Afternoon Deluge
I'm of two minds about the rain. When I was kayaking on a regular basis I would have this huge grin on my face when it rained: It meant the rivers were up, and big water was on its way.
This season has been terrible for the garden. Not enough sunlight. Not great for me, either: Not enough swimming.
But the fishing should be good... of course around about the time I have to buckle down and work and can't go. I went yesterday to Reiter Pond, and I could SEE steelhead in the water(so much for me thinking they were a myth), but they weren't biting and easily spooked.
I was up at 4AM this morning and met up with Beast on the Skykomish. It looked like a really good spot, but by the time we left there were about 30 people within sight and the only legal fish I saw landed was a small Chinook, (they were using eggs if you want to know). I saw two others get hooked, one 6" critter Beast got, and a small one across the river the guy threw back. Several trips this year and zero luck. Of course "everyone" is saying they're all gathered in the sound at the mouth of the rivers waiting for the levels to rise, and fishing will be HOT HOT HOT. Well, this afternoon gave them that. Gah.
I suppose I'm expecting too much, during the pink run last year I only caught one while everyone else limited out.
I got to see Jen's chickens. They're a bit younger than ours and just started laying. She has the same breed of reds that we do. I asked her what kind they were and she said they were Rhode Island. This is puzzling, the Rhode Island reds I'm used to seeing are easily twice the size of ours. R. I. Bantams? She has a couple barred rocks, too. Sweet girls.
S&M Blackberry Jam, Version 1.0.: It set alarmingly well. I considered using it to patch the roof. tasty in reasonable quantities with a lingering sour apple aftertaste. I think I'll try and go easier on the pectin next time.
The poor critters. I didn't make an appearance until 6:00, when I tromped out during the worst of the deluge. They didn't go out today, I figured they wouldn't want to; save for the ducks, who were PISSED when I showed up, man did they want out. They stood by the door and protested at full volume.
The pig's pen was inundated. The inside of her shelter looked more or less dry, but there's a low spot where water is probably lurking in one corner. She went berserk when I showed up, ear-splitting squealing. I figured she was just hungry. I found a relatively dry spot to dump her food, climbed into the pen, and dug a couple channels with my boot to help it drain better. I did this around the chicken coop as well.
The chickens' constant scratching keeps the topsoil fairly loose, so it was pretty sloppy in there as well. Half of the chickens were in the coop, the rest were scratching around outside like everything was normal, the soggy birds looked so pathetic and pleading: "Make it stop, please."
The goats were unusually quiet-or maybe it was just by comparison. They scarfed down their food and immediately retreated back under cover, making NO indication that they wanted to go out and graze.
Back to work. REALLY hoping for some sunlight.
Oh, and two of the people on my Friends' page are sick, and I'm sure there's more of you out there: TAKE YOUR VITAMINS, PEOPLE. We've got a loong winter ahead.
This season has been terrible for the garden. Not enough sunlight. Not great for me, either: Not enough swimming.
But the fishing should be good... of course around about the time I have to buckle down and work and can't go. I went yesterday to Reiter Pond, and I could SEE steelhead in the water(so much for me thinking they were a myth), but they weren't biting and easily spooked.
I was up at 4AM this morning and met up with Beast on the Skykomish. It looked like a really good spot, but by the time we left there were about 30 people within sight and the only legal fish I saw landed was a small Chinook, (they were using eggs if you want to know). I saw two others get hooked, one 6" critter Beast got, and a small one across the river the guy threw back. Several trips this year and zero luck. Of course "everyone" is saying they're all gathered in the sound at the mouth of the rivers waiting for the levels to rise, and fishing will be HOT HOT HOT. Well, this afternoon gave them that. Gah.
I suppose I'm expecting too much, during the pink run last year I only caught one while everyone else limited out.
I got to see Jen's chickens. They're a bit younger than ours and just started laying. She has the same breed of reds that we do. I asked her what kind they were and she said they were Rhode Island. This is puzzling, the Rhode Island reds I'm used to seeing are easily twice the size of ours. R. I. Bantams? She has a couple barred rocks, too. Sweet girls.
S&M Blackberry Jam, Version 1.0.: It set alarmingly well. I considered using it to patch the roof. tasty in reasonable quantities with a lingering sour apple aftertaste. I think I'll try and go easier on the pectin next time.
The poor critters. I didn't make an appearance until 6:00, when I tromped out during the worst of the deluge. They didn't go out today, I figured they wouldn't want to; save for the ducks, who were PISSED when I showed up, man did they want out. They stood by the door and protested at full volume.
The pig's pen was inundated. The inside of her shelter looked more or less dry, but there's a low spot where water is probably lurking in one corner. She went berserk when I showed up, ear-splitting squealing. I figured she was just hungry. I found a relatively dry spot to dump her food, climbed into the pen, and dug a couple channels with my boot to help it drain better. I did this around the chicken coop as well.
The chickens' constant scratching keeps the topsoil fairly loose, so it was pretty sloppy in there as well. Half of the chickens were in the coop, the rest were scratching around outside like everything was normal, the soggy birds looked so pathetic and pleading: "Make it stop, please."
The goats were unusually quiet-or maybe it was just by comparison. They scarfed down their food and immediately retreated back under cover, making NO indication that they wanted to go out and graze.
Back to work. REALLY hoping for some sunlight.
Oh, and two of the people on my Friends' page are sick, and I'm sure there's more of you out there: TAKE YOUR VITAMINS, PEOPLE. We've got a loong winter ahead.