Minor miracle ~

Minor miracle

We actually had some rain this morning. Not much, but enough to dampen the garden and allow me to turn off some of the sprinklers and save a bit of water.

 It was a lovely surprise. 

I think I will go out and do a little rain dance and see if I can get it to do it again!

 

Wonderful, wonderful rain in July almost unheard of here!

Thank you for visiting.

I hope your day is off to a good start.

Summer color ~ Dahlias

With all of my computer problems it has been so long since I have posted that I almost forgot how to put up a post!  

Although the drought continues, so far this has been a rather moderate July in Southern California, with temperatures in the high eighties and low nineties, last week we even had a bit of rain. All this does help in water usage. So far I have managed to stay within the mandatory, for my water district, 24% reduction range.

As far as the Dahlias below...they haven't noticed the difference and have done quite well this year.

I always wanted a place to plant a row of Dahlias and when I redid the area below my deck it gave me the perfect spot. This spring I added more tubers, this is one of the new ones.

I really think this is my favorite I love the pink and yellow coloration of the flowers. Alas, I didn't take note of the name when I planted them, now I wish I had.

I have been cutting some to bring into the house, but I haven't found a way to keep them lasting very long as cut flowers, if any of you have any tips on the best way to do this I would appreciate knowing about it.

Meanwhile, they add much beauty and color to the summer garden.

I hope your summer is going well. It is good to be back blogging again.

PS I am thinking of replacing my current computer with a Mac desktop I have always used a PC and have some concern about changing over to the Mac has anyone done this and  if so did you find it difficult? 

Chasing the drought ~

Living with a drought is quite a challenge. 

Many of the lawns in my community are like the one below, sadder still is the loss of so many trees, people stop watering their lawns and don't seem to realize that trees still need water.  Mature trees can take decades to replace and are so much more important than a lawn.

  This summer my life seems to revolve around the water meter. I always knew where it was and how to turn it off if necessary but now I. I keep track on a daily basis to see how much water I have used and how many CCFs I have left to last until the next billing period.

I use buckets in the bathroom and kitchen to collect the gray water which then is carried out...

to watering cans on the deck to be dispersed later.

I am not surprised by the amount of water that is wasted waiting for a shower to warm, but I am surprised by how much is used  in food preparation, washing dishes and cleaning up.

I also hooked up a hose to capture all the grey water from my washing machine, it is a front loading machine and very water efficient so there isn't as much as one would think. Still it all helps.

And, my number one helper and the most valuable thing I ever did, was to install drip systems throughout the whole garden. I use microsprinklers, individual emitters, and drip hoses, all operated by battery timers. Without this system keeping my garden through these conditions would be dire.

The mandatory reduction throughout California is 24%, so far I am at a 40% reduction but the hottest weather is yet to come.

I am going to be very happy when the summer is at an end and cooler weather arrives...and maybe, maybe, this winter we will have rain!

Thank you for visiting