Rain day

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done.  ~Author Unknown

Here in Lethbridge we are a little out of step with the overarching culture.  March winds?  Well, we get winds anytime, nothing remarkable about March.  April showers?  See the April 15 post for our version.  May flowers?  There are a few, and I fawn over them until they are embarrassed by all the attention, but they are few.  May is the time for showers.  June, too.  It's not on the scale of South Asian monsoons, but it's usually enough to cause rivers to become bothersome, even dangerous, and it turns the soil to an untouchable muck.  Nitrile coated gardening gloves are one of my favourite things.

The sky brightened late this morning, after a work week of steady rain, through which I stubbornly walked the 5km to the office, and home again, each time watching the Oldman River grow a little larger and chunkier.  I got in some easy weeding before the thunderclouds rolled in mid-afternoon, and then retired to the upstairs window seat to watch the storm.  It was very cozy until Barry called to warn me that hail might be on the way, and told me where to find the plastic sheeting.  Most of what needed protection was under the hoops, so it was a quick cover up.  The other few squashes and tomatoes (didn't worry about peas and carrots) fit easily under a few plastic seedling tents.  Just in time.  The deluge was short lived and the yard was almost sunny as I rushed out to sow a few seeds, only to find rain falling again.  The sky is friendly in the east window and menacing in the west. I unstopped the wine bottle and declared the rest of the day unfit for yard work.

This garden could easily consume all of my time, and twice more again.   It's taken me ages to get one room in the house painted and ready for occupancy, largely because it's so difficult to be indoors on a nice day during our brief season of warmth (or high probability thereof).  It's good to have a rain day every now and then.  It allowed me to do some painting and sanding, and gave me some needed physical rest.  And just look at the colour of the lawn.