Summer Progress

Well, I am trying to make progress on that long list of things I need to get done.  I will say, the weather has not cooperated.

Maybeline standing in the mud.

We went from two years of not being able to get a drop of rain to a half an inch of rain every time they say there’s a slight chance for sprinkles.

But I’m still making progress.  I got the birds’ building all cleaned out and they were put back over there.

before new bedding has been put in there

Mr. Peacock quickly went back up to the rafters.

That gives my goat moms a lot more space.

Astra in front; Cutie in back

I hope to kick them out of the garage and get it cleaned out this week.

Flora in the garage with her new horn apparatus attached with Gorilla tape.

One thing I have not been able to do is get the deck sealed.  It just has to be dry when I do that.

Bob cat sitting in the corner of the deck to stay dry.

I have even had some people come in and do work on my house.  My leaks and drips have all been fixed.

new faucet

I also had to do more fence work.  Because every time Xerxes tries to reach over and eat the plum tree or lilacs, he busts my twine and falls into the yard.

Xerxes on the wrong side of the fence.

I actually used wire to fix it this time, so it should last longer.

Benji and Frodo are good boys.

It does also make it hard to find time to take pictures for the blog.  I’m trying though.

I might have disturbed Bob’s nap.

I’ll just keep on working on things the best I can between (or through) rain showers!

A Bit of Rain

I can hardly wait for the next drought monitor to come out on Thursday because I think there’s a good chance we’ll no longer even be “abnormally dry.”  We have had several rains lately, but Thursday night through mid-day Friday saw four inches of rain.

I came home from work and decided I should just do a quick check of everything.  I counted kids first.  Everyone was present.

Brigit and Ostara

Lady

They really could have washed away, but I’m pretty sure they are smart enough not to go in the water.

I haven’t seen the ditch this full in a long time.

This kind of really hard rain is hard on all the conservation work we’ve done.  I still need to do a better job of stabilizing this end of the ditch.

It would help if the neighbors hadn’t removed all of their waterways because that lets the old cornstalks wash into my pasture and knock down my fence.

The silt from their tilled fields fill my tile intake and completely plug it. I couldn’t even find it to clear it and help the water get below ground.

Somewhere in there is a tile intake.

So there is a lot of work to do.  But, I am going to focus on the good and celebrate another new bird sighting at Eden Hills–I saw my first ever belted kingfisher!  He was snacking on something he caught in the wet bottom.

I also saw a big bunny when I came back into the barnyard.

So, yeah.  I’m glad for rain, but it’s going to take some work to recover.

Rain and Shine

This week looks like a rather active weather week, with chances of rain most days.

The goose doesn’t care; she likes wet weather.

I am good with that because it is rain. Not snow.

Moose and Myson on the slightly muddy trail

We are still abnormally dry; I check the drought monitor every Thursday morning.

The goats in pasture

I am hoping the moisture this week will move us out of that category and back into where we should be.

After Moose and Myson made it into the pasture

The sunshine between showers is helping to turn thing green.

Odie, Aurora, and Maybeline on the bottom

I really hope this is finally the start of real spring.