It's Friday and the weather app on my phone still claims there is an 88% chance of rain today. Empty promises. It's raining somewhere I guess, just not here. We've had two little showers since yesterday, maybe a 1/4” total. Just enough to make it humid but at least it hasn't hit the 90s yet.
The new hose I got for the front isn't long enough. I need at least 20 more feet so Wednesday I decided to do a single repair on one of the hoses I replaced but hadn't got rid of yet and to connect it to the new one. After a frustrating half hour I gave up (no need to go into the details, suffice to say it was being an asshole) and now my old hose isn't just old but also useless as well since it's in two pieces.
Thursday morning's sky on my way to SHARE.
It was a food delivery day from the Food Bank in Victoria. Jan had ordered three boxes of sausage that they had on the list. When we opened the first box, this is what we saw...
small loose sausages; beef and pork brats with cheese fully cooked and frozen, not the separately packaged sausages that Jan thought she was ordering. We can't give those out because they are not prepackaged and we don't have the facility required by the state to package them ourselves. So in between filling food orders we filled zip lock bags with the sausages from one box for the volunteers to take home or give away. The other two boxes she took to two religious organizations that have residents while they recover from the bad choices they've made in their lives.
We also got not one but two of the giant cartons of watermelons and so we also took a lot of those home to share with friends and neighbors since in this hot weather there's no guarantee they will still be good a week later.
On Friday after two nights of not sleeping well because the dog was in panic mode from the thunder that did not bring us any rain, I was sleepy. I should go take a nap but I probably won't.
Actually I did lay down to take a nap and just as I was about relaxed enough to drift off my phone rang. It was Rocky. When I took him some watermelons and sausages on my way home from SHARE I asked if he could help me get rid of some old appliances. You might remember when Marc was in the hospital the water heater crapped out on me and the old one has been in the garage all this time. And then soon after he got out of the hospital we bought a new washer and dryer. The old washer was so old replacement parts weren't always available when it needed repair and the dryer just as old. The washer still worked but it wasn't really doing a great job and then the dryer quit in protest. I'd been availing myself of my sister's dryer. Anyway, the old washer and dryer have been sitting outside in front of the overhead garage door we rarely open ever since because we were too cheap to pay $40 each to have them hauled away when the new ones were delivered plus there are two metal junk yards here in town one of which is at the end of the road our street ends at and we have a truck and a trailer. But the truck is always full of downed branches waiting to be taken across the street to the burn pile and always has a dead battery. So a couple of weeks ago Marc got the battery charged, emptied the truck, got it inspected, and was going to get a new battery so we could finally load up the old appliances when a pulley fell off the engine. So back to Rocky. I've got a guy he said. I'll call him cause I've got some metal trash for him to haul away too. And so they showed up yesterday and those old appliances were finally hauled away.
All in all, over two days, we got about 5/8” of rain while areas north and east got pounded. Still some storm activity out there so we could get more today but probably not. So this morning I picked up the piles of dead zinnias and ginger and hauled all that over to the burn pile in the garden cart and then picked up a cart's load of fallen sticks and branches but did not haul that over yet as I was sweating by then, not that hot out but very humid, though I'm going to have to throw a strap around that mountain of sticks before I do.
Later I got out there with my little mini battery operated chainsaw to cut up five large branches into more manageable size since the truck is out of commission and I have only the garden cart to trundle stuff over to the burn pile. Then I went to the very back corner of the property and just started cutting away at the ropes of wild grape vines that are trying to take over the big cedar tree and the dead raintree and from there into one of my pecan trees which Will. Not. Happen.
I wish we could have a burn pile, but not allowed here. My in laws used to burn garden waste in an old oil drum, here this would incur a huge fine. All we can do is haul stuff to the overflowing communal compost container where people dump all sorts of non-compostables. I hope you get proper rain, of the nice and easy variety, soon.
ReplyDeleteWe got a surprise rain last night. It was a good, heavy one. It sounded like the raindrops were enormous. I loved it so much. I really hope you get one like that soon.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it feel great to finally get things hauled away? I love that feeling. Buh-bye!
Weather is so unpredictable these days. We have gotten some good rains and still the soil looks dry and crusty! We were told by our authority that herbs could not be bundled and given out at the food pantry. I have no clue as we can give out veggies and fruit!
ReplyDeleteHow I hoped you would have some backwash from that hurricane that ripped through the gulf, but no luck. And thunder without rain is a bummer. As are, I am sure, deliveries of food you are prohibited from distributing and cannot keep safely.
ReplyDeleteWe’re being teased in Katy as well. There’s rain all around us but we get a mere five seconds or so of spitting. Today has seen a drizzle or two, yet we are as grateful as if we’ve gotten an inch of actual rain.
ReplyDeleteWe need a new washer and dryer. We keep putting it off, but I think it’s time to stop procrastinating and do it!
ReplyDeleteI have a small chainsaw, too! I love being able to cut things and not have to wait for HeWho to drag out the big one and take care of the things I want done. We are having a nice shower from the sky right now. It is 64 degrees and I have the windows open to catch that fresh smelling air. Sorry to brag about my good fortune od weather, but if it makes you feel any better, The Patient is making all his waking hours a night mare for me!!
ReplyDeleteI love that sky picture! Nice & moody.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a huge relief to get rid of those appliances. I hate having stuff like that hanging around.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, all you can do is say, "Thank you!" I was in the area south of Houston that got real rain. By the time it was over, we'd had over 6". It was amazing -- so heavy at times it was like the tropical downpours that come with a hurricane. It didn't last all that long -- about three hours each day, but it was wonderful. Now, we need more to come in on a real system that will spread some across the state. I did just read that the number of wildfires has decreased substantially -- partly because those east Texas forests also got a good bit of rain.
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