As Expected, Or Not

With her usual evil timing, Nature waited until I stepped out the door for morning chores to start dropping water on my head yesterday.  This time I was ready for her and had put on a heavy jacket and a beanie.  I was prepared, but the goats were not.  They never are and they never like rain.  There was a lot of grumbling as I turned them out into the pen, and no hesitation at all when it was their turn on the stand.  In fact, they were banging on the door to be let in.  Even though we're due for several days of rain, it is too early in the season to nail the covers on the window openings.  The girls are in and protected, and the temps are not dropping far at night yet.

I'd been invited to lunch by my friend Harold, who lives down on the outskirts of Plymouth.  It was raining pretty good by the time I left the house and I crossed my fingers, half expecting the new wipers to fly off.  Ta da!  They stayed on and did a great job of cleaning the glass.  Harold likes a captive audience and usually opts for somewhere farther away in Jackson or Martel, but the weather being what it was, we went to a Mexican restaurant in Plymouth.  Chili verde hit the spot.

As expected, rain had put the deer on the move and I had to brake several times to let them cross the road, usually in pairs.  It doesn't pay to see one and keep going because there's usually another in the underbrush waiting to follow.  The road in the hills was fairly slick due to pine needles, thick enough in places to pile in drifts.

At sundown (had to guess on that one as no sun had been seen all day), the girls were more than ready to go to their rooms.  A large puddle had formed in front of the gate into the barn and after they were tucked in, I had to dig a trench to let it drain.  Once again I cursed our ignorance in building the barn at the bottom of the hill.  I'm always on the lookout for leaks in the barn roof.  So far, so good on that score.

What I did not expect was a leak in the feed barn, discovered when I went in to get a nighttime treat for the hens.  Water on the floor, water standing on the shelves, water pouring in a stream from a rafter.  Aarrgh!  Nearly dark, there was nothing to be done about it then but put a bucket under the waterfall and hope for the best.  I'm not sure how I'll deal with it today.  Another of life's little challenges.

After dark, back in the house and warmed by cats and dog on my lap, it came as no surprise to hear tapping at the windows.  It had rained enough during the day to bring out the rain beetles from their underground burrows where they live most of their lives.  Evidently they have only a day or two above ground to mate and lay their eggs.  They are big and clumsy, and Ralph is fascinated by their banging around and whirring and he runs after them from room to room.

It is raining again as I write this morning.  I expect today to be a rerun of yesterday.