This is live, up to the moment photos of what is happening outside, as I type…
I have wished for this sort of dark intense rain for sooooo long.
And now, it is here.
I am soaked because of course, I had to run out there in it.
I wanted to take a video like that one time a few years ago, but there was too much lightning hitting way too close for comfort.
I am not usually afraid of it but, this was one street over, so I took the hint and watched it from all the porches. Running back and forth…
Rain is such a big deal here.
Especially monsoon rain like today.
Where seemingly, more rain falls in a 1 hour period, than has fallen for the last 6 months.
You can practically see the earth smiling, and quenching its intense deep thirst.
The rain was stronger than I have seen in a long time.
A river going through my back porch.
The boys cuddled up, watching through the windows.
Liquid diamonds forming on leaves…
At 2:30 p.m. it looks like it is evening, and I am in love.
I won’t lie.
I probably could not be in a rainy place forever.
But a few bits of rain, in a thirsty sun drenched land, is better than wonderful.
We collect lots of rain water for watering.
In big barrels and buckets and containers.
Even though I have a big garden, we are water conscious, and careful with what we use.
I only water a certain amount very early in the morning in the gardens. And the surrounding trees and shrubs get a drip irrigation watering every Saturday.
Then, the collected water waters garden plants for a little while after the rains.
Yay.
This means, I have tomorrow garden duties off.
Hooooooray!!!
I love the garden, but a day off is music to my ears.
I ran out to the cottage, drenched.
Swept the front porch, which was pointless because if you have ever experienced a glorious monsoon rain, you will know it whips in all directions.
It’s torrential in the best way.
Gulp gulp gulp….
Yumm.
I can not begin to describe how much the earth needed this.
It has been so odd the last two days.
It was cloudy and very hot.
Hotter than ever if you ask me.
As you know, the clouds hold in the heat, and yet no rain.
Night before last it felt so eerie out.
It was pitch dark because of the clouds, and ever so hot and humid.
It was like being in a dark humid cave.
Not one breeze.
The skies were getting ready, and I am so thankful.
I have delivered lots of basil to friends in my dandy ole paint buckets.
Perfect for cuttings and such, I keep them around just for that.
And all of us feel like this after this crazy rain.
Even though it came in under doors and through the A/C.
No matter.
Happy hearts.
One brother under the covers, and one keeping watch.
As is his self imposed job.
Lovee on the porch, me typing feverishly about my rain joys.
And now, it’s time for baking.
Next week, I will share my pizza recipe.
Some fun giveaways on the way too.
After making my pizza dough so many times as of late, I think it’s pretty darn ready for sharing.
It will knock your socks off.
I promise.
I hope.
🙂
If you see a big round pizza baking sheet, get it.
(Target and Wal-Mart have them for sure)
I have tried all sorts of things to cook pizza on, and this is the best in my opinion.
Fresh tomato, basil, mozzarella, garlic, sweet onion.
Faint.
This coming from a former pizza hater.
Now, I love it.
Homemade changes so many things, doesn’t it?
Off I go….
The puddles are calling my name!!
Forgive the weather obsession 🙂
Looove, V
Yay! Rain!!! I looooveee storms like that! I wish I could get pictures like that of our rain. It’s been dark here for a few hours, but so far no rain today. 🙁
I just love your photos! Everything is so beautiful. I’m happy you get a garden day off tomorrow! Maybe you can sleep in? haha!
love and blessings
~*~
I am a huge fan of the dark and stormy!
It is blowing a gale here on the south coast of Australia, throw in some rain and I may just stay in bed all day!
I can’t wait for your pizza recipe, I will be making it right away! You have such a generous soul Miss V xxx
Happy Monsoon!
QueenCreative
Dearest Miss V.,
I love hearing about all the exciting rain, and the pictures are beautiful. Forgive me for being late to visit. I have been on vacation with the little hatters. We were visiting our lovely BIG pal Shamu. They just had a baby Shamu born at the Seaworld in San Antonio (talk about hot) whew I understand needing some rain. Not as bad as you of course, but poor San Antonio could sure use some. I am sure the dolphins would sing and the penquins would dance.
But we are back home in the country now, and I am getting to take my online vacation and visit some friends.
I am so happy your lovely garden got some rain, and please jump in some big puddles for me. I cant wait to cook pizza with you.
I think the little hatters will be happy too.
Have a lovely weekend
Wishes and Whimsy
Wendy from Wonderland
I know just how you feel. I live in Houston and it doesn’t rain nearly enough anymore. Each drop seems like magic to us now! The kids run outside to dance – if there’s no lightening…
Your pizza looks so good – ready with my big round pan when you’re ready to share…
Yay for y’all!!! I know you needed that!
We got blasted (the windows) at eleven o’clock
last night it was beating up the house and was
so loud.
I so love your bedroom and the doggies on the bed.
Glad you get a watering break 🙂
SHPLISH SHPLASH SHLOP..
My youngest daughter is just like you when it rains. She runs outside–mindless of what she’s wearing–lifts her face to the dark clouds, and takes in the drenching downpour.
I love getting glimpses of your home through your photos.
So glad your garden got a good drink of water and that you have a day off tomorrow. I love cloudy days and if it rains or snows, I’m in heaven. If it’s sunny and there are no clouds in the sky, I don’t like it. I’ve always thought I was strange, but I see there are more like me! Your pizza looks divine. I actually made homemade pizza tonight, but I’m dying to try yours!
Glorious, Miss V! I loves me a good storm, too. We had a big hail storm here last weekend with thunder and lightening hitting right at the same time! We were in the car and just pulled over to enjoy it…our Mother Earth is incredible…and when she ‘s pretty when she cries 😉
Lucky you! I’m to the west of you in the San Bernardino Mountains of California and I have been wishing for a rain like that every since last October!
I love your blog…
Blessings,
Victoria from Brushstrokes
It’s hard for me to believe that you are waiting and waiting for the rain to come… I live in “the Netherlands” and we were waiting and waiting for the sun the finally bring the summer. We have a lot of rain over here during the year… This past week we’ve had a lot of sun, finally… Yay! But some rain every now and then is ok. Love your pretty garden… it’s so nice!
You got some of our RAIN yay! It’s been thunder and lightning and rainstorms here this week too, but then it’s been rainy every few days here for months so it was good for me to read your paen to the joys of rain and appreciate it anew. I do love falling asleep to the sound of rain and thunder and the wind howling in the trees, which has been a common experience this british ‘summer’….
I’ve never made pizza – a shocking admission – and have been meaning to start for ages, so I will give it a go if you can hold my nervous little hand through your recipe Vanessa! You’re right, homemade everything tastes so much better. I look forward to the tutorial x
Yes, I love it when the earth gets a good drink. Then, when it’s over everything smiles. All of us needed this good rain. Unfortunatly it was too late for most of the crops. So here in Michigan as well as other parts of the US, the cost of fruits and vegies will cost dear. Too many crops were left dry too long. Yes, rain is a wonderous thing.
I love this post, awesome photos.
you didn’t like pizza, oh my. We love pizza (and I just have to try making it your way).
Your pictures and words made me feel the rain and SMELL the rain. You know we have had a drought here, we went for weeks with no rain so they day it started I just wanted to stand out in it. I love a day we have a slow rain all day long.
Our trouble is that rain often comes with a storm. We’re getting a new roof because of one of our rainless windstorms.
When I was a kid my friends and I loved to walk around our neighborhood after the rain, we would walk thru every puddle and talk about life:)
I feel so free during and after tension build up weather…I can feel and imagine your delight! And the smell afterwards………..pure heaven sent! bottle that and become a billionaire…
Love homemade pizza!!!! its nutrious and yum,yum. I have my pencil & paper ready for your culinary sharing..thank you! this is a perfect time for fresh, toppings …Pizza Party! great idea… 🖤Debi
I’m going to go back and read your beautiful post.I just wanted you to know you might have received a strange E-mail that LOOKED like it was from My husband and I.It wasn’t from us.A mean old hacker got in and sent that e-mail to everyone on our contact list then deleted our contact list.We would never have sent such an e-mail. Hugs and blessings Denise
I could almost smell the rain and see your smiles of delight. How wonderful for you to have the rain.
Oh I absolutely adore the rain! Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures. Can you send some up to Denver? We are parched this year.
Have a great weekend,
Tracy
Denise, no worries at all. You cant image home many times I have
received that same exact e-mail from all sorts of friends email
accountsover the last 2 years. I know it to be a hackers job
whenever I see that sort of e-mail. I am so sorry you got hacked, its so
stinky!!! Warmest, Vanessa 🙂
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 8/18/2012 8:39:28 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
Love the rain, but like you, not every day. 😉
You’ve inspired me to make homemade pizza. Off to get my pan and ingredients. I don’t think I’ll be able to wait ’til next week, but I’ll just try it twice with the excuse that I’m practicing, of course. 😉
XOXO’s,
Marcia
Oh, what a blessing, Vanessa! We need rain SO badly…we don’t have a well, yet I am watering and watering to try and keep everything going…
Send the glorious downpour east, please! (Only after your garden has gotten its fill, of course!)
Hugs,
Anne
(P.S. ~ I apologize for the delay with your package from A Little Fur in the Paint…the PO says it is supposed to be there Monday! 🖤)
Ah… I see you finally got your wish! Rain is so refreshing (probably a bit muggy afterward). And there is something magical in rain itself. It seems to make the plants grow and green up so very fast! Like instant miracle grow! You are smart to collect the precious rain water.
And your pizza recipe! Can’t wait! Yumm!
It’s cloudy here, but the clouds are just sitting suspended and not doing anything, but it has helped to cool things down a bit. It’s 90 degrees instead of 110 like it was last week.
Have a fun creating day!
Miss Teresa
Me gusta mucho las fotos de la lluvia,hasta me imagine el olor a la tierra humeda.
La pizza riquisima.
Besitos
Hi Vanessa… We have not been short of rain this year in England ,but I like it…I couldn’t live anywhere hot…just wondered aren’t the furries in your family frightened of thunder and lightening ? or just happy to curl up somewhere comfy …Sue.
Helooo there Sue!
The fursdont seem to react at all to the weather. They dont
run and hide like my golden who we lost a couple years ago to cancer did.
They love to get wet, and the thunder and lightning does not cause them any
grief, real boys boys it seems 🙂
The other day there was HUGE lightning and thunder clashthat made the
earth tremble, and we all just stopped, looked at each other, and then they went
off running into the weather. Playing and wrestling.
They only curled up on the bed because we wouldnt let them go out and play
in it. Too much mud mess, and we are still washing heaps of towels from
the last storm. Miles was sulking, haha!! And Matty took off into
the water the second a door even inched open.
Wild children of mine ;)))
Oh Vanessa, your world looks like a delicious chocolate mud slide. If I were there I’d go stomping through the puddles with you. Alas, here I sit in 93 degrees @ 5:30 pm in the lovely Hamlet of Anaslime. At least you get the rain.
I love love love how your big ol’ furr babies sleep on your white comforter…so cute and cuddly.
Enjoy the rain my Beloved Fanciful One!!!
xoxo
Your basil rivals any wedding bouquet!
cannot wait for your pizza dough post…..and what kind of cheese do you use? freshly grated or the kind already grated in the bag? there is something on the one in the bag ~ cornstarch, I think.
I think you could also be in a cooking magazine…..
I am posting away it seems!
Oooh, lucky you! I love the rain too! And I can’t wait for your pizza recipe! We’ve been trying various recipes for years, with no luck. (probably has something to do with my cooking skills, or lack thereof.) Thank you! Can’t wait!
We need rain here because it’s all brown and crispy! Send some our way!
Love,
LuLu~*xoxo
So happy you finally got the rain, dear Vanessa…
I completely understand that feeling of joy and relief during a much-needed downpour! And dancing in the rain…awesome! What a beautiful description…”liquid diamonds”…gorgeous photos.
Glad you’re snug and safe 🙂
I love homemade pizza…can’t wait to see your recipe.
Have a glorious week!
Sparkly blessings,
– Irina
Yay so glad you finally got a huge rain storm. I love running outside when it’s like that and getting soaked to the skin, laughing and shivering at the same time. 🙂
Homemade pizza is one of my favourites, yummy yum yum.
Hey! Love that first shot the best.
I saw that photo of Matty and all I could think was, “I bet he’s getting his naughty muddy paws on your clean sheets!”
LalalalalaLaaaauraaaaa, hi there 😉 I brought them in way before the
rain to avoid the mess. They LOVE the rain and just sighed over not being
out there in it. I always let them in it, but it was getting late and I
didnt want wet pups all night. Miles has decided that my bed is his,
haha! Yes, well, one of the perks of letting the babes in the bed, ahem,
washing sheets almost everyday. But, I am weak, I see their faces
and I let them jump in.
You know, there was once this guy who asked me out, but he slept with his
dogs, and although he was sooo handsome – I just couldnt handle the sleeping
with dogs thing. It freaked me out. Who knew, I would be sleeping
with dogs one day myself?? hahahaa!
Oh homemade pizza…yum! I look forward to your recipe. There is nothing like homemade. 🙂 I’m glad you got some much-needed rain. Seems like either we’ve had big buckets of rain or none at all. We had a “monsoon” just this morning – I was glad I was inside. It is amazing to watch, though! xoxo
Wow, those pictures are lovely! What do you use your rain barrel for? I primarily use mine to water plants and wash my car. Aside from those activities, when I am in need of water, I just get from the barrel. I have at least three of them watering my garden by drop feeding.
Yes, so do I , primarily just for watering 😉
Blog: http://www.aFancifulTwist.com
Website: http://www.VanessaValencia.com
In a message dated 11/14/2012 5:40:30 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
Wow!I really amazed how you made those beautiful shots..I love your picture.. the rain makes more emotion to your pictures…
What is common with the two of us is that we both love to take pictures that are LIVE! I love pictures in action especially the actions that is concerned about the nature.