Our World......

[JRL]

After a stormy weekend, it is definitely warming up here, gonna be 81o tomorrow.

It will be summer all too soon. At least this year the three year long drought was relieved. The Sierra snowpack is 150% of normal and the reservoirs are filling.

[laughingwillow]

That is good news, jrl.

We used to frequent the San Louis Reservoir when I had friends in Gilroy. The water level was so far below full in the late 80's that it was scary. I think it rained on me about four times in the four years I lived in the bay area.

lw

[Glider]

Good to hear that you've got water now.  It's one of the things we so often take for granted.  I suppose this isn't the case so much if you live in or near the desert, or if it is spring 2010 and you live on the Gulf of Mexico.....

Last evening we had 1/2 of snow on the ground.  I suspect that it is the last we'll see of it this season though.  It usually doesn't lay this late into the spring.  Today the temperatures are running a good 10 or 15 degrees warmer than yesterday, though it is still a damp day.  Crazy thing is that it has been warm enough that with all the rain, the grass is growing like mad.   Anyone need a little hay made?

-G-

[judih]

'hay made'?
yeah- i'd take a ton or two

on the way back from seeing 'alice in wonderland' in be'er sheva, we passed a ton of stored wheat ablaze. gorgeous to watch, but i'm thinking that it's gonna be missed.

[laughingwillow]

Funny how a fire can be beautiful and terrible at the same time. We watched a fire burn late one night in the Black Hills. It was a beautiful sight until we learned that Reptile Gardens, a swell place we had visited earlier in the day was burning down.

lw

[JRL]

In Cali life revolves around water. Seems like we mostly have too little or too much. Before they built Folsom Dam, Sacramento would flood every winter. My house is a highwater bungalow, the bottom floor is now an apartment, but in decades past it was for flood protection.

[laughingwillow]

I came across an iris today in the country on a grassy corner of a lot with gravel pit tucked back a ways. It caught my attention from probably 100 feet away while I was driving out of town, so I just had to stop back and take a little closer look. It's a mature purple iris with yellow beard. And it smells heavenly. I wonder how it got there?

lw

[AliceTepes]

The day started out dreary and overcast, but in the afternoon the sun came out and burned away the clouds. A tourist pointed out to me how pretty the water was, I hadn't really noticed that before because I am on it almost everyday. The sea looked like blue green glass, food for the eyes. Right after I became aware of the way the sea looked two seagulls came down and started fighting, it is kinda sad that was the high point of my day at work.

[laughingwillow]

Heck, alice, any day spent within gazing distance of the ocean can't be all that bad, imo. I really like that color you mention.

lw

[Glider]

And who doesn't like to watch birds?  

lw, wild iris?  I think my roommate dated her once.

[eccentro]

It's starting to get into the 90s here...already too hot for me. The plants are loving the recent rain. Tomatoes are doing amazing. Jalapenos are growing like mad but no japs yet. 'spices' are gettin spicy. One of my pc pach is in the lead for cacti with 5 to 6 inches of new growth this season. I'm leaving it (& it's pot of course)in a bowl of water constantly just for an experiment.

Taking the dog to the lake soon. She loves water more than anything else. She's a golden retriever. 6 months after we got her as a puppy we took her to her first large body of water that she ever gazed upon & she ran right in & swam into the middle of a large pond. We were worried but she was in heaven.

[Glider]

'hay made'?
yeah- i'd take a ton or two

Well I didn't actually rake it and bale it.  Most of it was over 12" though, and just at that point where the seed head was starting to form, but the whole stalk is still tender and supple.  Today it is pouring though, so even if I had the equipment and the will, I don't know that it would have worked out.  Weather man is calling for a good week long drenching.

[laughingwillow]

Most of the corn around here has sprouted. Some beans not planted yet.

The other day I was driving along a gravel road and kicked up a huge flock of goldfinches that wove a gold and black tapestry between my truck and the trees they headed for when I approached.

Yesterday I saw an oriole a few miles from town. I never see them here in the burbs, but am guessing a few make it to the past edge of civilization.

I put a few tomato plants in the ground yesterday afternoon in the sweltering heat, which topped out at about 87* just as I was finishing up at about 3:30 pm. I was wiped out after a couple of hours under the sun in that high humidity and crashed hard, sleeping for about an hour and a half. I woke up at about 5:30 and it was getting dark. Stepped outside and the temp had dropped prolly 15*, the wind was picking up (smelled great)  and a little thunderstorm was fixing to make its way through the area from the south. Guess it was my lucky day. hehe

lw

[judih]

i was biking by the corn today - it's looking fairly tall and in the distance some haystacks were parked by the side of the road. We've got a few rows of pumpkin and a few of watermelon and green onions.  lazy kinds of crops close to the ground under a huge blue sky. Today was forty degrees centigrade which is almost 100 F, i think. tomorrow's supposed to be five degrees cooler (yay!)

After the last few nights of helicopters overhead and those wild shrieking peacocks, it's quiet tonight.

[Glider]

I think 40C it a little over 100F, maybe 104F?

No corn here.  If there is any even planted yet, I haven't seen it, though maybe I just need to look closer.

Locust bloomed and is nearly done.  A lot of roses are in bloom now, as are blackberry brambles.  A local field looked practically white with them.  Perhaps we'll have a good haul of berries this summer.