Shot, how come my sunflowers never smile at me like that?? =( Glad ya'll are getting some reprieve today. We didn't get any today but were blessed with more than I could catch on Monday. We've been lucky I guess over here on the state line all spring. It was starting to get dry again but we got a downpour Monday night and I was able to collect about 160 gallons just in random buckets, trash cans, etc...around the drip line until they filled to the point of overflowing. Oddly weather.com's rainfall totals for my zip code totaled 0.02 which I find very hard to believe unless it just sat right over our house the whole time. I just bought a used 1700+ gallon above ground pool off of craigslist for $25 bucks that I'm going to reassemble and tuck away in the woodline downhill from the house where no one can see it. I'm hoping this will make a great inexpensive cistern for piping our rainwater and grey water into to use for the garden which should take the burden off of our well and ease the concern of it running dry. But I can't put it up until we clear and level the spot for it and rig a cover so the mosquitos and critters can't get in. Gravity will get all of the water into the cistern but I also need to invest in a good heavy duty pump to get the water from there uphill into the garden when I need it. I've borrowed some feed barrels temporarily from a friend so I've got about 400+ gallons of rainwater in reserve at the moment that needs to go into the cistern/pool asap. Danielle

Well, we had never-ending very light drizzle all day long yesterday, but it didn't add up to much more than we'd already received--we ended up with 2.6" at our house over a period of about 3 days, but most of it fell Saturday night. Suzie, I know the water can be a huge problem when you're building. After we'd lived here several years, in 2004 we finally were ready to build our detached garage/barn/multi-purpose building. We started in June, and you just knew it was going to be a bad experience when a foot of rain fell that month, and not all in a day or two...but rain each and every single day it seemed. The poor concrete guys had to fight the rain to get the slab poured and cured, and then the guys putting up the building were rained out part of every single day. It seemed like it took forever, and once they finished the building, then all the rain stopped. For a month we lived in a lake of water and mud, but that building got built anyway, albeit more slowly than expected. I hope the rain doesn't torment y'all during this building project like it did with us. It was a very productive year for the garden, notwithstanding the fact that such heavy rainfall often waters down the flavor of ripening tomatoes. Green and lush is nice, but when you're building, dry is better, isn't it! Dawn

Too soon to say for me. As usual I was way behind on moving everything in and just dumped everything in the sun room, still have a few outside. I'm pretty sure I will have some cold damage but it will take a little while to show up. Getting everything watered now is the issue, they are all getting a dry winter rest like it or not.

Bob, what are your favourite orchids? You are so missed here please come back and post some orchid pictures! :) Lol!!! Mike!!! What did we do!! we are way in over our heads lol oh dear! You know how it starts, we see a glimpse of some adoptable dogs on the newspaper and we say we're just going to look for fun you know we won't take a little one home. And wouldnt you know it they steal your heart and you take one home! it's always the story isn't it lol. We got our little Sesame over a week ago! I will post pictures once I can for some reason it is not posting i attach it here but it isn't showing. She is some sort of australian sheperd poodle mix. She is rambunctious and already too smart for us :) Mike let me know the name of that rose I remember Amy and me were going to buy it but it sold out that last time it was mentioned lol I'm getting some avocadoes as well! How I will fit them in I have no idea Mike! Mike you will have to tell me how you get your orchids to bloom I bought five at the last orchid show and they are all cattleyas and they are not flowering I do see a new growth that just looks like another leaf. I love the fragrant ones i bought all fragrant orchids all cattleyas. let me know if you have any secrets to get them to bloom! Or maybe don't on second thought lol otherwise I will fall in love with orchids too and down the rabbit hole I go! I am so jealous your gardenia is still alive! MY frost tolerant one did not tolerate the frost! lol Mike during the quarantine I got really into Philodendrons rare ones but they are so delicate, one thrips attack and they're all wiped out! As I type, I'm contemplating which avocado tree to get lol Phoenix perennials our local nursery has 5 in and I just don't know. Have you put all your trees out yet? I did it two weeks ago and opened all the greenhouse doors and windows and man did it feel good! I never get full sized fruits so i am contemplating maybe putting in some lighting to make up for the fact that we have a north facing yard and the citrus are in complete darkness from september to march. I lost one tree a santa theresa that was left outside when I got sick and the weather dipped to -10 for a week, it was an arctic blast!! Now I'm trying to figure out which lemon to get theres genoa, ponderosa, eureka etc I just want a very vigorous lemon tree that gives me many many lemons all year long in a cold greenhouse with not much light lol is that a unicorn tree that doesn;t exist??? YOu know what's truly dangerous for us citroholics? going to the oscar tintori website oh Mike you should see all their tiny trees with 20 full sized fruits on them it's amazing!! and the variety!!! oh my there's so many types that i have never heard of before! oh and their espalier lemon up an arch way oh that made my heart grow three times the size!! well..... i suppose there's only one thing to do! get a larger greenhouse lol! You know we are finally getting our backyard done we saved up a little and decided to give it a facelift I shall take some before and after pictures! mostly we are getting rid of our pond that has not been working for years! Anyways, time for dinner. Will be back to post some pictures if this will allow me next time! Please show us your pictures Mike! of your orchids, roses, citrus of course and everything you grow lol talk soon HUGS!