May 18, 2011

Rain, rain, rain! We've spent the last week or more making up for the dry winter we had. I just hope we're not using up our summer supply of rain too! If I have interpreted the very confusing climate summary for the month of May from the NOAA website, we (well Blacksburg, VA anyway) have had rain for 14 out of the 18 days so far this month, and only 4 "clear" days. Hmm, great for the watertable, but not so great for the solar panels, although I'm always surprised with how much they manage to do with even a little burst of sunshine.

All the clouds and wet weather have made for good transplanting conditions between showers. The greenhouse is getting emptier and emptier while the garden is starting to look like something productive. I still have lots of seeds to plant, but cultivating mud just isn't my idea of fun. The slugs are LOVIN' this wet weather, and I'm having to fight them for the bounty of large, luscious strawberries we're starting to harvest. Luckily, the strawberries are big enough that even after you cut away the occasional slug munched area, you're still left with plenty of berry.

The wet weather has also seemed to reinvigorate the amphibians in the area. I had given up on having any tadpoles in my pond this year, but the other day I caught two woodfrogs (I think) engaged in...you guessed it, amplexus! This is, of course, the polite and scientific way of saying they were ensuring the survival of their species. I didn't want to disturb them, so I haven't inspected the pond yet to see if there are any signs of eggs or tadpoles, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


(Photo courtesy of Wikipedia, these are not the aforementioned frogs.)

I have a sneaking suspicion that the guineas are also working on the next generation. Silver has been MIA for large chunks of the day in the past week or so, and I didn't see her at all yesterday. So, she's either gotten snatched by something, or she's working on a nest somewhere. Time will tell! I am excited at the thought of adorable baby guineas; realistic about the fact that this will initiate another feeding frenzy among the local predators; and apprehensive at the thought of dealing with possessive guinea mamas who bring their babies right to my feet and then attack me for being too close.

On Monday, Joe and I celebrated our fifth anniversary. One of us, and I won't say who, forgot our anniversary (despite the other one of us having mentioned it many times over the preceding weeks) and made plans to spend the day with a friend (not the one they are married to). All's well that ends well, though, and we spent the evening together exploring the backroads of Floyd. Co and eating pizza in the car. Next year, though, one of us is going to steal the other one's planner and highlight May 16th in bold colors. :)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

hahaha. Ironically, it's usually me that forgets our anniversary.

Angela Baird said...

Amanda, just wanted to thank you again for your hospitality today. We had a great time, and really loved "meeting" your place in person. (I'm a wee bit jealous. ;) )

Angela Baird said...

Sorry, again, that last comment was Angela. Though Steve feels the same!