RAINS

I needed to put on the knee high green rubber boots this morning for the walk.  The rain gauge in our weather station measured 2.35 inches of water during the storm of yesterday, and I knew the grass would be really wet.  I was correct in the assessment.  It was cool as well.  I started to think that perhaps I should have put on a long sleeve shirt and long pants because of the chill, that notion was quickly abandoned by the time I turned the south west conner of the hedgerow.
The rain had been the steady all day sort, sometime heavy, then getting lighter, but never stopping.  There was no wind and the drops fell straight to the ground, so much so that I never needed to close either of the french doors to prevent moisture from coming into the interior.  We were a little bored and house bound, but we made it through.  I got lots of knitting done, Zoe had another day to recover from her surgery, and Parker tried his best to be good.
Lots of deadheading and pruning right now to keep the garden looking fresh.  The corn has grown tremendously, and is tasseling.  This rain should get it through the ear making phase and then it will be onto drying out for harvest.  Sadly the barley could never be harvested.  It stayed to wet, the grass grew too tall, and the heads dried out and fell to the ground.  Really heart breaking, it had been such a beautiful stand.
I had planted the Paw Paw trees in the back to encourage Zebra Swallowtails to inhabit my garden, even though I had never seen one anywhere around.  That all change, I was out putting some debris in the compost pile, when the unmistakable spotting occurred.  The distinctive black and white coloring is readily noticed.   No mistaking it for something else.   It flitted around and much to my delight, landed briefly on a young Paw Paw leaf.   I have not seen this beautiful little creature again, but I keep looking.   Could this be one of many generations to come?