It is fun to reflect back over the weather; doesn't cost much.
We had a very dry summer last year starting very early after being snowed in for 3 days in February. By the spring hay cutting we only got about 1/3 of normal. The garden was so poor last year the deer didn't even like it much.
On 10 Nov 2010 they were still working over the orchard.
On 31 Dec 2010 they were ice skating on the pond.
We had our heavy snow for the winter in January 2011. After the melt I made
a swayle at the gate to divert the water that had been running over out at the mailbox and making a real ice rink for the mailman to get to the box. He destroyed the pole during the snow and rain before I got to the project. I covered the dirt with hay but the next night we had the 3.7" of rain and you see the result. There was hay clear across the road through the pipe. At least my swayle worked well. The pond was really full and we were holding our breath that it didn't go over. The lane is about as steep as the road you see going the other way so it likes to get rutted. We had a lot of rain after that but by the end of May we had 4 hot 92 degree dry days for making hay. That is a rarity. Most years I'm racing to get the last roll in the barn as the thunder is clapping. We put out our electronic rain guage May1 and have received 11.2" of rain since but everything is drying up now, big time. We usually get a lot of wind with storms in the summer heat that often does more damage than the storm itself. It is only 100 degrees in the Shade outside right now. With the heat you have had in Texas so long, I feel blessed.
Ron
