I love Destin. I have alot of friends there. Go to AJ's its a restaurant and bar. They have boat cruises. Look for the Silent Lady Sailboat and go on a sunset rum cruise! Its awesome!

Scott,

Our forecast for next week has changed about 10 times this week, but every time they change it, it gets better.

Here's the southcentral OK forecast from our local CBS affiliate (KXII channel 12):

Sun. low 53 high 75 sunny
Mon. low 52 high 78 sunny
Tues. low 56 high 81 sunny
Wed. low 60 high 86 partly cloudy
Thurs. low 64 high 84 partly cloudy with 20% chance of rain

On each day, the wind is forecast to be either 10-20 or 15-20 which isn't too bad (and might help dry up the standing water).

To get to next week, we have to endure 90 degrees and high humidity tomorrow and heavy rainfall on Saturday, but maybe then we'll have some "real" May weather.

I bet the week away will be nice, and a vacation is always fun. We'll have to keep an eye on Destin's weather so we'll know if it is staying nice for y'all.

Dawn

I hope to get some watermelons planted in the leftover pile of leaf compost tomorrow, so they'll get rained on once and then have a streak of warm weather to get going in. They'll be from Dawn's seeds. If I run out of seed, I'll plant pumpkins from my own seed. I have lots of pumpkin seeds. Oh wait, Dawn sent me some muskmelon seeds too!

The big area I rototilled to put pumpkins, melons, etc. in as sprawlers is too soggy to walk on. Out between the fruit trees. It's been two weeks and will be three since it was tilled, so I figure I'll need to till all over again to loosen the soil and make it easy to hill up (and to till under whatever has sprouted). Wouldn't hurt to get some more horse manure in there. And wood chips on top after tilling and hilling. Ooo! Plans! I might be able to do some stuff if it's not raining all the freaking time!

By the way, last time I checked on the fruit trees, the score was 14 had broke dormancy and 8 weren't showing. I had given up on the peaches and nectarines, but I've changed my mind since one sprouted leaves a couple days ago. I've added a bing cherry (on clearance at Lowes). I don't know if a bing will be worthwhile. Barry Fugate in Tulsa gave some reason for why he didn't recommend bings. But my husband was insistent and he was buying, so whatever. The 8 that haven't sprouted out are 4 nectarines, 3 peaches and 1 sweet cherry.

I have two five gallon buckets of willow sections soaking on the back porch. I clipped them up just today. I hope that cutting them into 2" segments is not too short. I'll drop some Superthrive into it before I use it. Next Monday looks good.

Well, I came back to Oklahoma. Our forecast is:

Overnight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 68. South southeast wind between 9 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 86. South wind between 15 and 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.

Friday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Increasing clouds, with a low around 61. Southeast wind between 11 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 68. North northeast wind between 9 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 47. North northeast wind between 7 and 10 mph becoming calm.

It's getting even better, but hotter! Next week will be the most perfect weather week of the year IMO!

I've included Saturday since the rain is supposed to clear out early:

Sat low 62 high 71 sunny late
Sun low 50 high 78 sunny
Mon low 51 high 82 sunny
Tue low 54 high 83 sunny
Wed low 60 high 86 sunny
Thu low 63 high 85 sunny
Fri low 63 high 80 sunny

Lots of tomatoes and pecans being pollenated next week at my place!

By next weekend I'll probably be hoping for some rain!

Scott,

Our forecast remains about the same, but they did take the 20% chance of rain out of the forecast for Thursday, so we may have nice weather all week next week.

I think it may be a while before I am hoping for rain (at least another couple of weeks). Although our rainfall for the year looks impressive (24.9" thru today for Marietta compared to less than 23" for all of last year), the reality is that over 18" of that rain has fallen since April 29th, so we are still muddy, squishy, wet, and very mosquito-infested. The higher winds have helped keep the skeeters away from us as long as we don't go down into the low-lying creek, pond or swamp areas so I am glad to see the wind blow for a while.

Everything looks very green and lush which is a pleasant change, and we have lots of flowers blooming.

My tomatoes and peppers are setting fruit but I do expect even better fruit set next week when the temps are in the "perfect" range. I haven't seen tremendous growth of the plants in the ground since the extremely heavy rain fell, so the extremely waterlogged soil remains an issue, but I am beginning to think the plants will survive.

I have noticed a growth spurt on the part of most plants since the sun begin making some temporary appearances for a few minutes to a few days this week, so expect a lot more when the sun puts in some full-time appearances.

The weather is clearing up and turning "perfect" at just the right time here. All three of our county's high schools have graduation scheduled for next week, and 2 of the 3 are outdoor ceremonies (weather permitting). So, it looks like the seniors will get to have all their family members and friends with them at the stadium graduations, instead of having a more restricted-seating arrangement inside the auditorium. That's a nice break after a very rainy period.

Tons of moisture are streaming over our heads here this morning, headed south from Texas to who-knows-where. Wherever this heavy moisture collides with the advancing cold front, I bet somebody gets some "weather" tonight.

Dawn

Dawn, I think the moisture passing over you now will probably end up at 60,000 feet over Wichita in a few hours as large balls of ice, LOL. One more night to survive and I will feel really good about my huge berry crop, my tomatoes, and my pecans.

Everything here is about the same as you described there, which couldn't have been said a few weeks ago!

Scott,

Well, then, Wichita or whoever else is unfortunate enough to get the severe weather tonight has my sympathy, because the moisture-laden clouds have just raced overhead all day and you know that someone is going to get "it". By the way, the moisture streaming overhead has stopped within the last hour and the wind has shifted, so we've sent all the excess moisture on its journey and the rest is up to the cold front.

For us, it is not just tonight, but tomorrow as well. I think that any rain that falls won't even start here until after midnight. It could be substantially later if the cold front slows down as it comes down south through Oklahoma. So, if the plants make it through the next 18 hours here, then we're "good to go" and looking forward to a glorious week of gardening fun and games next week.

With today's sun and heat, we've experienced a lot of surface drying today, so for the first time in two weeks or so, I can walk through the yard and driveway without having to wade through puddles. There are some squishy areas near the lily pond, but they're between the pond and a raised bed to its northeast and we don't walk there much. In fact, I hope to expand that raised bed in the next week or two and bring it almost to the pond bank.

Guess we'll have to watch the weather tonight, but I haven't been on the computer checking it today. Of course, if you listen to the NWS forecast on your weather radio, it still sounds like someone is really to get hit, but I don't think it will be here where I live.

Dawn

AMAZING!!!!!!! I have never seen a more perfect forecast!

Next 8 days per ch8:

Mon low 49 high 76 sunny, calm
Tue low 53 high 81 sunny, calm
Wed low 59 high 82 sunny, calm
Thu low 60 high 83 sunny, mod wind
Fri low 62 high 83 sunny, mod wind
Sat low 63 high 80 sunny, mod wind
Sun low 65 high 80 sunny 20% precip, calm
Mon low 66 high 78 sunny 20% precip, calm

Scott,

I don't remember the last time the weather made you this happy. LOL

OK, here's ours per KXII Ch. 12:

Mon low 48 high 77 sunny, lt. wind
Tues low 51 high 78 sunny, lt. wind
Wed low 56 high 83 sunny, lt. wind
Thurs low 60 high 84 sunny, lt. wind
Fri low 64 high 85 partly cloudy, lt. wind
Sat low 63 high 85 partly cloudy, lt. wind, 20% chance of showers
Sun low 65 high 85 partly cloudy, lt. wind, 20% chance of showers,

In our case, light wind is forecast at 5-10 mph, either out of the southeast or east.

We actually were previously forecast to get a little warmer--near 90---but it looks like Jay is getting all the heat up there in SW Kansas (sorry, Jay) and we are getting the milder weather.

This is as perfect of a one-week forecast as I can remember in a long, long time. There's not one "bad" day in the bunch.

Dawn

Let's all remember this one while we wait until the next really nice week, around the second week of October or so.

Scott,

I'm going to be optimistic and think that the next really nice week will be next week! It is not our fault you won't be here to enjoy it. LOL

And, in fact, I am going to dare to hope for three good weeks in a row. Hope is free.

My two favorite months are April and October. Since the last two or three years have given us wicked gardening weather in April, I may have to change that to May and October.

Dawn