two inches

Oh, the storms raged at night! Flashes, bangs and a steady rain, lasting at least an hour. I thought about the fragile stems of young flowers and wondered if I should have built more supports in preparation for a downpour. But mostly, I felt a sense of relief. This year's drought is by no means a thing of the past, but the night's rainfall surely helped bring us a tiny bit closer to normal.

In the morning, the first thing I do is measure our various containers to see what the actual rainfall had been.

Two inches! Yay!

And after feeding the animals, I clip some fallen phlox (they were done for the year anyway) and I pound in more solid stakes for the delphinium and lilium.

Looking good!

Breakfast on the porch: it's all about strawberries now. Our local ones are delicious but fragile. Eat them right away, or lose the essence of a lovely berry.

They are impressively good this year!

And here's something I do not have to do today: water the gardens! We're good for a week, I should think. (A happy garden receives about an inch and a half of rain per week.) And so I suggest to Ed a hike. How about a reconnect with the prairies and forests of the Brooklyn Wildlife Area? 

 

 

The weather is good for it: the temps are climbing up again, but there is a breeze. And besides, the trails are mostly forested.

It is unfortunately just a little bit buggy. We're fighting with the deer flies. Nothing that a hand wave or swat can't tame, but still, I am reminded that at this time of the year, it's hard to find a trail anywhere in Wisconsin where you're not going to be sharing space with either flies or mosquitoes. One pleasant side effect of a drought has been that we have yet to get the summer influx of mosquitoes. But black flies, horse flies, deer flies -- call them what you want -- they have stuck around the woodsy areas for most of spring.

But it's a beautiful walk nonetheless. 

 

 

 

The views from the top of the hill let you take in the truly special landscape of this region. From here, you can reflect on everything and anything. It's that kind of a corner. Shaded, or dappled with sunshine. Pick your favorite and exhale.

At home again, we get our first box of peaches. This is one of those post-pandemic carryovers. Last year's "order everything, because we can't go to stores" has had an impact: I continue to not go to the grocery store and I once again ordered peaches on line, even though I am surely capable of safely entering a store that sells peaches.   (Ripening on the counter, along with some avocados and mangoes.)

If you love fruits and veggies then this is your month: everything is abundant, fresh from the vine or tree or bush, aromatic and beautiful. 

In the meantime, guess what! There's more work to be done outside. A wasp nest to remove from the sandbox (Ed! Help me out here!), two lilies to transplant, lots of weeds to pull! 

 

 

 

But, the soil is moist, the plants have renewed vigor, the day is solidly beautiful and by evening, the fireflies are out en masse. How good is that?!