Bogieblog

Picture Dump from 5-17-2025

After mowing (see previous post), I took pictures around the yard. The plants are loving the moisture that has been present this month. Note that typepad kept returning an error when I tried to rotate the lilac image, so you will just need to turn your computer screen :D

Racing the Weather

Yesterday I raced to get the mowing done before the rains began. We had a fairly heavy dew, and then some light mist early morning, so I waited until about 10am so at least some of it was dry. I managed to mow the whole lawn, although it was really tough going thru the places I hadn't mowed before. I was going to use the gas mower for the drainage areas, but since I already had the battery mower out, and had changed out to fresh batteries, figured I might as well try it. The battery mower struggled, but no more so than my gas mower would have, so I was happy. I was even happier that I managed not to nick any rocks with the blades!

After mowing, I turned the mower upside down and scraped as much of the wet grass from underneath that I could. After going thru the contortions of hooking up my hose reels to the outside spigot, I blasted the underside of the mower to get the gunk out from all the crevices. So, after a total of about 2 hours, the chore was done.

It seemed as if I had finished just in time as the skies got even darker (I was not under threat of sunburn even while mowing as the skies were dark), and the clouds started spitting mist again. That only lasted for a couple of minutes, Then it dried out and we saw some afternoon sun which made the temps run up from low 60's to mid 80's. I woke up about 12:15am to the sound of a sudden down-pouring of rain that lasted about 1/2 an hour. Looking at the rain gauge, I got about 3/4" in that time.

It looks as if it is dawning to mostly clear skies this morning. However, we are supposed to have a week of unsettled weather, and mostly cloudy skies, so that is probably a false promise.

Goodness, Hopefully it Gets More Reasonable

Since May 2, 2025, there hasn't been much sun or even lightness in the sky (never mind that nearly every weekend has been soggy and dark for over 2 months). According to the rain gauge, I had gotten about 3.5" since then. Maybe more, those are the numbers I remember from dumping the rain guage.

This past Friday morning until yesterday afternoon I received another 2.75" of rain. On the news last night, they showed that Concord was at 7+ inches for the month when that area normally gets less than 4" the entire month of May.

Since the first of the month, the grass went from being tinged with green to being about 4-5" tall now (don't ask about the weeds - LOL). I have an awesome crop of dandelions that are feeding the bees too. Oh, and all of NH, except Coos county (at the very top of the state) is under some sort of flood warning. The rivers are only supposed to hit minor flood stages, no nothing catastrophic, thank goodness. Speaking of which, I just stepped out the door and I can hear the river rushing mightily - it's louder than I've heard it since at least last year's spring flooding (and maybe even prior to that).

Don't get me wrong, My area has been in some sort of drought conditions for a couple of years and the amount of watering I did for my gardens in previous summers attested to the soil being dry just below the surface. Since I don't like to water, preferring Mother Nature do the deed and using plants that aren't demanding, that also says something. Most of the rain we have received in the past 10 days has been of the more gentle variety, meaning it had a chance to soak into the ground instead of running off.

Besides the lawn quickly taking advantage of all the water, the crabapple tree started blooming (no pictures because they just look like a soggy mess). I caught a shot of the Crimson King Maple thru the window next to the living room stove, just as a brief appearance of sunshine showed yesterday afternoon.

We are supposed to get a couple of sunny days starting today. After that, who knows, it depends on whose weather report you look at. Could be somewhat sunny and dry, or it could go to mostly cloudy and wet. It's a wait and see game.

Close to Lap Time

Lila is such a watcher. She watches and studies what the other cats do and how they behave. She also watches and studies me, but when it comes to behaviors I can tell which she has decided to copy next from one, or both, of the Destructo Duo.

Friday evening, I was sitting cross legged on the couch, watching the news. Neither Spot nor Rainey were in my lap or laying on a thigh (Rainey is weird sometimes and she will lay lengthwise from my hip to my knee, balancing on my thigh). Usually, with one of the two sisters in place, Lila will lay towards the other end of the coudh.

Well, Friday, she made up her mind to be brave and try something new. I could tell by the way she rose from her position so I grabbed my phone for pics.

She came up  and stepped on one of my ankles, then backed off and came back to step on the other ankle. Then she took another couple of steps into my lap. She stood there for a few seconds, then became a bit nervous so she backed off. But, she stayed and laid against the crossing of my legs.

She still awes me at every breakthrough she makes in trust and confidence. Hopefully I don't shake either of those too much when I take her to the Vet on Monday for her first checkup and shots.