No Relief - Still

I was shocked the other day as I was looking back at some earlier posts of the ranch. The trees all looked so much greaner - and flowers were in bloom. Even though I reported a long time ago that we were in a severe drought. What does a sever drought do to a ranch? Well, it fries the grass, stresses the trees and shrivels up the flowers.

Well, fast forward a month and a few days to where we are now.



The forecast still looks the EXACT same (if not worse!). No rain. 100 degree + days. No relief even mentioned in the 10 day. What do you end up with? An exceptional drought rating.

And what does an exceptional drought do to a ranch? Well, it tortures, scorches, and kills it. The trees that were stressed and trying to suffer through are now starting to die. Grass that was brown and crunchy and trying to hang on is now turning to dust and disappearing all together.

Let's look at a few of those pictures I mentioned earlier.

This picture was taken on the 4th of July. Look at those trees way in the back on the bluff? (Behind the young tree in the garden area.) See how green they are?
Look at them now. The word that comes to mind is skeletal. They have lost their color and most all of their leaves.
Here is a closer look. Had I know at the time, I would have taken specific pictures of just the trees. But you can get an idea.
Those same trees. I took this picture 10 minutes ago.

Besides the trees on the bluff, we have also seen leaves scorch, turn brown and fall off trees all around the property. Here are a few that we're now trying to recover:

All of these trees that are dying are Cedar Elms. The Live Oaks seem to be hanging on for the time being.
We really won't know the full damage until next Spring.

But perhaps the most telling pictures are the ones below:

This picture was taken before we bought the house. It was the realtor picture used on all the flyers. I would guesstimate it was taken last Spring. When we bought the house, it was no where near this green. The drought had been going on for sometime and the grass was no longer green when we moved in. But at least you could tell there WAS grass.
This is the ranch today. Just makes my heart sad. :(

Our plan of action over the past month has been to drag sprinkler hose to any and all trees that we can reach. Focusing specifically on that bluff (although, it hasn't seemed to help much) and the nice big trees that surround the house. We are lucky that the landscaping is on drip lines. Otherwise, the house would be surrounded with dead plants and flowers.

We also continue to pray for rain. We were blessed to receive a 10 minute sprinkle on Sunday afternoon. It wasn't much, but at this point, every little drop of moisture is precious and probably helpful.