Skip to main content

Singing in the Rain!

Last night we had a doozy of a storm, the likes of which we've been longing for all summer. Okay, I'm not all that fond of storms, but we sure appreciate the rain! Our old rain gauge (tipped away from the rain slightly to the south) registered 3/4". My dad's newfangled computer whiz-bang rain gauge measured 1.44" overnight. We agree that we probably got somewhere between 3/4" and 1-1/2" of rain in last night's storm. And this is the 3rd time in 3 weeks that it's rained, for which we are SO grateful. We worry and pray about those farmers who grow only 1 or 2 crops and have seen them whither in the fields.

Droplets on the clothesline--what a gift!

Puddles in the driveway--amazing!

With a storm we sometimes get extras--wind, hail, trees down. We had only a bit of wind in the middle of the night last night, but we lost power anyway. This is a picture of our trusty generator--very necessary to keep the fans running and the water flowing in the barns.

When our power went out, the generator automatically fired up, as it is designed to do. We lay in bed, listening to the wind howling, the rain pelting the windows, and the generator roaring in the background.

As we listened, the generator quit. And so did everything powered by electricity. We quickly got dressed and headed out to find a hose had given out. This caused the cooling fluid to leak out of the generator, which in turn caused it to overheat and shut off to protect itself.

We spent what felt like an eternity scrambling to repair the hose, replace the fluid and get it up and running again. It felt like an eternity because we were working in the dark by flashlight, and because some of us were out in the torrential rain, getting water from a hose for the generator.

Of course you don't get any pictures of any of that, as we were slightly preoccupied, and it wasn't good weather for photos, anyway.

After we got it running and headed back inside, it took a long time for us to fall asleep again. As we waited for sleep to come, I asked The Farmer something that I've been asking a lot lately: "What do other people do for fun?"

Comments

  1. Hi Lona! I love the rain so much, makes everything feel so fresh. Last year we hardly got any until June-July.


    I also wanted to let you know that I love your blog a lot, so I nominated you for this award: http://bellahannah24.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloggy Giveaway--Now Closed

**This bloggy giveaway is now closed** Thanks to all who participated and gave such great comments. Janette is the winner of the $15 gift certificate to our etsy store . I'm participating in the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival . Click the link to go to the carnival where you can enter to win literally hundreds of things. The good news is that even if you have no time to play on the computer trying to win hundreds of things, you can still enter to win one thing right here. This week, I will be giving away a $15 gift certificate to be used toward the purchase of an item in my etsy shop . This contest is open to residents of the United States or Canada only. The winner will receive free shipping on whatever item they choose. Items in my etsy shop include handwoven rugs, wool yarns and roving from our farm, and the ever-popular cotton dishcloth! To be entered in this wonderful drawing, you must go to the etsy shop and look around a bit. Then come back here and type a comment that ...

Haying 101

A few posts back, "deep end of the loom" (love that name!) asked me to tell a bit more about the haying process. If you want my version, read on. If you'd like to read the official wikipedia version, click here . Haying happens in three steps: cutting, raking and baling. This process takes several days, as the hay must be dry when baled. Moist hay molds and heats up and has even been known to spontaneously combust, burning down the barn. Gotta have dry hay. This first photo is of our haybine. The haybine not only cuts the hay, it also crimps each piece of long grass in several places, to allow for faster drying. We usually cut hay in the early afternoon, when the dew is gone. When we're done, long row of cut grass lie waiting. The hay is allowed to dry for two to three days, depending on wind and sun conditions. Obviously, the more wind and sun the days hold, the quicker the hay will dry. When we feel like the hay is nearly dry, we go out with the rake. There are diff...

This Giveaway Is Now Closed!

Today starts a giveaway at Farming in the Shade! I am happy to contribute this complete hat kit (needles not included) to someone who has a knitting obsession and a small person in their life. Here are the rules (contest open to US or Canada residents only): Giveaway ends May 1 at 9 p.m. EST. Winner will be announced by Sunday, May 3. Enter by posting a comment on this blog post. Tell me something about your knitting--who taught you to knit, your favorite yarn, the coolest thing you ever knitted. Make sure you leave contact information! Earn extra entries by: 1) Following me on twitter. (If you don't know what twitter is, don't worry. It's another way to waste your time on the computer.)  Add a comment here so I will count it as one entry. 2) Tweeting this giveaway (no more than once daily). Add a comment here so I know you did it. 3) Blog about this giveaway. Add a comment (with link) here so I can go visit your blog. 4) Follow or subscribe to this blog (or tell me if have...