rain, rain, go away

I know we can use the rain, but it's a rainy, bleak Monday and I find the rain depressing. It's also windy. A plastic chair I keep out front has blown over (this is not a really light-weight chair, either!). My little plum tree is blowing every which way. I may have to tie it again, using soft ties to anchor it to the four metal poles I have in the ground surrounding it. Last summer and fall, the tree tipped almost to the ground a couple of times. It must be really shallow rooted. During the winter, it's fine because there are no leaves, so the wind just blows right through the branches. Now that it's leafed out, the leaves catch the wind and the tree leans. If the ground gets thoroughly soaked, then over goes the tree! However, the rain is good for the plants I transplanted and potter on Saturday, so I don't really want it to stop.

Speaking of plants in pots. Pat suggested I post photos of my recent acquisitions. I will try to do so, but not today. It's just too wet to be out there taking pictures. Frankly, the pots don't look like much because the plants are small. I didn't try to do anything fancy, using a variety of plants (I will do a couple like that, come summer), but just put red and purple plants into medium sized pots.

Yesterday was an exhaustively busy day. I was at church from 8:30 until 2:00, working at the library book sale, singing in the choir, helping to set up and clean up for coffee hour, and, oh yes, attending the church service. Then in the evening, I went to a show at the Olney Theater. Friends of mine have season tickets there and whenever they have an extra ticket, they invite me to come along. We saw "The Call of the Wild". This play is a musical, based loosely (VERY LOOSELY) on Jack London's books. It was a rather odd musical. The music was great - not something that sticks in your head, but beautiful to listen to. Unfortunately, the story line was very confusing and, frankly, peculiar. The same actors played both dogs and wolves and people and sometimes it was hard to determine which part they were playing. The dancing and other movement on stage was lively and very acrobatic. However, we (three little old ladies) agreed that it probably won't make Broadway. Still I'm glad I went.

Here's another reason I'm unhappy about today's rain. I have a strange electrical problem at my house. It happened once a few weeks ago and then again today (or last night). I have three outdoor electric outlets and three in bathrooms, all of which are on one circuit. This circuit has a ground fault interrupter in the basement, near the breaker box. When one of the outlets gets wet, the circuit turns off automatically. This is good, of course, as it prevents electric shock from a wet outlet. The problem seems to be that one or more of the outdoor outlets gets water into it when we get just the right combination of wind and rain. I'm sure that this is the problem, because when it happened a few weeks ago, I tried everything and finally dried off the outside outlets. The next day, the circuit could be reset. However, knowing what is happening and fixing it is another story. I will try to see if I can determine which outlet is getting wet, but I'm not sure I will be able to do this. I really hate to pay for an electrician to come. He/she will have to test the outlets and may not be able to tell which ones are causing the problem. This will no doubt take time and time is money, especially when one is paying electricians! I imagine all three outdoor outlets will have to be replaced - more time and more money. I am NOT looking forward to having this done. It does seem as if my car and my house are conspiring against me this year!