The black clouds I noticed when I started to carry buckets of water to the barn in preparation for the milking yesterday morning, were not as frightening as the continual thunder. It sounded like a monster train running over a bump in the track not too far away. The thunder rolled again and again for the better part of an hour. Just getting louder.
When I walked back thirty minutes later with buckets of milk I saw this.
We all held our breath, even the cloud. And then it poured, and then it hailed. The camera was so disgusted it would not even take a shot. Of course The Matriarch in her house down the road got Nothing! The town to the North got nothing. Just us. It was not long. A good 10 – 15 minute downpour. I have no rain gauge at the moment. But when it turned to hail I turned to the kitchen and went inside.
The irony is that John who was working about 50 miles to the North was drenched by the same rain storm about 30 minutes previously. Rain then hail. He called me and said the rain is on its way. It just wanted John to know.
The birds played with much splashing merriment in the puddles for the rest of the day. And the water-barrels and drinking troughs are full again.
So we made a vegetable loaf from whatever we could find in the garden. With grated potato, fresh breadcrumbs and an egg to bind it.
Then my big camera completely stopped. Just stopped. I charged, nothing. I attempted to load from the card, nothing. Hopefully not a permanent problem. I have sent it to its room to think about its behaviour and got out the purse camera. 
So from now on, until I can work out what is wrong with the big camera, I will be shooting from the little camera with no options. Not even a focus option. Sigh. But there you are, that is the next challenge I suppose. And it is a good challenge because we should not depend on a ‘good’ camera to make good images. We should depend on Photo Shop!! (laughter!). No. We should depend on our eyes!
The first two shots are with the big old D70 Nikon. The third with the little point and shoot.
Good morning. The pump in the milking parlour is working OK now. Touch wood. I have rearranged the animals again, trying to avoid depleting my fields completely while still fattening the lamb and the steer. Daisy’s milk production is slowly going down as the fresh feed dries up. But there you are. Thankfully we are not pioneers with no freezer.
It certainly is not the worst drought ever felt in the mid west. Evidently in the 80’s it was much much worse. Other areas of the country are in a really bad state this time. Maybe they should cut hay. It is a rain magnet. But hopefully it will be quiet now.
celi
What happened on the farmy on this date a year ago?.. Honey!.
The Kitchen's Garden 
60 responses to “Rain, Hail, The Works!”
Good morning, and greetings to all. Just wanted to pop in and wave. Life is busy here; I’m surrounded by pallets of bricks, sand, hardcore, 2 diggers, and a flurry of men who would greatly benefit from wearing a belt to keep their jeans in a modest position.
what are you up to? oh dear i know about those jeans.. hmm.. c
Boy do we understand the hay rain magnet thing. Sometimes I feel like I would like to pick up the clouds and move them to JUST THE CORN OR BEAN FIELD PLEASE and leave the hay fields alone. Of course it doesn’t work that way. It rained on our hay, as you know. I neighbor waited to cut his hay until this week…yesterday and the day before it rained on his farm…missed ours all together and we could stand some rain.
Go figure.
rain has some kind of agenda, I am sure of it! c
Every year our neighbors cut their hay and within a day it rains. I hope the camera issue resolves itself with no complications. But you are right, photography starts with the eye, not the equipment. The challenge is to get the most of the equipment we have. 🙂
it is a good challenge too.. I will see what happens.. c
I would take the battery out of the camera for half an hour and clean the contacts – (camera and battery) with a clean cloth.
If that doesn’t work, there is a tiny reset button underneath the camera, see here:
http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9918/~/how-can-i-perform-a-full-factory-reset-on-the-d70%3F
Push it in with a paper clip or similar. I hope that fixes it 😉
Yup, cutting hay will bring the rain. Hopefully the hail did not damage anything on the Farmy like shingles or siding or windows. Just the Big Camera, apparently.
Water and earth are good companions whereas water and digital cameras don’t get along at all. Just dry it out gently and follow the Mad Dog’s advice. You can buy a very reasonably priced protection for the D70 (or any DSLR) called Camera Armour – http://www.amazon.com/Products-CA-1104-BLK-Camera-Armor-Digital/dp/B000LY1SGU. Check it out.
what an excellent idea, you know how grubby my camera gets! It has a hard life, i shall go and check it out.. thank you roger! c
Rain is good. Camera not working is bad. 🙂 😦
I was so pleased to read you had rain.. until I read it was hail. I was holding my breath too.. I was praying it wasn’t a twister, you get those there don’t you?? xx Smidge
Thank goodness I read the comments and saw that the hay was ok – I can’t believed it rained after all that! Still rain is good, right? 🙂
Glad you got some needed rain but too bad the timing was off. Sorry about your camera.
I, too, immediately thought of the hay! That sky looks like it could have delivered doom! I do hope the camera cooperates with you…WE need it! 🙂 Debra
Recycler SA is on the money… Mercury is retrograde… & the linky aberration could be why there are less likes & comments than usual. I experienced same. I saw today’s post title and uttered an involuntary “on no”… but all’s well enough. Last year’s post was “sweet”, and look at Mary’s cat 🙂
Just yesterday I was thinking how dependable my camera is. Sorry to hear yours has adopted an attitude. I hope it gets over it. Sorry to hear of the rain, and hail on top of it; hoping for sunshine and a nice breeze to dry your field.
Personally, anything above 72 degrees is getting out of my comfortable zone.
Isn’t it fun to watch the birds and animals splash around after a long dry spell? Hope the hay is gathered and stored easily!