I think the rain we've been getting has all been attributed to Isaac, most of the past week has been rainy, tomatoes all splitting and rotting, beans are way too mature for eating green, and the grass has gotten out of control. Might be time for a break and till it all in come October!

Dawn, Give me an inch or more and I'm happier than a pig playing in a mud hole and give you 2.5 inches and you are whining about needing more. Do you even want to know how much I would need to be up to normal? LOL. Glad everyone got some even the whiners!!!!!!!!!! I'm very happy and thankful for what we did receive. This is the first time in I don't remember when where we received more rain than my BIL and also Guymon. My BIL said last night you deserved it as you have been on the short end so much. Of course I took them a few things from the garden so he might have an ulterior motive. LOL. A friend from Guymon this morning was whining about them only getting a half an inch and us getting so much more. I said you sure never complained when the shoe was on the other foot. He did ask if this meant there was a better chance he might get some tomatoes now. It is just like complaing about what someone makes. I hope they make as much as they can. I just want my share for myself. So I hope Dawn gets her 10 inches and I get 2.5. LOL. Jay

Scott, Please tell me that the farm got rain! I was kept awake by ridiculous amounts of lightning and thunder here until about 3 a.m., but no rain at that time, and I was watching the radar as rain crept closer and closer to y'all. I hope it reached the farm. It did rain here after I fell asleep--about a quarter-inch. So, I'd say we got about 12" of lighting, 6" of thunder and a quarter-inch of rain. Despite the lack of sleep, I appreciate the rain if not the lighting and noise that came with it. What in the world is wrong with your pond? Is the bottom not holding water or is it that enough rain just didn't fall? One of our neighbors put in a huge pond during the drought of 2008 and I am not sure if it has held any water yet. I think he has too much sand and not enough clay. Another one across the highway put in a pond last year, and it held water in winter when it rained so much that my potatoes were rotting, but it didn't hold any this summer---maybe because rain only falls in small amounts that soak into the pond bottom, leaving no surface water in the pond. I know your pond has to be fixable. Paula, I can't believe the rain missed you. Maybe you'll get some this weekend. Leaves decompose fastest if cut/shredded and then kept wet. Otherwise, it can take them a year or two to break down. So, I always rake mine into a pile and run over it with the lawn mower, catching the cut-up leaves and grass clippings with the mower's grass catcher. If you have some grass clippings mixed in with the leaves, they'll decompose faster...and that is what you want. You want them to be a good winter mulch now, but you want them to break down and enrich the soil by next spring too. Fresh off the trees they are likely to be too dry to decompose, so water them after you put them wherever you want them for mulch. If you want to save this fall's leaves for next spring's mulch to be put on the garden after plants have emerged, chop them up, put them in black garbage bags, use a water hose to put a little water in the bag (not a lot, just want it moist not sopping wet). Then, poke air holes in the bags and pile them up behind the garage or something. By spring, you'll have bags of beautiful leaf mold to use as a composty mulch. Ezzirah, That sounds like a good plan. Hardwood mulch from native trees is a great mulch. Larry, That's a lot of rain. It is nice that you would have sent some of it to Scott if you could have. Jay, It is cooler here too the last couple of days. Only 97 degrees yesterday! With any luck at all, we won't see a 97-degree day again for at least the new few days. I think that Kansas looks simply dreadful on the drought map and cannot even imagine how devastating this summer weather is for all the farmers, ranchers, market growers and gardeners. I am afraid rain will be coming too late for the farmers and ranchers though. Can y'all grow winter wheat in Kansas like we do here in Oklahoma or does Kansas get too cold? I can see folks here in southern OK and western North Texas are plowing their fields now to get them ready to plant winter wheat. They have to be ready so they can rush out into the fields and plant the wheat when rain seems likely so it will be able to sprout and grow. Of course, the rain deficits are so high in much of Kansas that it makes you wonder if enough rain could fall to make the winter wheat grow anyway. The rainfall map since midnight looks pretty good. I'm going to link it below. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Rainfall Since Midnight

Don't know what look you're after, but my neighbor put in a really neat vinyl plank floor called Allure or Resilient Flooring that is by Trafficmaster. I think they only sell it at Home Depot (I've never seen it anywhere else, anyway). They put it in a foyer right over an existing wood floor that their dogs had really scratched up, and it looks and feels amazinly real. It is actually a floating floor so it can even be taken up and moved again. I've seen vinyl planks that have adhesive on the back that stick to the floor, but this is different. The planks don't stick to the floor, they stick to each other in a sort of tongue and groove way. You'd have to see them to know what I'm talking about. They advertise that it can be put in wet areas as well. I'll include a link to it. There are customer reviews on the link as well that I just read that were good. If you use it, I'd like to hear what you think because I'm considering putting it over some pink floor tile in my kids' bathroom. I'm not sure if it would sink in a little bit where the grout lines are, though. Here's a link to it. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100595233#reviews