Whether to Weather the Weather

Sunburn? ...In Springtime???  Spring is the best time of year for getting out there and getting that yard or garden fixed up and waking up the begonias, and you would be right if you thought that is will be a benefit as far as your health and wellbeing. Just two quick points that revisit our other posts, watch for changing weather and TAKE YOUR ALLERGY MEDS!! ok, enough of the public announcements... on to the garden!! So, you've tilled the ground, planted the seeds, watered, fed, weeded, nourished, mowed and discarded your dead grass and weeds... Now for some much-needed rest and... OUCH!! WHY IS MY SKIN HURTING SO BAD?! I must have looked at a bull nettle sideways... the redness, slight swelling, maybe a little itchy? but, no, I don't have nettles in my front yard, or in my garden... Did I get a sunburn??? but... but... it's Spring! Unfortunately, this scenario plays out year after year, in many yards and gardens around our area and across the count...

Hey, Hay Fever... Spring is a wonderful time of the year, with everything blooming again and new life emerging from dens or birds returning from their southerly vacation. The only bad thing to deal with, besides the weather, is hay fever.  What is hay fever? Hay fever is cause by an allergic reaction to the immense amount of pollen that is floating around so that the trees and flowers can reproduce. Sometimes, however, people can have a reaction to the pollen, including your's truly, with a cough, runny nose, and swollen and puffy eyes. The thing inside the human body, that causes the allergic reaction is something called histamines. According to WebMD.com,  "Histamines are chemicals your immune system makes. Histamines act like bouncers at a club. They help your body get rid of something that's bothering you -- in this case, an   allergy   trigger, or "allergen.""  An Allergen is something that causes your body to produce these histamines, like ...

Texas Weather People that live in Texas can be sure of two things to happen during Spring, the Bluebonnets blooming and severe weather. The weather in Texas is a bit unpredictable, but it's almost a sure thing that there will be strong storms during Spring. That includes lots and lots of rain, hail, high winds, flash flooding and of course Tornadoes. Tornadoes Tornadoes are the biggest cause of damage in the Spring storm season in Texas, and are probably the most feared natural phenomena. There is little known why one super-cell spawns a tornado and another does not, but with the advances in technology there is more of a longer warning time, now more than ever before; from 15 minutes to up to 30 minutes. A tornado is formed when a super-cell begins to rotate. Most people think that storm rotation is in a circle, counter-clockwise, around the storm, but actually the rotation starts within the heart of the storm itself when winds, traveling in two different directions, me...