Quick update

Shortly I’ll be leaving the house to report for jury duty. That could get interesting as it’s drizzling, the courthouse is a few miles away, and the wife has the car in Dubuque. I’m guessing I’ll be wet when I get there.

I didn’t plan ahead because there wasn’t any rain in the forecast last night. I’m hoping by the time I leave the drizzle fizzles but am preparing for it anyway. I have a ball cap and a long sleeved shirt that should get me through.

Who would have thought they’d change the forecast? Of course it is also forecasted that the drizzle will stop about an hour after I get down there. It will be interesting to see if anything has changed since the last time I hoofed it that way.

Enjoy our Monday as it’s the first day of the week and rest of our lives. Now I need another cup of coffee for my hike.
Comments are always welcome.

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Observations

Here on the east coast of Iowa we’ve had some strange weather this year. The longest we’ve gone without rain or snow was 2 days back in mid April. We may have tied that yesterday but couldn’t tell as the wildfires in Canada caused a hazy sky.

That has been good for some flowers yet the weeds are doing even better. The gnats and mosquitoes love the weather also and when you go outside it doesn’t take long to figure that out. We do believe that we’ll see prices a lot higher in produce section later this year due to this sloppy weather.

And the weather may be affecting the birds in the area too. Noticed an increase in the birds with mange like this robin who I thought was preening himself. This one sat on the wires for a few moments before flying away, the loss of feathers not affecting his getaway.

The weather doesn’t appear to be bothering the squirrels as this little one shows. It’s so small the newly mowed grass looks tall but is actually the shortest its been this year. Looks like the black squirrels are doing alright.

Mama cat isn’t bothered by the weather and still an occasional pest. When she wants food or to be petted she lets us know. She’s a feral cat that has been around for about 3 years now and still going strong.

Enjoy our Saturday as we won’t see another for a week. Now I need coffee and leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

Quick update

Late yesterday afternoon the western sky looked like this about a half hour before sunset. There was a tornado about 80 miles away and when the storm did come I was sound asleep. After this is posted I’ll check the basement in case I slept through a good one.

Earlier in the day I spotted this little critter just sitting there enjoying the day. Not sure if he found what he was looking for put he flew off before I ran out of patience.

If not busy pumping out the basement I may watch the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway a little later today and turn up the surround sound. The wife is out of town until Monday morning so there isn’t anybody to complain about the ‘racket’ coming out of the speakers. And if it gets too loud I’m sure the neighbors will let me know.

Monday is Memorial Day when we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. I know we’ll have a moment of silence here to remember and give a nod to our God also. If you have a flag, Monday would be a good day to display it.

Enjoy our Saturday unless you hate the day, then by all means be grumpy. Now for some coffee and leftover pizza to get the day going.
Comments are always welcome.

Cookies?

The much forecast thunder storm rolled through about an hour ago and once again we were not impressed. As a matter of fact I was outside with camera in hand trying to get some shots of the lightning before it got too wet.

We’ve seen the weather forecasters so much lately we feel as it we know them. It even looks like the flood is going to pay another visit soon. If the wife was working I’d be out on the porch sleeping on hammock so I could hear the rain.

This batch of storms appears to have spread across the country and several areas got a soaking, we even have tornado warnings for later today. I’ll be checking the basement for water and napping in between so will miss a lot of the forecasts and warnings. Don’t think I’ll be missing much.

Earlier the local weatherman compared warnings and watches to cookies! He pointed out that all the ingredients to make the cookies on the counter is like a watch and the baked cookies are like a warning. Lord love a duck! Have we gotten that stupid as a society that things have to explained with cookies?

At any rate be careful if you’re having severe weather. Things can go from bad to worse in a heartbeat. Enjoy our Friday as it is the start of a 3-day weekend for some. Now I need some coffee to stay awake until we get back from buying groceries.
Comments are always welcome.

One of those days

Hard to believe but all the pictures above were taken within 15 minutes of each other. The top one is facing east and looks like a normal day this time of year. The kind of sky that has kids guessing what the clouds look like as they slowly dance across the sky.

The middle picture is facing south and looks a bit different. These low flying clouds looked great yet might also foretell of rain. They were so low the trees got in the way of a great shot.

The bottom photo faces west and was the last taken. Grey clouds came out of nowhere and tried to block the sun and again, looked like the kind of sky that would have the little ones seeing all sorts of critters in the clouds. And we didn’t get rain until much later in the day.

During all that a lonely dandelion was fighting a losing battle with the winds and would soon be just a shadow of its former self. The thunderstorm that came later last night finished it off and it now looks like a half eaten Tootsie Pop.

And yes, this post is late. I overslept and it took me a half hour to get vertical. My back decided not to work today and I’m fighting it to get mobile to get things done.

Enjoy our Thursday as the weekend is only a dream away. Now for some coffee and leftover pizza.
Comments are always welcome.

Catching a break

The wet weather has moved on and we’re already warmer this morning than we were all day yesterday. When the rain stopped we had 60 mph sustained winds for over 30 minutes that rattled the windows in our 110 year old house. Surprisingly, no downed trees or loss of power around our house either.

Oklahoma got hit for sure and we’ve seen videos of tornadoes, flooded roads, and damaged buildings. Not sure what other states got hit with but we haven’t heard much about fatalities and hope that number is low. Here we may have another flood with all the recent rain.

With all that going on I noticed several little green pine cones growing on the pine out back and was reminded that no matter what we get hit with things will get back to normal at some point. It’s funny how some people don’t know, or care enough to find out, that crazy weather has been around longer than we have.

We talked about that during my visit with Dad and he said he’d been through droughts, floods, record heat and record cold, tornadoes, the great depression, and had gotten wet more than a few times. His take is we setting up for a drought which is hard to swallow as wet as everything is around here. That being said, as far off as some weather forecasters have been he could be right.

Enjoy our Wednesday as it means we’re half way through the work week. Now for coffee so I have the strength to push the mower around later.
Comments are always welcome.

Odds and ends

You got to love this weather we’re having. Some states in the central part of our country are getting tornadoes and enough rain to fill a basement, while we get an inch of rain and a breeze. Of course our low was in the 40s. Who knows what will hit us later in the week as starting tomorrow the highs will be around 80 again.

At least most of our yard got mowed yesterday before the liquid love from above started falling again. The remainder should get done during a break in the rain today. The entire yard would have gotten mowed if it wasn’t for our battery powered lawn mower running out of juice before I did.

If you have ever tried to mow an eight foot embankment with a 4-cycle mower you’ll know why we tried battery power. And we’ll keep using it until it quits running at which time we may go to plan B. Just pave the bank and paint it green. Works for me.

And I did see some wildlife yesterday but didn’t have the camera along. Heard geese before seeing them flying over, a hawk circled above looking for lunch, and a cardinal stayed still long enough I could have drawn him if I had a sketch pad and pencil. Of course when I ran inside to grab the camera nothing was moving.

So if you’re thinking severe weather may come your way keeping your TV or radio on may inform you where the nasty weather is. If the sun is shining where you’re at get out and enjoy it. Have a great Tuesday as we can’t change it anyway. Now for some coffee.
Comments are always welcome.