Soggy

Last Friday we received maybe 3 inches of rain between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. It kept falling with wave after wave of thunder and lightning. I was going to grocery shop Friday morning, but I put it off because of the torrential rain. Around 2:30 as I arrived at the grocery store, it had slacked off to a mist.
My husband had added some topsoil to our patio planting area and then some mulch to keep the weeds down. Most of the mulch floated over the concrete patio slab, stopped only by the grass on the west edge. There were several roads closed in our area Friday evening due to flooding; one even washed completely away in a spot.

At 9 a.m. Friday when the weather radio alert sounded about the impending storm, I hurried out to the west side of my house and snipped off this hydrangea. I have less than half a dozen of these flowers in bloom (first season for these bushes), but I wanted a centerpiece for dinner.

We had relatives from Michigan coming, joined by 2 local family members, to eat pizza. My nephew, his 2-year-old daughter E, and the nephew's father (my husband's brother) over-nighted with us. The Grace Village guest rooms were all booked up. The decision to visit was made about 10 days before arrival. The toddler had a portable bed brought from home, my burley nephew made do with the twin bed, and my brother-in-law slept on an air mattress in our den. Since my husband set up his own bedroom a year ago, we no longer have a guest bedroom per se. Hubby slept with me in the queen bed. We all survived. :-)

Saturday was a beautiful day with low humidity and sunshine. We walked part of the Winona trail with our guests. The toddler E was so excited; we saw rabbits, bikers, runners and dogs. One of the dog owners let E pet her canine Lady. E's grandfather held her hand while she walked close to rushing Cherry Creek to throw in a stick. We walked to the Winona Lake park playground. E had a ball climbing on the equipment and coming down the slides. The swings off in their own area were too muddy to use. E would vocalize her joy with shouts as she ran from the slide to the steps onto the playground equipment for another round. This is a really nice setup with rubberized "flooring" and the stations elevated and joined together which meant no puddles to deal with. E was in kid heaven, and we adults enjoyed watching her.

We ate lunch at M's apartment; then the Michiganders headed for home. We will see them in about a month when they come for a family reunion August 4-5. Over 40 expected at that event held in our retirement community's meeting building in the condo neighborhood.

Tonight we have more rain. The Kosciusko County Fair had a nice evening Sunday for the opening parade, but the next few days look soggy. Friday should be cooler and dry. I am hoping to pick blueberries that day before the hot weather returns.

A man from the flooring store came today to take measurements. Looks like we will soon replace the flood-damaged bathroom laminate and then also redo the other bathroom whose laminate has not held up well in the 15 years and then the kitchen. We have to wait for the estimate to go through the administrative channels. We will probably have to pay for the kitchen flooring.

Shaping up to be a busy summer. Saturday I will go to the local farmers' market. Hope to find tomatoes and sweet corn. Not sure how tomatoes have done in all of the rain though. Sogginess may not be compatible with tomatoes.