Shades of Ireland

Monday, March 19, 2012

Wet Spell Settling In

It is raining today and it is supposed to rain for the next couple of days. Bummer for folks on spring break but you all KNOW that I am not complaining AT ALL!

In fact, the first thing that I did this morning was add 90 degree elbows to the drain pipes on the upper pond. This raises the opening another 4-6 inches and will allow more water to collect in this little pond. The pond is no where near the point of draining through these pipes but the forecast is for lots of rain...... I mean over 3 inches and some are even saying over 6 inches. On top of that, this pond catches quite a bit of drainage from the small pasture and field. We are under a flash flood watch until tomorrow afternoon. This little pond went completely dry last year in our record heat. Raising the pond level by 4 inches may not sound like much but it is a tremendous amount of water. This pond is at the top of the chain of three ponds here at the barn and house. It overflows into the middle pond that is just full of catfish. The dam between the middle pond and "big pond" is the pathway to the barn from the house pictured on the header for this blog. The big pond is directly behind the house and not only waters the cow pasture but provides endless entertainment for my clan.

Since it is a rainy day, I am trying to convince myself to work in the house. Another rancher-ette friend of mine calls this "skirt work" and she is not any fonder of it than I am. I'd much rather plant seedlings, curl up with a good book or cook in the kitchen and mess up every pot in the house but...... I will restain myself and load the dishwasher, start some laundry, and nag the boys to get it folded and put away.

I will leave you with a recent picture of our marvelously, elegant, Elsa.


She is not yet a year old and already pretty much covers up two bales of hay.... I am not a big fan of German Shepherds but this one has won me over. Other than her penchant for carrying the cats around, she is remarkably good with the livestock. I cannot believe how calm, obedient, and sound minded this dog is. She makes every step that we do on the farm and has learned to get up into the back of the truck when we are using it on farm. We do not allow any of our dogs to leave the farm unless it is a trip to the vet. She has a ferocious bark and keeps the coyotes and deer on the move through our place. I do not know if she would protect us from an intruder or not, but she would certainly make one think twice about stopping at our place...... She is still a pup even though she doesn't look like it. When I walk out across the pasture to check cows and suspicious characters driving by on the road slow down to look at me, I don't feel nearly as vulnerable with Elsa beside me. 

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