Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Jim did you get any of that flash flooding they are warning about? Storms missed us for now. I can't believe how dry it's gotten in just a few days. Hopefully we get some rain.

 

[jvls1942]

Oh did we ever.. we were driving back from town when it was coming through.
bro in law said we got 1 1/2 inches. It completely filled the empty rain barrel.
we sat in the car waiting for the rain to let up.
we watched as the second barrel on the new side began to spill water into barrel no.3.
sadly the caulk I used to patch the hole in the old rain barrel wasn't up to the task., I drained that barrel with the hose. will leave it like that until I can get some decent caulk. tomorrow.
I wanted to fill in some low spots in the driveway.
the puddles will show me where they are.
the new squash seeds got a good soaking.
the tomatoes enjoyed a good drink.
I did rais the platform for the old barrels 8".
as a result I had to shorten the down spout to compensate. by the time I disconnected a spout, and then an elbow, and then failed to saw off the down spout with two different saws. I told Annie,
ta hell with it, I am going to buy three new elbows and redo the whole downspout.
here goes another trip to Menards.. lol

 

[Callender Girl]

Glad you made it home safely through the driving rain. That sort of thing makes me more than a little nervous.

Pretty sure the Menards folks recognize you on sight and steel themselves for your visits I'm sure the people at the returns desk feel that way about me!

Apparently, my friend Renee is a whiz at finding homes for kitties. Her adult daughters are taking three of the kittens and a friend of theirs is taking a fourth. That will leave one little orange boy. He can't be outside with no playmates, so he probably needs to live indoors.

Renee will be here either late Wednesday or early Thursday. It will be a relief not to have to worry about their safety, but I sure will miss those funny, lively little critters.

No rain here for days. But the sweltering heat continues. It was 87 degrees in the bedroom when I went to bed last night. Thank goodness for an efficient ceiling fan. Pretty sure I don't have to worry about the chicks in the upstairs brooder catching a chill.

 

[Callender Girl]

Took the kittens to the first vet visit yesterday to get everyone vaccinated and their first deworming. It all went well -- with one surprise. I foolishly assumed that both orange kittens were male, because statistically, about 80 percent are. It turns out little Julius is really a Juliette!

There was a severe thunderstorm watch here until 11 p.m. last night. The only rain fell while I was out doing chores, naturally . I was soaking wet, and it looked like a lot of water. But the rain gauge says it was only about 2/10ths of an inch. The heat broke right after that, and it's a delightfully cool 69 degrees now.

I've picked more ripe Silvery Fir Tree tomatoes, and one of my all-time favorites, a Cherokee Purple, has its first almost-ripe tomato on the vine.

Did you get the downspout reworked, Jim?

 

[jvls1942]

I woke up at about the same time you were posting, Barb. but I didn't get up. I managed two more hours of sleep.
Yes, bro Dave came and we got the old downspout off and got the new one on. It was 86F. not the temp that I enjoy working in.
My barrel patch did not hold. I thought the caulk was silicone., NOT.. It washed right off.
I have a can of FlexSteel that I have not opened.
I will give that a try.
I lucked out and found the retainer nut for the spigot.
I scraped up a small bucket of granite and dumped it into the waterfilled potholes on the driveway . then I scraped the whole driveway with the front bucket. it went OK, but I will put the back blade onto Ollie and do a better job.
the tomatoes are like a jungle out there. I staked one so far. 8 more to go.
Summer is flying by. so much to do.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Summer is flying by. so much to do.

You sound like my husband. I personally can't wait until summer is over.

 

[jvls1942]

I like summer.
today I made 9 stakes for the tomatoes.
got all nine of them staked, weeded and trimmed off the lower branches for air circulation.
we haven't had any rain for two days so I hooked the hose to barrel no.1 and watered all four planters
I used up a half barrel of water. the hose won't siphon any more than that.
I have lots of small green tomatoes .
waiting for the squashes to sprout.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I'm very disappointed. After all my complaining about the rain, now that it's stopped I realize now I gotta water everything, every day.

 

[jvls1942]

this is one of my raised beds/planters

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Looking good Jim. I see quite a few tomatoes developing.