It's Raining

It's a great Saturday morning, it's raining. I wrote earlier that it was dry in Eldersburg. We are down an inch since the first of July (this is the first rain of the month) and down four inches since April. Hopefully the grass will turn green again.

Wings and Things

One thing about the warmer months are the insects that inhabit the yard, flowers and garden. There doesn't seem to be as many butterflies and bees around this year and maybe it's too hot for them. Our apple tree had quite a few blossoms this spring, but I can count only five apples. I believe it comes from the lack of bees in the area. Hopefully there will be more butterflies in the flowers as the summer continues. You will see more items of bees and butterflies later in the summer.

Berry Picking

I have been making trips into the woods behind the house this week picking red raspberries. We have a bowl full and the thinking at the house is vanilla ice cream and berries. I have been picking at first light as it's been so hot and the mosquitoes have enjoyed having me there. I have been dressed in boots and long pants so I don't get poison ivy. When I was younger I went black berry picking with my sisters. They didn't get poison, but boy I got it for all of us. I believe the poison got me a trip to the doctor. We had an uncle, Uncle Floyd that was a joker (I seem to have a few stories from my youth of Uncle Floyd). He suggested that I put bleach on my legs, which of course I did. Don't do that, while he got a laugh out of it, I remember that it hurt.

How Dry It Is

The yard crunches as you walk and mowing the grass is out, but the Baltimore weather people say "It's another nice day." You want to yell at the TV "look outside, we need rain." It is so dry in Eldersburg, the trees are dropping leaves, and it looks like October instead of the first of July. The yard looks like August as it is turning brown. The rain barrel is half empty or half full depending on how you look at it. Either way, it’s not getting refilled this week or we keep using it to water the plants. The temperature is to push 100 most of the week. It is very hot and to get humid as the week goes on. Last week my brother told me if we didn't get rain the local sweet corn was going to look terrible. The corn fields around Carroll look bad. They need rain now, but none is in the forecast for the rest of the week. If it's this dry now, I hate to see when we get to the dog days of summer in August.