OK, that...along with the title of the post...should give you a big clue where I'm going. We are treading water here in HPNC! If the present trend continues, I'm going to have to figure out just what a cubit is.
Since Sunday, we have logged nearly 4.5" of rain in the gauge. Read that again: 4.5 inches...in 5 days. Plus we have had temps in th high 80's and at least one 90-degree day, with humidity levels that are oppressive at times. Makes me want to celebrate whoever invented air conditioning!
Now, several of those inches of rain arrived via severe thunderstorms. The one on Tuesday was a corker! As you can see from these pictures of the windmill in the Way Back...or as we call it, The Derrick, we were left leaning when the rising sun revealed all. Can you also see that the winds lifted the canopy on one of the swings, tipping it back and over (center, left of first pic). Thank goodness it missed the back "temporary" fence by several whole inches. Had it taken out the fence, I would have been rounding up pups for hours!
There were also small tree limbs and branches littering the landscape, like you see in this shot of the front walk. Don't know if you can make it out, but that limb has been long-dead and the object of a great deal of woodpecker attention. It has also survived many thunderstorms and high wind situations over the five years we have lived here...until this week.
But the funniest photos are to follow. Have I shared with you how very much Winston loves water? Loves. It. In almost any form, apparently. He has no problem with a walk in the rain...none whatsoever. And whenever I have to water the garden? Well, he's there before you can say "Jack Splash!" He drinks straight from the hose, and he WANTS me to spray him. I call it "watering Winston."
Well...
With all the rain, our Kitchen row garden resembles a rice paddy, as EMGV friend JA noted on Facebook. We have created these wide, raised rows, making the corresponding "aisles" wide...and deep. Whenever we get this much rain, the aisles fill up with the run off from the rows...as you can see. That's Dixie walking gingerly along the bean fence on Row 3.
So, Wednesday I got up to another clear, clean morning that followed a terrific downpour. I headed out to the Way Back to check on things, with four dogs in eager attendance. Before I could say "Jack Splash," Winston was off...racing through the knee-deep (to him) aisles.
As I posted on Facebook, I'll let the pictures tell the story:
Good golly, Molly! So what to do? I turned on the faucet, because even though the last thing the garden needed was more water, I knew he would immediately stop playing in the mud baths and come to the sound of the sprayer. He did. And I hosed him down in the Rondell, which is high-and-dry and covered in mulch...no mud to be had. And he did what every wet dog has ever done: gave a great, big shake...slinging muddy water everywhere, including my glasses.
And then he ran back to the mud baths.
OK, I got smart and did what I should have done in the first place: dragged the hose into the back yard (from the Way Back), lured him (and the others) to follow, and shut the gate behind them. Then I watered Winston once again. He loved it. And he shared his pleasure with another great, big shake.
Of course, when I tried to hose down Ella Rae, Abbie, and Dixie...who all had muddy paws...they immediately ran away...acccckkkk, water! We might melt!...right up the deck steps and into the house. Good golly, Molly...indeed.
Duche$$, who was observing all of this activity from her usual spot on the deck, gave me that look of "I told you not to get any more dogs. Can we take them back now?"
Gotta love'em!
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