d find it amazing. What we have as potted plants on desks grow in hedges there.
By Tails Around the Ranch on June 17, 2023 at 10:28 pm
I don’t think he wants to go there. Too jungly and humid, he says. And too much flying over the ocean.
By paridevita on June 22, 2023 at 7:22 pm
I think you are getting all the rain we normally have this time of year. It basically hasn’t rained here in western Oregon since the end of April. The soil is already powder dry. Has me worried about fire. The good news is that the grass is already turning brown and I won’t need to keep mowing that. I don’t think I have ever seen your garden look so lush. I have a special fondness for Echinocereus as they remind me of my childhood spent exploring the Chihuahuan Desert.
By Jerry on June 14, 2023 at 8:20 am
We certainly understand worrying about fire. Fires in the mountains are fairly common here, but after the Marshall Fire everyone totally freaked out, with good reason.
The garden is pretty lush, isn’t it?
There are a lot of echinocereus and so forth here, but mostly in the front garden.
By paridevita on June 15, 2023 at 2:56 pm
“There was a lot of water in the creek.”
What is the “lay of the land” upstream? Ag, housing, wildlands, conservations, parks, foothills, golf courses?
By Mark Mazer on June 16, 2023 at 5:53 pm
Mostly more houses. The water flows down gutters and into the creek.
By paridevita on June 17, 2023 at 10:21 pm