In the last 24 hours we have had hours of heavy rain accompanied by the roar of black thunder so loud and continuous that it became a white noise.
Lightning painted the sky in an installation of streaks again and again and again for the whole night. We have had tornado watches, flood warnings and deeply silent farm animals all in the space of one not too sleepy night.
At last, after a watchful night, we are close to dawn, and the rain has abated to a gentler flow, allowing the sounds of insects and early morning birds to begin. 
Before I go off to work I will lock the cows up on the concrete pad. The meat chickens have a good cover but we will still need to be mindful of deep puddles as they are pulled through the grass
The day before yesterday the farmers spread a great amount of organic chicken manure onto our fields and tilled it in. ( it was unbelievably stinky). Very soon now they will plant the red clover cover crop then the Turkey Red wheat straight into that. Hopefully the rain will abate long enough for this to happen before winter starts to awake and cast her eye about. 
How many times so far this season have I started a blog post with the words – soaked.
I am thinking we will be getting a lot of snow this winter. Already I am working on bringing Aunty Del’s milk production down so we can dry her up by Christmas. Milking through this winter won’t work for a number of reasons. The pump is on it’s last legs and I will not have time to carry it through the snow. And co-worker has already announced that he will not milk in the winter. So I have devised a plan.
Time to get to work.
What are you doing with your weekend?
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
37 responses to “SOAKED”
have sent in a couple comments about the mama duck , but don’t see it posting in the email. where is my comment?
I don’t know – but I answer them every time
No ducklings sadly -the eggs were not viable – so sorry
We finally got a paltry 15mm of gentle soaking rain all in one day this week. We need 10X that much to alleviate the drought conditions, but it’s a start. No rain in the foreseeable future, though, so if you could send yours our way we would appreciate it! xx
Your photos especially the clouds are simply stunning…hope all is well with you and your farm with not too much damage.
No damage – just rain
A break in the rain today, rain yesterday and predicted from Sunday through most of the week. Not nearly as ferocious as what you’ve been getting! I’m feeling quite pleased with myself, I spent much of the day climbing up and down ladders. First to clean the eave trough on the garage – trees were growing in there! – then to climb up and clean the wood stove’s chimney AND clean out the wood stove. Two of my least favorite jobs ever and no, I do not like heights! I almost prefer wrestling the tire off the skid steer for repair, that’s on the ticket for tomorrow.
Hello from super dry Southern Highlands of NSW ! Two days of showers in more than half a year! At ;east we are not amongst the half dozen towns in the north of the State which stand to have no drinking water by Christmas. And most of the 160 bushfires during our first week of spring have died down. What will happen towards summer !? That said your clouds are picturesque to watch but I would not enjoy the thunderstorms: how many houses are struck and people hurt each time ? Totally off topic: hope you got the Tasmanian Farm Letter I sent you – the owners are growing a new breed of meat AND egg chickens (about 300 pa of the latter) . . . very similar diet to what yours get but, of all things, they add turmeric and fermented milk products to the food mix . . .
I have never heard of lightning striking a person out here. Yes. Mine eat home made yoghurt every day. You can’t have meat and laying chickens unless you are happy to eat old chicken. I like mine young. Meat chickens have a totally different diet to layers. All the meat chickens will eventually grow to be layers but we fatten them and eat them before they become old enough to lay.
There are many dual purpose chickens in the market but good layers are often skinny old birds.
Never having brought up farm animals I only know what I read and see on all the shows on TV. I watch quite a few Lifestyle channels on pay-TV. This Tasmanian bred variety got 1/2 hour of show-time 🙂 ! Bred from two international kinds from different countries : again one local facet to help fight against climate change . . . interesting to me tho’ understand your point re young meat. In Australia there are more than a few reported deaths from lightning every year and the storm warning from BOM always reminds people not only to avoid being outdoors but never near windows or touching doors. Deaths oft occur by the many trees falling atop cars, parked or driving, hurting or killing anyone inside. A Sydney thunderstorm often has 1500-4000 air>ground strikes but the Illinois ones look worse . . .
OH but I miss proper thunderstorms !
These are pretty proper – and loud!
Just 200+ miles south it’s been thick and close, itchy- nosey too, headache weather. My Dear’s moonflowers like it though. They smile at us through the window in the early evening.
Moon flowers? I have never seen them.
Just 200+ miles south it’s been thick and close, itchy- nosey too, headache weather. No rain, but it feels like it, wet everywhere, and hot.. My Dear’s moonflowers like it though. They smile at us through the window in the early evening.
I thought you felt familiar before you were. 200+ miles south of Cecilia is ancestry land for me. Uncles and cousins and on back generations.
Yep, we’re in the neighborhood, though relative newcomers–only 78 yrs.
It was my birthday weekend and my husband had arranged for the kids to spend it at his parents, so I got to sleep extra, drink coffee in quiet, sow carrots (my favorite birthday tradition), and he had made reservations for dinner and a play 🙂 it was the best weekend I’ve had in… years, perhaps.
Great ominous images!
Regards Thom
Wow, those clouds look so heavy that they could drop from the sky. Here in NZ as no doubt you know we too are getting sick of the rain. Somehow I think that if we are getting deluged the you shouldn’t be, but I guess wetness is I abundance right now for us both.