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| Garden after the Rain |
It rained very, very early this morning! It began around 2:30 a.m. and was still raining a little when I went to sleep at 3:30 a.m. It had ceased raining when I woke up, however, around 11:00 a.m., it started to rain and then, it hailed a bit! I got so excited! But, by the time I ran to get my cell phone to take a picture, the hail had ceased and it was only rain. Not a heavy rain, either, but, we'll take whatever we get! It was still raining slightly when I took this photo of the back garden.
Then, shortly after that, it began to hail, again! Not big pieces of hail, but, small bits of ice, that melted almost as soon as they hit the ground:
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| Barely Seen Hail |
However, I had put down some flattened cardboard boxes in the side yard, as a weed barrier, and the hail was more visible on the cardboard:
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| Hail on the Cardboard |
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| Another Look |
I am thinking of using one of the above photos for the WPSH prompt "Weather". Or, perhaps, this one, below:
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| Weather: Rain |
It was mostly clear in the late afternoon, although it hailed once more! It has been raining on and off throughout the evening. I'm glad because we need every drop of rain we can get! During a break in the rain, I dug a spot in the yard to see how far the rain had penetrated into the ground - not even half an inch. The ground is bone dry where the tree roots are!
I had some leftover canned corned beef in the fridge and I cooked it with onions, tomato, and chili powder for brunch. I had it with a taco and daughter had it with rice.
For dinner, I made a batch of "freezer soup". I keep a couple of containers of bits and pieces in the freezer - chicken bones, vegetable cooking water, small amounts of leftover vegetables, etc. Then, whenever a container is full, I empty the contents into a pot, add some water and boil it to make a stock, to which I add various other things to make soup - today, I took a container of mung bean cooking water to which I had been adding various other bits, a packet of chicken bones, and a packet of green bean casserole (whole green beans, mushrooms, pieces of bacon) that I had frozen from Thanksgiving. I added some dried chili flakes and whole pepper corns to spice it up a bit (although it wasn't that spicy).
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| Chicken and Vegetable "Freezer Soup" |
We had the soup with toast and it made a very frugal meal with things that might have otherwise gone to waste. There's enough leftover for my lunch, tomorrow.
Later, I practiced the piano and chatted with friend R.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Rain for the garden
- The excitement of it hailing
- A working heater
- A warm and dry house
- Freezer soup
Today's joyful activity was watching it rain and hail! LOL.
Just as I was about to publish this post, there was a small earthquake, too (magnitude 2.7), with the epicenter located not too far from us! Hopefully, not a prequake to something bigger!
Your garden looks lovely and green after the rain. I hope it carries on long enough to give your garden a real soaking. We have heavy rain and take force winds today, so it's definitely a day for staying warm and dry at home.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that's it for the earthquake. Do you have a local warning system if quakes are expected?
Thank you, Eileen. There's more rain in the forecast for today, although it is just cloudy, right now. I hope your rain and winds don't cause any problems with flooding and downed trees, etc.
DeleteI think there are some earthquake alert apps that can be installed on smart phones. I don't have that smart a phone (very little storage space!). However, I do recall receiving a public service alert after our last moderate (magnitude 5) earthquake, but, it came only after the earthquake! Technically, we are supposed to expect earthquakes at all times. :)
My goodness. What a day you all had weather-wise. And then to end with an earthquake! I hope everything is ok this morning.
ReplyDeleteYour broth looks so nice and dark and rich. A nice warming soup was just what yesterday called for.
Yes, we definitely had some weather, yesterday! There is more rain in the forecast for today, but, the morning has been partly sunny/partly cloudy, so far (typing this at 11:00 a.m.)
DeleteThe broth included some caramelized onions leftover from sauteed chicken - it added a nice color. :)
I heard on the news that Los Angles was going to get heavy rain and hoped that you would get some of it. And it looks like you did! Do you have anything in place to capture the rain from the downspouts when it does rain?
ReplyDeleteYes, we did get some of the rain that was forecasted! :) No, unfortunately, I don't have a rain barrel. I have two downspouts - the one in the front empties out into the front flowerbed by the front door. The one at the back just empties out onto a paved area. I have considered putting a container under it (will have to shorten the downspout), but, haven't actually done so. Yesterday's rainfall amounted to approx. half an inch (varied from 0.47 to 0.66 depending on where it was measured).
DeleteOh no, the thought of an earthquake scares the you know what out of me! I hope all is well. I do the same thing now and then with freezer soup :)
ReplyDeleteYes, earthquakes are scary! But, we take them in our stride for the most part. :)
DeleteYou are much nicer naming your soup. I do the same but we call it garbage soup because everything in the base would have been tossed in the garbage or disposal.
ReplyDeleteRain is a precious gift, especially to your garden!
Maybe that's what I'll call the next batch! :D I was planning to make a type of creamy soup with some ravioli cooking water (one of the cheese raviolis broke and leaked cheese filling into the water, so I froze the water) as the base and adding either potatoes or the blanched asparagus stem ends... :D
DeleteYes, the rain is a blessing!
We've had some hail today as well. I'm looking forward to warmer days. X
ReplyDeleteImagine that - hail there as well as here! I do hope the days warm up soon for you. It was 48F here, this morning, warming up to 54F (12C), according to the weather report. I'm typing this at 12:30 p.m. and we are at 52F (11C). Tonight's low is supposed to be 42F (6C), tomorrow's 39F (4C). Somehow, it feels colder when I write it in Celsius! LOL.
DeleteYour garden looks lovely and fresh with the rain but what a surprise to have hail! Meanwhile here we have had weird weather as the temperature went up to over 70°F and we have had high winds most of the day, I can hear it gusting right now. But the sap is running!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady. Oh, you got our weather while we received some cold temperatures! Yay, the sap is running! Your DH timed it well when he tapped the trees earlier in the week! :)
DeleteHail, that's no good. But your garden will love the rain.
ReplyDeleteFreezer soup sounds good. I have a few things I could toss into the crockpot today. I love that I get several meals with only cooking once.
The garden loved the rain and even the hail, since it melted almost right away. :)
DeleteCrockpot meals are good! Less cooking is good, too. :)