Thursday was a magnificent day. The sun was shining and it looked like spring. Fast forward to Sunday. It started raining Friday evening. As of this morning, we have collected 3 1/4". This may not sound a lot to some, but it is 1/5 of our annual precipitation.
I had visions of sleeping in. Ha Ha. Marvin woke me up to come help him build a new shelter for the pigs. Their existing spot was under water. When I walked out the door, I came face to face to one of our lambs. They had torn down their electric fence and all 8 were wandering around the yard.
Since it was only 7:00, I climbed back in bed to enjoy the one day I can sleep in. Our home phone rang. Our home phone NEVER rings. It was a very nice guy that drives past our house each day to work. I had been conversing with him over email for the last few days. He stops and buys eggs from our honor stand at the bottom of the driveway. On his way home this morning, he was going to stop, but the egg stand was in the middle of the creek - that is, the creek was flowing around the egg stand.
We jumped in the Kabota and went down to check it out. Our creek is a very small creek, about 5 feet deep and 5 feet across. It only flows when we get a large amount of rain. This morning, it was 25 feet wide and covering our crossing and the county road as well as a big portion of our field. Thank goodness we have heavy equipment on site. Marvin's brother owns a construction business and we have been leasing a backhoe. Marvin quickly came to the rescue and cleaned out the creek - the culvert was full of tree limbs and leaves and all sorts of items from upstream. The damage to the crossing looks pretty bad, but he assures me that he can fix it when things dry out. At least he built it correctly and we can use it.
Time to relax - not! Two of our little bull calves decided to do a walkabout on the neighbor's property to the east. The fencing is existing from about 50 years ago and needs to be replaced. Fortunately, their property is in the CRP. That means that it cannot be used for anthing. It is left in its natural state for wildlife. If they had gone through any of the other fences, our guys would have been mixed with the neighbor's cattle and we would have had a hard time finding them. Anyway, Marvin thought he'd drive the Kabota up the hill and go get them. He really needs to listen to his wife (me). The Kubota got stuck in the mud and he had to take the backhoe to pull it out. He finally walked about 3 miles to round up the bull calves and get them back where they belong.
This was all before 10:00 am! The rain has let up a bit, but the doppler shows more heavy rain coming in by 11:00 and continuing all day and night. We will just have to get ready for the next challenge.
It's funny - rain gives us an opportunity to get a break from building fences and putting in water lines and planting trees and veggies, but gives us tons more to do, just maintaining things.
We have been here for almost a year now. Although we have trials and tribulations like this, it really is a blessing. By having these "worst case senarios" now, we are able to plan for them and find ways to overcome them.
Of course, I can't end without saying that being on the farm far outweighs any chores that need to be done. My chickens are still laying eggs, the sheep and cows are still grazing on the beautiful green fields, the dogs are doing their jobs. Besides, there is always something to be thankful for - we don't have to water the veggies!
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