Posted on 05/01/2026 6:24:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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The rain never got here - literally, it stopped a mile or so away and slowly fizzled out. The humidity sure has arrived , though, and NWS keeps backing off on when relief arrives. Ugh.
I spent over an hour this morning swapping out light clothes for even “medium” weight — all the heavy are already put up. I have a shortage of “worn thin shirts” (ie., COOLER!), too. Two developed big tears last summer, a third tore in the wash (wifey put it in with jeans and such), and another ripped (literally “R.I.P.”!) last week: I managed to catch it on a shagbark hickory tree. :-(
I almost never buy clothing at thrift shops, but, I might make an exception for a couple loose fitting (on me) slightly worn light color short sleeve shirts.
For some reason this is reminding me that years ago I had from my Dad a medium-light olive color work shirt with a patch from a local private conservation group (not the gov’t fish and wildlife people.) I had a matching (very close) cap, too. There was no bright patch on the cap, but, with khaki color denim shorts on, it was convincing enough: Go to a park, and people would think I was some sort of enforcement dude. Walk around a pond or lake shore and occasionally someone without a fishing license (I presume) or way over their limit would actually flee...
*** I almost never buy clothing at thrift shops, but, I might make an exception for a couple loose fitting (on me) slightly worn light color short sleeve shirts.***
I absolutely shop the thrift stores for garden tops. Everything gets torn or very used within a season. If I can keep an item for 3 years, I consider that a terrific use of money. I prefer cotton or cotton blends for yard work.
Augie that looks like raccoon damage, looking for water at the base of each plant.
I wish we had a Goodwill Outlet store near here - maybe it’s the management, but the Goodwill store over in Paducah, back when I was there, had only VERY nice clothing, and I have plenty of good clothing. It’s just not stuff I’d wear for outside work. Plus, it was at least 75% women’s clothing and I’m not one of “those” guys. Still, I could try the St. Vicent DePaul store, I suppose, and there’s a “The Thrift Shop” over in Metropolis, IL too, but the last time I went by there it was closed, out of normally very limited operation anyway (just Th. - Sat.). I prolly should get their phone # and call ahead B4 spending as much on gas as the work clothes, and finding a closed store!
I looked up to the sound of thunder
How far off it made me wonder...
So I came in to check the radar:
It MIGHT get here, but will have to backbuild.
Ok, so I stole a little from Bob Seeger and modified it for the circumstance. ;-)
I’d better go back out and put a couple things away.
To your point, our Goodwill store is about half women’s clothing and the men’s and children’s each about 1/4 for the clothing selection. I look for things that aren’t fancy at all, though as the seasons change, I have found a handful of nice sweaters there suitable for social occasions or church in the winter. You never know what bargains are there for the taking!
Gorgeous day. Came in at 6 from mowing... 72°, humidity 28%, wind blowing 13-20. I “ate” a lot of grass. About 1/2 hour before I quit, I was actually getting cold on the mower.
Forecast low tonight of 37.
UGH!!!!
I got my tomatoes and peppers covered with straw and row covers over that.
My container peppers are safely inside.
I was out of town for two days and came back and the garden looks like it exploded. And the weeds did too.
Amazing what a decent amount of rain can do for a veggie garden.
Those "pinch bowls" are cute but not as cute as the mini cookers.
Kinda hedging their bets in the Midwest, wouldn’t you say? LOL!
I’ll take hot and dry, please! I have a hose and a deep well. The crops they grow on our land are wheat, soybeans, corn and alfalfa. A dry year is better for all of t hose crops, too. (We don’t irrigate)
But, as usual, I’ll take what I get and deal with it. Can’t do much more than that!
Workin’ on your ‘Night Moves,’ Paul? LOL!
You just can’t seem to catch a break with the nighttime temps, can you?
I’ll bet your plants will be just fine, but extra work is always a PITA!
I agree. When I’m rich and famous and have my own personal Chef, he’ll have a whole kitchen decked out in Le Creuset. ;)
It’s good to make plans....chuckle.
The rain never got here, so, my “night moves” (up until midnight or so) may consist of getting a few more plants in the ground and working on the push mower, while it is cooler!
We are supposed to get a brief dip in the dewpoint, to 59 deg. F (the dewpoint was 72 deg. a little while ago!), so, getting as much of that air into the house and my shop as possible, once it cools off a bit, will also be on the agenda. (Open windows and fire up fans, around 10 pm. I’d disconnected the fans from their usual timers because the last couple nights we ran the small bedroom AC only - unusual for us to need to do in May, even late May.
Does anyone here have a favorite tomato (besides Roma) with good shelf life? I tend to like tomatoes a bit tangy, tho’ not as tangy as Lemon Boy’s.* If tangy and sweet, so much the better. Resistance to bruising need only be average - I’m not shipping the tings. The idea is to extend having fresh tomatoes as much as practical after the 1st killing frost.
Note that I’m also going to attempt keeping at least one Patio Tomato plant in a fairly large pot and give it plenty of light and ~ 70 deg. ambient temperatures over next winter. (The light “should” make the plant think it’s a little warmer than the air temperature.)
*I had a Lemon Boy overwinter surprisingly well, last winter, esp. given that I had it in way too small a pot. The taste judgement was from last summer. A Mortgage Lifter that I’d started very late indoors also overwintered, moderately in terms of survival, but produced quite small fruits - cherry size, and few of them. My guess is that ML’s need a BIG pot to do well.
Suggestions welcome!
It’s been a crazy year for sure.
If it weren’t for the fact that the tomatoes and peppers were ones I very successfully started from seed and are varieties you simply cannot find in big box stores, it wouldn’t be such an issue. But I’m not about to let all that effort get taken out in one nighttime fell swoop.
Sunday and Monday are also supposed to be in the low 40’s so the row covers are just going to be pulled back, not taken off for good.
We SHOULD be in the clear after that.
Have you cursed at “Rex” yet?
For those not familiar with the term:
I figured it was a ‘Rex block’ because DT was talking about it on his ‘This Week in Weather’ video. He does a detailed analysis of what & why is going on. He’s a bit of a character, but a very good met - makes his living doing commercial forecasting (agricultural, grains, etc). Once you get past the ‘sick twisted weather freaks’, it’s all good stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P90ANgNheD8
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