It certainly was a rainy summer here in the Colorado Rockies. The yard and woodland around our house is lush, green and overgrown. Usually by mid-August, the grass has become parched, but not this year. We don't attempt vegetables at this altitude, but the perennials we planted at the end of last year had about a 75% return rate. Rule of thumb is if they come back two years in a row, they've become permanent residents. Russian Hawthorne, Nanking Cherry and Rocky Mtn Maple planted summer before last are thriving with the heavy rains. We have about a quarter acre of raspberry bushes which started producing fruit in mid-July, and are still bearing.

We live in an area hit hard by the pine beetle, and neighbors all around me have had to drop dozens of 100 ft Ponderosa Pines. These beetles lay larva in the trunks of the trees at end of Summer which block the vascular systems, preventing the roots from nourishing the rest of the tree. Infested trees begin to "brown out" in Spring, and must be dropped to stop the mature beetles from flying to neighboring trees at the peak of Summer. We are all hoping for at least one week of below zero weather this Winter, because that's what kills the beetle larva.

teller- do you live in Yorkshire? I love the description of your place, and have a soft spot for the English moors.

LEJ