Last year's drought is long gone, the plants have survived (most of them) due to my $200 monthly water bill! Luckily our neighborhood never went on restriction last year, and I am soooo glad. As it was I lost a few trees, now also long gone.
Today I was home from work, a day off before working the weekend. It has been raining for days, the ground is saturated and soggy. I didn't take a picture, but I have a rain gauge. Yesterday morning I emptied 2.5inches of water, today at 3 pm I emptied 5.5 inches. When it rains here, it rains! No ifs, ands or buts...it RAINS!!. My yard slopes to a creek in the back, usually just a trickle of water in a deeply gouged meandering stream bed probably about 10 feet deep. Will have to take a picture and post as a comparison when it dries up again. I have a dry creek bed to route the runoff downward without eroding the yard, as well as granite pathways that work in the same fashion. They were rivers. Drains are also located on the inside of the fence to shuttle all that water down to the creek.
I love living here. In spite of all the work that is involved in maintaining this property it is my heart and soul. My father was a man of the land. He had a deep conviction that land was of the utmost importance, preserving it, working it, supporting it. He was an avid gardener, built and maintained miles of country roads and spent most of his hours outdoors. I hope he would be proud. I miss him.
