I just checked for offical totals. Right now my area of arkansas has gotten a total of 7.25 inches of rain since the first of may. We are looking at, at least another week of scattered thunderstorms. It rained off and on all day today. Its suppose to keep going like that for at least another week.
The paper today said we haven't had that kind of rain levels in the month of may for 127 years. To put it in perspective. We average around 49 inches a year. By the time this is over we probably will have gotten a full ten inches this month alone. 49 inches works out to be about four inches a month each year. We will have gotten at least ten by the end of the month. Thats nearly a quarter of the years rain in one month.
The air is staying so heavy with water that right now I feel like you do when you get water up your nose in a swimming pool. The burning has stopped but I still fill like their is water in my sinuses. Thats how wet and humid everything is.
The closest thing to a flood I have seen in Arkansas, in my lifetime, was when I was in K-grade and we got like ten inches of snow in the north east corner complicated a week later by another 4 inches of rain. The flooding which was up to my fathers knee lasted all of about a week. It took a month to get the roads between where we lived and my grandparents reopened due to bridge washouts.
We haven't flooded like that yet. But, its getting bad. Crops are starting to suffer for some of the farmers. Even the rice fields don't know what to do with all this rain. We have a pretty good flooding system. We went down to lake Nimrod and the Nimrod dam Monday on our way back from Mt. Magazine. The flooding there seems under control. They had the flood gates open full blast and the water on the drier side still hadn't covered the rocks enough you couldn't walk across the river bed. Its whole purpose was to help control the flooding. There are three dams on that river that work to control flooding not to mention all the lock and dam's on the Arkansas. Hopefully they will be able to do their job.
But all this rain is going to move out just in time for the Spring thaw in the Rockies. The Arkansas starts up that way. Lets just hope our creeks down here have drained out enough that the Arkansas can handle the load when that water hits or my attempts at gardening and homesteading this year will be for nothing. We aren't in a flood plane, but we are in a flash flood plane. Gotta love it. Not
What I really want to know is how can my plants be withering from to much water while the weeds are growing so fast, I can't keep up with them in this weather?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Hubby had his first three day weekend this weekend. We took the kids up to Mount Magazine yesterday. Its the highest point in all of Arkansas. The view from the summit known as Signal point isn't as great as you would think it would be because of all the trees. But, they have put in a really nice stone map of arkansas. The views from the look out points were amazing though. We may go back at the end of june for the butterfly festival, I don't know.
Since he was home, Bear sat down and figured up all of our bills and how much he would bring home during a 40 hour week. The time with him will be nice. The lack of money won't. He is going to bring home about a hundred dollars less a month than we need. I am going to have to figure out how to bring our flexable bills down enough that we can keep doing everything we are doing.
The garden still has a couple of months before it really starts to put out anything. I harvested the lettuce but that won't last long. I still have a bit more I can harvest that wasn't quite ready yet. Without my pea's though, Its going to make it harder. I swear Im going to start planting in November. Ill get some of those gardening blanket things to cover the plants when its going to get below 25 but truth be told we probably only have about two weeks of scattered days that ever get that cold at night. Mainly at the end of January.
I just hope I can keep this writing course. It would suck to have to quit again because of money.
Since he was home, Bear sat down and figured up all of our bills and how much he would bring home during a 40 hour week. The time with him will be nice. The lack of money won't. He is going to bring home about a hundred dollars less a month than we need. I am going to have to figure out how to bring our flexable bills down enough that we can keep doing everything we are doing.
The garden still has a couple of months before it really starts to put out anything. I harvested the lettuce but that won't last long. I still have a bit more I can harvest that wasn't quite ready yet. Without my pea's though, Its going to make it harder. I swear Im going to start planting in November. Ill get some of those gardening blanket things to cover the plants when its going to get below 25 but truth be told we probably only have about two weeks of scattered days that ever get that cold at night. Mainly at the end of January.
I just hope I can keep this writing course. It would suck to have to quit again because of money.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Visit is over something wrong with my peas
Well, Luce finally came for a visit and has gone again. We had fun though I must admit, I'm glad to have my house back.
My peas came up and looked real pretty. They bloomed and everything, but they haven't produced any peas. The plants are starting to die and I don't know if its because of all the rain we have gotten in the last month or what.
Ive discovered that if you have a week straight of rain, chicken coops and runs can smell as bad as a pig pin. Now that its quit raining we put down fresh straw and it smells much better.
With Luce here we killed and cleaned one of the roosters. I can say with all certainty when plucking game hen roosters be very careful. You would be better off to skin it rather than try to pull the feathers off. One good yank and half the meat off the wing will come with it.
On a not so joyful but possibly just as interesting note, we don't really know if Hubby has survived the layoff or not. We know its almost over but they haven't told him if he is to be there on Monday or Tuesday. If he doesn't know in another half hour, that very well might mean that hes been layed off. I don't know what we will do if that happens. I can tell you this much. It put a damper on Luce's visit and sent my stress level through the roof.
My peas came up and looked real pretty. They bloomed and everything, but they haven't produced any peas. The plants are starting to die and I don't know if its because of all the rain we have gotten in the last month or what.
Ive discovered that if you have a week straight of rain, chicken coops and runs can smell as bad as a pig pin. Now that its quit raining we put down fresh straw and it smells much better.
With Luce here we killed and cleaned one of the roosters. I can say with all certainty when plucking game hen roosters be very careful. You would be better off to skin it rather than try to pull the feathers off. One good yank and half the meat off the wing will come with it.
On a not so joyful but possibly just as interesting note, we don't really know if Hubby has survived the layoff or not. We know its almost over but they haven't told him if he is to be there on Monday or Tuesday. If he doesn't know in another half hour, that very well might mean that hes been layed off. I don't know what we will do if that happens. I can tell you this much. It put a damper on Luce's visit and sent my stress level through the roof.
Friday, April 24, 2009
I have a clean house
Hubby went after Luci yesterday they should be here by about 1 am. My house is clean. I worked my butt off over the last week and the carpets didn't get, the problems with the house like the kids crayon that won't come off is still all over the walls, the holes in the walls are still there, but my house is clean. I have three loads of landry left. One in hamper, one in the washer and one in the dryer. Its a bit shocking to be caught up on that. I don't think I have been in over a year.
The rabbit cage came in after Hubby left and I had to put it together myself but they seem happier now than they were in what we were keeping them in. The puppies are starting to get along too. Now if I can just get my hands on some bees, I would be perfectly happy.
The Roosters were crowing a bit this morning they have been playing "King of the Mountain" on the water container the last few weeks, but the posturing was worse this morning. One of them even flew half way up the run, where I was standing and started attacking the wire fencing.
The only other thing going on is that today is my baby sisters birthday. I promised her a pair of socks and Im trying to learn to knit one sock inside the other so I can get hers done faster. Well that and Im afraid that Ill have the same problem with her socks im having with Neva's. Ill finish the first one and forget how many rows I knitted after adjusting the length of the leg.
The rabbit cage came in after Hubby left and I had to put it together myself but they seem happier now than they were in what we were keeping them in. The puppies are starting to get along too. Now if I can just get my hands on some bees, I would be perfectly happy.
The Roosters were crowing a bit this morning they have been playing "King of the Mountain" on the water container the last few weeks, but the posturing was worse this morning. One of them even flew half way up the run, where I was standing and started attacking the wire fencing.
The only other thing going on is that today is my baby sisters birthday. I promised her a pair of socks and Im trying to learn to knit one sock inside the other so I can get hers done faster. Well that and Im afraid that Ill have the same problem with her socks im having with Neva's. Ill finish the first one and forget how many rows I knitted after adjusting the length of the leg.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Well its finally happening
Falcon Jet closed two of its four plants in the US and they have pulled a lot of their subcontracts as well. Including most of what CAC did for them. We most likely are not getting the contract with the company out of St. Louis. So.... They let go of ten percent of their work force today. Lucky Hubby wasn't one of them, but you never know whats going to happen. Hes taking two days of his vacation. If he had been thinking he would have told the office that he would take Thursday as a vacation day and just take Friday off. Thursday will put him into overtime. But, he wasn't thinking. By the time he did think about it, it was too late to make the changes. So hopefully when he goes back to work on Monday, he will still have a job.
If not then I don't know what we are going to do but we will do something I'm sure. What we won't do is go crawling back to his old boss again. There is no way we can go back there again. For our own sanity we have to find something else.
On the Gardening front....... My lettuce looks like its finally getting close to being ready to pick. Another week or two and it should be good to go. The strawberries are putting out little berries, my peas are flowering and the corn is coming up. I planted several sunflower plants but so far only one of them has made an appearance that I can tell. I planted some tomato plants directly into the ground along with purple hull peas. They haven't made an appearance yet either, but hopefully they will soon. It won't matter much if the tomato's don't. I broke down and ordered the tomato trees. They may not work as well as I am hoping them will, but it was worth a shot.
If not then I don't know what we are going to do but we will do something I'm sure. What we won't do is go crawling back to his old boss again. There is no way we can go back there again. For our own sanity we have to find something else.
On the Gardening front....... My lettuce looks like its finally getting close to being ready to pick. Another week or two and it should be good to go. The strawberries are putting out little berries, my peas are flowering and the corn is coming up. I planted several sunflower plants but so far only one of them has made an appearance that I can tell. I planted some tomato plants directly into the ground along with purple hull peas. They haven't made an appearance yet either, but hopefully they will soon. It won't matter much if the tomato's don't. I broke down and ordered the tomato trees. They may not work as well as I am hoping them will, but it was worth a shot.
Busy Month
For some reason April always seems to be my busiest month. I never did get my sisters socks done. Lets be honest, I never even got started on them really and her birthday is Friday. Bear leaves to go pick up Luci Thursday. Hes flying up there Thursday afternoon and driving back Friday and Saturday. He says he will be here before we wake up Saturday morning, but with Luci's legs the way they are some how I doubt that. I expect to see them Saturday afternoon sometime.
I have a lot of stuff to do before Luci gets here and I'm not going to have the time to do it. Ive gotten a lot done, Everything has been cleaned and re-cleaned. I'm still trying to catch up on laundry, have to get the boys room clean, my room clean, the laundry room clean and some how figure out how to clean these nasty carpets without the rug shampooer. Bear and I forgot to get it, I spent too much money on puppy supplies and now I don't really have the money for the shampooer. So somewhere in all of this work I still have to do.... I have to figure out how to take care of everything while hes gone and scrub carpets by hand at the same time. For joy... for joy.
Puppy supplies... Gods what was I thinking. Bear has seemed sad here lately. With buddy gone I thought it would be nice to get him a friend to play with. So we got a mix between a chocolate lab and a Rottweiler puppy. This dog is going to be huge. Its mother alone was built like a house. I didn't get to see its father. But, Chocolate labs aren't exactly small dogs. So now I'm dealing with Bear trying to establish hes the alpha male. Wolf is the biggest of his litter of 12 so hes always felt like the alpha of his siblings. Its not exactly been pretty. But, its not been bad either. I'm making them both sleep outside. But, we got Wolf his own crate last night so now they can both sleep in their own crates. I have tie outs for them that will work till they get too big for your average tie out.
The thing is, if by some fluke chance we do get the 50 acres for sale down the road from us, and I can train Bear and Wolf to protect, herd, and simply do your basic obedience tricks..... Having these two will prove to be the best Idea I ever had. But, they are going to both have to learn to behave better first. I have to teach Wolf from scratch. Bear, well Bear I just need him to start listening better.
Brittney had her first real day of work at the country club with my sister Easter Sunday. She loved it. Shes applying to work at the pool side grill for the summer. She will most likely get the job. The people who will be interviewing her love her and at least one of the members said something nice about her. My baby is growing up. If she gets this job, she will be spending the summer with my mother and sister. It could be worse I suppose. It also gives her some experience so that if she decides to go to work for Ashley, she will have at least a little experience under her.
I have a lot of stuff to do before Luci gets here and I'm not going to have the time to do it. Ive gotten a lot done, Everything has been cleaned and re-cleaned. I'm still trying to catch up on laundry, have to get the boys room clean, my room clean, the laundry room clean and some how figure out how to clean these nasty carpets without the rug shampooer. Bear and I forgot to get it, I spent too much money on puppy supplies and now I don't really have the money for the shampooer. So somewhere in all of this work I still have to do.... I have to figure out how to take care of everything while hes gone and scrub carpets by hand at the same time. For joy... for joy.
Puppy supplies... Gods what was I thinking. Bear has seemed sad here lately. With buddy gone I thought it would be nice to get him a friend to play with. So we got a mix between a chocolate lab and a Rottweiler puppy. This dog is going to be huge. Its mother alone was built like a house. I didn't get to see its father. But, Chocolate labs aren't exactly small dogs. So now I'm dealing with Bear trying to establish hes the alpha male. Wolf is the biggest of his litter of 12 so hes always felt like the alpha of his siblings. Its not exactly been pretty. But, its not been bad either. I'm making them both sleep outside. But, we got Wolf his own crate last night so now they can both sleep in their own crates. I have tie outs for them that will work till they get too big for your average tie out.
The thing is, if by some fluke chance we do get the 50 acres for sale down the road from us, and I can train Bear and Wolf to protect, herd, and simply do your basic obedience tricks..... Having these two will prove to be the best Idea I ever had. But, they are going to both have to learn to behave better first. I have to teach Wolf from scratch. Bear, well Bear I just need him to start listening better.
Brittney had her first real day of work at the country club with my sister Easter Sunday. She loved it. Shes applying to work at the pool side grill for the summer. She will most likely get the job. The people who will be interviewing her love her and at least one of the members said something nice about her. My baby is growing up. If she gets this job, she will be spending the summer with my mother and sister. It could be worse I suppose. It also gives her some experience so that if she decides to go to work for Ashley, she will have at least a little experience under her.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Its a good day, good day
Hubby got called into the bosses office this morning and was given a dollar an hour raise. I don't think I have to worry about his getting laid off if there is a slow down. It makes my day even better. Im anxious to get started with this writing program. They are mailing it out today so I should have it sometime between the 20th and the 23rd.
The rabbits and chickens are growing. Ive about decided that instead of doing an actual colony, building large cages that will hold two or three rabbits at a time so that they have someone to play with and keep them company, but Im not sure yet. Its just so hard to make up my mind.
The rabbits and chickens are growing. Ive about decided that instead of doing an actual colony, building large cages that will hold two or three rabbits at a time so that they have someone to play with and keep them company, but Im not sure yet. Its just so hard to make up my mind.
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