Now how many of you finished that phrase with “hovering over the honey tree” or some other Winnie the Pooh nonsense? Today’s twittering (in the old fashioned but non-avian sense) is all about what to do when it’s pouring, drizzling, driving, or pelting rain.
For me, the answer should be: not gardening. I imagine all that fabulous soil structure (I’m an optimist) I would be compressing to bits whilst tramping about. Instead of “think of the children,” I think of the pore spaces and that precious oxygen. Anyway, the children are in the basement watching “The Andy Griffith Show” reruns, so they will give me (a few giggles and) no grief.
Those fellow gardeners inhabiting famously dampish climates are no doubt old pros at what to do when even the briefest excursions must involve galoshes, trench coat, umbrella, wet suit, and snorkel. If they don all that to garden, they get a gold star and a pair of wool socks from me. We get a mere 16” a year of precipitation, so technically, I’m a desert dweller. In a parka.
So far, on this rainy day I have:
- consumed a pack of Skittles
- changed from my shorts and short-sleeved shirt to a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt (I know, classy)
- got suckered by an online sale and spent way too much time deciding if that cute cropped jacket was in fact “my” yellow or would make me look jaundiced
- made my bed, then got back into it (don’t worry, I managed to eject myself from it’s cocooning coziness for a second time)
- noticed the tortoise did his business
- scrounged the house looking for that giant jar of jelly beans that was (too successfully) hidden from me last night
- looked at the dead leaves and other outdoor debris on my white living room carpet, and thought “I should vacuum”
I did manage to comb my hair, but thought it was too trivial to mention in my list. So you don’t get a wrong impression of me (I’m only lethargic on days when it’s cold, rainy, snowy, or hot), yesterday, a cloudy but dry day, I managed to spend a couple hours outside jack hammering dandelions out of the lawn. Note to self: wear gloves next time, dummy!
We have about 8 more hours of “lawn vs. weed” labor…and then the back yard. I’m thinking of investing in either 1. a flamethrower, industrial size, or 2. a large earth mover, whereupon I will bury about 50% 85% of the lawn and plant trees, shrubbery, and ornamental grasses. While I’m dreaming, I might as well have a pony. (But not a Shetland, I’ve heard they are mean….)
This is a strange day and a strange post. I seem to have both done and written pretty much nothing. I’m not even making dinner tonight. We’re having leftovers. Hurrah for inclement weather and Winnie the Pooh. Silly old blog.
What do you do on a rainy day? Do you garden in the rain?
Oh, I love your candor, Christine. We all have days like this but you have the uncanny ability to put it down in a string of enjoyable words. Do I garden in the rain? No not usually. I am a weather wuss. It used to be that on rainy days I would keep house and tend to my kids' needs. Now that they're grown I spend the time here on the computer. The housework suffers but oh well. :) Good luck with that lawn vs. weed endeavor. I know it well.
ReplyDelete@GraceLooks like I'm about the opposite: on the computer now and I'll get to the housework when the kids are grown. Hopefully.
ReplyDeleteI will be a weather wuss until I get a shiny pair of wellies in some unnatural color, then I'm off to the races. I'm thinking violet or yellow....
CB
You are right in that tramping on wet soil doesn't do the soil structure any good so staying indoors is a good idea!
ReplyDeleteThere's a spiffy purple pair at the Wind and the Wellies? Try hers for size. I'll dash out into the rain, but won't stay to get WET sodden soaked.
ReplyDelete@Sue@Green Lane AllotmentsI think I can get a lot of mileage out of that bit of garden wisdom, for example, when the lawn next needs mowing: "but honey, think of the soil structure." don't suppose the neighbors would take kindly to me abandoning all mowing chores though.
ReplyDeleteCB
@Elephant's EyeOoh, purple! Now I have to get that yellow jacket!! What do you dash for? For me, it's that trowel or sweater I left outside in the middle of the lawn.
ReplyDeleteCB
Shetlands are kinda mean now that you mention it. I guess it is because they are little compared to all the other ponies. Must have a Napoleon complex. Rain has been pretty regular here, so I feel for you. Was cool, but hit 80° today.
ReplyDelete@gardenwalkgardentalk.comI wonder if that explains why little dogs are so argumentative. 80 degrees is not a part of my reality, days over 70 are a rarity in my city. Yes, it depresses me, too.
ReplyDeleteCB
Hilarious! Enjoy those jellybeans! It's raining here today and I did some gardening anyway, which is probably much less rational than what you did!
ReplyDelete@Calgary Garden CoachI would enjoy them a lot more if I could find them. And shall we start an irrational gardeners movement? The gardening world is due for a new trend....
ReplyDeleteCB
I enjoyed your nothing post :-)
ReplyDeleteI've been known to garden in light rain, though as we have clay soil I too worry about compacting it when it's wet.
@Mac_fromAustraliaWell at this blog we seem to be all about nothing with a dash of gardening thrown in.
ReplyDeleteWhat is a "light" rain in Australia? I know some English gardeners that would say anything that doesn't require a canoe to maneuver around in is a light rain, but they're a bit jaded I think;)
CB
I thinky you're nuts. Whacky. Borderline insane. Off your rocker. Crazy cat woman who eats jelly beans off the carpet while braiding the carpet to make it look like the garden she wants outside. Wrong impression? (and if you are so inlcined, stop by my blog and see my garden and video all ready for the tour of 500 people that came through Sunday.)
ReplyDelete@Benjamin VogtWell, I'm impressed by your discernment, sir. If I'm to be nuts though, they must be chocolate covered almonds.
ReplyDeleteCB
ah.... I found this post PARTIcularly charming. =)
ReplyDeleteMy family is a big fan o pooh as well as Pogo Possum. While I recognized the source (and is largely why I clicked vs. continued my chores... urf), didn't know the next line, so appreciate that you supplied it.
You day is SO familiar to me. Except I'm not a jelly bean person. More of a chocolate forager.
And yes, people who ride their mountain bikes on muddy trails in the rain and end up covered in what WAS 300 years of laying down soil that the planet had accomplished do not inspire me with their prowess but make me cringe for the poor planet. And my sister used to do that. AND to have friends, etc., the conservation biologist is mum unless THEY bring up the topic. =)
Good for you re: letting the Earth drink and rest. =) As well as you.
@biobabblerI'm not picky, chocolate or jelly beans are both great. As long as there is sugar involved I seem to be satisfied.
ReplyDeleteI think we have the same degree, my emphasis is in wildlife biology though. I feel it gives me the authority to say "children, there is a bear across the street. Come inside please." I just adore Alaska!
CB