All I can say is it is a miracle we got through this summer. And a miracle our veggies and flowers got through it too. It all started in February when we had the evacuations due to possible Oroville Dam breaking, the spillway broke up and flooding everyplace in all the streams and water tributaries. Then Butte County had some fires in the foothills. And if our poor community didn't have enough happening, we have had 90-107 degree heat since July.
Frank and I just took each day as it came, we watered, we got up earlier to do what we had to do in our fields and orchards. And in the evening, Frank would open up his shop and continue to work on building his cabinets and fixed small mechanical things needing done. Most nights we would stop working around 10:00pm.
Some of the fruit just fell to the ground for a couple of reasons.
Because they ripened so fast due to the heat; and also because it was just so hot, we weren't able to get out there and pick the fruit before it got too soft. I hate the waste, but we just couldn't do anything else.
We belong to a Neighborhood Watch group and people started posting on our on-line site, how much their PG&E bills were to see if others were having the same high bills. YESSSS!!! A few people said their bills were $800-$1200 when the year before it was $200-$300. Solar was spoken lots of times. Putting on those air conditioners even for a few hours during the hottest part of the day has added up to many hundreds of dollars for everyone. Tough for all of us!!
In spite of it all, in early spring to early summer, my roses, iris, ranunculus and hydrangeas just bloomed and bloomed; lilacs were so so, but still nice to see them even if only for a few days.
Then the Queens Anne Lace, some statice bloomed in the flower gardens.
I kept chipping away planting vegetables and flowers-a row of seeds at a time, between 7-9 at night because that was the only time it got in low 80 degree weather.
Some dahlias started blooming in early July, several rows of zinnias bloomed, the dusty miller looked good; glads and the Celosia started up. And it has been getting better and better including the Teddy Bear sunflowers and many other varieties of sunflowers just started to bloom like crazy.
Then the 2nd round of glads bloomed which actually I had forgotten I had planted so that was a nice surprise. Now all the dahlias are blooming and each day I see a new size and color dahlia popping out.
In between the flowers, I got rows and rows of cucumbers; beans, corn and just in the last 3 weeks, an explosion of tomatoes.
The failures that I had in flowers-straw flowers and most of the statice; in veggies-watermelons and peppers. Gosh, my peppers were always huge and very productive. We planted in March, they were ruined in May with winds and downpour of rains. Replanted but they have been slow getting going and now the watermelons are just about ripe, but the aphids have taken over.
The flower rows look fantastic, so many colors, textures, heights; it helps to make up for the disappointment in the vegetables and fruits.
Frank and I have really felt the heat and we are heat loving people. It has been like a heavy weight on our shoulders so when you walk from the house to the chicken pen, do a few chores, you go back to the house and have to sit down to rest.
Speaking of chickens, it has been hard on them too. I had several die through the summer. They were old hens, but still, you feel bad for them. I have kept sprinklers on their roof and a fan inside their coops but with feathered friends all nestled together at night, it just creates more heat for them.
In spite of all of heat issues, nothing compares to the sadness and loss as happened to the poor people of Houston, Dallas and other parts of Texas and southern states where they have had the flooding. My heart feels for them. we are sending money, prayers, support and love to our fellow Americans. Also we want to thank all the people who have helped rescue stranded people and animals; thank the people in churches and evacuation centers for providing support to those who lost so much. The true American spirit-people pulling together in hard times. Frank and I send our heartfelt prayers to all those people affected; and to our heroes like the police agencies; fire fighters; rescuers; FEMA people; Red Cross; all the churches that opened up their doors; all those that have come out to help others even when they have their own personal losses too. God Bless.
