We are forecasted to get much needed rain for the next several days. I am so thankful!
The first bit of rain we got yesterday evening came while the sun was still shining brightly. Folks call those occurrences sunshowers. They often happen at the beach, but aren’t as common in the mountains.
When I was a girl and it came a rain with the sun shining you could be sure someone would say “Well the devil’s beating his wife.”
As I was raised up I continued the old piece of folklore so my girls are familiar with it too.
I’ve never given any thought to the saying until I saw it happen again yesterday.
A quick internet search for the origin turned up all sorts of things. One source said the saying came about because if the sun is shining God is blessing us with a lovely day and satan doesn’t like it so he beats his wife and the rain is her tears.
Doesn’t quite explain all the sunny days we enjoy without rain, but lack of information is common with most folklore.
Matt has been watching the weather so he made sure we got the corn in the big garden fertilized as well as the beans at our house before the rain.
Just after it started I went out on the front porch for something and found Matt sitting in the swing. He said he had to go outside for a while to smell that wonderful scent that accompanies rain after a dry spell.
If we get several days of precipitation I know our gardens will grow by leaps and bounds. If you need rain I sure hope you get some too!
Last night’s video: Planting Granny’s Garden.
Tipper
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Rain, sweet rain! I love the smell too. Watering will keep your garden plants alive, but rain makes them grow because of the nitrogen and other elements in it. Your garden looks pretty.
We got a drenching rain here yesterday in W.V. Some off and on rain today. Chance of rain every day here through next Wednesday.
My mom Janet has had some good and some bad days. But definitely better than she was a month ago. I am still struggling with my teeth being gone. Getting a little better each day. It was a week ago yesterday I had to get them all pulled.
I am still praying for Matt’s dad. The video yesterday planting Grannies garden made me happy and sad. Happy the Green beans she loved will still be there as well as the flowers. Sad she is no longer with you. But she is with the lord and your dad
Thanks for the prayers for mom. please continue to do so.
God bless you all
It’s the smell of ozone before a storm that gets my attention. Often it’s the first sign of rain. Before the sky starts to darken and the sound of distant thunder can be heard, it happens. The wind picks up and is noticeably cooler. Then comes that smell. It’s the smell of ozone in upper atmosphere being pushed down to the surface. It’s metallic almost. It’s electric! The smell of welders and contactors. Of arcs and shorts.
The cold air that carries the smell of imminent rain to the ground forces warm moist air up into loftier climes where the water vapor collects into increasingly larger droplets until it is so heavy it falls back down through the clouds, collecting more water as it goes, until plop it hits the ground. That contact with the ground is what most people think of as the smell of rain.
It rained a little around 3:00 PM and then around 4:30 but it’s only “a drop in the bucket” toward what I need. Maybe the weekend and early next week will provide that.
Dear Mr. Ammons, It’s been hot and dry down here in South MS about the way it has been being for y’all up there in your beautiful mountains. My husband and I were sitting on the porch this morning drinking coffee and it suddenly got dark and windy and a little twenty minute shower came in and instantly the air was sweet and earthy smelling. I have to look that up every time that happens just like you were saying. “Petrichor”
we are getting our much-needed rain for the last few days now.
those little toys sure make the garden bright and cheerful
Nothing like fresh cut grass and rain…my hubby says it’s the Cherokee in us!
Hi Tipper.
We got 3-1/2″ of rain day before yesterday. You should have got some rain from that system yesterday (Wednesday) or possibly today, if typical patterns hold.
I pray you don’t get a 3-1/2″ deluge in the mountains. Here in flat central Texas, that much rain causes severe flooding in streams and rivers. I can only imagine what it would do in steep terrain.
It turned dark for a a few minutes here in Lucedale, MS this morning then we got a good rain of about twenty minutes; sure praying for more as we have been dry here to. Praying for rain on your beautiful gardens!! I’ve heard the folks refer to sunny and raining by the devil beating his wife all my life and we still say that; some folks add “the devil is beating his wife with a frying pan” Praying for many blessings for you all and wonderful harvests. Looking forward to seeing the beautiful old maid flowers in granny’s yard. I felt so bad for sweet Corie; I know how bad y’all feel. I miss my mama so much. She loved her garden and her flowers. When November rolls around again it will complete a year without her here, so every season until then will make me emotional; I miss her so much!!
I’ve never heard this saying. My grandma used to that if the sun shines while it’s raining, it will rain again tomorrow at the same time.
So thankful you are getting the much needed rain by you, Tipper. Praying for you, Norman and for little B, Papaw Tony, Corie and many others. I learn so much from the blog. I never knew there was a word (petrichor) for the wonderful smell after a rain. Thank you to those that shared about it.
There’s nothing quite like the smell of rain. Sometimes you can smell it before it gets here.
Good morning Tipper! I don’t believe I’ve ever heard that saying about the devil and rain. We’ve had enough rain waaaay up north and cold, now we need some much needed sunshine and heat. I’m going to try and get a few things in my raised beds today, the garden is still too wet to do anything. Hopefully, Sunday we can start. I also like to get outside in the morning, when it’s warm enough, to do my Bible study and reading. Today is perfect, thank you God! I pray everyone has a great day!
We just got a good soaking rain yesterday and more today. I love the smell outdoors after a rain too. Sometimes I think it smells like earthworms (we always called them fishworms)—but no matter—it is a fresh earthy smell. I can’t wait to see how Corie’s crop of green beans grow. How sweet of her to think about doing that for the family. I have really been enjoying all the videos lately…Katie going thrifting and working outside with Matt, you guys all working in the gardens and planting the green beans for Granny, and all the great recipes you share. Have a wonderful day everyone. I am headed to the front porch to enjoy the fresh air and read a little in my Bible.
My mom said thunder was the angels bowling.
I didn’t grow up hearing that the Devil is beating his wife if the sun is shining while it’s raining. My parents believed the folklore that if the sun is shining and it is raining, it will rain the next day at the same time. We finally got some much-needed rain that started yesterday and is forecasted to last through next Wednesday. Some of the things I planted several weeks ago have not had one drop of rain to help them grow. I love to look at the gardens along the route that takes me to eastern Ky every Memorial Day. Sadly, there are fewer and fewer every year.
Morning everyone. Rain? We got downpours. We have ponds in places we never had before. Being in the Delta we never get really dry. We are getting more tomorrow and next week looks crazy. My garden this year looks like chives, horse radish, grapes and blackberries. The downpours were so strong all is see is one baby Robin survived. They were running around but it was too much. I doubt tomato plants would survive either. I won’t have a garden this year, I’ll watch your garden videos and hope next year is kinder. I don’t remember any sayings about rain on a sunny day growing up. But here it’s pretty common to see it. I usually start humming CCR’s song. “Have you ever seen the rain”. I hope everyone gets some rain in time for their gardens. Anna from Arkansas.
I know and love the smell of rain, too. I have always enjoyed summer rain and liked sitting on the porch or by a window with a good book, enjoying the coolness that came with it.
We may have gotten rain in the night, then had 30 minutes or so before daylight. However much it was, the garden is really showing the effects. May get a meal-sized amount of English peas yet. Cucumbers are blooming now, as are peppers and tomatoes. Corn grew overnight and so did summer squash, field peas, cantaloupe, watermelon and okra. Our forecast is rain through next Tuesday night, an answer to prayers.
That wonderful smell of rain on hot, dry dirt is called petrichor. I have always loved it to. There have been attempts to capture it in cosmetics. Do not know if they have been successful. If you search on the word “petrichor” you are likely to find the story of the girl born prematurely in TX in the 1990’s. She was not expected to survive and when she did could not be held for her first two months. When she was about two and smelled petrichor she told her Mom, “It smells like him.” Whether true or not, seems reasonable to me He would smell like petrichor.
I live in Florida and have heard the saying about the rain and sunshine as well. My grandmother told me when I was a youngster. Your garden is so lovely.
I almost feel as excited about this coming rain as I did as a child waiting on Christmas! I have been saving bath and dish water to water the bushes and flowers. We have rain barrels which have kept the garden going, but I know this rain will be a boost for the garden…..and well for all living things.
I mowed an acre yesterday before the rain. You are right in saying the rain was coming down and the sun was shining so I said “the devil is beating is wife.” But of course if you’re the devil, do you have a wife or just many trashy acquaintances? I’d say the latter cause there’s no good in It whatsoever. Anyway, we needed the rain really badly here as well and I’m hoping for days more rain at a nice, steady pace and not a monsoon… I’m impressed by your garden setup and greenhouse too. You have a lovely home, Tipper and Matt! My prayer is for your garden to be a big one with abundant harvest this year as well as all your people’s health and peace of mind.
praying for Papa Tony.
I’ve heared that old saying before in my youth. We are suppose to get rain, but this morning the sky is a beautiful blue with just very thin white clouds here and there. Hopefully we will get it this evening or tonight. It is much needed in our area.
Praise God for Rain! I enjoyed last night show. Got my egg separator for my birthday from the grands!
So happy you finally got some rain. We’ve gotten about two inches now in SW Ohio and it’s predicted to rain several more days this week. Blessings
I always heard the saying but with “behind the church house” at the end of it, which makes it even stranger if you think about it. Tipper, I know you love words and “petrichor” jumped into my head when I read about Matt sitting on the swing, enjoying the scent in the air. I googled it to make sure I was remembering right before replying. Petrichor is the name of that smell rain makes on dry ground. We’re getting rain right now in Chattanooga- our little weather station shows .30 of an inch since midnight. Our garden has really needed rain.
I think about good rains however is very soothing to the soul.
my name is Norman Chester, my email is normanchester588@gmail.com, if somebody would like to send me a prayer or uplifting message, thank you and God bless you very much, thank you for praying for me
I’d like to say thank you to each and everyone that left prayers for me, that pray for me I read comments yesterday, thank you and God bless you very much, I went back and answered your comments, some of you and said thank you, I don’t get a notification telling me when somebody leaves a comment for me, so I have to save this, and go back and read later, thank you for praying for me please continue to do so, God bless each and everyone of you very much
last night at 10:00 I had to go to the emergency room, I had been dealing with a pain since about 5:00 in the evening, near my appendix, the ambulance driver said I had rebound pain, he pressed on it, and when he let go it hurt, the doctor did blood work, he said nothing’s wrong with my blood work, and he said the reason he was not going to do a scan, was because I’ve had a lot in the past, he said one CT scan equals 100 x-rays, causes cancer, he said he was confident, I was not having appendicitis, but I am not confident, I’ve still got the pain, I’ve still got worries, going to Gainesville to see another doctor today about my head a completely different thing, please keep me in your prayers, each and everyone of you thank you and God bless you very much
We’ve had over 3 inches here from the last few days. While we’re not putting out a garden this year, I’ve been planting flowers and herbs, so we will have those to enjoy this summer. I’ll miss our garden, but it’s needs a year of rest and we need to eat up what I’ve canned, so food wise we’ve got plenty. Today is suppose to be sunny and tomorrow more rain is projected to be here along with Saturday. Your garden is lovely!!
What a lovely colorful scene! Those little chairs for Ira and Woody are precious.
Mary, my Daddy would make and give a small child size rocking chair to the young ladies at our country church when they were expecting their first baby. Daddy died in 1991, some of these ladies have told me they have kept these chairs in memory of Daddy.
Glad that you are getting the much needed rain. We are getting rain here in Athens, TN also. Our family has always said “it will be raining this time tomorrow” if it rains while the sun is shining. We would say the devil is beating his wife when there was a large clap of thunder.
I have never heard that saying. We always say ‘it will rain the same time tomorrow, when we have rain and sunshine together.
Your gardens are beautiful. Speaking of rain we’ve had 4″ in two days. Rain has been in abundance here for the month of May and it’s in the forecast for the next 7 days. We cannot get a window to get the garden in. We only have taters and a few tomato plants in and now it’s standing water in places. I planted candy onions in containers because of so much rain. They look good. I try to never complain about rain as I know eventually things will get patched in our area. Good Lord knows our needs.
I’m praying for all of you and saw the needs last evening when I returned home. Barbara we give praise to God for your good news. May He continue to answer our prayers. I post early and leave for work and don’t see anything until late evening, but we do pray for all the requests.
Update on B. She has one more week of radiation and she is really very tired. Her little face is so very swollen. Someone paid for their family to go see her favorite singer Ella Langley (I’m not familiar with her) but she tired out and had to leave early. We continue to pray for a miracle! Thank you for your prayers! God is good!
Debbie, thank you for the update on B, I pray for her each day and the other members. I have my own problems, but they pale in comparison to what others are going through.
Debbie,
Thank you so much for the update on “B”. I think of her often and pray for her daily. Her name is in the “book of prayers” at our church, so please know that there are hundreds of people praying for her at each Mass that is celebrated. I’m praying for a miracle right along with everyone else!
Love, Jackie
I have heard it said the “devil was beating his wife” all of my life whenever it is raining while the sun is shining. We are in need of rain, rained is forecasted for the next several days, but it seems like the chance of rain keeps getting smaller as we get closer to these days. I also like the scent after a rain and for reasons I can’t explain, a good soaking in rain seems to relax me and take away some of the anxiety or stress I feel. I talked to my sweet potato friend yesterday, he is going to NC next week to pick up his sweet potato slips (usually around 25-30 thousand) and is very hopeful we will get a good soaking in rain before he sets them out.