Summer Storms

I checked the radar just before heading home from the paying job last night and saw a huge storm headed right for Borderlands. I high-tailed it out of there and watched the storm drift to the north. Lucky for me, I only dealt with about six sprinkles.

After getting home and checking the radar again, I decided I’d better scurry out and get at least half of the chores done before the next storm blew through. Unfortunately, chores take me a lot longer to do these days. I grained all those that needed it and decided I’d head inside for a short break.

Had I known we were going to get drenched, I would have toughed it out and finished chores. As it was, we had only about 20 minutes before the first storm hit. I’m a bit paranoid about summer storms (about as paranoid as winter storms). The sky turned green but the clouds weren’t swirling (they were three miles to the west of us but I didn’t see those!) I decided I’d wait until after the storm to finish chores and hung out near the house just in case. Green sky means tornado. At least in my little world it does. Mike was happily playing in the red shed but I was as close to the house as I could get without being inside. I would have stood in the doorway if I thought I would have had a better view. Just as Mike was walking to the house, the first sprinkles started to fall so we headed in to watch what the weatherman had to say.

I think we missed out on the worst of the storm. The first wave went through without much commotion other than rain. Mike headed out to play with the new sprayer (that’s another story) but I decided I’d stay inside and watch the weather reports. I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of getting caught in another storm and it was still raining.

When the second wave finally passed and the birds started singing, I knew I had to get out and finish chores. It was still raining but a little bit of water wouldn’t melt me (just make me rust). We had water standing everywhere. I’m not exactly sure how much rain we got but it was enough to make little rivers in the driveway. When I went to throw hay, Maverick was the only one in the big herd standing outside. Brego and Ivan were in the new leanto at the bottom of the drylot and Dude, King, Rain, and Chaos were in the leanto off the barn. I left Bo, Zeke, and Jim in the barn to finish the last little bit of their grain. No sense in kicking them out only to stand in the rain. When Zeke realized it had rained, he wasn’t interested in going out and getting wet. He cracks me up. I think he’s as sensitive to the rain as Rain and Brego.

It rained hard enough to blow more paint chips off the hay barn. I had high hopes of scraping and painting that building this summer but that project has been bumped to next year. A few of our projects that I had hoped to work on this year have been bumped to next year. Mike is working on a project that will keep him busy for the rest of the week (I’ll tell you all about it later).

I always like May and June. Usually by the time I get out to do chores in the morning, the sky is light enough that I don’t have to do chores in the dark. I forget how spoiled I am during the summer months with less chores and more light. It makes me rethink sleeping in some mornings.

I’m not sure how much rain we got last night but hopefully it won’t be too muddy. We have to push another round bale in to the blind pen. I have noticed that Queen is going downhill again. She goes downhill every late spring. I need to get her out on grass soon. I’m thinking I’ll let her wander the lawn for a little while tonight (but I’ll keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get coli-y). It’s to be expected that she’ll start looking tough but it’s hard to watch. She’s getting beet pulp, grain, and free choice hay (no alfalfa right now because it gives her diarrhea). I’m hoping putting her out on grass and keeping her on beet pulp will help matters. She went through the same thing last year. I know it’s her age catching up to her but it’s still hard to watch. I know I can’t expect to keep her going for very much longer. I realize she’s at least 34 years old but I can’t bear the thought of losing her. Hopefully getting her out on pasture soon will help plump her back up (along with the beet pulp).

The weatherman is predicting more bad weather for tonight. Hopefully I can scurry home before the storms hit and get all my chores done right away. Guess this time I’ll just work through the exhaustion and aches and pains, and get everything taken care of before going in for a break.