Sunshine a welcome break after rain

After weeks and weeks of rain, rain and more rain, a network television weather person had the audacity to say it's a drop in the bucket compared to what we need! It's been more than a drop.

If this weather continues through spring, I might be tempted to call it an El Nino year.

Anyway, I don't know how much water saturation my land can handle. Fortunately, I'm high on an alluvial plain and the drainage so far has been incredible. One day alone, the pouring precipitation leaves a lake behind and within the next two to three hours it's all gone somewhere.

The recent break in the weather drew many folks outdoors to do the chores they have only been dreaming about. When it comes to the point you are dreaming about yard work, you're pretty desperate.

We took advantage of the nice weather and pulled weeds that were more than willing to be uprooted. I was like picking grapes. Dump cart full of dump cart is now on the burn pile waiting for more sunshine to dry it out before we torch it.

These days, my horses resemble shaggy creatures that live in the Ukraine, donning heavy winter coats, even though the temperatures here haven't been that severe.

One thing about extreme contrast here in the North State is that we have both ends of the spectrum just not as severe as in some parts of the country. Icy cold days bring us frozen water pipes and frozen puddles driving us indoors just like 113 degrees of heat does. But, in between these extremes is some fantastic North State weather to get out and romp in.

We all should consider ourselves blessed living in this part of the country even in an unstable economy. Things could be worse, you know. While the weather is cooperating, which might only be a day or two, get outdoors and make some things happen.

The hedge was trimmed during the last break in the weather, so we'll continue working on those hideous weeds uncommon to my community, weeds that came to my yard in a load of road base. Yep, it's amazing what you get when you bring in landfill no matter how clean it looks at your favorite landscaping material business.

That unwanted vegetation that keeps popping up after a rainy season is a real challenge to deal with and it's not that easy to completely eliminate. Spraying with a weed killer is about the only way I've found to knock it down from year to year. But you need to do follow-up as new growth tries to appear.

My grandsons haven't had an outdoor project for months and months, so they offered to pull weeds. It's an ugly task unless the ground is really wet. The other day they had a cart completely filled with weeds they had uprooted in less than an hour. They said, "It went really fast, Grandma."

So, they went for another hour and completed the project.

Meanwhile, the horses tore down an electric wire around their fields recently. Electric fencing is the one way to ensure they don't escape — the grass being greener on the other side.

While stringing wire is not rocket science, there is a system to the process. It will be real interesting to see whether the horses remember what lies in wait in that single strand of wire running through those bright yellow insulators.

So, it's off to the hardware store for a few new insulators and a fresh roll of wire. Then, all we'll need is another fair weather work day.