Rain!

Dramatic skies

delivered rain.

Boldly

the sky blessed the land

and the valley was renewed.

Wordless Wednesday Water Garden

Last Night

Last night we had thunder storms, hail and lots of rain.  All is good.  The rain brings out the night crawlers...fish bait.  We were out with flash lights picking them off the ground.  No digging for our fish bait.  Dad started these years ago by releasing some Night Crawlers from Illinois.  They have a flat tail, the only way to distinguish them from the natives.  We also have native cane worms, night crawlers, wigglers (our name for them) and red worms.

When it rains, you walk softly with a flash light.  You have to move fast to grab these before they quickly retreat to their safe spot.

We have enough for two or three meals...gotcha!  The worms will be used to catch fish and we will eat those.  Of course, I had to write a silly poem...

Last Night

Lightning flashed

Thunder rolled

Ate Chocolate Pie

Hail did blow

Ground's soaked

Worms crawled

Caught fish bait

Couldn't get them all

Rubber Booting...

is a favorite pass time of mine in winter and in water.  We've had a large rain and I could hear the creek calling me even over the sound of the rain.  Today was in the low forties so with no more excuses I pulled my boots on and went out to play.

This is a tour of three different branches.  I am not a movie maker but am just tickled that I was able to put it all together.

I had some trouble sinking in the sand. My boots were tall but some water went over the tops.  I could feel the strength of the current pulling my feet. I am energized with the joy of water.  Though the water had receded from the big rain, the power was still there.  I am refreshed and renewed.

Pecans, Storms, and Hangers

Be careful what you wish for!  I wished for rain and the ponds are almost overflowing.  The storms were not too fierce for us.  Others were not so lucky.  I am grateful for the rain.

Many of you have heard how Mom and Dad planted pecans around the perimeter of the yard the year they married.  This will give you some idea of how the trees that survived have grown.

The small not improved version of pecans they planted taste magnificent and have more oil compared to our Paper Shell Pecan. During our recent winds pecans fell a little prematurely but that has not stopped the crows, squirrels, ground squirrels and other animals from enjoying the sweet meat.

This picture does not even begin to show the size of the tree.  I believe it would take two people to wrap their arms around the trunk. Two remain of the many Mom and Dad planted even before they built this house we now live in.

I have mentioned "hangers", limbs broken by wind or ice but still hanging on the tree.  They need to be removed for safety reasons. We use the tractor bucket to reach them for removal.  We can not reach them all.

Here is one hanger after all our wind.  This is sticking into the ground about four inches.  The wind tore off the dead limb.  Gravity planted it.  It would be most unfortunate to have been standing here when the limb fell.

Yesterday I picked up and piled limbs, mostly smaller ones since we've done some trimming and removal.  I began another pile to burn.

While the rains fell I oiled the school desk, adding an old Purex jar with feathers and pretties.  Now have a new place to sit and remove my muddy boots or shoes and have put an old piece to a good use. This is one of the few mirrors I have in the house.  It is reflecting my painting and the inch thick red heart cedar tongue and groove wood walls of the hall. The wood was harvested from this land, dried, milled and installed by Mom and Dad.  I will never paint it.  I oil it about twice a year and it will outlast me, I'm sure.

The weather had me sorting closets, cleaning cupboards and sorting clothes...and hunting for a sweater.  I have rearranged my painting/craft/sewing/project area repeatedly.

While cleaning the fridge I cooked fresh turnip greens with cornbread, the end of garden okra, banana pudding, chocolate pudding and a German Chocolate cake and a dishpan full of fresh salad (Andrew ate that is one setting!)

I am lost without my washer.  I've made one trip to the laundromat and must make another soon.  I surely dislike waiting for warranty repairs.

Wishing you safe rain and many blessings.

How Hot Is It???

My friend is Florida has an air conditioning malfunction along with an incompetent repair man.  There may be a homicide tonight.  It is so miserable you can wear the air!

It has been that way here for almost two hard weeks with 107, 104, and 105 showing more days than I want to count.  I'm glad I did not have a thermometer in the shop.  I would have just died on the spot.

This past Saturday we received some much needed rain.  Didn't last long and may be too late for plants that have gone dormant or died but it DID rain.  We are very pleased.

Hubby and I were outside enjoying the possibility of rain when it hit. He stayed in the boat shed while I made it to the house.

We got wet.  My camera got wet and all the dear dry plants got a small but appreciated drink of water.  It was magic.  Green seemed to appear over night.

Enjoy the sound of rain, if I did this correctly.  May you all get just the amount of rain you need.

Today this is the photo I took while walking.  I imagined, because I was wondering what the chance of another rain was, that this cloud plainly says 2% chance.  May we have better odds than that.

Thirteen for Poets United...

Thirteen days of rain in a row

Thirteen inches all told

Water had no place to go

Thirteen billion raindrops fell

While we watched

Creeks and ditches swelled

The old wives' tale use to be

Rain on the first...Rain fifteen

Didn't make it to fifteen

Our rain stopped on thirteen

With such abundance

The plant life grew

Not offended by the occurrence

For Poets United

Friday's Facts From At The Farm

Good compost piles steam when you turn them.  This is our perpetual pile of poop and other organics.  The tomatoes and corn surely like it.  The roses too.

Sometimes animals are more talented than humans.

Just think how much tissue we would save...gross!

Clover glistens with rain drops

Only one of many that brings life to our valley.

Rubber Bootin'

Working at the shop Friday morning I left early.  Shame on me.  The storms came later.  We were safe once again.  Batesville had a tornado about thirty miles from our house.  Thursday horrible winds and storms hit Arkansas and we lost two people.  We personally were lucky.  We have a few limbs down and a creek flood but nothing we couldn't deal with like we always do.

One advantage of living at the end of a dead end road in the middle of nowhere is I CAN wear my night gown while I search for treasures during a storm.  The rocks don't care how I dress.

Bonnie and I are battling over where the water lilies should be planted.  She keeps removing my pots and moving them around the yard.   They don't grow very well in the yard.  Now if I could train her to pull weeds it would be perfect.

It is fun to get muddy.  Holding some muddy chips of chert and flint, the by product of flint napping to make arrow heads for their weapons.  I found two or three hands full of flakes and chips.

This is the damaged arrow head I found today.  This style will spin through the air as it heads to the target.
One of the many treasures nestled in this valley of springs.

The thunder rolled, the lightning flashed.  I love the intensity of the storm while knowing I was okay.  I tried to edit a movie so you could witness the fun and listen to my Southern twang.  My edit failed. You will just have to take my word for it that the walk was exhilarating.

Rain at Poetry Jam...

All the wet weather springs
Join the creek
And make it bigger

The force of wild rain
Roars through the valley
Carrying trees

The water gate
Holds nothing now
Except the memory
And debris
Of high water

I am grateful
My ancestors
Built on high ground

For Poetry Jam Rain

Friday's Rain, Stampede, And To Market...

to sell the calves.  The orb above could be a rain drop but I like to think it was someone watching over us.

The smaller calves were worked to the right.  The young bull was left in the center pen til loading time.  The bent panel is from Collateral our big bull jumping out.  All went smoothly.

Yes, that is a cattle prod (produces an electric shock)  Hubby is threatening to use on me.  Prods are sometimes used to herd cattle although we only use ours if absolutely necessary.  Today was one of those days...twice.

It was an easy job working all the cattle through slowly.  The calves stayed in as we worked the cattle out. It hasn't rained in a long time but Friday it rained.  Hurrah!!!  Hubby finds another use for the tractor bucket.

Hubby was working the calves into the stock trailer by walking slowly behind them down the chute.  One heifer (young female) decided she was not going.  She turned back right into Hubby and kept coming, butting him knocking him down.  He is kicking her and prodding her and she jumps over him.  She gets reloaded then it's time...

for about eleven hundred pounds of dynamite to try the same thing.  El Toro  comes running right toward Hubby, no time to jump fence.  The prod does deter Super Baby. Hubby rolls minus glasses and hat. Hubby did mention he'd never seen a bull's equipment from that angle.  Unhurt Hubby rises to drive El Toro in again. All the calves will sell tonight

except the youngest.

Mom is grateful.

And that's life At The Farm.

The Blessing...

I had a video.  It was good with thunder and rain and a view from my front porch into the valley. I piddled and fiddled and it had no sound so here's the news:  We got a little rain and we are grateful.

Today...

 the scenes kept changing

the fronts blew in and out

Between the rains I took a walk.

Shared my tiny discovery with Hubby.

The Power of Lightning...

The past partially repeated itself last week.  We've had wonderfully generous amounts of rain accompanied by wind, thunder and lightning. Some seemed awfully close as I counted the seconds between the flash and the clap of thunder.

Yesterday preparing to move cattle to greener pastures Hubby "ran" the fence line, not physically but on his Ranger.  He returned to the house madder than a wet hen saying someone had cut the fence!  Are you sure? I ask.  Hubby is one of those who naturally jumps to the worse case scenario and when he solves the problem he is always the hero.

He gathered supplies and returned to repair the hole.

It was not cut!  It was fried! This is brand new barbed wire which takes years to change color or be affected in any way by the weather...except for lightning.

All that remains of four strands of twenty-five feet of fencing.

If you look closely you can see the discoloration

 that could only be made from fire.

Hubby had cheated a little

 and nailed to some trees along the fence line.

All he could find was still attached to a tree.

I'm glad the cattle were not close

like Dad's story above.

This reminds me of that old commercial,

"It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

Trekking

The rains came and came.  The sky filled with light shows to rival the Fourth of July Celebrations.  We oohed and ahhhed with great enjoyment through the evening Saturday night.  Reports of tornadoes flew on radio waves but I centered on the roar of the storm and loved the simple beauty and the power of it.

The modern in me wanted internet and phone but the storms left and took that access with them.  I really didn't mind because I planned on viewing Rock Hollow in the beauty of the rain.

With reports of rain and sleet from Hubby and after a few false starts I headed out. 

I wanted to see the swollen water of Rock Hollow.  To see the full volume I should have explored in the dark.  By the time I reached the stream bed the water had begun to recede.  It was as beautiful as I had imagined.

The sheer majesty of this place seems to make it magical.

I climbed up the hollow, watching my feet carefully.  The waters had washed away  much fall debris.  The wet beauty of the rocks with lichen and mosses was indescribable. Normally a dry hollow it was filled with run-off from the night's rain.  I did not see the fullness that was but could see the path of the flood along the bank.

I like to think once there may have been live water here tumbling swiftly as it does this Sunday.

The dogs explored, jumped the stream and sometimes waded.  I think my enjoyment was contagious. They were smiling with me.

I discovered at the top the path is changing as it has many times I imagine.  The Majesty of Rock Hollow always renews me.  It reminds me that our Earth is ever renewing and ever changing as we should be.

Something told me to follow it to the creek.

So I followed the Rock Hollow run off until there were no more boulders.  The water ran clear and swift and cold on its path to the sea.  I stood at the point where Rock Hollow joined the main creek and wondered how I could survive the beauty of the Grand Canyon if I was this excited over a few rocks here At The Farm.

Trekking...

Monday I walked into the snow and mud.  I wanted to remember the last day I explored in 2012.  I needed to reconnect with the land.

I saw beauty in  frozen sand as the rain washed a path through snow.

I captured diamonds in the cedars

and rejoiced that my Lizzy was happy At The Farm.

I visited a frozen pond hidden among the pines.

I reached the highest point on our acreage and enjoyed the view while it gently rained melting much of the remaining snow.  I heard the high-pitched yip that Junior voices when he's on the trail of a rabbit. 

The Bald Eagles weren't around or they had flown away with the first sound of our approach.  A Blue Heron took flight from the pond too fast for my camera or me to see well.  The crows cawed telling the world I and the dogs were here.  

Bird song filled the air but the dog pack had them uneasy so they stayed high and safe from the marauding bunch that traveled with me.

I had lost track of time.  I headed down  to the valley that has cradled our family for five generations.  It felt good to be home again.