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Friday, September 26, 2008

Sunshine and Blue Skies Please Go Away...


Gorgeous, cloudless blue skies

Early Autumn  at Clay and Limestone.  It still feels like summer.  The evenings are cooler, but the day time temperatures are  in the 80s.    We have moved into our dry season.  It peaks in October, which is the driest month of the Middle Tennessee year!   

How is it different from the summer drought you ask?    An excellent question!   Take today for instance.  It's 85 degrees and the humidity is 27%.   That's the difference.  No humidity.  Which is always welcome in a normal year.

What's a normal year you ask?   Another excellent question!  We used to have pop-up afternoon  thunderstorms during August, usually on the weekends!   By the time autumn arrived, we were always thrilled to have dry cooler weather.  

I don't know if normal will return or if this is the new normal.  It is hot and dry and everything is dusty and parched. We need rain. Tennessee needs rain.

Our 7 day forecast  looks only slightly better! A bit cooler, but no rain!

I do wish it would stop being so darned beautiful out there!   The sky is a  gorgeous, cloudless blue...

 I Just Wish That It Would Rain! Go ahead, give yourself permission to click.

Enjoy your weekend,  I am going to be winging my way to Rhode Island to visit my son.   While there, I will see Layanee (Ledge and Gardens) and her beautiful garden!  I leave  plant watering in the capable hands of Mr. I Don't Garden or Blog. 

 The forecast for Providence is 100% chance of rain! 

 Ironic isn't it!

Gail


A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor, for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself.   Jessamyn West

45 comments:

  1. Gail, I can feel your pain. We are just on the edge of that drought area. My sister who lives an hour south of here is like you in that they are in the drought area. I wish for you that when you return from RI you will bring some of that rain with you. Hopefully the tropical storm that is dumping rain on the east coast will send some rain to your garden.

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  2. Lisa,

    I hope so too! I may change my mind when I get to RI but I am actually looking forward to some moisture! It is incredibly dry right now. Let's do a rain dance for the drought stricken areas and maybe your sister will have rain in her garden, too.

    Gail

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  3. I empathize with your situation. Last year (here in NC) we had the worst drought that lasted from summer 2007 until spring 2008. We've had a lot of rain this summer, including yesterday and right now. If it makes you feel better, I have lost more plants to RAIN than I did to drought -- lavender, yarrow, tithonia, echinops don't like to be watered constantly from overhead! Planting high didn't even work this summer because it stayed so humid for days that the plant foliage couldn't dry out. Cameron

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  4. Cameron, We can't win against Mother Nature can we!
    We have a similar dilemma each winter...the fast draining plants hate our soils when the winter rains arrive. But there are a beautiful species tulips that will thrive in them...have you tried any?

    I am so sorry you lost those beautiful plants! Rain is certainly overhead watering! I hadn't looked at it like that before! Will you try the plants again or have you identified replacements?

    Gail

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  5. I clicked and love the song and video. Yes, the Temptations want it to rain-but not more than me and you! Have fun on your trip. P.S. Last October was the wettest month of the year. Let us hope it is that way this year before winter. Otherwise we will lose more trees and plants.

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  6. We've been very fortunate to have lots of rain. But like you I think we are entering our dry month. No rain in the forecast for several days.

    Enjoy your visit in Rhode Island. Sounds lovely!!

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  7. Have a great trip! I hope it rains also, just not on Saturday and not on Tuesday. We need it so I guess anytime it feels up to raining it's welcome but I'd like to finish up some outdoor projects on Sat. We're going to the zoo on Tuesday, should be fun!

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  8. Tina,

    My son the scientist and I were talking about Climate Change...It might mean our normal becomes something else all together. Like rain in October...instead of March! But we do need rain! I will welcome it anytime! Last year was very strange wasn't it?

    gail

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  9. Dave,

    Maybe it will rain at night! Have a wonderful time at the Zoo.

    Gail

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  10. I have a big work in the yard weekend...involving chainsaws, chippers, edging and more....I'll be happy if the rain waits for a bit.

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  11. Susie,

    We don't have any normal here anymore. Thank you for your well wishes I will get around to visiting everyone when I get near a computer!

    Gail

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  12. Krity,

    We must ask the rains to only show up at night! Have fun with your projects!

    Gail

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  13. Going thru a drought is terrible. In 2005 we had the worst drought in 75-years. This year has been the wettest on record.
    I add my hopes for a wonderful, slow, drenching rain for everyone in your area.
    Marnie

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  14. Gail, I feel for you and your garden. If it hadn't been for Ike, mine would be in the same sad situation. However, being that it's in a pretty sorry state in spots because of Ike, I'm not sure whether to celebrate or mourn.

    Enjoy your time in Rhode Island. Maybe the rain will bypass y'all there.

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  15. No rain in the forecast for us wither. But I will happily take high 80s/low 90s rather than the 100+ temps we had in the summer. BIG difference. But just some steady rains would be nice.

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  16. I feel your pain! Weatherman says we are now over 6 inches behind for the year here! That on top of the past 2 years about the same. I too have decided this is the normal now…

    Today getting drizzle but that only makes for a cool damp day, we need a Rainy Day in Georgia! Temptations were great, I had forgotten about that song so thanks for the reminder....

    Have fun with the kids and pack a raincoat... lol...

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  17. Hi Gail, Have a great trip. Don't worry about a thing at home... wouldn't help, anyway! ;-) Loved the walk down "memory lane" with the Temptations! Thanks for the package of seeds, seeds, seeds! I look forward to planting and having a bit of Tennessee in my SE Iowa garden!! And don't let the rain dampen your visit! :-)

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  18. Gail, The soaker hose is running even as I write:) Who would think we would ever tire of blue skies?? We have had much the same weather here this past week--even hot at times--and the garden is drooping. I know the farmers will want dry days soon for harvest, but I'd like a little moisture for the flowers first.

    Have a wonderful weekend in Rhode Island!
    Oh, and I always loved the Temptations--another 8-track my husband and I used to listen to while dating.

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  19. yes i am ready to do a rain dance to get some rain i do not like dusty at all.
    i like cutting grass and if this keeps up it will next year till i can get on my tractor. plus all the hand watering is not my thing either.
    have a fun trip to ri(i have never been there) to see your son. and enjoy the rain he is getting.

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  20. Gail, many of us are wondering what the normal will be.I guess the best we can do is plant drought tolerant plants more and conserve water when we can. Rhode Island sounds like fun. Rain or not, I know ou will enjoy being wit your son.

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  21. Hi Gail, Firstly, how fun you get to meet Layanee AND see your son! I DO wish you some rain... I know all too well how it effects everything when there is a lack of rain. Dusty and garden just don't go together.

    Having said that... the weather you are having would be hard to pass up since we only get a day here and there without humidity this time of year. It's a great relief when we have a few days without it which makes all of life better. :-)

    Maybe some of the rain on the East Coast right now will make it your way... we can hope right?

    Have a fun weekend!

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  22. We are in the same boat and it is terrible, terrible I tell you! Watering just barely seems to keep the plants alive. It is very depressing!

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  23. I so much enjoyed the trip down memory lane with the Temptations! What fun - but NOT fun about your need for rain. We were in that boat last year, and we are just now losing some of the trees because of it. I hope you get the rain you need, and enough of it. I also hope you have a great trip!

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  24. Hi Gail, hope you aren't getting drenched on your visit, but it looks like you are from the weather maps. We are getting the lightest sprinkle right now, just enough to keep me from going out and not enough to do any good to the garden. Leaving the water on for hours seems to do little good, but it keeping things alive and less droopy. Have lots of great conversations with both son and Layanee.
    Frances

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  25. Gail, the echinops are coming back from where I cut them off at the ground! I'm about to do my big lavender trim for fall and I will go out and get more lavender to plant in the next week or so. I'm not sure about the yarrow, yet. I seem to have so much trouble with anything that blooms yellow! I can certainly grow more magenta than anyone can imagine in one garden! LOL Cameron

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  26. Hi Gail, I hope you're having a wonderful time!

    Thanks for the trip down memory lane with the Temptations.

    I hope you get some rain at home soon.

    I'm having to water again here. We got 7 inches of rain from Ike, and now it's been two weeks with no rain and everything's parched again.

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  27. Gail .. i don't want to say this ... but we finally have had a rain day (light rain) we have been waiting for it a long time. I played the UTube Temptations and Emma got upset .. she couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from .. via my laptop .. note to self (get earphones !) .. I love the blue blue sky shots though .. nothing like a true blue sky !
    Joy

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  28. Rain would be useful here, too, Gail - hope you get some, soon.

    For the entire 9 years we've lived in Austin all we've heard was that the weather was "unusual" or "not our normal". I think weird weather is normal here, but Austinites don't want to admit it ;-]

    How cool that you'll get to meet Layanee - it was a great disappointment to all the Spring Flingers when she was stuck at the airport instead of with us in Austin. You'll get to see the Left-handed mitten in person!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  29. Gorgeous blue sky photos! But I understand how much you need the rain! Hope it comes soon! Have fun on your trip!
    Marie

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  30. The perfect day is the day we need the most not necessarily the beautiful blue sky day. I wish you a perfect rainy day.

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  31. We're having beautiful weather and no rain too. I can hardly bring myself to complain about the weather, but you know, that's what gardeners do. And we do desperately need the rain.

    Have fun in R.I. with your son. I am so jealous that you're getting to meet Layanee and see her garden. Take lots of pics and tell us all about it.

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  32. Congrats on your wins, Gail! And without your posts even showing up on Blotanical during the voting too. Just goes to show the strength of your blog! And your own wonderful self!
    Frances

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  33. Congratulations on your Blotanical awards, Gail! I'm so pleased for you!

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  34. CONGRATULATIONS on your Best Blog Post and Best Newcomer Blog AWARDS!

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  35. You guys are the BEST! I am overwhelmed with your kindness....I am COMPLETELY shocked, too! Wordless even!

    I hope to get to responding before long! Not having a laptop on the road is really quite interesting~

    Warmest thoughts and thanks!

    Gail

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  36. CONGRATULATIONS Gail on your Blotanical Blog AWARDS!
    Have a good time on your trip, maybe you can bring some rain back with you in your suitcase. :)

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  37. We're in a dry spell, too.
    Finally a drop should fall tonight.
    The ground is dusty--clay has broken apart into floury spots all across the lawn.
    And the trees have brown leaves instead of turning orange or red.
    It seems we've had a lot of this lately.

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  38. Congratulations on your Blotanical awards Gail!

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  39. I know how you feel here in Nebraska! Even though we had a wet spring, it's been hot and dry since July. Strange weather.

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  40. Congratulations, Gail! Well done!
    I have yet to hear an explanation for why it has stopped raining in TN. For your sake, I hope it isn't climate change.

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  41. Oh these are the most perfect days. I love them but I totally empathize about the lack of moisture. We are behind for the year too although we've been lucky to get a soaking several weeks ago. Can't wait to hear about your trip and see pics of you in Layanee's garden. It looks fabulous as well. Doing a little rain dance for all of us...

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  42. It's raining in Chicago, Gail ! Sorry to be late in congratulating you on your Blotanical award but I was just now able to get back onto their site.

    I've enjoyed visiting and reading your many interesting posts. Keep up the good work.

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  43. Gail, I found the answer to the Cleome question and posted it on my blog! Capers are harvested from a different plant! Check it out! Thanks again for trying to find out for me!
    Marie

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  44. It is getting a little drier here too. I actually had to go out and water things today. It has been a while since I had to water anything but the containers and my herbs. Our temps are getting better. It is around eleven at night here and the temp is a comfortable 70. But in a few days it is going down to 58. I'll probably freeze. LOL...But at least the comfound grass will slow it's growth.

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  45. I agree, please go away sunshine and blue skies and leave poor Gail alone. Then come to me and in return I'll send lots of rain to Gail because we have plenty over here. Yesterday it rained when I woke up and it rained when I went to bed late at night and in between it rained non stop. Buckets, stair rods, cats and dogs, incessantly, relentlessly. Arggghhhh!

    On an entirely different note: congrats on winning Best Newcome and Best Blog Post, very well done and so richly deserved too, Gail!

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson