We've been gone. Over the mountains and far away to visit our sons and their families. Of course the best part of this is seeing our grandchildren there. It was very hot in eastern Washington and we were re-routed on our 6 hour drive there by the complete closing down of the freeway near the Columbia River because there was a raging wild fire burning on both sides of the freeway near Vantage, WA. We saw the charred remains of many fires alongside the freeways on both sides of the mountains and watched yet again fire-fighting being waged on another very big wild fire burning near our home there. ( Just over the mountain ridge.) All is well.
We returned home to parched gardens. A parched lawn, a parched orchard, and a parched pond. In the picture above you can see our small dinghy
not floating in the pond. If it were actually in the pond it would be stuck in mud. Our pond is naturally filled with water by underground springs and rain. This is only the second time in all the years we've lived here the water level has been so low, and it is much lower today than when this picture was taken a few days ago.
There is a very big plus for us with the water drying up in the pond. Within the next few days we should be able to walk on the pond bottom without sinking into mud and finally clear out the fallen branches, logs, and debris the winter and early spring storms left behind. We'll also be able to walk across the pond bottom to the island and haul the storm-fall off without needing the dinghy .
The work crew ( husband & 2 grandsons ) cut up and stacked a lot of storm-fall on the island in Cedar Pond needing to be hauled to the fire pit to be burned later on this autumn when the burn bans are lifted. I think we'll make a big deal of this and have s'mores and hot coco by the camp fire. After a spring and summer of record breaking high temps and little rainfall I am looking forward to pouring rains , wearing jackets because I NEED them , mud boots , and a pond full to overflowing.
13 comments:
Good Morning Kathy. We have been watching the fires on the evening news and praying for the victims and firefighters. This is a great photo of your husband with the two grandsons. It is an excellent time to clean up while the pond is so dry. Like you, I am looking forward to cooler days and nice rain.
I am so glad to see another post from you and to read that all is well with your home away from home.
Great picture of your hubby and grandsons.
Cooler weather will be so welcome and I am really looking forward to it. For us down here though, it probably won't happen until the end of Oct. the beginning of Nov.
Enjoy being back home and looking forward to good times burning wood and having s'mores and hot chocolate when the weather turns chilly. Aaaaahhhh!
FlowerLady
Great attitude to make the most of clearing out...your pond will once again be beautiful!
What a beautiful family! What a beautiful life you have. Southern California is burning up in the heat and we cannot water our lawns..but twice a week and the lawn is dying. It's sad.
Well dear friend, I am happy that you didn't have any damage from the fires! Have a blessed day and I hope the pond fills up soon:) HUGS!
I love that pic of your hubby and grandkids! We are very dry here as well. A lot of my veggies have faired poorly because I have to conserve our well water. The animals getting watered has priority over the plants! :)
Oh boy...so your drive was during that fire that closed I-90. My daughter in law's parent's vacation home is in that area and you have to take the exit that was closed to get to their place. That was quite the re-route...
Glad you can take care of the pond and island. Wasn't that rain last evening nice?
We read about the detour, so sorry you were caught in it. Isn't it amazing how dry we are here in PNW? And it's the same through my area on the Olympic Peninsula, and all the way into Alaska where we were in June...NOAA says all the way to next fall, which is not good! Glad you have lots of handsome helpers!
Ruth
It looks like you have two strong helpers for your husband as you clear the wood. It will be nice to have it all out of there for the spring to fill in a clear pond.
After reading Ruth's comment I sure hope your drought doesn't last that long! I can see by the bank how low your pond is and the trees must really be suffering.
We went through a period like this in the late 90s and many trees declined from the stress of heat and lack of water.
Then for some reason things changed and we started having rain once to twice a week and more snow - the lakes are up thank heavens and trees are recovering.
The work crew looks willing and able - good luck to them!
Have a good weekend Kathy!
the work crew looks ready to roll, I don't think they will be smiling after all the work they have to do! It will be nice to clear the pond out but this drought is becoming quite scary. Fires everywhere and no end in sight. Doesn't bode well for the trees/plants. Hope all your critters are doing well with the heat. take care.
It really has been a dry year with low water...funny how there are good things that go with it, too, like cleaning out your pond. We finally had an evening of rainfall here last night, and it was welcome!
I hope you are able to clear the fallen trees and such and that you then get some much-needed rain. That is a nice photo of your husband and grandchildren.
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