I returned to the coast yesterday to find everything close to being seriously dry.  The yards look dry, the fields looked dry, and even the golf course ponds were down considerably.

Considering most of the spring that we were in danger of getting a serious case of mildew,  a little dry weather could be considered welcome.  We are also at the beach so it is supposed to rain at night so as not to inconvenience any of our visitors.

However, it appears our area of Carteret County completely escaped all of the rain which has hit areas farther inland.  I have been in the mountains of Virginia for several days, and recent rains have alleviated their moisture deficit and caused some minor flooding.

Monday I drove from Roanoke, Va. to Charlotte.  I was driving in the rain and fog part of the way.  Of course the fog was hanging over Fancy Gap.  After I got to the Charlotte area, there were some torrential downpours.

Later that evening, I left Charlotte hoping to drive to the coast, about five hours away. I only had gotten a couple hours along the way when the continual heavy rain convinced me to call an old college roommate living in Pittsboro.  He quickly invited me to spend the night at his house.

Tuesday morning I finished my drive to the coast in somewhat damp conditions. Coming into Carteret  County, I quickly decided that everything looked dry.  My neighbor confirmed my rain gauge which was barely wet.

I was reminded by area signs that it is time to fertilize centipede yards so after recovering from the drive, I went out and bought our annual dose of fertilizer. Centipede grass only has a couple of small windows where it tolerates fertilizer, so it is not something you can delay.

Before I tackled cooking dinner, I managed to get our yard fertilized, and I set our sprinklers to come on this morning.  As is often the case, the rain started about thirty minutes after the sprinklers were finished.

I think we got about one third inch of rain.  That is a nice drink for some thirsty plants.  I suspect the strawberry growers will not be very happy.  The berries were are very ripe, and any rain will not make it easier to get good quality berry to customers.

I had to turn most of the strawberries that I purchased in a smoothie last night.  They ripened so fast in the house that I had to freeze what berries I did not put in my smoothie.