Sunday afternoon we got a wonderful and much needed rain storm. I’ve never lived where so often it will look like it is going to rain any minute and then the brilliant sunshine chases away the clouds and we don’t get a drop of rain. Sunday afternoon I could hear thunder, and the skies got dark and I was so hoping we’d really get some rain. Vince said he’s never seen such huge cracks in the ground, though I’m sure these aren’t the biggest cracks in the world. We’ve lived through some dry times in the past but we’ve never lived in the midst of a drought. I’m so thankful that our livelihood isn’t dependent on having sufficient rain and I pray for the farmers and ranchers who are suffering so badly . . not just in Texas but in lots of places.
But, on Sunday afternoon, we did get rain. At first we had just a little sprinkle and it stopped. Vince was standing at the back window and said “I think that’s all we’re going to get.” I said . . look out the front window. It was pouring and just hadn’t quite made its way to the back yet.
We got a real good rain, a bit over an inch according to my rain gauge. We probably got a bit more than the rain gauge indicated because for a while, the rain was blowing completely sideways and I’m not sure if much of that got into the gauge.
That’s another thing . . I must be getting old. Do all old folks have a rain gauge? I as so happy to get mine.
All of our chickens don’t like to get wet . . except the bantams.
You can see how hard it’s raining and there they all are . . running around and playing . . not one bit concerned about the rain. Maybe they just get so hot with all those fluffy feathers that the rain feels good.
Maybe I should look for little hooded rain coats for them! They never once even acted like they were going to go inside the coop. They loved playing in the rain.
Shirley Albertson Owens (sao) says
Those lovely chickens were probably SINGING IN THE RAIN too…..those are my kind of chickens. Rain is my FAVORITE weather – snow is my second fav!
sao in Midlothian, VA
Mary Jo says
I guess that rain gauges are part of getting older! I got one several years ago and find myself keeping records of how much rain we get! My granddaddy used to always keep all kinds of records, including rain totals. I am sure that since he made his living as a farmer it help with his planning, but I don’t know what my excuse is!
Jo says
Silly chickens! My guineas never go in their house during a storm. They hide under the house where the water pools into a big deep puddle. They really aren’t the brightest birds!
bettina walia says
love that Georgia isn’t the only place getting wet the past couple of days. Gotta love those chickens getting their rain dance on….
Rosalie says
We love our rain gauge – it has an inner tube that will measure up to an inch in 100ths, and then it spills over to the outer tube, so you can measure up to 11 inches! We got it at the feed store. Hoping to get it more than halfway soon – we had less than 1/2 inch between Sunday and yesterday. I guess the worse the drought is, the more importance we place on the raingauge!
Lynn says
Judy – you are a real farmer if you have a rain gauge. How else are farmers supposed to know if they need to irrigate, besides it is a big topic of conversation over at the grain elevator here. Bragging rights for the largest amount I think. All kidding aside, all farmers here in Nebraska have rain gauges for the very reason mentioned above. With fuel being so expensive and one irrigation well burning approx. 4 gal. an hour and farmers having lots of wells it gets rather expensive in a hurry so they want to stop watering when they can so save costs.
Diana in TX says
Bought DH a weather station for Christmas this year. and you can download it to the computer. We only had a little Sunday night but last night we sat there and watched the numbers change on the rain gauge! Guess it doesn’t take much to entertain us. We were out this evening when the rains hit. AS soon as we got home we had to check to see how much rain we already had and watched again to see how fast those numbers were going up!
Linda in NE says
Your rain looks so GOOD!! The chickens around here probably don’t even remember what rain is.
Marilyn says
The blog is loading much faster. I think we’ve always had a rain gauge. We don’t have to wonder how much rain we’ve gotten. So glad you got rain. We got a small shower last night. Sure was nice even if it was small.
Sandy in Canada says
Speaking of raincoats for chickens, have you seen the piece on the web about the women in the UK who knit sweaters for chickens? I think I saw the link on Facebook, but if it interests you, Google would probably find it. In the heat of Texas, I don’t suppose that your chickens would ever need sweaters, though!