Its Raining, Its Pouring

This has been a doozy of a rain storm. We measure rainfall every morning at 7am. In the 24h period ending at 7 this morning, we received 5.8 inches of rain. I'm guessing we will top out at over eight inches total for the storm. This morning, the streams were all overflowing their banks, rushing and skipping over boulders and flooding the surrounding areas. There was a small lake behind the barn and a larger one in the clover pasture. The water careened into the donkey area, banked left and emptied into the pond. Tuffy and Finessa were cut off from two-thirds of their pasture. They didn't mind; they didn't come out of their run-in shed at all. The goats and the horses stayed under the cover of their shelters and barn as well. Kersey took one look at the stream behind the barn and jumped in. The water flowed to the top of her back as she stood dunking her head under the water and grinning at us. Brett shook his head, "stupid dog." Sedona looked at Kersey, then at us, and I'm sure I heard say "my thoughts exactly."

Oak Creek Ranch is located at the end of a small valley, nestled against the hills. In addition to having flat areas for the arenas, barn and pastures, we also have streams criss-crossing as they carry water from the hills on their journey down the valley. We were pleased with how well the streams carried the water away. Other than a deep pool of water where the driveway dips by the road, we didn't have excessive flooding. The drains had trouble keeping up but as the rain decreased in intensity this afternoon, the lakes and ponds and puddles all drained away.

We went to Tractor Supply after church and I bought Brett his birthday present: yellow slickers (pants and jacket) and new rain boots.

Flash may have an abcsess. He wasn't bearing weight on his right front this afternoon. I gave him some bute and he was moving better this evening. No swelling, no heat, no bounding pulse. When Brett checked on him at feeding time, Flash was able to walk over and chew on Brett's bumblebee attire.

This storm moves out tonight and next week is supposed to be overcast with a slight chance of rain starting Wednesday. It's a good start. Folsom Lake is up two feet -- only 98 more to go.