Shortly after the camera and I and a new friend took a tour of the grounds, the skies opened and it poured. Though the term the ‘skies opened’ is questionable. As we walked around the skies closed above us. Then lowered down. There may have even been a string. It became darker, cosier. Like a big warm dark coat cupboard for playing hide and seek. With a pink cherry blossom jacket tucked incongruously beside you. 
However before it rained the bees continued to work. And look -a bee in the magnolia. This surprised me, I did not know that bees worked magnolias. But as the Carpenter’s Lady and I were admiring the flowers we noticed that the bees were literally climbing up the almost open petals, wriggling through the tiny gap and dropping down into the stamens. We stood and waited for ages but the bees did not come out! 
This one stumbled out after a while and slid down the flower to perch at its base and catch her breath. Hmm.
And the rain is coming. Oh I know you are pleased. Every single screwed up , scrunchy, eeky, parched, bad tempered particle on the farmy was desperate for a good wetting.
I know they are excited on the inside. Later ofter the rain, I let this group out of the hen house, and they threw themselves at all the new green shoots rummaging fast in the dusk. You really can see the grass grow at this time of year. It is exhilarating. 
So the rain came in, thunder crashed and lightening flew about our ears, the dogs all hit the deck and crab scuttled for the basement. The cats appeared like Cheshires on the verandah railings. And so it rained. The Carpenter and his Lady went home and the large gathering of teenagers (evidently sullen teenage 18 year olds are magnets for bright laughing girls and their brothers, who knew!), stood in silence and watched the short but good downpour, munching on crostini, cheese and dill pickles from last summer. Sullen is lifting by the way.
When the wind and the rain hit, Mama waddled reluctantly into the barn to wait. Then turned around and was back out the moment the birds began to sing the concluding bars of the storm. But we are not watching Mama today. I have a new idea, we will accept her delicate condition and allow her to blend! 
From now on no-one can watch Mama unless it is out of the corner of their eye! We need to stop the longing for little lambys for the farmy. And focus on other things. 
Like sage for instance. Sage is good. All the seedlings are outside and growing. The work is heavy at the moment, preparing and planting all the beds. I still have not finished clearing all the flower beds. Then we will plant all the new bee flowers into the gaps. The Carpenter’s Lady is coming back this morning to help me plant the potatoes (my blue potatoes have arrived), she is bringing her teenager! See above!!
The Sheep Sitter who I am calling Mama’s Midwife (she has insisted I call her to help when Mama starts dropping lambs, she grew up on a farm and is a delightfully strong sensible older lady), she will drop in today too. We have a plan we are working on. She volunteers at the local Food Pantry and said that a lot of the perishable food gets thrown away, the pantry is only open once a week, so we are going to throw the leftovers to the pigs instead of in the rubbish and grow a pig for the food pantry. That way the food is not wasted and the food pantry waste loop is closed.
The farmy is working its magic. The people are coming. The animals call them I think.
The Old Codger is good but missing the blog and knowing what is going on, why can’t they have computers for the old folks in these homes? I need to work on this. These people can become too isolated. So I pinned the whole collection of farmy postcards on the wee notice board in his room to tide him over. They are so colourful and bright. He was pleased.
TonTon was the very calm this time. He gently loped through the halls. No darting looks, no anxiousness. He just wandered into the Old Codgers room, licked his hands, wriggled for more cuddles and then threw himself at the old man’s feet, sighed, and went straight to sleep.
Good morning!
celi
ps, I just realised that I forgot to do my Saturday introduction page of interesting new blogs. How could I forget that. Next week I shall get back into the groove. OK.. Time I got to work!
The Kitchen's Garden 
91 responses to “It rained and it was a good rain”
I can just smell the sage! And the picture of the storm clouds…I love storms in the countryside. There’s something so peaceful about them. 🙂
I agree about the storms especially afterwards and especially when we need the rain.. morning Kristy! c
Beautiful blossom and chicken 😉
Morning Mad! c
The chickens photos is brilliant 🙂 So are the others!
Those downy mouths on the chickens made me laugh!! c
The sage looks wonderful and sounds like you and TonTon had a great visit and a beautiful day!
We did have a good day, busy, busy, great. morning Ksenia.. c
Your storm and sky pics today are amazing. Don’t you just love sage as a herb? I’m so happy that you’ve had a bit of much-needed rain. It is 20 degrees centigrade here today, and I’ve planted runner bean seeds in pots. They will stay protected on the verandah for three or four weeks. I also planted lettuces.
Morning Viv, You have been busy and great to get some rain for you too.. Lettuce loves the early summer doesn’t it, ours is almost ready to start picking the leaves, that with the first picks of asparagus and we are well on our way!! c
Send some rain to us here in Bagni di Lucca, we need it!!!
I shall pop some in the post for you! (laughter) we had a very nice shower, and oh the difference in the gardens this morning! c
Clever TonTon 🙂 And Mama must be glad of the chance to blend. Have a great day, Celi!
Our day is progressing nicely, I hope yours is too kate! c
The photographs are all vying for the “I’m the prettiest award.” I am telling, this time, they are all beyond beautiful…with those saturated colors that one gets under a heavy sky. I feel like I was there myself. Thank you.
You are right about colours under a heavy sky, it is the best time to take shots of flowers! morning charlotte! c
Awesome chicken photo – it even caught Hubby’s eye as he raced past my desk on his way out the door for his walk!
Great idea for the food pantry, too… The less waste, the better!
It is satisfying to close the waste gaps.. the people who frequent the food pantry tend not to eat as many vegetables for some reason, and the pantry is only open once a week so things go off, and many people donate vegetables, so in the season we should be able to fatten up a pig for them and no-ones work is wasted.. c
Morning Celi! Don’t you just love this time of year when everything comes alive? Though I don’t like the rain, I hope we get some here too as we are facing hosepipe bans this summer. I love your first photo of the cherry blossoms – we have an ornamental cherry tree in our garden and I just went out not 10 mins ago to take a photo of it too! I can’t wait to see mama’s lambs and am checking in often as I don’t want to miss it when it happens! Have a lovely weekend too.
Morning noodle, by the look of Mama nothing much will happen today, well at least i don’t think so, I shall put them out onto the good pasture later for a good green munch. c
Hi C, What a difference the farm looks in just a few weeks. Stunning photos.
Have a lovely weekend.
Regards Florence x.
P.S. Will you keep me a pack of postcards. Will be in touch.
I will make you up a pack and send it with Tanya’s, we will stay in touch! c
Good morning C. I am traveling n feeling lonely. When I saw your new post come up I knew reading it would leave me feeling so much better and back on the “farmy”. Have a wonderful day Cecilia, I know I will now!
That is the most wonderful compliment, “you can’t be lonely if you have the farmy!!” That should be our slogan, I hope the rest of your day is better.. love celi
Loved the pics with today’s post, Celi! Great idea raising a pig for the pantry. What a bounty that will make for their client-base! Amazing how everything has suddenly sprouted. I’ve got to mow the lawn when most years I’d be gassing up the snowblower one last time. I hope the clouds can give up a little more rain for you today. Have a good one!
Don’t you love the smell from the mown grass, it is just pure summer! Did you get any rain up in the city?.. c
Nothing like the scent of a freshly mowed lawn. We got a couple good cloud bursts — timed mostly for when I had to get from my car to some place or for the return walk. That’s fine. A little rain never hurt any one. 🙂
Makes you grow taller.. that is what i tell the kids when they get caught in the rain!! c
Hi Celi! Is your magnolia called a tulip magnolia, and do the flowers burst out first, with no leaves, just beautiful purple flowers? I discovered one in our front yard, and it’s gorgeous!
I love the idea of raising the pig for the Food Pantry by using their perishables to feed it. Brilliant!
I am remarkably useless when it comes to the names of my trees and flowers, i should make a book of all their labels but then i forget.. but yes the flowers come first, the leaves are just starting to come out, it will get big this tree too, I hope so, as it is on the south side.. How lovely that you have one too, and this being your first spring on your property you must be making new discoveries every day!
c
It’s so exciting to see the trees burst into bloom! But remembering the names of them is definitely the tough part! I need to make a little map and write in the names when I find out what they are. A fabulously smelling lilac bush is in full bloom in our front yard. So incredible!!! And finally I found the dogwoods that everyone says is one of the first trees to bloom in the spring. Dogwoods and redwoods, and we have both on our property. Do you have any of the above? xo
C, this post is overflowing with so much positive news that I don’t even know where to begin to comment. The rain. The shift away from sullenness. The growing a pig for the food pantry. Your desire to find a computer for the Old Folks (great idea). The people flocking to the farm. And all shared in your usual excellent storytelling style. Thanks for starting my morning in the best of ways.
It is a good idea to have computer access for the oldies .. they are not stupid and in fact it could be described as a therapy, esp for fingers. i am going to talk to the powers that be a the home and see what they think, I know that at the very least The Old Codger would use one! Morning audrey..c