A rainy weekend in AUGUST!

I think we are all just a bit dazed by the weather we are having this August.  If you have been outside in the past hour or two, you would not think you are in Arkansas in August. It is delightful outside, with a temperature in the mid-70’s. We have had over an inch of rain the past two days and it has been a slow and steady rain almost all weekend.  Have you seen the forecast? A chance of rain EVERY DAY with a high in the low 80’s!  Our plants think they are living in the rain forest, and some of them are thriving.  The elephant ears, caladiums and hosta have never looked better, without any extra care.  My okra is not sure what to do and is kind of at a standstill with blooms.  The buds are there, but not doing much.  I am still getting peppers and eggplants, but if it rains every day, not sure how much fruit will set.

I harvest figs daily now, and more and more of the fruits are splitting.   but as long as you eat them quickly, it doesn’t affect them. Figs do not have a long shelf-life. You need to refrigerate them almost immediately and eat them within a few days. Even as they soften and age, they are still good to eat but don’t wait too long. I had a nice appetizer of figs, blue cheese and nuts tonight–one of my favorite ways to eat them.  Sweet, salty and crunchy–yum!

The weather this weekend did not bode well for outside activities, so we did focus on the inside.  I got another load of stuff taken to the thrift store, and cleaned out several cabinets.  I helped a friend clean out an apartment that had been a bit neglected this weekend.  We did a bit yesterday and decided what to bring with us today to tackle more.    I cannot believe I did not take before and after photos, but let me assure you the tub was almost black when we started. I had heard you could use oven cleaner on bathtubs so we tried it and look at the results:   And we didn’t have to use elbow grease at all, it just wiped right off! I am a true believer.  You have to protect yourself from the fumes, but if you can get past that, wow!  It also did amazing things on the stove top as well.  We put a huge dent in the clean up this weekend.

Last night we had dinner with good friends who we met 25 years ago tomorrow when Kyle, Hannah and Abbie all started kindergarten. We were all newbie parents of school children and we bonded.  It was our “silver anniversary of friendship”.  When I told Kyle where we were going, he thought we should have invited the “kids” since they were the reason we know each other.  Hannah said much the same.   We had a great time reminiscing on all the things we did as elementary school and PTA parents.  It was a fun evening with great friends and food.

As I was just outside walking Petals I saw the most fireflies or lightning bugs I have seen in our yard in decades. It sure brought back some other great memories.  We used to catch them by the hundreds (or so it seemed) and put them in jars to light our way–and we even attempted to freeze them once, why, I am not sure. Wonder how many kids still do that?  I wonder if the rain has helped them and is a cause for our largess tonight?   I will ask our entomologists tomorrow.  The frogs are in their element and singing their hearts out tonight as well.