Microburst hits The Compound

We had a series of storms hit The Compound this past Thursday. One of them produced a microburst or very small tornado.  Left a bit of damage in its wake. But thankfully, no humans or animals were hurt in the production of these high winds!  From what we can tell it started on one end, and came out the other. 

 

It's hard to tell unless you know this little alcove, but those bushes and trees are all laying down, where they once stood.

 

We lost a beautiful oak tree, which was along our driveway.  It was uprooted and laying across the driveway.

 

We spent the better part of Friday, Saturday and Sunday cleaning up.  We now have quite the pile of ash from burning all the palm fronds and branches that blew down.  We are still not finished cutting down and clearing out all the uprooted bushes and trees from the alcove area.  It's really no rush and with the heat hitting  "feels like" temperatures of 118 degrees, work is slow.

Favorite Picture From Saturday 6/21/14

My favorite photo from this past weekend!  He's a handsome devil!  Loves his belly rubbed!  I know, I know, I'm too attached!  But just look at that face!!!!   He and the one I call "the Queen", actually run over to me, make a certain grunting noise and lay down so I can rub their bellies!  I have to rub them both at the same time, if I don't the one who feels left out gets upset.

Too Close for Comfort

My Guardian Angel worked a bit of overtime Saturday.  I've had roughly the same routine for nearly 4 years.  First things first, let all the girls out for the day.  Nothing new, and typically the same noisy girls as always, hurry up and let me out!  I make a quick run around the entire coop area to see what if anything needs tending, and I found another dead hen.  This is the 3rd in three weeks.    Not a good day.

We believed it was likely due to the excessive heat and humidity this early in the season.  No other apparent signs, no coughing, bubbly eyes, etc. 

I took care of burying our hen and headed back to the coop.  I began by emptying the first feeder (the only thing left it in by this time is powder).  As you can see in this photo the orange cord is what holds the feeder.  Next to it is a water gutter from a previous idea/attempt to collect rain water.


 
I bent down to empty the feeder and when I came back up,  what I later learned, a deadly poisonous water moccasin sat curled up and ready to strike only 3-4" from my face!    If you felt the earth move or a strange noise off in the distance early Saturday, that was me!  Running and screaming like a girl! 

Here's the culprit, and what I now believe the cause of our hens dying.

It was not a small one.  Although any size snake is too big for me!

Yeah Me! Drawstrings Bag!

I'm the proud winner of a really cool, Drawstrings bag!  Click the link to check out Wanda's creations.  They are very well made, and you can pick your own colors/fabrics, etc.  They come in different sizes.  So head on over and take a look for yourself.

My friend Lisa over at Happy In Dole Valley ran the giveaway.  Thanks Lisa and Wanda! 

Well, I've Finally Done It

It's taken me 47 years, but I've actually finished reading the Bible from cover to cover!  Truthfully, it's taken me just a little over a year of daily reading.  I made a commitment last year to read the entire Bible.

I had one of those moments, after watching others just open the Bible to a passage that had an answer they were looking for.  I prayed and asked God, which book and verse was right for me and he answered "start at the beginning".  My reply was "are you sure"? (I didn't understand yet, that you should do what God tells you without question, but with faith) "Yes, start at the beginning.  I have something for you when you are done".  So, day after day and a little over a year later, I've read it!

Now, I'm going to go back over it and begin individual book studies.  Anyone have a favorite book or passage?