Rain! Real rain!

This is like an early Christmas gift...the best kind of gift! I can't work outside today so I may just sit here and listen to it all day I can't wait to see how quickly everything turns green and by how much I can lower my water bill! You guys up north have gotten some rain earlier I would think, but this is the Real Deal for us...we haven't seen rain in well, forever! It's like our equivalent of a 'snow day', can't work outside so I can stay in and make enchiladas and persimmon cookies. It has been really coming down steadily for quite awhile now. Everybody drive safely!
Sherry

I knew I'd find you here! Got the last of our mulch spread yesterday, just in time. Just hope Mother Nature doesn't over-do! Sirens started on the highway first thing this morning. People just won't slow down - silly billies.

Kathleen

Yes, it's amazing.....I normally drive fast , but I have the sense to slow down in the rain. I made a run over to Barnes & Noble and people have no sense whatsoever...whizzing by!

Oh man, wasn't that rain just wonderful? We had a nice steady light rain from early morning until last night. I was just looking out the back door and I swear I could hear the garden sighing with relief. lol

My husband had to drive to San Diego yesterday morning to see his mom and he said it poured all the way down and also came across some bad accidents that tied up traffic at the 805 split. Coming home in the afternoon was just as bad. His eyes were so tired trying to see through all that rain and traffic. I guess you all in SD received a lot heavier rain than we did.

On the other hand, I was busy decorating my home for Christmas with my sister and a friend. I am hosting our Garden Club Christmas party tonight and had to have it done by last night. Phew, am I a tired puppy this morning. I can't believe I had my decorations up before Dec. l st, tha'ts a first in my life. lol

Have a nice day everyone,
Donna

We had a LOT of rain! Over 2 inches here in Fallbrook...haven't heard the final count yet. We really, really needed it, but now the news is going on about waterlogged trees and waterlogged ground and high winds coming back and trees falling over and I'm waiting to see if our eucs go. Seems as though this entire last year has been one potential disaster after another and I'm getting a lot of gray hair...

It poured here all day and in the evening, too. Now we're getting blustery winds, but I'm going to go plant some stuff! Got to get those holes dug while the ground is soft.

The reading for Oceanside (we have to guesstimate from there) yesterday is 2.69 inches.

We had so much rain I think I saw my patio furniture floating! Wasn't that great, ummmm, I don't really like the rain but I guess we need it. Looks like we may get a little more today. Painting the garage today and it's cold, not even 50 here. Brrrrrrrr.

We have a few low spots that drain slowly in a heavy rain - my pots had a 3-inch water line on them. It's 57 here.

Hello I am still living in Joplin and sure today is down to 29.8* today at 6:33 pm...

Will be very chill tomorrow early AM around 22* mixed rain (sleet)...

BBRRRR! I stay inside to keep me warm! Rusty was outside little bit ago and for least 10 min.. Rusty rush quickly get inside! Lol....

Very cold tonight...

Hope your weather is mild as I wish be there!

Here's what I put up the Christmas decorations... Southwestern Missouri!

Oh,Anna, you don't want to hear about how beautiful it's been here the last few days......On the other hand, you aren't getting wild fires there either.....

No, I don't see any of fires around here only in is OK, and KS....
I just about 20 miles to each state lines....(30 min. drive)

Hi Anna! It's looking very cheery at your place. Sorry it's so cold, though. It's been in the upper 30s here at night, but 70 in the daytime. We are supposed to get a little more rain this week.

More rain!!! (at least for us!). It is wonderful. The rain just keeps coming down. Last week, it happened right after I finished planting the Fall plants. Now this second storm is just as welcome. I hope that everybody is enjoying the rain as much as we do!!

Thanks,

Chuck

Here too, Chuck. Ain't it wonderful? Just keeping fingers crossed for the burn areas. We planted some things last week and I just picked up a few more Wednesday. Got to get those seeds out, too.

Kathleen

It's okay to plant that fires is out so you can plant with ash on ground and it will grows back next year...

I find out about burn the weeds to died on ground and plowing, triller or digging over. It's safe to sow seeds and plants....

I might get freezing rain tonight until Tuesday! Stay home and keep warming (avoid go outside icy).

Ahhhh, hooray for the season of Free Water from the Sky! Today is sunny so I'm out discouraging the oxalis, and am glad to see the rhubarb is recovering from its post-move funk.

wcgypsy, d'you have a recipe for those persimmon cookies? They just sound Good, especially as they're coming in ripe now...

Yes, I do!
Persimmon Cookies:

1 C persimmon pulp (usually 2-3 persimmons)
1 t baking soda
Mix together,let sit.
1/2 C butter
1 C sugar
1 egg
2 C flour
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t ground cloves
1/4 t salt
1 C raisins
1 C chopped walnuts
Put together in usual manner....cream butter, sugar, add egg, then flour, spices, then add persimmon pulp which has 'gelled', mix in and add nuts and raisins.
Oven 350....12-15 minutes. I usually drop mine by the rounded tablespoonful, this makes them larger and softer.

This is good also for those persimmons....

Persimmon Pudding (Made in a loaf pan,but comes out heavy and moist just like steaming)
You need to butter the loaf pan heavily and cut waxed paper to fit bottom of loaf pan, then butter paper also. This allows you to carefully peel waxed paper off top of loaf after removing from pan to prevent pudding from sticking to pan. 'Cause if you DON'T, it WILL!.....Trust me, I know...lol....

1 C persimmon pulp
1 t baking soda
Mix, let sit.

1 C sugar
1/2 C milk
1 C flour
1 egg
1 T. butter, melted
1 t. vanilla
1/2 C milk
1/4 t.salt
1/2 t.cinnamon
1/4 t. cloves
1 C raisins
1 C chopped walnuts
Mix sugar, egg, vanilla, milk, butter, flour, spices, then add gelled pulp, then nuts and raisins.
Oven 350 for 1 hour.
You could serve a bit of hard sauce with this, but that's pretty 'over the top'...this is very rich as it is. Really good with tea

Well, I bet you all heard on new TV back east! I has no power for 4 days and I still alive and keep warm that I has big generator running then quit I didn't check the oil so it lock (blew the engine)! So, I have brand new 2 small honda generators is running good I just use one and other want it for case in need...

So, I keep warm at night and drive to my ex-mil and check she has gas heater oh goody! I stay for while cause never know it will happen to my home that break in so I has dog inside... So, far I final got power back on last Wednesday....

I glad got my power back on because I has turducken in freeze and never open the freeze door at all keep in frozen!....

I has 1 day snow then next day melted...

Hope I need mild day someday!

Here's the pic of yesterday's Final SunShine!

Glad you were able to keep warm, Anna! The news reports were pretty scary and when I looked at a map realized you were right in the area.

Our nights have been in the 30s here and yesterday DH made a shelter for the little plumeria trees.

Turducken, huh? Have you had it before? Is it good?

Keep warm,
Kathleen

Thanks for the recipes. I've had an embarrassment of riches this year. It even broke several branches.

Turducken... This is my first time and I heard on Food Network came out new... It's turkey, duck and chicken with sausage stuffing and cornbread stuffing (also it has some cajun seasoning yummy)...

Yum, thanks for the recipes, wcgypsy! I'm all about the waxed parchment paper, and have you tried one of those silicone backing pans yet? They release things in just the way God Herself intended.
Wonderful.

No...Haven't tried them..do we think they're safe? Not like teflon? I'm about 'persimmon'd' out. So many cookies! Froze the rest for cookies later. First I think I need to go back to low-carbing...lol.....Now that persimmon season is passing (and eggnog season), I think I can deal with it. I also ate enough pumpkin pie to last me for awhile.

Well, rain......here it comes again. I suppose we'll all be floating by tomorrow. We should be careful what we wish for.....I need to go out and cover up a lot of flats of my baby seedlings and bring firewood in before the deluge. I hope none of you will be dealing with burnt area run-off and erosion problems.

We're really supposed to get hit. Did you see and hear about what Mammoth can expect? More snow than they've seen in 50 years and wind gusts at the peaks of the mountains of up to 200 MPH. Yikes, batten down the hatches!

Its so good to hear it rain. In the last really big rainstorm though we were without power for four days. Sure hope that doesn't happen again.

I brought the applicable bird feeders in last night. I don't know if we are going to get the five inches that the Internet Weather has promised us but anything would be nice. I am going to sow some California Native Wildflowers when the rain is gone. It has its advantages and disadvantages. If I plant them before the rain, there is a chance that the seed will sprout in a different place than sown. If I plant them after the rain, they don't get the full benefit of the rain water.

Thanks,

Chuck

I heard on GMA today and it so awful up in Truckee, CA which mudslide to get ready for sandbags and etc... Also Snow get worse in history 50 yrs....

Heard that too Rusty.
Chuck, won't it be fun to see where those wildflowers end up popping up! ?
Stay afloat all!

I just hear that 178,000 SF power customers are out of power right now because of the hurricane winds. It's going to be a hard storm.

Wow, my DH is in Santa Clara today, he feels right at home with all the heavy rain! It's raining here too (of course!) and thunderstorms tomorrow.

This does sound ominous, doesn't it? On the other hand, it's a good day for Tortilla Soup for dinner. I just hate to hear about those high winds...we have some very tall eucalyptus and soggy ground and high winds don't bode well for them.

I woke up to sunny, clear skies....now it's getting pretty gray and dark out there. I better get my running around done before this thing hits. Looks like Mt. Baldy is going to get a bunch of snow too. I hope my rain gutters can keep up with the amount of rain expected.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM! I love tortilla soup. That's what I'm making for dinner too and a loaf of homemade bread, just the day for it.
Thank goodness we had our trees trimmed yesterday, I hope my pepper tree doesn't go down.

Well...what are the odds?! Anyone else making Tortilla Soup? DH blew all the leaves off the roof yesterday and cleaned out the gutters/ downspouts. The Wrangler has a tendency to leak just a bit in heavy rain, so Dh is out picking up a canvas temp thing (whatever they're really called) and I'm thinking this isn't a good idea...probably get blown away first thing.

You're not going to believe this, but I am making Tortilla Soup today also. lol
I have been on the couch for 2 days with this darned cold and the Tortilla Soup sounded so good, so I took the chicken out to thaw yesterday, but didn't have the energy to make it. I'm feeling a little better today and the soup will be made. It's a perfect day for it too.

The skies are getting dark outside right now, but they still don't look like rain clouds. The weatherman has changed his outlook a few times already for our area.

Chuck, I wish I could spread some seeds too, but I would be afraid that they would end up where they aren't intended for. lol I will sow them after the rain though, as my garden holds the moisture for quite a while after a good rain storm.

Donna

Tortilla soup - what a great idea, thank you all!

here in blustery, rainy Redwood City

I having a bad chilly windy here! It's 51* not bad but 'Bad Hair' windy....

Donna,

I am not familar at all with the native annual seeds that I am sowing. If it was something I am familiar with , there would be no problem. They are Coreopsis californica, Gilia tricolor, phacelia grandiflora, clarkia purpurea and lupinus benthami. If anyone has any experience with any of these, I would really appreciate anything I can learn about these.

Anyway the reason why they have to stay put in the spot I sow them is so I can tell which is which...LOL!!

Thanks again,

Chuck

I can't remember if it was the same Clarkia species or not, but the Clarkias I tried a couple years ago germinated very easily. I'd probably wait until after the bulk of the storm has passed though--otherwise the seeds can so easily get washed way too far from where you wanted them. If you sow them right after the rain stops, then they still get the benefit of all the moisture, but you've got a better chance of them still being in your garden when they sprout.