let it rainThe last few days we’ve been experiencing some of the wet, clear, cool stuff that falls down from the sky, i.e.: rain. We may have had more rain over the last few weeks than we had all Monsoon season. Please understand, I am not complaining. We will take the rain whenever we can get it. It saves on us watering, helps us to recharge the aquifer, and allows us to see how our rain catchments are working.  It also helps to keep things a bit more green – even during the winter – and therefore, less of a fire hazard; however, it does make for more mowing/weed whacking work.

You know today is Wednesday and that means a shorter post than normal, so I’m just going to share a couple of things that happened around here with the rain. Our rain water tank is full! Now, whenever it rains, we have the water coming out the over flow in a pretty amazing stream. It has been making Sue say, “I should have gotten more tanks.” They are expensive though – so its not something we’ll be able to do, on a large scale, any time soon. Well – maybe if we win the lottery. Chances are slightly better if you play.

  We’ll just IMG_1849have to do water harvesting as best we can with what we have. Part of the harvesting preparations we were making were the large tree wells around the chestnuts, and and other trees, up in the orchard. Yesterday, during the afternoon rains, we donned our slickers and boots, grabbed our umbrellas and took a quick walk about. We wanted to see if the preparations we made were working the way we wanted. The orchard’s ground catchments around each tree are working quite well – as you can see in the photo. We noted a few areas that we might shore up around a couple of trees, but otherwise things were doing exactly what we wanted. So exciting to actually see water being collected in the wells – this hadn’t really happened all summer. So we are glad that we’re experiencing a bit of a wet Fall for a change. If we can get the chestnut trees established really well in these first couple of years, their chances of surviving long after we’re gone are just that much better. How cool is that, to think of those coming after us enjoying these trees for years to come. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. There is a Chinese Proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” We’re doing our best to fulfill the now. Sappy? (pun kind of intended) You bet! Want to join us in planting for theIMG_1855 future? Well, you could always take a peak at the “Dreaming Into Reality” page and help us out with a tree project. Or you can check out OneTreePlanted and see how you can help with reforestation all over the world.

One of the things I enjoy here is the proliferation of rainbows. We see them so often, it’s amazing. Double rainbows happen quiet a lot, too! Sue was able to catch some of the double rainbow we were treated  to while putting the BooToYouEVxtra_Thanks-vichickens to bed yesterday.  There’s a reason that the second part of the Chamber of Commerce’s tag line for the area is “Extraordinary Skies”. 

Ok, that’s it for today! Hope you can join us on Friday when we try to round out the week with something interesting. Until then, as always~
Thanks for reading!

Today’s Weather: Clear all day today, somewhat breezy. Currently, at 5:57 p.m., it is 66° with 70% humidity. Our overnight low is predicted to be 47°. Today, sunrise was at 6:30 and sunset was at 5:38. Tomorrow we are looking at a high of 73° with more clear skies.

Egg Report: Tuesday – zero goose, zero duck, 11 chicken.  Wednesday – zero goose, zero duck, 14 chicken. Really winding down for the winter.