What has happened to the weather?

Generally it can be said in this area that if you have not had your summer rain by June 30, you will not have it. Well this year I thought they were right. We had the most terrible stretch of 10 days where it was 104-107 degrees most every day. At the same time, our deep well pump had problems and we could not water our gardens. We had a back up for the cattle, the old barn and the house. The berries are watered by lake water and that was working thank goodness. We had our pump problems there when it was not so hot. Things were looking pretty bleak as the yard and years of work on flower beds appeared to be lost. We got the pump back running and that saved the day. Then as sudden as the excessive heat had come it was replaced by Noah's flood.

In 10 days, we have had almost 10 inches of rain and the temperature has ranged from 73 to 91 as high. Can you imagine that in August in Texas? All this wet weather has changed our plans. We are now in the process of shredding pastures to cut off the old grass that will be replaced by fresh green forage due to the rain. My fall garden plans are in the mud; too wet to cut off the old growth in the garden and too wet to plow. It is amazing how the weather affects you and especially so if you are on a farm.

As for that deep well pump, it is gone. Yep, totally gone. This week I was getting a drink of water and suddenly there was none. The service company came out and said we had a bad problem, but how bad I had no idea. Friday they pulled over 500 ft of pipe out of the well and there was NO pump at the end. For some reason, the pipe had become super heated and the pipe threads on the pump just slipped off and the pump descended into the bottom of the well. It is there all by itself now. This is NOT good. A new pump was put back in the well and some time this week they will tidy up the control panel, switches and bury the new wire. What is it going to cost? Probably about the same as two business tickets to Italy and a cruise around the mediterranean sea for a week. Not that I had planned a cruise or anything, but when they are finished Eva and I will put on our cruise deck clothes, sit in lawn lounge chairs and enjoy a glass of wine by the damn well and imagine what it might be like not to farm.