Monday, June 25, 2012

Lots of rain from Tropical Storm Debby

Good evening everyone ~ I do hope those on the west coast and in the central and northern part of our state have fared well with this tropical storm.  I’ve read of tornadoes, flooding, etc. from this storm as she continues to dump rain.

We were having lunch with family at a wonderful Cuban restaurant when the deluge happened here. We hardly noticed except for hearing the rain when people would come in, through the open doors, and from where I sat I could see the heavy rains falling.  We were there about 2 hours and that was the worst of it for us, it wasn’t too bad when we left.  We got about 4-5 inches.  Our property had standing water of several inches in different areas, which has since gone down, but the land is squishy and will take some time to dry out as more rain is expected over the next couple of days.  We had no rain today, just wind and gray skies, with high humidity and it was very warm.

Here are some pictures of our water laden property.

Flooded

06-24-driveway

Dry on the 8th of this month.

06-08 jungle18

This is in the main garden. Path under about 3” of water.

06-24-mngard

Northwest corner of main garden also under water.

06-24-mngard2

We’ve been in drought conditions since Hurricane Wilma blasted over us, but the past few months of rain have made a huge difference as I’ve mentioned before. I’ve got mowing and trimming to do once we dry out down here. We are thankful for the rain, but it would be nice to have it spread out now that we’ve had an overload.

Below are some photos from around our little compound.

06-24-mngard3

06-24-mngard4

06-24-gaillardia

06-24-gaillardia2

06-24-hamelia-paten

06-24-rubber-vine

06-24-spiderwort

This is a new little butterfly to me, a tiny little critter.

06-24-unknbtfly

06-24-borderer

06-24-borderer2

06-24-mmlaurettemmessimy

06-24-old-blush

Here are three of my photos that I’ve turned into paintings via the computer.  I love them.

06-25-caravan-garden

06-25-cottage-east

06-25-shed-gard

Tonight I made a new recipe.  It was delicious! I had bought fresh green beans today and have some fresh ginger so did a google search of the two and this was a recipe I found. I do not have a wok, I cooked the green beans and carrots together in some water about 10 minutes, then added them to minced ginger and garlic which had been sautéed in a bit of sesame oil. Then the soy sauce, rice vinegar and white sesame seeds. Served it with talipia filets.  Will definitely be fixing this recipe again. DH really like it, I did too.

***

Ginger, Carrot and Sesame Green Beans

TOTAL TIME:10 min
Prep:5 min
Cook:5 min
 
YIELD:4 servings
LEVEL:Easy

Ingredients

    1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used sesame oil)
    1 tablespoon peeled and grated ginger
    1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
    12 ounces haricot vert or standard green beans, trimmed
    1 tablespoon light soy sauce

    1 teaspoon rice vinegar
    Toasted sesame oil, for drizzling
    Toasted white sesame seeds, for garnish
    Toasted black sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions
Heat a wok over high heat, and then add the vegetable oil. Add the ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add the carrots and green beans and stir-fry for 2 minutes (adding a splash of water if necessary to facilitate cooking). Season the vegetables with the light soy, rice vinegar and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. Garnish with a sprinkling of the toasted white and black sesame seeds.

SERVINGS: 4 (SIDE); Calories: 106; Total Fat 7 grams; Saturated Fat: 1 grams; Protein: 2 grams; Total carbohydrates: 7 grams; Sugar: 3 grams Fiber: 2.5 grams; Cholesterol: 0 milligrams; Sodium: 137 milligrams

***

That’s it for now.  I’m ready to get horizontal to read before sleep.

Have a great week wherever you are, whatever you do.

FlowerLady Lorraine

One of the most tragic things I know about human nature

is that all of us tend to put off living. 

We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon -

instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today. 

Dale Carnegie

20 comments:

organicgardendreams said...

Hi Lorraine, I am glad that Debby didn't do more harm to you. Whew, that looks like plenty of water in your garden already! As usual I liked the photos from your tropical paradise. Thanks for the recipe! It truly sounds good. I think I will try it out!
Christina

F Cameron said...

We've seen the news about the rain and glad that you weren't terribly flooded.

Love all your photos and especially the "paintings" of your gardens.

Freda

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Glad you aren't totally underwater, FL! Beautiful photos as always and love, love, love your photos turned to painting very clever! xxoo Nancy

Amrita said...

We need rain here, its very hot and dry here. Your garden looks so fresh

Sunray Gardens said...

At this point with our drought, I would be very happy with that flooding. You are going to have even more blooming soon.

Cher Sunray Gardens

denimflyz said...

I have been worried about you and the TS Debby. I was hoping you didn't get any water spouts or tornadoes.
It is hot, hot here. Its supposed to get to 105-107* today with high heat index, so I am trying to get everything done this morning.
I will email you later, have something to show everyone on the blog later.
Hugs

Balisha said...

I've been thinking about you in Florida. Hope the rains stop and you can get your yard work done.
Those photos made into paintings are beautiful.
Balisha

Jane said...

Glad to see all is OK, Rainey, I was worried about you. Those paintings are beautiful. And as always, you have the most wonderful garden!

Lona said...

I hope your rain water soaks into the soil. It is nice to have all the rain but not all at once. I wish we could get some of your rain up this way and out west then maybe things would even out. These extremes are awful.
Your painted pictures turned out so pretty. They look like lovely watercolors.

Rainy Day Gardener said...

I was thinking about your last night as I wanted the national nightly news coverage of Debbie. It really amazing how much water can be dumped from one storm. Glad things are just a bit water logged with you! It would be nice if mother nature would spread out her moisture a bit less dramatically! Cheers, Jenni

Skeeter said...

Glad no tornadoes hit down on your plot of paradise! Sorry for all the rain at once. We are normally under a drought until a Tropical Storm such as Debby come rolling through our area. Then the water table gets back to normal. But the droughts hang around more so then the rain spells. We so need rain and were hoping for some from this storm but no such luck. Still dry and calling for triple digits temps this weekend. Oh gee, why cant Mother Nature be more kind to us gardeners…

Lynn said...

Glad you are safe ~ your altered pictures remind me of the old masters.

Morning's Minion said...

We had hoped the tropical storm would send rain our way--so desparately needed. No rain in the forecast, only more heat.
Your flower photos always provide a peaceful moment in a busy day.

GRACE PETERSON said...

Hi Lorraine, Your "paintings" are amazing. So beautiful. I'd love to know how you did them. Did you use Photoshop?

I hope Debby moves on now and allows the ground to soak up the deluge. We're getting a lot of rain up here too but I'll take rain over heat and drought.

Take care.

Val said...

I'm sure it could have been much worse--and we know you've seen worse storms--but wow, what rain!

I love your lady statue. Love, love, love.

And the photos-turned-paintings are treasures. It's amazing to me the resources we have these days.

Have a great week, ♥

Val

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

First of all, the "paintings" of your garden photos are beautiful!!!!!

I'd welcome Debby our way if I could. WE need the rain bad. Hang in there. The flowers are certainly loving the rain.

The Ebullient Gardener said...

Wow! You have gotten some rain there! We are in drought conditions here with no rain in site! Our grass is actually crunching under our feet when we walk through the yard! Glad you weathered the storm! Happy Gardening! Mindy

NickiLee said...

I just love coming to your Blog to see all your gorgeous flowers. It looks like my gardens weren't the only ones under water. We had terrible thunder storms the other day and the rain fell like a waterfall putting my veggie garden under water.

I would love to know how you made your pictures into those beautiful watercolors - they are fabulous!

L. D. said...

I am really you didn't get all of the damage. I kept thinking about you tow as the weather was being shown on tv. Your flowers look wonderful.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Look at all that water! The country sure has had some weather events, including the heat everywhere!

I like how your "paintings" turned out.