Hmmm...where to start with a day like today.
I woke up sometime before six to the sound of pounding rain. It was pouring cats and dogs, lightining and thundering- then came the hail. It was about dime to nickel size, maybe a little bigger. By the time I got up, ate, and got ready to do chores it had just quit hailing and raining; seemed like a lul in the storm. So, I quick went outside and started feeding the cats. I got that done and went on to let the horses in. By the time I got them in and walked into the grainery to grab their feed and right then it started raining and hailing around. So here I am, hailed into the the chicken coup and the horses are wanting in the barn, but right about them, Merle showed up and let them in and saved the day. haha- o those poor horses, they'll toughen up. So, there we were, standing in the chicken coup, waiting for it to stop pouring and hailing. It eventually did, but the entire corral was under water before that happened. The fat cattle were all scrunched in a corner by the ridge, the horses in the barn, and the river flowing through all of it! We finally got chores done, but it was sure a wet start. When it was all said and done there was over 3 inches of rain dumped between 5 and 8am...that isn't completely accurate- I'll get the real stats sometime. In fact, when I came back in the national weather service called me and asked all sorts of questions about the storm. I answered what I could and then directed them to Merle- haha I figured he could deal with them and might be a littel more knowledgeable on exact amounts. So after two shots of hail and three inches of rain the place was under water. As the day went on we found gullys in every road and hill, and the draw that runs through the place became a lake and ran right over the road for the entire morning- that was fun to drive through!
After chores we just decided there wasn't much we could do because of all the rain so, we both went home and decided to meet up later. I cleaned a bit and got ready for my company- o how fun. By the time I finished that up it was about ten, and Merle had come back down this direction to let the horses out and check out the roads. We went for a short drive and decided that the rain came down so fast that most of it just packed it down and than ran off. So, we turned around and headed home. We had caught a couple more raccoons in the live trap, so he took care of those and then dropped me off back home so I could change clothes and head into town. The road was pretty good, just a few bad spots, and I made it to town in good time, just as my sister Virginia, and aunts, LeAnn and Charlene, were pulling into the fire hall to meet me. I took them right to Cho-Snazz, the restuarant in town, to have some dinner.
Dinner was pretty tasty, but next we had to decide what to do. Since it had rained so much it would be hard to go a lot of places around the ranch, so I showed them around town. We stopped at the quilt store and checked out the museum hours (we'll hit it up maybe tomorrow). Otherwise, I just gave them a nice little tour of the big city of Martin, or "Martini" as Virginia calls it. Afterward, the roads were dry enough that I had them follow me back home in the Blazer they brought, and boy was it a good thing they had it. We got back alright, and I quick stopped and stole some steaks from the deep freeze. Then, we "crossed the waters" of the driveway, which were pretty darn high, but we both made it. Then, I gave them a tour of my house and let them unpack a few things. We hung out for a while and decided what to do. I took them out to see the corrals and the horses and such, then of course we stopped at the fire trucks- lol I just think it's pretty cool that there are fire trucks on the place. After that, we headed out to see the badlands, via backroads to Interior. The roads weren't horrible, but pretty rough. You could see where it had washed out and there is even one spot where the culvert is coming clear out of the ditch, hanging on by just a few bolts at the top of a seam! But, we managed to make it and see lots of the pretty scenery along the way. When we made it to Interior we stopped at the cedar pass store and I also took them up to the Prairie Dog Ranch Store- fun times fun times. Nothing beats a photo with a ginormous p-dog! But, by about this time we were ready to head back. The trip home was fairly uneventful, we just stopped for gas in Interior and headed out.
When we made it back the water had gone down quite a bit. I came out to help finish chores but Merle had almost all of them done. He had been out checking fields and fences all afternoon and didn't have a very good report. All of the fences in the draws were washed out and the particular field he checked (not sure which one) was hailed out. This wasn't one of the amazing ones, but it's still a crappy deal. So, that wasn't real good, but what can you do but fix the fence and hope for the best for the wheat- maybe we'll have to hay it.
After chores I came in and the four of us grilled up some steaks and just kinda hung out. We had a nice supper, and pulled some weeds out of my hailed-on garden. After supper, we just sat down and my aunts read while Virginia and I worked on the computers. I went out for a bit and talked to Merle when he came back from very graciously feeding Jonni's dogs for me. While he was down there he got that darn bull back in our pasture- two of them actually, so really, he got quite a bit done. Virginia came out and had a chance to talk with us and then we all went home. That puts me about where I sit. It was a long morning, and there will be lots of clean up and fence fixing in the next week, but I'm sure we'll make it through! It's really nice to have some company, I hope they enjoyed the day, I know I loved the scenery! But, we are all tired, and they did a lot of drivng today, so we are all gunna hit the sack!
I woke up sometime before six to the sound of pounding rain. It was pouring cats and dogs, lightining and thundering- then came the hail. It was about dime to nickel size, maybe a little bigger. By the time I got up, ate, and got ready to do chores it had just quit hailing and raining; seemed like a lul in the storm. So, I quick went outside and started feeding the cats. I got that done and went on to let the horses in. By the time I got them in and walked into the grainery to grab their feed and right then it started raining and hailing around. So here I am, hailed into the the chicken coup and the horses are wanting in the barn, but right about them, Merle showed up and let them in and saved the day. haha- o those poor horses, they'll toughen up. So, there we were, standing in the chicken coup, waiting for it to stop pouring and hailing. It eventually did, but the entire corral was under water before that happened. The fat cattle were all scrunched in a corner by the ridge, the horses in the barn, and the river flowing through all of it! We finally got chores done, but it was sure a wet start. When it was all said and done there was over 3 inches of rain dumped between 5 and 8am...that isn't completely accurate- I'll get the real stats sometime. In fact, when I came back in the national weather service called me and asked all sorts of questions about the storm. I answered what I could and then directed them to Merle- haha I figured he could deal with them and might be a littel more knowledgeable on exact amounts. So after two shots of hail and three inches of rain the place was under water. As the day went on we found gullys in every road and hill, and the draw that runs through the place became a lake and ran right over the road for the entire morning- that was fun to drive through!
After chores we just decided there wasn't much we could do because of all the rain so, we both went home and decided to meet up later. I cleaned a bit and got ready for my company- o how fun. By the time I finished that up it was about ten, and Merle had come back down this direction to let the horses out and check out the roads. We went for a short drive and decided that the rain came down so fast that most of it just packed it down and than ran off. So, we turned around and headed home. We had caught a couple more raccoons in the live trap, so he took care of those and then dropped me off back home so I could change clothes and head into town. The road was pretty good, just a few bad spots, and I made it to town in good time, just as my sister Virginia, and aunts, LeAnn and Charlene, were pulling into the fire hall to meet me. I took them right to Cho-Snazz, the restuarant in town, to have some dinner.
Dinner was pretty tasty, but next we had to decide what to do. Since it had rained so much it would be hard to go a lot of places around the ranch, so I showed them around town. We stopped at the quilt store and checked out the museum hours (we'll hit it up maybe tomorrow). Otherwise, I just gave them a nice little tour of the big city of Martin, or "Martini" as Virginia calls it. Afterward, the roads were dry enough that I had them follow me back home in the Blazer they brought, and boy was it a good thing they had it. We got back alright, and I quick stopped and stole some steaks from the deep freeze. Then, we "crossed the waters" of the driveway, which were pretty darn high, but we both made it. Then, I gave them a tour of my house and let them unpack a few things. We hung out for a while and decided what to do. I took them out to see the corrals and the horses and such, then of course we stopped at the fire trucks- lol I just think it's pretty cool that there are fire trucks on the place. After that, we headed out to see the badlands, via backroads to Interior. The roads weren't horrible, but pretty rough. You could see where it had washed out and there is even one spot where the culvert is coming clear out of the ditch, hanging on by just a few bolts at the top of a seam! But, we managed to make it and see lots of the pretty scenery along the way. When we made it to Interior we stopped at the cedar pass store and I also took them up to the Prairie Dog Ranch Store- fun times fun times. Nothing beats a photo with a ginormous p-dog! But, by about this time we were ready to head back. The trip home was fairly uneventful, we just stopped for gas in Interior and headed out.
When we made it back the water had gone down quite a bit. I came out to help finish chores but Merle had almost all of them done. He had been out checking fields and fences all afternoon and didn't have a very good report. All of the fences in the draws were washed out and the particular field he checked (not sure which one) was hailed out. This wasn't one of the amazing ones, but it's still a crappy deal. So, that wasn't real good, but what can you do but fix the fence and hope for the best for the wheat- maybe we'll have to hay it.
After chores I came in and the four of us grilled up some steaks and just kinda hung out. We had a nice supper, and pulled some weeds out of my hailed-on garden. After supper, we just sat down and my aunts read while Virginia and I worked on the computers. I went out for a bit and talked to Merle when he came back from very graciously feeding Jonni's dogs for me. While he was down there he got that darn bull back in our pasture- two of them actually, so really, he got quite a bit done. Virginia came out and had a chance to talk with us and then we all went home. That puts me about where I sit. It was a long morning, and there will be lots of clean up and fence fixing in the next week, but I'm sure we'll make it through! It's really nice to have some company, I hope they enjoyed the day, I know I loved the scenery! But, we are all tired, and they did a lot of drivng today, so we are all gunna hit the sack!
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