Best things about the drought!

Working on my gratitude list here

1. Fleas can't reproduce when the ground is this dry. I let my cats out for a few hours daily for 3 weeks and have checked and not one flea

2. No mowing

Shake head, My gratitude list isn't as optimistic as yours... less allergies? No wait, dust is as rough as pollen.

Sigh, I'm trying.

When I lived in Odessa the things I loved about it were, less allergies, less colds, dog barely got any fleas (they reproduce best in moist soil and moderate temps), sunshine 300+ days out of the year, no mowing, one yard in east Odessa had an astroturf lawn and the butler came out with a vacuum and cleaned it every morning, and that was about it.

I am not allergic to outdoor dust, just house dust which is mainly mites. And my cats aren't bothering me right now, I think even the outdoor mites have died off. I haven't changed the sand in my chicken coops this year and they aren't clean but they don't stink, too dry for bacteria.

I will be doing THAT before we get another rain though.

I do love to garden though and I couldn't keep a houseplant alive in Odessa, I learned not to try.

My house was always as dark and cool as I could keep it. No indoor plants, but nothing in my acres was safe from transferring to areas of the yard, Not sure if I prefer the doorknobs biting me to the soggy humidity raising the dew on my skin in little Niagaras, but it IS much easier to breathe in drier air if the nosebleeds will just back off.

I enjoy both but love the moderation. And love bug season is about done so the current bug problem is dwindling...

Fewer mosquitos when it's dryer. They DO bite me.

September peaches! Photo later. My peach tree was so well pollinated it split from the weight of the fruit in late july, but the fruit was all green, Probably 1000 tiny green peaches in my compost pile when I cut the broken limb off and thinned what was left to a manageable weight load for the small tree. I've been dropping a hose under it on a slow drip a couple of times a week and this morning the mockingbird (of course) got the first ripe peach. and they are deliciousl I do not know why but this is the 2nd not much rain in spring year when I have had peaches ripen in late september.

I have never heard of peaches ripening so late in the year. Congratulations, better late then never.

If I had thinned the fruit before the tree split I'd have a lot more, but as it is the crisper is full, the almost ripe I picked today are on the counter, and I left the ones that I could tell weren't ripe. I see canning jars in my future

As kids we ate the peaches green- apricots and apples too! Yummm. Daddy used to threaten us with tummyaches tryin to slow us down, chuckl. Ripening and rotting fruit colors and smells draw the wasps- be careful!

Impressive! Good work, kiddo. I've never heard of peaches ripening at this time of year either.

Everything draws wasps, they are haunting my beehives right now too.

I will probably have the peaches all picked tomorrow, getting a couple of cases of canning jars and canning, there is NO way I can eat this many peaches before they spoil. Going to slice and freeze some for my daughter for smoothies for her kids too. Organic, I don't spray anything.

Wow those peaches are beautiful Gypsi! Happy for you that there is finally something looking up in your neck of the woods :))

For me the drought was a mixed blessing. It made room for more drought tolerant native plants. That means less stress for me and less watering. I never want trees to die, but the understory shrubs and flowers is what I'm smarter about now.

I would see peach cobbler if those peaches were here. Lol

I'll make the cobbler in the winter! First time canning peaches tonight. Think a dash of cinnamon in the light to medium syrup will be nice

When my DSS and his family first moved to Fort Worth, we had heard of the drought but every time we traveled to Texas, it rained. Then we moved here and it stopped raining. Everyone talks about how much greener it is this year. But we can see places where it (drought) was bad---dead stands of plants, etc.

is global climate change supposed to make this area dryer,, or wetter? Warmer can mean both/either.

Texas is in a bunch of differing weather issues- drought feels extreme, but isnt really while in the DFW area- we have air masses here that stall since Houston Gulf air pushes north and curls the sw winds toward the Ohio Valley. West Texas is high plains desert and a ridge of mountains affects those areas. Nine year drought is only a few years old, so many areas are still dying slowly there- but have been worse looking many times in the past. Doubt seriously global warming actually affects Texas any more than its normal weather. At least til the Houston fault line shakes and we end up with a new coastline....

Drier air gets hotter when it is hot, colder when it is cold. With volcanoes going off in Iceland and Japan I am preparing for an exceptionally cold winter. I remember the winter after Mt Saint Helens blew when it snowed every 2 weeks in Dallas in Jan, Feb and March

I am not sure what Climate Change is doing to Texas long term on one of the fancy research projects, but I am sure my little pocket of the world is too dry for me, more people and subdivisions and businesses moving in and the value of my land is going up. When that dominoes I am out of here.

I think I might have had 4 inches of rain this year. The northern fronts start sliding east before they get past I=20, the southern fronts slide east when they hit Burleson, this is the universe way of telling me it is time to go. I'm preparing the house for sale, fixing the things that will be issues, canceling projects that would not appeal to a buyer

I did get 5 pints of canned peaches, freezing some slices for kids slushies, and they are the sweetest peaches I have ever eaten. No fertilizers, no pesticides, nothing.

I don't know if posting a link is allowed, and I do not know that the drought in Texas and up the center of the country is directly linked to climate change. I do know when less water is in glaciers, more is in the oceans and atmospheres and oceanic temperature is higher, storms are much more severe. Those things are happening. Newest study links California drought directly to climate change, it is a crapshoot on where it will be safe to live, but I have been telling my kids not to move to a coast for 10 years because I've been watching some of this unfold. (and they are all still in Texas, but one moved southeast where it rains more) http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/29/3573288/california-drought-that-all-climate-change/

Wellll, DFW is so big it has its own system fighting with nature, cant trust that to be stable at all. North moves south, south moves north, isnt many places arent choked with folks...

You got it, kitt.