Flood

 We have been having torrential rain on and off for the last month (it's a roaring thunderstorm as I type this).  Most of July was normal, but we had the biggest flood I can remember seeing in my town in June.

Our usually small and placid Indian Creek (named for the many Native American artifacts found near it) became about a quarter of a mile wide and flooding our forest and spilling into Lake Artemesia.

The houses were all ok, I think, and only a few roads in my town were flooded, thanks to a system of flood plains.

I had always wondered why certain parts of the town were left undeveloped, and now I know!

It was a good opportunity to teach flood safety.  The water in some places looked like a giant puddle, but it's never safe to play in a flood!

According to my rain gauge, and we had close to a foot of rain (28 cm) in one day, and another 7-8 inches (20 cm) the next.

The storms this month tend to only drop 3-4 inches (10 cm) at a shot, a much more manageable amount!

Still Here!

And I have a huge backlog of posts to write!

It's been that kind of crazy end-of-school-year-birthday-bonanaza-anniversary-family celebration that only May can bring.

Here's what's been happening:
It rained.  A lot.

And then it rained more. 

We've broken all sorts of records for consecutive days of rain!

 And then it hailed!

But all the rain had been fantastic for the garden- so much so that I see I have been underwatering for the past 12 years.

The front garden has turned into the glorious English cottage style garden I have dreamed of ever since I first read Jane Austen!

That's probably because we've had English weather: cool and rainy with some fog and extra drizzle.

The flowers think it's perfect!

Other stuff: we've wrapped up all the classes and I will be blogging them to finish the history, science, and religion series.

I had a birthday and we had an anniversary and I made a very fun visit to my folks (in which Mumpy had a birthday) and we are getting ready for another birthday- all of which I will get to on the blog!

AND!

Klenda got her driver's license!!

Congratulations!!!!

Both her driving class teacher and her testing inspector commented that she was a good safe driver!


 Hooray, Klenda!





Only 15 days until Zorg is eligible to try for his learner's permit...

Ducky Day

Last week's rainy day!

When Mxyl and Klenda were toddlers, we loved rainy days.  There was a park near our house which developed large shallow puddles, and we would suit up and go splash and dabble about like ducks.

Somehow, this turned into "Ducky Days!"

Whenever it rains enough to get really nice puddles, the kids all go out and play in the rain, quacking like ducks.

Then they come inside for popcorn and warm chocolate. Yum!

When thy were very little, they would then often watch a movie of some sort while I washed and dried their clothes, but they don't get quite so muddy nowadays!

We haven't had a good several day rain in a while.  It takes several days to really fill up the big puddles.  This Ducky Day was really one good rainy day, and they were just playing in our yard.

In the past, we have had days and puddles where the water topped the wellies and we had to dump out all the boots!