Farm Photo 3/19/08: Flood Watch

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12997259.post-10589415191066907492008-03-19T12:16:00.009-05:002009-04-23T21:28:26.652-05:00Farm Photo 3/19/08: Flood Watch<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h2EzbV4lTjA/R-FJIeZjwRI/AAAAAAAAA40/aSSZ7aaZvMU/s1600-h/Copy+of+creek+as+river+and+barn.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179501456400826642" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 2px;" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_h2EzbV4lTjA/R-FJIeZjwRI/AAAAAAAAA40/aSSZ7aaZvMU/s400/Copy+of+creek+as+river+and+barn.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div align="justify">No Crossing Zone Many of you know about our <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20wet%20weather%20creek">wet weather creek</a> that starts meandering through the farm after a heavy rain or big <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/snow%20photos">snow melt</a>. Well yesterday that pleasant little stream quickly became a raging, unpassable torrent. The rain, which continued throughout the night, has finally let up (and now there's light snow predicted), but the creek won't crest and begin to recede for several more hours. The fields are flooding, and the barnyard is pretty much under water. After driving a truck full of hay over to <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20barn">the barn</a> while we could still get across yesterday, we worked in the pouring rain doing what we could to divert some of the several mini rivers that were rushing down <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20ridge%20above%20the%20farm">the hillside</a> and into the barnyard. Joe managed to dig out a drainage runoff trench that was already overflowing, and in lieu of sandbags we packed handfuls of wet leaves around a large tree limb in one spot, but the water simply went around it. At one time there were 40 homes down here in <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/farm%20landscape%20photos">our little valley</a>, and over the years all of them flooded except for The Shack. The <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007/12/building-our-bread-bakery-recipe.html">new building</a> we plan to move into is located just across the farmyard on one of the only other spots that hasn't been under water at some point in the last 70 years. So we're safe and dry, but we haven't been able to get over to the barn - which is full of <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/lambing%20season%202008">two dozen extremely pregnant sheep</a> - since 4:00 yesterday afternoon. The <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/07/tail-of-donkey-his-ratty-blue-halter.html">donkey peddling cowboy</a> will be here soon to check on the girls and feed everyone hay. Cell phones don't work down here, so we'll have to shout to each other across and over the sound of the rushing water. Until then there's nothing to do but wait, wonder, watch, and worry. Want to see what the creek normally looks like? 3/18/06: <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/03/daily-farm-photo-31806.html">Meandering By The House Exactly Two Years Ago</a> 3/26/06: <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/03/weekend-dog-blogging-27.html">The Bigger The Water Dish, The Happier The Dog</a> 5/15/06: <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/05/daily-farm-photo-51506.html">Sheep Crossing</a> 1/15/07: <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007/01/farm-photo-11507.html">Running Water, Rubber Boots, & Mud</a> (This is looking across the water toward where I was standing when I took today's photo; that's the same little clump of cedar trees, and those bare trees on the rocky beach are the ones now midstream.) 1/19/07: <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2007/01/farm-photo-11907.html">Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, Life Is But A Stream</a> 2/25/08: <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2008/02/farm-photo-22508-rare-winter-sight.html">A Rare Winter Sight - And Geese!</a> © Copyright 2008 <a href="http://farmgirlfare.com/">FarmgirlFare.com</a>, the award-winning blog where some days it's more obvious than others that Mother Nature is the one in control around here - and <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/search/label/donkeys">the donkeys</a> are safe but <a href="http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2006/04/weekend-dog-donkey-blogging-32.html">soggy</a>.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12997259-1058941519106690749?l=foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com'/></div>Farmgirl Susanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04851855517852917202farmgirlfare@gmail.com31