Rain, blessed rain!

When I went to bed last night, I knew that the forecast was for rain overnight. I didn't really believe it, though, until I was awakened at 6:30 a.m. by the sound of rain plopping on the metal roof. YAY! FINALLY! By the time we got to the cottage, we'd had 1 1/2" here, and it continued to rain throughout the morning.

I can't even count the number of birds who have come out to cavort in the cooler weather, and splash in the puddles and birdbaths I have out for them. This morning I've seen grackles, one hummingbird (still here), bluejays, mockingbirds, sparrows, chickadees and some unidentified yellow bird (a finch?). The squirrels are doing a frantic "find the nut, clean it, dig a hole in a blur, put it in, pat the earth flat" then repeat game, which I hope results in some young pecan trees a few years from now. Our new pet squirrel, Basil, is especially good at the patting the ground flat part.

A few surprises in the garden....the snails that I wrote about previously are out in full force, this time sliming their way across the dead lawn in search of something green, no doubt. I'm perfecting my snail-stomping, and found that although putting my whole weight on them does nothing, an old hoe pounced down on them will smoosh the shell with a satisfying CRACK. Much easier than bending down to pick up each of the little buggers. Of course, if I do that, then the neighbors only think I'm picking up pecans, a sanctioned activity. If they knew I was collecting snails instead, well, then, who knows what they'd think! And you KNOW how I worry about what the neighbors think. AHAHAHAHA!

A good surprise was this tiny white rose that was blooming on a small bush at the side of the house. There are several of these, but most have been stripped bare by the (guess what?) snails. My camera refused to focus well enough to get a good photo (what's new?), but I was able to get this one:

The flower literally is the size of my thumbnail, and the rosehips are about the size of a small peppercorn. Are these fairy roses? Are they miniature Popcorn roses? Here's a photo of the bush, which shows how sprawling it is. Overall, it's probably no taller than 12".

Another nice surprise were the green leaves from a double yellow daylily that succumbed to the heat right before we closed on the house:

In site of the drought, which is now the "drought of record" for Texas, things are still alive. My chocolate cherry tomato plant has tiny English pea-sized tomatoes on it, I have eggplants and bell peppers to eat (not tons, but enough), and my fledgling fall garden of greens is happy.

Right now, with this rain, we're ALL happy....and especially, the snails are happy.

Happy trails,

bobbi c.