August Weather - Dog Days & Fairs

I also got this. It was not on sale. Anyone want to guess what it is?

crocosmia?

It is, indeed, Crocosmia 'Lucifer'. I have never seen it offered out here before so I snapped it up.

70° too Dark to see the gauge should still be the same.

Details for Monday, August 09
Mostly sunny. Hot. High 93F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Evening: Partly cloudy. Low 69F. Winds light and variable.

Off to work.

I was going to say a Devilish looking plant but Kelli beat me to it...lol!

65° and clear.

Ric

73°F Feels Like: 73° High 86F
Humidity: 96%
Dew Point: 72°
Pressure: 29.89 in
Visibility: 3.0 mi
Time Until Sunrise: 0 hrs 34 min Sunrise: 6:08 am
Through 11am: Showers and thunderstorms becoming scattered around 7am. Storms should end around mid-morning. Cloudy with temperatures rising towards the low 80s. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.
A few storms may be severe.
It's Dyson Dark.

I heard thunder in the night and it's a good steady rain now. Occasional lightning and thunder, a nice steady rain. We took the boys home yesterday and I have a house to clean today :o) Yesterday afternoon we were at 80° and had a nice breeze. I opened doors and windows. An hour later it was up to 85° and by 8:00 pm we hit 89°. That was unreal!

Sunfarm, he's a pretty, rich brown, moth! Planning a new flower bed is always fun! I hope your moth comes back.

Marsue, I think they're too young to be scared :o) They want to go back! I've never heard of ''Flowers of Sulpher.'' Rain for you! Hooray!! Wow, or is it steam? Neat rain photo :o)

Dyson, maybe your guardian angel says you aren't ready yet and gave you a reason to stay home :o) Glad you made a good profit!

Kelli, it's nice to have the option of going to all those fairs, but if it costs a lot to get in and they have the same old same old, it isn't fun anymore. It's neat that you and Mau have different butterflies to turn in. That's a nice size for a pond and it actually looks natural. I'm glad you're having an unseasonable year :o)

Pepper, your Zinias look so nice! Can't wait to see the Atlas Moth!

Celia, so pretty! I just decided a few mini roses need to go in my new Butterfly bed and the big rose is going to go in the North Peony bed :o) Oh WOW! I've always wanted one, but our zone is pushing it. I'll really enjoy pictures of yours!

Dyson, have a good day at work!

Ric, ditto!

Thanks for the tip on chigger prevention, Mau. I normally spray at least around the ankles when I know I am going to be around the plant beds this time of year, but I had not intended to go there or pick any berries when I was going out briefly.

Celia, your croscomia is pretty. We have one in the front yard. They must be pretty hardy as it comes back each year with no particular attention.

Moth was ID'd as Catacola amestris. I hope to see it again and get a better picture.

Back to the 90s this week with dewpoints in the upper 60s and low 70s, so more time inside for me.

Kelli: It is Butterflies and Moths of North America.
this is the website:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
Click on Map Search on the left and then click on your state and go from there
Pepper: pretty zinnias. I have two that came up from self-sown seed from last season. Zinnias seem to thrive in hot weather. :o~
Sunfarm: that link just brought up a long list of websites. Glad you got an ID on the moth.
Celia: pretty little rose and the crocosmia, too. I was in Wal-Mart yesterday and they didn't have much on sale although they should put everything in their garden section at 75% due to the way the plants look. :o(( They did have some good looking hydrangeas for $5.00 but I decided it was too hot to try and plant anything now. I haven't forgotten about that canna you want but it is too hot to be sending anything through the mail just now. I'll wait till fall before I dig it up for you.
BP: the rain was welcome but it does tend to make things rather "steamy"--sort of like walking into a sauna when you step outside. LOL

We're back to HOT and HUMID again today with heat index into the triple digits. I should have mowed my yard on Saturday afternoon when it was a "cool" 89F. LOL I had a phone call that delayed me getting outside and the mowing didn't get done. :o((
# Today: Mostly sunny early with isolated thunderstorms developing this afternoon. Humid. Heat index near 110F. High 97F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
# Tonight: Partly cloudy with isolated thunderstorms possible. Humid. Low 76F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Our county fairs are in Sept. and early Oct. Our state fair is the 2nd week in Oct. and runs for 10 days.
In 1977, I entered my pony tail plant, aka elephant's foot plant, in the county fair, plant division. It took First Premium. I have had that plant for 35 years now. I bought it at Target for 38cents and it was about 3 inches high. Here is a picture of it now. I have no doubt that it would be much bigger now if I had put it in a bigger pot and fertilized it but it is big enough the way it is. I do put the Jobe's plant food spikes in the soil from time-to-time to give it some extra "nutrition". If you look closely to the right of the purple ribbon you can see the "baby" which has sprouted from the "foot".

Sally, what a cool picture of the bridge and the boys! I haven't thought about th epalm like that, but, yes, that would be great! Your weather sounds like ours last night and today.
Mau, thanks! Yes, the blue one is a Ipomoea nil 'Blue Furukin', Japanese MG. Glad you got rain, lovely picture!
Sallysun, that's a beautiful moth! Glad you found the name. I had one in the yard last year and I was so anxious to find out its name too.
Kelli, what a gorgeous pond!
Celia, beautiful pics! I have a few pink rose too.
Pepper, great zinnia!

It's been great last night, it cooled off after a rainstorm, with lots of Ts and Ls....it was pretty scary though! Still hot today, 91F=33C, no wind, sunny.
Today I have some pics with Nicholas. Enjoy!

Adina

Mau, I can see the baby! What a beautiful plant!
Another picture of Nicholas.

One more.

Very hot today with Excessive Heat Warnings out til Weds evening.

Temp: 97
Heay index: 104
Humidity: 50%
Winds: SSW 12 mph
Gusts: 17mph

Bright Zinna

Same here Pep!
Dry as a bone now too.

Mau I love that Pony!
Great Tail!
We have 3 and I love them.
Biggest is about 2 1/2' tall and at least 10 years old.
Lowe's ..... $1.79 then.
There was one for sale about the size of yours.... FAR more than I could afford.
The arboretum has a mammoth one.
The curator told me to only water when you can push in the bark and it doesn't spring back.

Adina again WONDERFUL SHOTS!

Ric

We had heat & humidity, but no wind! Not even a slight breeze.

Got a new, (to us), pickup this afternoon. 1997 Chev ¾ Ton. Really good shape & very nice price. Stopped at my friends station for gas. He had a used topper that fit it & what I needed. So that was on there when I left. Paid cash for all things & had a few bucks left, LOL!
I can't understand why people want to be strapped with big monthly payments on a car or truck. I own 2 pickups & a car, paid cash for all of them. Highest was $3500.00. Down payments are higher than that according to the ads on TV.

Our helpers picked a pile of pickles this morning. Nearly 4 bushel of the baby dills are spoken for tomorrow. WOW!
Rain Saturday sure did pop things along with this heat the last few days. It will take both trucks & the trailer to get it all to market.

Better hit the sack, long day tomorrow.
Bernie

Light Rain Temperature: 75° Feels Like 75° High 90°
Precip: 0.88 in (est.)
Humidity: 91%
Dew Point: 72°
Pressure:2 9.96 in
Visibility: 10.0 mi
Time Until Sunrise: 0 hrs 34 min
Through 11am: Showers and thunderstorms ending by 8am. Decreasing cloudiness with temperatures steady near the low 80s. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Partly cloudy with scattered thunderstorms, possibly severe. Hot and humid.
Again it's Dyson Dark

Sunfarm, I went back to look at your moth again and realized the bottom half of him is a bat. It could also be a cat's head, but it has the wings. Neat :o) It's nice to know his name!

Marsue, I bookmarked your link. It's a nice one! I hear you on ''should have mowed." Your Elephant's Foot/Ponytail plant is fantastic!! You really kept it in good shape. I don't have a single plant I bought from long ago, and I had to smile over the price. Congratulations on the ribbon and new baby!

Adina, Nicholas can be such a big boy with that smile and then he's a little guy again. Those are cute pictures!! He's keeping that hair too :o)

Pepper, gorgeous color on the zinnia!

Ric, how cool that you also have a bargain P-tail! Interesting about watering a large one.

Bernie, glad you got your truck, and the topper was a great find! You've been lucky to find good vehicles. Wow, that is quite a garden haul!

It got hot yesterday. I mowed and was half in the sun and half out. In the middle of being done, I took a watermelon break. It mowed pretty nice in spite of still being a bit wet in the shade. Then I cleaned and refilled birdbaths and took a few butterfly pictures. The Joe Pye Weed was just fluttering with them!

I love the blue on this Red Admiral

This one is new to me. I haven't identified him yet so feel free to, if you know.

Good morning BP, It looks like a fritillary of some sort (meadow, maybe). Very nice pictures of both.
Extreme heat advisory here again today. 93 yesterday and only down to 71 this morning.

Wow, sunfarm, that's cool. We are at 74º for our low. Feels like steam bath. Raining a little, too.

Adina: Nicholas is a happy baby as well as a handsome one--and well-fed,
too! :o))
Pepper: another pretty zinnia
Bernie: great buy on the truck--and the topper! It's always nice to be able to pay cash for things. That's a lot of dills!
Ric: the pony-tail plants are fun to grow. You got a bargain, too! I didn't know that about watering them--I just water mine when the dirt feels dry when I stick my finger into it. It has lived through a great deal of "benign neglect" and seems to be no worse off for it.
BP: glad you enjoyed the BAMONA link. It is a good one, I think. I did get the yard mowed last night. It's a never-ending chore during the growing season, as you well know. Great photos of the butterflies! I don't think we have the red admirals around here--at least I don't recall having seen one.
Sunfarm: your weather sounds like ours but I think we are a few degrees hotter than you are. I would take cooler without complaining. LOL

# Today: Scattered thunderstorms, especially during the afternoon hours. Hot and humid. Heat index near 120F. High 99F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
# Tonight: Isolated thunderstorms early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Humid. Low 76F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Friday with his favorite boy. All I have to do is mention Zachary's name and Friday will run to the front door or the window and look out to see if Zachary has come to visit. He loves to go with me when I pick up Zach and he has a fit when we turn in the driveway of Zach's mom's house. He knows Zachary lives there. It's amazing how much that dog loves that boy!

96° - hotter than a pack of excited, sock sucking monkeys. Too hot to do anything other than hide inside with the AC blasting.

Details for Tuesday, August 10 (Evening)
Evening: Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Humid. Low 72F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%

Thundering now.

LOL, Dyson--that's hot!!!

We had a wonderful thundershower this afternoon--lasted about an hour. Hard rain like we haven't had in a long time and the ground soaked it right up! :o))

Current temp is 97, feels like 99.
Humidity: 44%
Winds: S 12 mph
Gusts: 17 mph
Cloud cover: 9%

Today's high was 100, heat index of 110
Low tonight to be around 76 with heat index of 86.

Exreme Heat Warnings in effect til Friday evening.

Too dang hot here!! BUT it will go down starting Saturday. Whoo Hoo!!!!

Cleome, Victoria Blue Salvia, and zinnas with Swamp Milkweed 'Cinderella' on left.

Hi everyone! It's so darn difficult to get here anymore since my co-worker was laid off, oh well! It's just been hot hot hot and hot. Last week we had a heat index of 115*, got some cloud cover and RAIN today! Not a lot but every little bit helps, right? It's been so hot here the trees are turning brown, the veggie garden is looking cooked, and it's difficult to keep up with the watering.

We went to Eureka Springs, AR last weekend for a wedding and boy did we have fun! Here's the link to the pics I took

http://picasaweb.google.com/christinepix/EurekaSprings8710?authkey=Gv1sRgCLLYkqiIsb6JkwE#

Adina Nicholas is soooo cute! Look at those cheeks!!!

In light of current events, do you still want to be called BP? ;-)


How funny! A dog and his boy. :-)


Today we went to the Ventura County Fair. Four and 1/2 hours was all my feet could handle, but we saw just about all of the exhibits. The only thing I don't like about the VCF is that there are no drinking fountains. We don't go every year, but I'll have to try to remember to bring my own water next time.

The fairgrounds is right at the beach, so it isn't hot there.

West Ventura/Cedar near Ferro Dr., Ventura, California (PWS)
Updated: 5:50 PM PDT on August 10, 2010
64.4 °F
Clear
Humidity: 80%
Dew Point: 58 °F
Wind: 9.0 mph from the ENE


Not particularly hot here at home, either.

Van Nuys, California (Airport)
Updated: 4:51 PM PDT on August 10, 2010
82 °F
Clear
Humidity: 23%
Dew Point: 41 °F
Wind: 12 mph from the SSE


Should I feel guilty for hogging the decent weather? Not to worry, we could get fried in September and/or October.

Kelli we went to a Christmas Party at that fairgrounds.
My BIL's company has it there every year.
That's a HUGE place!
Almost ran over a tire trap on the way out....lol!

Hot Hot and Dry!
Watering about every other day now.
The Brugs are in water pans now.
Can't keep up w/ regular watering.

Ric

Funny, I guess it's all perspective. I think it's kind of on the small side as fairgrounds go. Not absolutely small, but smaller than others we've been to, except Riverside Co.

This message was edited Aug 10, 2010 5:12 PM

Yes, Kelli. You should feel very, very guilty.

70°F Feels Like: 70° High 92°
Humidity: 92%
Dew Point: 67°
Pressure: 29.91 in
Visibility: 2.6 mi
Time Until Sunrise: 0 hrs 46 min
Through 11am: Decreasing cloudiness with temperatures warming rapidly into the low to middle 80s. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Thunderstorms likely, especially this morning. Hot and humid. Chance of rain 80%. It's Dyson Dark.

Yesterday's rain estimate was for the past 24 hours. We had 3/10'' in the guage at sun-up. I woke up this morning to more rain. I don't think I dumped the old out yet :o) Yesterday afternoon we took the jeep out and drove the countryside taking old barn pictures. It was so hot when we got back, that I had to come in. I was too sweaty to sit, write, or take pictures. I also had just enough mosquitos to tip the balance. A shower and shampoo never felt so good!

Sunfarm, you nailed the Meadow Fritillary!

Marsue, I used the link to identify most of my butterfly pictures. It's always nice to get the yard mowed. In spite of all the water grass I have now, mine looks much better than before. I'd like to know where all my lush, emerald green spring grass went. We had plenty of rain and coolish temps most of the summer. So where is it? It's amazing how smart a dog is. Especially to know where someone else lives. How wonderful for Zach and Friday to be such great pals. Your picture warms the heart. Nice rain!!

Dyson, ROTFL! I've never seen monkeys like that, but they must have been around here too!

Pepper, nice color with all the different flowers! All are my favorites.

Chrissy, nice photos! I love the trains and I wanted the statue before I saw your caption, LOL! Gorgeous buildings, neat cabin! Very nice memories!

Kelli, I like BP, I know right away it's me, but I'll answer to either name :o) I have a nice cloth shoulder bag I take to the fair. It holds my camera case, billfold, and this year, water bottles. I rest my arm on it and it's comfortable to wear. No matter how fit you are, when walking, unfamiliar terrain always seems to wear a person out. I found that drinking pop makes me feel full and sick to my stomach so I don't like to have to buy it, and you can only drink so many lemon shakes :o) Not being hot is a bonus! I hope we have cool weather for the Iowa State Fair. ROTFL, guilty? Enjoy what you never seem to have!!!

Celia, ROTFL and love the robin!

This poor guy was found in the driveway. Not sure which Sulfer he is, but I think we got him in the country. All his color is on the outer wings.

(I see daylight)

BP I shot my first sulphur picture yesterday. Now I need to ID it precisely. I should not have been out in such hot weather (95) but I could not resist the butterflies.

Foggy and 70s again this morning, with temps starting to climb already. Precipitation probability is creeping up also.

Sunfarm, they are hard to get aren't they? They don't like to open thier wings to show if they have any color inside either. If I didn't have a camera in hand, my neighbors would wonder why I ''freeze'' while bent over, or move very very slowly :o)

Years ago, in Kalona, I bought a small illustrated ''Golden Guide'' ''Butterfly and Moths'' book. It's been my best friend. A couple of years ago, at "Barnes and Noble" I bought "Eyewitnes Handbooks" ''Butterflies and Moths.'' You have to know the latin name to find anything, or thumb thru it page by page as I do. It even had Tropic's ''Big Greasy'' butterfly in there :o) I also found a "Princeton Field Guide" of ''Caterpillars of Eastern North America.'' I like it! So many books don't show the caterpillar. It has an index, but I still had to thumb thru it to find the Owlet caterpillar, as I didn't know what it was at all.

This is one I haven't identified yet. I couldn't get close, but I'm sure it was all black and it was small.

I had a beat up Luna Moth in my driveway this morning, had to move it or I would have rolled right over it getting my car out of the garage. I just bent down and picked it up and stuck it to the brick wall beside the garage door. It didn't try to fly away or anything, just hung on for the ride!

Nice pics of the butterflies y'all!

We had a grasshopper in the house yesterday. One of the cats probably brought it in as a snack but didn't finish it. Yuck.

Hot again. 73º now, 90º for later.

My conflowers have Aster Yellows again. (sigh)

This message was edited Aug 11, 2010 11:17 AM

So many beautiful butterflies--so little time! LOL
BP; Oh, poor BF in the driveway. I feel guilty every time I "murder" a butterfly when I am driving. There were so many of them on my way to NW. Arkansas last week. I don't think I have ever seen so many butterflies flitting around. They all seemed to be black so must have been the EBST or similar. They were everywhere and, unfortunately, a few of them flew right into the front of my car. *sniff*
Crissy: your photos of Eureka Springs and NW. AR are really good. I love that part of the state and Eureka Springs is such a quaint town! We must have gotten quite a bit more rain than you did yesterday afternoon. We had a really good shower that lasted for about an hour and yet Ed Buchner(Channel 11 weather guy) said it didn't even rain in downtown Little Rock.
Kelli: re: the nice weather---feel guilty--feel very guilty! ROFLOL
(I guess I missed the "current events" about BP's name????)

Hot and humid again today--up to 100F. Supposed to "cool down" to the low 90's early next week.

81°

Thunderstorms rolling through - will check the gauge in the morning.

Details for Wednesday, August 11 (Evening)
Evening: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, especially during the evening. Humid. Low 73F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%

Got a chuckle out of the radar image, Dyson. I am midway between LEX and JKL on the map; all the rain seems to be north of us; not a sprinkle here, though the temp dropped from 95 about the time of that image.
Had another butterfly come into my front porch today. I think it is a tawny emperor. Not a great picture (sorry) but a neat critter.

BP, look up common sootywing to see if that matches your black butterfly. The tiny white spots made me think it is a duskywing.

Hot, humid, and raining in some areas. Earlier we got sandwiched between two storms, one north and one south but only got a few drops. It was unnerving at first since I didn't know if they were gonna join forces and cause some major damage but they never did. I wished I got more rain though. I left my hose in one spot for close to 30 min earlier thinking it would run off to other plants. It never did. So now I have to do it again tomorrow on different plants.

Red Twig Dogwood and a ee. It hasn't gotten bigger than that for some reason. But my Heart of the Jungle is almost as tall as my switchgrass. Moody ee's need to grow!! LOL

75°F Hot and humid here and will be right through the weekend. Hopefully a passing thunderstorm will drop some rain. Last summer we were complaining that it was cold and wet. I like this better!

I'm a gazillion posts behind here......... :-(

Crissy.......shame about the Luna Moth. You don't see many of those!

BP..........Nice job on the butterfly photos !

Adina......Nickolas is adorable.

dyson.........."hotter than a pack of excited, sock sucking monkeys" Now there's one I've never heard before!


My Heirloom Tomatoes are ripening! Nirvana for a tomato lover like me! Last year I lost them all to Late blight.

early_bloomer

A closer look..........I may need some help eating these! Pineapples, Black From Tula's, Violet Jaspers, Dr. Wyches Yellows, Orange Fleshed Purple Smudges, Paul Robesons and others..........


early_bloomer

This message was edited Aug 11, 2010 9:09 PM

A Pineapple tomato. Ain't she pretty!


early_bloomer