'Some people feel the rain, others just get wet.' Bob Marley
In it came from the west, muttering and grumbling as I watched anxiously, hoping it wouldn't do what it so often does: bypass us and go off to dump somewhere else. I've seen this happen so frequently this summer, as I've obsessively checked the radar online, that I've made myself believe the forecast only when I see the rain in the gauge. Seems topsy-turvy I know, but it's a bit of a safeguard against disappointment.
This time though, we were lucky. And when the rain fell, it fell thunderously, copiously, gloriously. Fat, splashy drops. Curtains of rain. Gutters flooded. Our water tank (not a very large one) overflowed onto our neighbour's side path and the lawn outside the back patio was drowned in water. And I remembered how we built a gravel path across the back of the garden a couple of years ago, because we couldn't walk across the lawn to the studio without getting our feet wet. We haven't had to use that path for a long time.
'It never rains but it pours' is an axiom that certainly applies to the weather in these parts. While we've been lucky to have two such weather events in ten days (delivering 60 mm or over two inches), a friend who lives only 30 km from me has received a paltry amount of rain. You just have to be lucky.
How immensely uplifting it is to venture out into the garden and see that exhausted plants are already invigorated. The lawn is greener too. All the tap watering that can be done is never as efficient and life-giving as the water that comes from the sky, and there is plenty of warm weather left for more growth to take place before the cold sets in and everything closes down for the winter.
After the excitement of rain, we are almost back in Summer mode again: a week of temperatures over 30 degrees awaits us. The overnight lows are a bit cooler though, we can pull a cotton blanket up over us at night, and the garden gets a rest and time to recover a bit before the next hot day.
That must be a huge relief. Since I began gardening 6 years ago, I’ve developed a much greater appreciation for rain.
Indeed, Lyn. We never complain about rain here!
I’m so very glad you got some rain, Jane, and your garden has been revived.
Rain’s a a strange thing. Sometimes my Father in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne rings me to see how I’ve fared in the storm and I answer “what storm” (and vice versa).
Your garden is looking pretty good for the end of summer I must say 🙂
Thank you, Vicki. I agree about the rain and it won’t be long before we need some more(never satisfied).
I’m really enjoying your blog, Jane. I share your motivations for blogging, and it is great to ‘meet’ likeminded gardeners!
Thanks Ali. We gardeners are all a bit ‘possessed’ aren’t we!
We’ve also had rain for the last week, interrupted by a couple of wonderfully warm spring days. I think the saying”it never rains but it pours was invented for our weather here; strangely it hardly ever applies to the UK where it originated.
Yes Christina, I use it quite often. And we often get our rain in big downpours lasting less than an hour. Or we go for ages without any and then have floods!
After receiving little rain for months during our limited winter rainy season, we’ve also been relieved to get some rain at last this March. It is a wonder to walk through a garden that’s no longer parched!
Makes such a difference doesn’t it? I’m glad you received some rain. However, it’s very hot here again and today the temp is 36C and a strong hot wind is blowing, so I can see the garden drying out before my eyes