OKgrassguy, it is a mixed blessing on the farm. For the most part just what the doctor ordered. After two full years of no rain and triple digit heat for 5-months a year, it is a big turn around. So far only a single 90 degree day in N TX this year PeopleÂs water wells are now pumping water again, my stock ponds and reservoirs (everyone else too) are finally full from yesterdays rains. Corn is the tallest and healthiest I have ever witnessed around here (usually burnt to a crisp by now), and everything is green. With corn prices so high from ethanol pressure, it is going to be a stellar year for corn farmers this year. On the flip side, I have quite a bit of sod production areas under water from time-to-time around the creek beds. However with the floods comes free top soil evenly distributed with no labor cost. Lots of delays in harvesting sod waiting for what can be harvested to dry out enough to get the equipment in. Fortunately I have sandy loam, so it only takes a day or two of dry weather to dry things out. I have lost several acres of sod from being drowned, but not a devastating loss. The rest is so productive it makes up for it and provides a seed crop to replant the drowned areas later. Landscaping biz (my SonÂs biz) is good, just a lot of down days. However irrigation side is non existent. Only real complaint is tomato and pepper plants are suffering. Their feet are too wet and not enough sun to put fruit on. If it dries up a bit with some sunshine they should recover if the heat doesnÂt jump above 100. Anyway glad the usual summer high pressure ridge moved out of here this year and now someone else has to deal with heat and drought that it brings.

They tested our tornado sirens all over town today. They usually just test at 10 a.m. on the first Wednesday. Today this went on for hours. Poor Jake wanted to lie in from of the screen door and look out. When the sirens got loud he would howl and I would call him to me and put my hands over his ears. The crazy cats act like they don't even hear it.

woke up to round two, about 4:30 AM. More hail! Wozer! at least this time, it is way smaller. As far as I could tell last night, no major damage. Crawled around in the attic before going to bed. Yes, my car is in the garage. I park in there all the time... on purpose. I sure don't ever want it to look like it did in 2010, after that hail. But... I have to go to work.. and it is still raining. According to the weather people on TV, the hail is south of here.... No way will I ride my bike to work this morning, in this rain, with these flooded roads.... Stormy season has arrived. Moni

We must turn our pool off for a 7 day vacation in July (PA). Would it be better to leave the solar cover on or keep it off? We have a fiberglass pool and I was planning to put extra chlorine and algaecide in it and hope for the best. We normally never have any issues and always have sparkling clear water. Is there anything else I should do to prepare for 7 days without the pump running? I know we should leave the filter on it's regular cycle but this time we cannot. Thanks in advance for any help!