Dodging The Bullet!

Wow, did we ever get a big break last night. A wicked storm rolled thru here and according to reports KFVS12, and WSIL3, we had a tornado last night. The pictures came from WSILs facebook. The affected area is just 15 miles as the crow flies to the southeast of me. So far, from what I can see right around the barn lot, all we got was a couple dead branches down and that crappy old barn lost a little more roofing.

Now, here it is, February, not even close to the normal tornado activity time of the year and now there's 40 houses damaged, the power is out to a large section of the county, several local businesses are damaged including ones that provide food for the area. If you are a "prepper", this will not affect you. Most people only have 3 days worth of food in their homes and no source of water other than the faucet. No power, no water coming out of the faucet and all that preprepared, frozen food is going to go bad. Hmmm, seems like a no brainer to at least be a little emergency prepared, doesn't it?

Soggy Monday

It stormed yesterday with another round coming in at 4am and then again at noon. We're standing in water, again. 5" Sunday and another 1.3" today in the rain gauge. I won't be getting much done today around the farm. It's sunny now and I slopped out to take a couple pictures of the exploding growth in the garden but it all looks drown and kind of wilty so I passed on it. On my way back, a male Cardinal was chirping away in what's left of my red potatoes (thanks so much Lucky goat). I've loved Cardinals for as long as I can remember and they were my Grandmothers favorite bird as well. Wish I could share this beauty with her.

Tomorrow is the pre-op for the hubsters medical procedure and then Wednesday is hopefully the day we find out exactly what is wrong with his insides. The mortgage and the tax bill don't care that he's ill so we're getting a bit anxious to heal him up. Plus, he's driving me crazy here, laying on the couch 24/7 ;) So, the next couple of days won't be good for anything getting done around the farm. Between the medical stuff and all the water, I'm a wreck.

Thunder Boomers

Okay, blogger cooperated today so here it is, the big tree laying in the yard. Lightning blew that poor thing right in half. It was a really nice tree too, a darn shame. Hubster and the boy spent about 2 hours cutting on it, got all the branches cut off and piled up and part of the main section cut for firewood. It's still a mess and a work in progress. As hot as it's been, it's going to stay that way for a little while.

We've got between 10% and 30% chance of rain this week but I went ahead and cut hay anyway. I got 12 acres cut before a keeper broke loose. I did my best to straighten it and put it back together but the stress on the injured part was too much and I ended up spending $15 on parts this morning. Not a stitch of shade out there so the repair is going to wait until I get done on the internet ;)

The boy and I ate the first of the cucumbers last night as a snack. We make a sour cream, onion and dill mix and dice the cucumbers into it. Now that's a piece of heaven! We never get tired of eating it and I'm looking forward to a whole summer of cucumber salads :) Our first zucchini is in the fridge waiting to be made into a sweet bread. Tomatoes are teasing me, still a light orange red, just not quite ready to go. The ducks and chickens killed my melons so a replant is in order for sometime this week. I will put those row covers on the replant to protect them. Darn critters, LOL.

Last nights bath was one I honestly have to say I did not miss the hot water tank for. The cold water was truly a blessing after a whole day of pouring sweat in the hay field. Tonights bath will be the same way.

I'm thinking of planting the second round of cornmeal corn. I might get around to tilling the spot up in between the 2 bean spots tonight or tomorrow night. It will be a late September harvest, just perfect. Hopefully i can fit everything I want to get done in......

Holy Cow!

Where's Noah's Ark when you need it? It's been raining since around 8:30 this evening and yes, it's 1am now here in southern Illinois... I was kind of half asleep on the couch when a nice bolt of lightning brought me back to reality. I suddenly realized it was pouring rain. Not really a big thing, it rains all the time. But wait, who is out in that make shift pen I built the other day???? The goats are out in the rain. What's the big deal about that you ask, it's just rain after all... I decided I better go check on them and maybe put them in the barn. Good thing I did because there is so much standing water in the paddock area that the baby goats were very close to swimming. I knew they were in trouble when I hit the north side of the driveway and stepped off into water mid shin deep. Just great, my only pair of shoes are now soaked. I stepped off the driveway and into the grass and sank in the mud another 6". Now I'm knee deep in mud and water, it's pouring rain and the goats are very ready to head for the barn. No worse for wear, they got some alfalfa hay and a little feed to warm them up. Now, how am I gonna get all that mud out of my shoes???