We got a boatload of rain on Monday! Over 6.5". Our rain guage only goes up to 5" and was overflowing by the time I checked on it. We'd only had about 3.5" by 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the rest of the rain kind of snuck up on me. I had to lead the horses through a deep spot near the old house site (where the big ditch goes under the drive) that went up over my knees. So much for rubber boots! The horses had not been standing in water; the paddock is more than 2 feet higher than that spot in the drive. The creek was up the next morning so the horses had to stay in the paddock behind the house for a day.
These pictures were taken on Tuesday, which was humid and overcast and looked to be threatening rain although the system was off the coast by then. The seashore mallow is still blooming strongly but was beaten down somewhat by the rain. Seashore mallow can get quite big -- over 5 feet high and equally wide -- and without wood to hold up all of that weight it can be a little fragile. They are loving all of this rain though. They are still covered in flowers even after a full month of blooming. As you can imagine the grass leaped even more after the rain, so I took the tractor out last night. Everybody was out mowing their grass on Thursday and Friday. I could hear the mowers going in the neighborhood and saw several people mowing on my way to the feed and grocery stores.
The swirls of debris in the water are basically bits of ground up leaf litter, nothing ominous. Middle Creek is a clean creek according to water tests, and is crystal clear in normal weather. This flood water indicates some erosion though.
The big bed has a shallow ditch in front that was filled with water, and then rises 2+ feet in elevation, forming a small ridge that remained dry even after Floyd.
View of the old front yard from top of the big bed
View of the driveway/waterway
This dead sweetgum on the other side of the neighbor's fence, although empty in this picture, is a favorite among birds as a perch, hummingbirds and bluebirds especially.
The bank of the neighbor's pond washed out during Floyd so after heavy rains the pond spills over into the horse pasture. Later the rising creek waters join the pond water to completely submerge the area. (This is only a small lowland part of the whole horse pasture.)
Another view of the old yard and house site.
I was happy to see a lot of Bidens outside of the garden again this year. I spread a lot of seed last fall and winter and was happy to see this many germinate.
The pollinators are happy too, the most numerous being digger wasp and hundreds of fuzzy little bumblebees. I think they are adorable.
Six and a half inches of rain is astounding to me! Our rainfall is meted out so much more gently. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a lot of rain! Great photos and I love the reflections in the water. Always love seeing your Bidens and am glad you had such a good success rate with spreading them around.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice Sunday and a great week ~ FlowerLady
Jeepers! That is a lot of rain. Hope you don't float away. The flowers are beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYikes! If only Mother Nature would mellow out and spread her bounty a bit more evenly across the country - we could use some of that excess rain in Southern California. Your temporary lake looks very pretty in pictures, although I'm sure it's a pain in the neck. The Bidens are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThat was a lot of rain! The Bidens look really impressive in those great big swathes, especially where they are reflected on the water. Lovely photos :-) .
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a lot of rain! We had quite a bit of rain last week, too, but not that much and fortunately, not enough to cause any flooding here. I'm wondering if you were even able to get out of your driveway? Love those Bidens--what a sight those masses of yellow blooms create!
ReplyDeleteYes, we were able to get out of our driveway fine. :) Where the drive flooded was down below the current house site and just on the way to the pastures.
DeleteAfter a fairly moist summer, we're having a bone dry early autumn. I"ll take some of that rain!
ReplyDeleteJust as we were starting to get a little too dry this summer, we had similar rains and the garden has liked it. Although the people who totaled their cars by driving through the flooding probably didn't.
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