NOAH?

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Last night the rain began around 10 pm and stopped around 6 o’clock this morning.  Rick and I looked outside at the rain gauge and could not find the red marker that indicates the amount of rainfall. Upon closer investigation the marker was up to the top and water was flowing over.  We received more then six inches of rain in less then six hours. Our pond is full, higher then I have ever seen before.

The bridge is raised up and aver. Notice the trees and
debris clogging the culvert on the right side of the bridge.

The force of so much rain in such a short period of time left areas familiar to me unrecognizable. Rick and I took a three hour tour on the four wheeler and surveyed the damage surrounding our farm.  Roads were been completely washed away.  Bridges were destroyed, and more incredibly, moved and raised several inches.  Farmer’s fields were underwater. We fear more rain could wash out the last road we have to get in or out of our area.  Our pond could over flow and wash away its berm. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) website shows more rain headed our way over the next few days.

Monday June 20, 2011

Rick in the 4- wheeler crossing
a washed out area of our road.

I heard on the radio this morning a list of the roads that are impassable.  All of the roads are in our township and the immediate surrounding area.  It was slow going out of our little back woods but I made it.  We experienced a few hard down pours during the day but nothing like Saturday night.  It was mostly overcast.

Tuesday June 21, 2011
 By evening last night the clouds were rolling in again and sometime after midnight it began to storm.  Lightening lit up the bedroom and thunder sent the dogs to the windowless bathroom down the hall.  The gauge shows 1 ½ more inches of rain.  The road I have been traveling to get to the highway is even more washed out with trenches twelve inches wide and deep.  Any more rain and I will begin to worry.  Rick tells me there is a tornado watch and NOAA reports conditions are such that it is difficult to predict exact areas at higher risk. 

The water wash this
road completely away.

Before dinner I took the dogs for a walk to see if any work had been done on Rag Hallow Road.  A small area had been graded but my guess is that the township or county is going to bring in some heavy equipment, rock and gravel to re-establish the road. And with the prediction of more rain, it would make sense to wait.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

I woke to the sound of rain on the window. I pulled the fan out and closed the windows on the east side of the house. Luckily, it is not a torrential down pour.  NOAA is stating there is an 80 percent chance of thunderstorms through tomorrow night.

Last fall we placed a fallen tree at the edge of the pond.  I had read that this simple act will help attract birds and turtles and other creatures. And it did…as I have written before, we have had several pairs of mallard and wood ducks. This tree is now floating in the middle of the pond.

As I look out to the rain gauge this morning I see the garden is over grown.  The vegetables and berries are growing well but so are the weeds. I guess that is how my week end will be spent: weeding.

I can't imagine this corn is salvagable.

As I reflect on the weather and the amount of time Rick and I have spent watching, talking and trying to predict what will happen next, I realize I never did this before moving to the country. When I lived in the suburbs, I watched for tornadoes when the conditions where right. I was concerned about lightening if the girls had a softball game. And I needed to be aware of snow storms to see where and if I was going to see my patients.  But I realize the relationship I have with Mother Nature is so much more intimate now. Our very well being is directly related to the temperature, wind and storms.  When Rick and I went out to survey the damage, we notice we are not the only ones. On Sunday many people were out on their tractors, 4 wheelers and trucks. Some of us needed to know how we might get out of the valley; some people were checking their fences or cattle and some were assessing the damage to their crops.  We all stopped to share a few words of encouragement and awe. They say we get these kinds of rains every 100 years. We have had three in the last five.

NOAA?  NOAH?





Small Things

Very powerful things come in the tiniest of packages. An engagement ring, a word, the building blocks of life, a gnat.  A gnat?  Yes, gnat.  This past week we have had an infestation of buffalo gnats.  They focused their activity in the chicken coop area, killing 8 of the Cornish rocks and 4 of our layers.  It was horrible. Who would have thought something so small could do so much harm? 
According to //www.asktheexterminator.com/Gnats/Buffalo_Gnats.shtml the female biting or buffalo gnat has teeth that pierce the skin of humans and animals to draw blood. “The buffalo gnat, also known as the black fly or turkey gnat, is a tiny creature that measures no more than 5 mm. Even though it is called the black fly, it may also be gray, brown, or even some shades of orange. It has a humpback, which is how its name originated. The buffalo gnat has clear wings, big eyes, and antennae with eleven segments."

 Courtesy of asktheexterminator.com 

One afternoon Rick went out to the coop and was bombarded by a swarm of thousands of the gnats. The poor chickens were huddled in a corner of the building trying to get away from the insects. We think the cause of death was from a combination of the gnat bites, not eating or drinking and the stress.

Several farms in our area had similar situations and Rick found a comment board on the internet with many suggestions about how to eradicate the problem.  What we ended up doing was mulitfaceted. First, Rick put a box fan inside the coop.  The wind kept some of the insects from landing.  

Second, we hung fly tape in the coop. It comes in a cardboard tube about 2 inches long and ½ inch in diameter. The top is pulled off and the tape unwinds. The tape is hung from one end with the cardboard tube hanging down to straighten the coiled tape. After figuring out how to work this 50 cent contraption, Rick and I were prepared to do battle. My gallant husband covered his nose and mouth, donned his hat and headed into the coop. I stood outside waving my arms around trying to hold my breath. I would see his hand stick out the door and it was my cue to hand him the prepared roll so he could quickly hang it inside.  Once, Rick handed back a cardboard roll with glue tape but it broke and Rick could not hang it. After handing him a new one, I decided the glue on the tape was still good and I began to wave it around my face and head. It worked for a minute or two, minimizing the gnats until…the tape caught my hair.  UGH. It was so disgusting! Glue, dead gnats, live gnats. I panicked and pulled very hard to get it out of my hair. As I saw Rick still holding his breath franticly waving his hand for the last good roll I yanked a clump of hair, glue and bugs from my head. I tossed Rick the fly tape and went in search of a bottle of Goo Gone.

Interestingly, Rick read on line that the gnats do not like vanilla. He went to the auto section of our local Wal-mart and purchased a box of car air fresheners. He hung about a dozen next to the 8 sticky tapes. We have the best smelling chicken coop, and some of the most relaxed chickens for miles

Death and life.  Even smaller then the gnats are the cells required for mammals to create life.  Our Toby sired 11 puppies with Maisie.  They were born June 4^th and 5^th. I guess it takes 2 days to give birth to that many puppies.  Ande and I went to see the precious delivery (ies) this week. Maisie is a good mom and the babies are growing quickly. Their ears and eyes are still closed but their sense of smell is working well.

As there are so many, the owners of Maisie have half the puppies in a tote like box with a heating pad and the others are with mom. They are then rotated every 2-3 hours. The family takes shifts staying with Maisie around the clock. A common cause of death for puppies is that the mom can roll over and squish them.



Only half the pups with mama.
 Notice the puppy by Maisie's back legs.



I learned quite a bit about canine motherhood, and I had the most fun just sitting and watching Maisie do what comes naturally. 

Enjoy the pictures. 

Faith and Grace holding bundles of joy.
(Each girl is holding one puppy.)

Ande and sleeping beauty.

 

Nursing 12 puppies is hard work....
even if it is only 6 at a time.





Awe....



Rare Family Vacation



My Mom and Aunt Patsy
We miss Aunt Nori very much.



When a family lives on a farm time away together is rare.  This past weekend my extended family celebrated a family reunion and the life of my Aunt Nori who passed away last year. 

It takes time and money to plan time away. Dogs need to be boarded; someone needs to feed the chickens and cats.  Weeding, watering, snow plowing, mowing, planting, keeping pipes from freezing, painting, pruning, canning, and on and on. For these reasons Rick and I don’t usually leave home at the same time. We only go to our parent’s for Christmas when there aren’t as many chores to be done. 

For this special occasion we managed to all get away for the weekend. We arrived in the Dells at different times: Leander and I on Friday, Maggie arrived on Sat morning and Rick on Saturday afternoon. We arranged for one of Leander’s friends to let the dogs out Saturday night and Sunday morning. Rick fed and watered the cats and chickens before he left and Kenzie just had to put everyone in for the night.  Our neighbor across the street kept an eye on the place for us. 

The reunion was awesome! I hadn’t seen many of my cousins in years.  As my sister Cathy said, “How did everyone grow up and I stayed the same age?”  It seems only yesterday that we had our first family reunion when Leander, Claudia, Matthew and Kevin weren’t even a year old.  Now they are getting their drivers licenses and thinking about college. 

Ande, Maggie, Aunt Patsy, Jan and Gloria
I think that is David on guitar behind Ande.

We have several musicians in the family and they brought instruments and amplifiers. After dinner and a beautiful tribute to Aunt Nori on Saturday night, the “boys” began to play. Every so often someone would get up to sing. Primarily, my brother Chris, daughter Maggie and my cousin’s son, David sang and of course we all sang along when we knew the words.  Leander and Maggie performed a beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace. I even got up and sang with Maggie- John Cougar’s Pink Houses.  We forgot a verse but Chris kept us on task.   I don’t sing well but had the greatest time.

Another first was playing at the water park.  I have never been to the Dells and I have vertigo and a fear of heights, but I was bound and determined to overcome my anxiety.  I started very slow by simply meandering on the Lazy River assessing all of the water slides. I began at kiddie slide with Leander, Maddie and Ellie cheering me on.  Leander was very supportive and helped me pick a big slide to try. She grabbed a two person inner-tube and we walked up the many, many, many stairs.  We decided on the Emerald River. I carefully got onto the tube behind Leander- my legs under her arms. I begged her to not push us out of the shoot too fast. But we got stuck and the young man monitoring the ride pushed us down the slide!  We turned left and right, went up and dropped down.   I have no memory of saying anything but Leander swears I pulled up my legs up and said, “I can’t do this.”  Where would I go? There’s no way out.  Surely if people died they wouldn’t have this ride.  As we splashed into the wading pool at the end I could not stop smiling, it was a blast.  I am so glad I did it. 

I was happy to get back to the farm and to my own bed. But I miss everyone. We set up a Facebook page and I am spending a lot of time checking for new photos and updates.

Back to feeding the chickens, weeding the garden and mowing the lawn.

We clean up pretty nice for counrty folk!