MORE Rain is Raining All Around! (Wednesday, Mar. 9)

We woke up Wednesday to more rain pouring down on us.  Looking out the glass doors in the living room, we could see the pond spilling over (the stream of water visible beyond the cedar trees in the center of the picture).  We could also see how swollen the creek was coming in from the hunting preserve (the stream of water to the right of the giant oak).  The flow of water rushing through the Lower Pasture (going off the left side of the picture) had increased and flooded through the fence, completely drowning the road and strip of grass next to the road.

This picture shows the middle part of the Lower Pasture with water pouring down from the woods near the run-in shed, the real creek spreading across the pasture, and a new "creek" running along the fence.  Later this summer, we'll want to put some electric fencing around that strip of grass because it's always the lushest and greenest, thanks to all the extra water it gets.

We had to get out on the roads to run some errands, and I took this picture of the Lower Pasture from the front of our property as we drove out.  Note the creek running diagonally across the pasture and the water standing on Kara's road.  You can see the actual fence line running back from the large H wooden posts. All the extra metal fence posts to the left are enclosing our little orchard trees in wire cages to protect them from deer.  They're getting plenty of water, but, fortunately, not flooding.

The state of our poor barnyard shows that we really need to get gutters on the barn roof and feed them into some sort of reservoir.  That's a future project!  Meanwhile, the animals have to wade through Lake Barnyard to get under shelter, but at least they can stay high and dry.

On our way home, I shot this picture of a pasture on the main road between home and Chattanooga.  Normally there are cattle and horses grazing this pasture . . .

. . . but most of them have taken refuge on higher ground, although several of them were marooned on a tiny "island" just big enough to hold a soggy round bale.  Every time I drive by this place and see the cattle wandering in among the diesel equipment, stacks of tires and junked cars, I think, "You are what you eat!"  It makes me glad that we'll be raising our own grass-fed beef.  I've been told the owner of these cattle butchers them for his own use, but they could just as easily go to auction and end up in a grocery store.  Who would ever know what they had been eating?
And after today, our total rainfall for four days is 6.65"!  That puts us "in the black" for the year!