December 19, 2016

Hey! Watch out!


Found in 40 degree weather in mid December. A bit slow to move, but understandably mad when he got stepped on by a dog. No strike, just a warning.

December 17, 2016

The weather this morning


We are at the edge of the Polar Vortex which is keeping most of the nation in its grip right now. This means a lot of wind at the WD, a usual phenomenon in the desert but one we never seem to quite get used to.

Rain had been in the forecast for last night, but when we got up this morning it was just dark and very  windy. I fed all the animals, took the dogs (we have The SisTas here for about a month) to relieve themselves and we no sooner had made it back home when the rain finally hit. It pelted against the bathroom window during my ablutions. I thought I heard an additional noise but discarded it.

Then, suddenly, no water pressure! Controlling panic ... having learned from scuba diving: when something goes wrong: Stop, Breathe, Think, then Act. It still being pitch black and now pouring, Dan  drove to the pump house to check the pump: it was running.

Next step: if there is water at the pump house, where is it the leak? Investigation around the place revealed that the garden gate had blown over and water had been pouring out of both water pipes that had been attached to the gate until the water tanks ran dry. The gate had fallen onto the garden shutoff valve so all outside water had to be shut off until we could move the gate. But, we had water at the house.


It took awhile to get light so we could lift the gate and turn water back on for the horses. They will be staying in their stalls and out of the weather today with a little extra hay, while we and the dogs are cozily inside. As long as we have power, and water, life is good. Hint: never have a faucet without a shutoff valve.