Anyone else gettin' hammered by wind and rain ?

My garden is currently under about 3" of water and the wind is blowing palm fronds in from Samoa !

The power around here is also "intermitent"...

I'm building an ark.

Had a power outage with the last storm, and the windmill got knocked down! So far today it's just a steady soaker with no wind. We got our straw bales set up just in time for a good soaking - going to try growing some veg. DH dug a base into the ground for the windmill and secured it so it won't move again. I wanted to paint it while it was down but just didn't have time. Should have done it long ago. :-(

Hope it slows down for you, JD. Good luck with the ark!

My plan this past 4 days was to participate in the backyard bird count. HAH! Almost the only birds I've seen since Friday were a few seagulls (always a sign of nasty weather either here or on its way when they're this far inland). The others have been cleverly hunkered down in their nests avoiding the wind and rain...and cold. This morning I saw some ants in the bathroom, so the ground is pretty soaked. My mantra is "we need the rain, we need the rain..."

Just as I was posting this, DH pointed out a little earthworm crawling halfway up the sliding-glass door--now THAT can't be a good sign!!!

This message was edited Feb 16, 2009 10:04 AM

We're getting hit up here too--I think it's been raining non-stop for the last 24 hrs. Fortunately the wind hasn't been as bad as they had warned--they had originally said 40-50 mph gusts and I don't think we saw anything that bad. I know we need the rain and this is a good thing, but I have to keep reminding myself of that--we have a three day weekend and I would have loved to spend more of it outdoors! At least my seasonal wetland has finally filled up--usually we've got a nice pond going by the beginning of January but with the dry year we've had so far it didn't fill up until this week.

Our pond is about to overflow.

Mine overflowed already on Friday and again yesterday. I had to open the drain-plug yesterday to let some of the water go into the gutter, which I hate doing---but the plants around it aren't bog plants...LOL!

Drain plug? Lucky you. We do have bog plants, but they will be underwater plants soon. LOL Just kidding, it will be fine. DH just hates it when his paths get washed out!

Like to go with you on that ark, J.D., but fortunately, there aren't two of me.......
I keep investing in Visqueen and covering more areas...need a large hoop house, I do believe. Looks as though the Farmers' Almanac is right about the weather here this winter......

I went to a funeral on Friday and by the time we got to the cemetary, it was such a deluge that they couldn't carry the casket up the slope because the ground was so sodden. The guys were actually sinking into the soil, and slipping on the wet grass, so they postponed it.

The tent they had over the grave blew over, too.

These storms we get are always extreme.

What did the almanac predict?

Yep, rarely rains but it pours. What a sad end to a solemn day, JD. :-(

My patio right by the sliding glass door step is flooded, my 2 sissy dogs refuse to step outside to do their business for the last two days. I have to carry them out, thank goodness they are both tiny enough to tuck one under each arm but mostly the pad by the back door is being used.

Totally slammed here. Been raining since early this morning. Continuous downpour and some wind, but nothing close to a decent Santa Ana (decent Santa Ana?). No pond here (yet!), but JasperDale's ark may well be a necessity!

@KaperC - I have a 'no-dig' garden too! Got some great lettuce going right now. I have to give it away in order to keep it coming! Can't wait to get some tomatoes, basil, eggplant, and peppers for the spring summer season!

The bad thing about it was that there were about 1200 people at this funeral...and the majority also went to the cemetary. Then we all had to turn around and go back to the church hall for the reception...but that part was fine. It was my dad's best friend who died, and he was very popular. The reception lasted until 8:00 that night...so that was nice :)

The big pond at the cemetary was overflowing. I saw the workers picking up koi and putting them in these huge containers to save them. Then they shut off the waterfall and were pumping water off to a downhill area.

Poor fish! We have feeder fish in the pond and they go deep when it rains like this. Well, it sounds like your dad's friend was properly waked - that's a good thing.

Jungleman - we're hoping we can grow a few things we like and that I feed our parrots - peas, carrots, dandelion greens. I have a raised bed, too, so I'm going to try some sweet potatoes. I end up throwing so much away because the birds' stuff gets old before they eat it, even in the green bags. Have to find some dandelion seeds and then I'll try successive plantings to keep it going. Veg growing is all new to me and I hope this works.

My thought yesterday was to plant seeds of peas, lettuce and spinach in my nicely-prepped raised bed. By the time I got the wet-newspaper mulch down and enough bark mulch to KEEP it down in the wind, I was freezing and soaked. (Speaking of sissies...) Seeds will just have to wait. I really wanted to get them off to a good start in all this rain....sigh.

Pond plug? We have an overflow, but not a plug.
Haven't been hit by the severe weather that JasperDale has. Although I did have a friend who was late to his own funeral.
KC, I can collect some Dandelion seed for you. I love them myself.
I had to top off the water in the pond, and the pool yesterday, but haven't noticed any flooding yet. I am hoping that we get more than a couple of puddles in Sweetwater Creek though.
ML
WIB,
SW

So parrots like dandelion greens? I am forever pulling dandelions. In winter they just get away from me! I will try some with my bird.

We have so much rain here too. My backyard is drenched. No wind though. I loved it during the night, listening to it coming down in great downfalls.

I am getting nuts from being stuck inside but I am so thankful if it means no mandatory rationing this summer. How I hate that.

It's raining, it's raining tralalaaaa!
I can flush my toilet again, take a shower every 4 days and so on ! I hope they cancel the water limit now!!!!
I was scared to death for my orchard and roses, but maybe they will cancel the drought restrictions now?

Keeping my fingers crossed, although I don't wish any problems with storms on anyone!

My Clematis has grown 2 inches since the rain started!!


Christie

Yep, DGs are good for parrots - as long as you don't use any sprays in your garden, you can pick them. I buy them by the bunch at the health food store. We're just not into greens, so a lot of them go in the compost bin. :-(

Both our Lady Banks rose plants are blooming. I noticed a scent yesterday and looked up to see one tiny flower opening on the white one.
We've been warned we will have water limits this year. Hope the rain is enough to help a little. Sounds like there will be a lot of snow, too.

I've been told that the Almanac predicted a wet winter for the 'West'...just went into town and stopped by the library to pick up a copy, but....holiday, libraries closed.....

Hmmmm?

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather/USA-Southwestern-weather

"warm and dry"??? I think not!!

Just stopped raining a little while ago, but probably just a break in the clouds. My garden is pretty well soaked too, in fact my side yard has about 2-3 in. of standing water.

JD, I was thinking of your little piece of heaven this morning with this deluge we had. Since you are surrounded by walls and fencing, it must make a nice little swimming pool. lol

Since I can't go outside and play today, I took advantage of this rain and did some house cleaning this morning...ugh!!

There's always co-op and catalog shopping!

DH and I are going to pick up a wine order at the winery where we have a club membership plus we'll be doing some bottling and labeling there too. Then maybe a little indoor shopping, as opposed to my favorite, outdoor shopping!

This message was edited Feb 16, 2009 10:56 AM

Interesting...I've never looked at the Almanac...it actually forecasts by the week, and no, I don't think they've got it right...LOL...have to ask my neighbor which year's Almanac she was looking at. Is there an 'overall' prediction for the West that would say "wet winter", I wonder? Have to spend more time looking at it later.....it's stopped raining for the moment and I need to go bring in some dry kindling.....

I've spent the morning shopping here and there and need to think of something else to go shopping for...isn't that why we have rainy days?

The wind is picking up here. Looks like JD is our barometer! A few of our low spots are collecting water, but if we have just a little let up once in a while, they are not a problem. DH has worked his tail off to correct the drainage around the house and it paid off. It's nice to look outside and see the Ceanothus blooming. In this light, the blue stands out more.

House cleaning? Oh, yeah, THAT's what I'm supposed to be doing! LOL

It's still raining steadily here. Been raining for three days now. I too am hoping this will take care of the drought. I hate to think all my seedlings will be for not! Love to hear the rain. Y'all watch out for those winter storm warnings.
Willie

We had a break for a few minutes, and even a patch of blue sky. Took advantage of it to get my peas into the raised bed. This was in spite of the cat "helping" me. She could not understand why mommy was putting kitty treats in holes---and even less why she wouldn't let kitty dig them out. Hopefully kitty has already forgotten about them...

Now it's all clouded up and threatening rain again.

It's BACKkkkk. :-)

Sunny here, go figure!

Sue, are you guys headed to Clos la Chance? I got my pickup card last week---just wondered if you are by chance (no pun intended) also a member there..

I wonder if we will see any of your rain over here? not so anxious to have the rain here in the winter as I am in the summer. It takes this dumb clay forever to dry out in the winter. Kathleen I love your pond!!!

Thanks Marie, so do we!

We got about a 2-hour break (got my spinach and lettuce planted, and the bed mulched) and the next squall just hit; it's raining hard again here!

No, we went to Eckert Estate Winery in Livermore. Bought our 2 club purchases and then bottled and labeled a case of their club special. We used to belong to 7 wine clubs but my hours and pay were drastically cut a year ago so we're down to 2 clubs now.
After we got the wine, we drove the long way home in the windy hills among the beautiful gnarled oak trees covered in moss and everything was glistening from the rain. Intermittent showers and occasional clearing with the sun peeking through made it just a beautiful drive. We pulled over on the narrow one lane road at one point, chatted with a couple of bike riders and watched a pair of coyote strolling along just off the road looking for dinner. Just a beautiful afternoon, and me without my camera!

I haven't done the wineries up that-a-way yet. I joined one in San Luis Obispo several years ago (Grey Wolf---love their reds) and then Clos la Chance this summer, which is just a few minutes away from home---dangerously close! My friend and I went, tasted about 10 wines, and not one made us make "the face". (You know the one where you look at your companions and want to try not telegraph to the somellier that this brew tastes like badly aged squirrel piddle?)

Too bad you didn't have your camera today---sounds like it would have been some great photos, but sometimes the pix are better in your head anyway!

Here's one I took today between squalls of a bloom from my wee mallow I planted last fall.

Ah, now there's a cheerful bloom!

This is a picture of the same area we drove today but taken last Oct.