A Little Sunshine . . . . .

. . . . . is most definitely better than no sunshine at all! Yesterday afternoon we actually had a couple of hours when the sun was trying valiantly to shine for us. And it was nice. It was better than nice, it was glorious!

And don't get me wrong, I love the rain! After living through the last 3 years or so in an extreme drought, losing plants and wishing and praying for rain, I'll never look at that glorious wet stuff the same way again! But it's nice to have a dry day in between sometimes! Just this morning we've had this much rain . . . . .


almost 1 1/4 inches! Just this morning! And it's not over by a long shot because when I looked at radar a while ago, there's a line of thunder storms all the way across Alabama, Mississippi and into Texas, and they are all headed in our direction. This is how my pond, um, sidewalk, in front of the house looks right now as I write this >>>


And this little mulch-filled pond is actually a flower bed. And beneath that black pipe in the bottom of the picture, there is a deep hole filled with gravel to take water from the gutter and pull it away from the flower bed, but - trust me here - it's full, and there's nowhere for it to go!

And this one, well, it's just standing in water because everything is saturated and there's nowhere for all this water to run off to! I will tell you that the little green spike there is a blazing star, related to hibiscus, and they just LOVE lots of water, so she's a happy, happy camper!

And here's another spot in the yard where the water is standing, just because there's nowhere for it to go right now! It will eventually evaporate, soak into the saturated ground, or run off down to the back, lower part of the yard, but right now, it's just hanging out . . . chillin'.

But yesterday afternoon, from about 3 pm until about 5 pm, the sun shone!!!

And there were spots of blue in the cloud laden sky!

And it was good!

Very good!

Really, really good!!!

So good that I went out and got a few pics of my happy plants (they would be happier if they were planted, though) so you can see what sunshine look like!

Sunshine on the yet to be planted English daisies . . .

Sunshine on the sweet rocket . . .

Sunshine on the apple blossom pink double impatiens . . .

And don't you just love the neon pink of this double impatiens . . .

This hydrangea (a Penny Mack) is about 3 years old. Due to the drought, and (I think) my poor choice of location where I planted it, she hasn't been happy, barely grown, and never bloomed. But I moved her less than 2 weeks ago, gave her food and water, and look at this! She's only about 6-8 inches tall, but she has a bud!!!! Can you believe it? Apparently she likes her new home, and hopefully, when it dries out some, she will be joined by two more who are still in the shady island where I originally planted them.

And I want to share one last thing with you. Remember the moonflowers and hyacinth beans the voles and/or rabbits consumed last week? Well, I've planted more of those, but this time I put them in a galvanized tub and put them on the porch where the critters (hopefully) cannot get to them. They are (back row from left) a heavenly blue morning glory, hyacinth bean and moonflowers, and (front row from left) a neon pink double impatiens, Cuban oregano, and an apple blossom pink double impatiens.

And within a short time, all those vines will be climbing all over this trellis, and make a nice hiding spot for the hummers when they visit the feeder over their heads!

Now, I've got things to do, but I hope that, whatever the weather, wherever you are, you have a wonderful day! Blessings, Becky