Pictures for Pam, Day 72: Sweet Pea Shrub

(+3 insets!)

"It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring!" Wow, have we been getting a lot of rain! It rained all day yesterday and it's been raining all day today. It's supposed to pour until tomorrow evening too!

I wanted to go out last night to see how our water diversion tactics were working on our road but it was too late and we were too tired. We knew it would be raining all day so we could see how things were working in the morning.

Peeking outside when I got up, I was rather amazed to see that our big meadow now featured a wide stream pouring down off our steep hill! This really is a big storm!

I went out to go on my walk and found that Mother Nature was laughing at our pitiful attempts to keep the water from flowing down our road. At the top of our driveway, Steve's 2" irrigation pipe that crosses the road--designed to protect a buried power line and divert water--was not working at all. Gravel and dirt had covered the pipe and its many entry holes and the water rushed merrily down our road, giggling mischievously.

Following the road stream 100 feet further, I came to a stop at the deep furrow designed to pull the water away from the road (You may remember the inset I shared a couple of days ago). Can you say "blowout"? The huge volume of water overflowed our channel and made a new one--which naturally went right down our road, spreading out into a road-wide mess of rivulets. The loud cackling from water imps was hard to miss. Our channel was clogged and in serious need of repair and enlargement.

Walking the rest of the way down the road I could see that the rainfall was so heavy that all of our efforts were barely functioning at all. With the small storms we'd had previously, the work we'd done was successful but totally failed with a serious storm. Steve would need to get the big guns out…the TRACTOR!

I began by doing the repairs I could, re-dragging the furrows off the road and unclogging any spots fouled with leaves, mud and gravel. I shored up washed-out spots in all of the channels and was pleased to see that I made some great progress on my own.

I couldn't help but stand and gawk at our pond. Water was gushing into it from one of our seasonal streams and the level of our pond was now overflowing. The overflow was rushing out the other side in a heavy flow, pooling deeply near the culvert that takes it across the main road in front of our property. I don't know when I've seen it so flooded!

Steve is now out there with the tractor, pulling huge furrows with one of the implements we have and making a ditch to keep the water from washing the road out. He's also using the box scraper to repair the road where it's been compromised. And there was a place by the culvert at the gate to create much better drainage and access to the culvert.

It continues to pour and pour out there! Let's hope that Steve's efforts will be enough. What a storm!

Today's picture and 3 insets are from our trip down to San Anselmo. The stars are a perfectly gorgeous little pair of blossoms that I found on a bush in Nathalie's front yard. While I was taking pictures of these dainty little flowers I couldn't help but be reminded of Sweet Peas. But…on a BUSH? I was delighted when my first search for identification gave me the answer: A Sweet Pea Bush (Polygalaspp.)! :D It was no surprise these pretty flowers are not related to the flower we are familiar with--Sweet Pea garden flowers (Lathyrus odoratus)--because the stems of the shrub are woody and the plants are entirely different than the tender-stemmed Sweet Pea flower. I hope you find my attempts to share the beautiful details of this stunning little flower successful! :)

Pam, I chose these flowers with you in mind. They are so bright and cheery that I hoped they might bring a smile to your face to ease your blues. Thank you so much for your lovely comments and also for letting me know how you are doing. You are in my thoughts and I wish I could send you a hug too…

Explored on 1/20/19, highest placement, #1.