Rain!

We have had some rain!

Sometimes I feel like a farmer when I walk round my garden and see how dry it is. Now, I know that we are only supposed to have winter rain, an average of 390 mm spread over the year with the bulk being May to about August, easing off on either side of winter. Our driest months are February (average 8 mm), and November (average 12 mm), but we should have a splattering throughout the year and this summer has been unbelievably dry, dusty and desperate! We keep a record and write down every drop faithfully, and most months have had 'nil'.
But, on Wednesday, the wind changed direction from a south-easter to a north-wester, the clouds rolled in and we watched the rain head towards us over the sea. Our dust roads turned to mud and the animals decided that there was no need to head out at all, Alfie crossed his legs and hung on, and the cats found the litter tray that is always available but seldom used!

All in all we measured over 20 mm in our trusty rain gauge and that was enough to almost fill our rain tanks, (the roof is a great catchment area), green up some of the surrounding fields and this morning I noticed that some of my bulbs are pushing up through the soil and one or two are blooming!

Aloes in the garden.

The aloes will be a picture as they never mind how dry it is, and the lachenalia will be spectacular as usual in their kruiwa. It never ceases to amaze me that from dry dust these little gems push their way up to brighten our lives.



Lachenalia bulbifera growing near the sea.

Wonderful.

And, talking of gardens, look at this.

Bottom left corner, see? (Thanks to SA Garden)

I sent the picture to the SA Garden magazine last December and heard nothing. Then last week I received a mail telling me that our Alfie had been chosen as one of the winners in the April edition! His prize will be delivered to his door in about 6 weeks time.
This is now embarrasing and I promise not to send any more photos to any more magazines!

However, this could be difficult as today a stunning digital camera arrived from my daughter for my birthday! The last camera I owned was a Brownie box! And guess who I 'snapped' first?

The first pic, excuse the muddled background!

Were you correct in your guess?