Lots of Rain

 We have had a lot of rain last few days.  Enough rain to cover our normal September rainfall, even if we get no more this month.

So stop then, rain.   But it will go on another two days, or so says the weather app.

The butterfly bushes are enjoying the rain.  I watered mine now and then, when there was no rain, so they'd bloom.  The neighbors didn't, so now, with some rain, their's are blooming out like crazy and the bees and butterflies love it.

My cat yard is overgrown in Oregon Ash seedlings.  I let them grow up to about 6 to 8 feet each spring and summer, so the cats can have shade, then cut them back to the ground in the fall.

Oregon Ash grow like weeds.   The one crowding the side fence is gone.  Took three guys an hour maybe an hour and a half to cut it and chip it.  It was more an overgrown bush but the neighbor is happy now and I don't have to worry about a seedling that grew that big that fast destroying her fence from my side.

I do have to keep up on cutting the cat yard ones to ground every fall.   I've had to cut two of them once already, as they exceeded 8 feet in height and began compromising the cat yard wire.  When you think about how fast brush and trees grow in Oregons rainforest type climate zones, you can appreciate how difficult it really is to keep forests thinned and free of understory debris and brush.   Even clearing out an acre creates massive piles of debris that has to go somewhere and a ton of labor.  Imagine doing that on incredibly steep also rocky terrain in thousands of square miles of forest. In a year, its growing back too.

There are tons of people who blame governors or other politicians for not thinning the forests (they only seem to lay blame in blue states, not burning red states).  Try doing that, getting the labor needed, and a market for brush and deadfall, in thousands of acres, much of it inhospitable (steep, rocky and dangerous).  Then come up with the money to pay for it especially when federal forest service budgets and staffing have been slashed to smithereens.   

Just an observation, knowing how I hate even mowing my yard in the spring because it fricking grows like crazy.   

Check out Kona, an older gal now, through all the Oregon ash seedlings.   I've cut those off at the outside of the cat yard wire already three times this summer, so the cats can see out.

I went up to Salem to pick up two more cat houses for the trailer park from Meow Village.   Cost HCC $70 for the two well made, well insulated cat houses.  I then left them off at the trailer park.  Some people there knock themselves out to come up with excuses why they can't lift a finger to keep cats there fixed.   It amazes me.

I couldn't help but gasp at the rising gas prices.  Over $5 a gallon regular now at some stations.   I'm so thankful to have a bike now because who can afford a tank of gas anymore.  I feel like our economy and government now is composed of a bunch of whiney super rich people with issues playing with taxpayer money to get richer and build monuments to themselves.  I wish they'd all board some rocket to mars and leave us be.