We have been getting rain up here in northern Nebraska pretty regularly the past two weeks, Caroline. Fall is setting in here. Temps are mild and actually cool enough by morning that I need a jacket when I take my daughter up to the state line to catch the bus in the mornings. Our trees are beginning to change colors and the wild sunflowers are just about finished blooming. The guys will have the haying done by next week and then there will just be bales to move home. After that there's some fencing to repair from the spring flooding and then we can move the cattle home for the winter. I think it's gonna be a looooong winter for us. We need to get busy and start cutting wood for the winter. Sigh. Where did the summer go?

You're probably not feeling the same way I am and I can surely relate to that. We had drought for the past three years and though it did get pretty hot and dry in July and early August it was nothing like it's been the past few years or anything like you've had down south this year. I hope the rains come soon to you.

MeMo

I can relate to your activities and I can smell that hay! I was born and spent my first 13 yrs on a farm in Ohio. I well remember my Dad and brothers and the hired hands with the baler and the wire and those lethal hooks they swung to pick up the bales...wow I am so glad you posted, it is a walk down memory lane. We had 500 acres of tomatoes too. My Dad had migrant workers and the kids were my only playmates. I remember those big ole green worms and the dust they sprayed on the tomatoes...this was the 50's ( I probably will pay the price for breathing that stuff) . The sounds and smells and visions of Mom and Grandmother canning meats and vegetables and butchering hogs and chickens. Oh well times are sure different for me now. I did can some last week, and froze peaches. Thank you MeMo. Caroline

None here. Watering restrictions came Tuesday. Thankfully though they allow watering with a hose by hand which is what I do since my yard is small. Things aren't getting better here.

We're about 14" below normal now. At least our temps are better, only supposed to be 91 today & even cooler over the next few days. Supposedly there was rain in our area, as much as an inch in an hour, but only a trace at my house.

In my area of northern Michigan we have been in a moderate drought for a lot of the summer -- no real rain since early July. But... we just got an inch and a half of rain in the last two days, which is great, but unfortunately it's way too late to do local farmers a lot of good. Corn plants have ears, but they haven't filled out, and farmers with silos are chopping the corn for animal food. They will need it because pastures are brown and cattle are already being fed this year's first (and only) cutting of hay. A lot of farmers had planted extra corn this year due to the ethanol-driven high prices. No market killing for them, I'm afraid.

Still, for tourists and other non-farmers it's been a great summer -- lots of sunny days in the seventies and low eighties and mild to cool nights. It's almost one o'clock here right now, and it is just 70 degrees with clear blue skies and low humidity. Summers here are often beautiful and comfortable except for the days that a big old high pressure area parks itself over you folks in the southeast and starts pumping Gulf air all the way up here. The we get humid days in the nineties that make us wish we had central a/c in our houses.

Enough rambling. I hope everyone with oppressive weather gets a huge improvement -- and soon!

Don't hate me because I have perfect weather. :-)

ThinMan

Uh thinman...we hate YOU !! Nahh..just your weather. I used to go to the Upper Peninsula when I was a girl . My Dad bought hay up there. He was President of the Natl. Hay assoc. and was a "feed man" for the Thoroughbred race horses at the tracks in Detroit and New Orleans. I well remember the beautiful summers in Michigan.

I spent the AM mowing and pruning and sweeping. It looks great today even after only the one rain. I am crossin' my fingers for everyone that we all get more. Caroline

No rain here. One of our neighbors complained to the HOA that her well was going dry and that it must be because we filled up our new swimming pool. WHAT? Geez. We paid two tanker trucks to fill up our pool.

Nonetheless, we are concerned enough not to water plants except for a few pots on the porch. The deer, birds and all other critters great and small are coming to our manmade stream to drink since the woods creek is dry. We top off our "water feature" every 3 days, but it's giving water to the wildlife.

The lake where we kayak is so low, the egrets are standing on ground out in the middle of the bays where we used to paddle.

Cameron

Cameron,

I'm glad to hear that you have helped provide a nice habitat for all the critters.

Your mentioning that reminded me of something that used to break my heart during our drought. On the rare days when I would pick up a hose and water my beds, the presence of fresh water was like an alarm going off in the neighborhood. Birds and squirrels would suddenly appear in the trees waiting to take advantage of the cool water.

In fact, I would turn the nozzle to mist and spray them down. It was particularly awful to see birds panting in the heat. I would fill both my birdbaths twice a day with cool water, and also add ice cubes, but it seemed to evaporate almost immediately so I am sure a little misting felt good to them.

I bet the local wildlife is really enjoying the beautiful oasis in your garden!

Marilyn

Good for you, Cameron, helping out the wildlife. : )

Caroline, I hope you get some more rain and soon. I don't want to come back here and find you and JD have taken up a close relationship. ; )

We have been having showers on and off since Sunday. Earlier in the week we had the remnants of Dean and now these showers are from some system coming up from the GofM. In fact, it is coming down quite heavy right now. That's good because I have some roses to move before vacation. Bad news - there will be more weeds to pull.

I heard earlier today that the lower elevations and L.A. area got rain, too. That bodes well for the wildfire season coming up. Fall can be the worst time out here since the dry Santa Ana winds tend to blow between Sept. and Dec. And it's cooled them off a bit. My DH commutes off the mountain and he said it had been over 100+ in the inland valleys. Yuck! I'll stay put and enjoy our balmy 80 degrees. : )

Diana

We have been having daily showers lately but they are coming off the Gulf coast and scattering. Some of my friends that live about 15 miles away have not gotten a drop of rain. So far today we have received rain from 2 different showers and the last one lasted nearly 2 hrs. I do feel so blessed.
Barb

I must be living wrong or something. It is going all around us but missing our house every time. Some of my neighbors have gotten 3" of rain at one time. We have gotten 1 1/2" over the past 3 weeks. Right now it is dark outside my office window but not much rain. I just keep wishing and hoping and praying. Hey that sounds like a song I know.

So I feel for you caroline. I know what you are going through.

....faye

We had thunder...very faint...dark clouds...lots...and lightning...some...not a d&*( drop of rain. I am always amazed that the Gulf can influence the weather so far away. We haven't felt any of the repercussions from any of the storms.

I didn't water today and I am going straight from the gym in the AM to the church and do my weekly lawn work. Our Ingathering Service is 9/9 and I want the grounds to look good.

We are supposed to bring a small bottle of water to the service that represents somewhere that we went or had special meaning to use during the summer. I think I shall just take a small flask from my faucet ..it means the difference between life and death to many.

Thankfuly here we had heavy downpours all last night (my son even knocked on our door and asked if it was going to flood). Rain is in the forcast the next several days! We didn't have much rain to speak of this year but praise the Lord we have been getting some heavy rain here now since middle of August. I do hope those of you still needing rain get some soon. They still say we are in for a dry winter so I guess we shall see. I how those of you feel about everyone around you getting the rain and it going right over your house. That is what it has done here all summer. The dark thungery stormy clouds and wind form over me and then drift off down the road to dump the much needed rain.
Meghan

According to the weather channel we have had rain for a few days now. And more to come.

Trouble is...the rain has been spotty. And I'm NOT in the spot. We get to listen to thunder and we can see the lightening. Scary...run inside! But no rain to speak of. And because it looks like we are in the middle of it...we don't even get sympathy for no rain! Grrrr.

Linda I know what you mean..I get in the truck and drive 5 minutes and it is pouring...we got about 1 hr of sprinkles this afternoon. It was the slow steady kind that really helps. I will take anything.

The newspaper said this AM that the El Nino will keep us in drought thru May next year. So...we are going to have a wetter Sept and Oct maybe even Nov. then nothing til May.

still nothing here. There is a storm forming off the coast of NC that could turn tropical. Won't know until Friday. If we could just get a reasonable amount of rain (no flooding) from that system, it would help.

Our outer garden, which I planted for drought and deer is actually doing great without any water! It's my cottage garden inside the fence that is pretty much a crunchy, brown disaster. DH and I weeded yesterday as the humidity wasn't so bad. Without weeds, there's not much green except my part-shade corner of azaleas and creeping jenny.

Cameron

We had a nice heavy down pour last evening. It looks like we may get more today and tomorrow too, which will be nice. Things were starting to fry up again.

It looks like those of you north of us on the east coast may be getting some rain from a tropical wave that could turn into a hurricane. Time will tell. Hope you just get the much needed rain, no flooding and no damaging winds.

FlowerLady