August wrap

  • Gayfeather

Yesterday (Saturday) evening we had real rip-roaring downpour accompanied by lots of wind.  The dry creek bed in the front ran like a mighty river.  It was fun.  I emptied 1.15 inches of rain out of the gauge this morning and others living farther south we talked to at church didn’t get half that, which I’m sorry for them, but so many times this summer it seems like it has been the other way around.  We would get some but south of I-40 would get significantly more.  A couple of weeks ago the weatherman reported that five inches of rain fell south of Perryton (northeast Panhandle), which just goes to show it’s a crap shoot whether any one area gets significant moisture.  We nearly made our average for August (2.91 vs 3.07) and with last night’s frog-strangler we have nearly made our September average (1.15 vs 1.97).  I should be out annoying the weeds right now but, what the heck, life is short and tomorrow is a holiday so they’ll just have to wait till Tuesday.

Joyce has been busy the last few days extracting grape juice.  Last Monday we harvested the grapes from the east row of vines and collected 73 pounds.  We mostly got the better bunches and left the smaller ones for the birds.  Then Friday Joyce picked 50 pounds from the west row.  She gave about 20 pounds to a friend and has run the rest through her juicer.  From the resulting five gallons of juice she will make popsicles, a tasty treat we’ll enjoy through the year.

Volleyball season started up and the Rebels had a couple of tough outings early on.  First they lost to Amarillo High, then Randall but they took care of Bushland this week in a business-like manner.  Our favorite volleyball player performed well and, as always, we enjoyed watching her play.

Rebecca has taken up the guitar using one Abigail got for Christmas when she was six or seven.  Yesterday we went to the music store and looked at guitars with the idea of learning what was available if and when she is ready for an upgrade.

Friday night Joyce and I went to the Tascosa  vs Abilene football game.  We get in free on account of we’re elderly.  Also, it takes less than 15 minutes to get to the stadium, so it’s cheap and easy, our two favorite qualities.  Kari said Tascosa wasn’t expected to beat Abilene but they did.  We left after the third quarter with the Rebels leading 13-7 and that’s the way the game ended up so we didn’t miss anything and were home by bed-time.

Joyce went out to close up the chicken house when we got home from the game.  It was after dark and so she took a flashlight.  While shinning it around looking for spider eyes she illuminated a fox, something we haven’t seen on the place for I don’t know how long.  She was concerned about the fowl but was relieved when she found a big gray tomcat guarding the door to the hen house.  No one has seen the porcupine since it first showed up.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s still around, though, just keeping a low profile.  If there were a way to observe the night-life on SA, it might be pretty interesting.

SA has been green since about mid-July but just barely so there wasn’t much mowing to do.  That’s changed the last few weeks, though, and I’ve been over the place one complete iteration.  Last week I started on a second go-round but was probably just going to mow the south end because the place was getting pretty dry.  Though we got rain in August, it was also hot a lot of the time and didn’t take long for things to dry out after a rain.  Last night’s deluge will change that equation and there are good chances of rain in the coming week.  Since I’d rather mow than water and this time of year it’s one or the other, I’m satisfied.

It is the time of the year that gayfeathers bloom.  I’ve left several in the pasture and meadow and we have the two in the yard.  They are beginning to put on a nice purple show.