Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Dust Cutter

Low of 54 - high of 86. Had a huge rush ( 26) on cow snacks this morning including a bull and a steer. Kept my distance from the big guys but was still able to dissuade them from coming up to the house. Beatrice insisted repeatedly and was obliged. They mostly stayed at the end of the driveway where the food was put out - but occasional stragglers had to be chased off as I got to work. Decided to pour concrete into 2 double sets of cinder block to support the lowest end of my containers since they have to be raised about 20" off the hard pan. Most of the morning the longhorns layed down then finally wandered off around 1PM.

Headed up to Charley's to grab 55 gallons of his surplus water for more concrete mixing in the coming days. On the way up to the prize, I ran into Trevor ( the Don Ho of the Terlingua Riviera ) and my friend Hat. Chatted with them for awhile at The Grub Shack then did my water run. After unloading I shot back over to the busy side of town to drop off a bridge rectifier (I had a spare) to Hat for one of his wind turbines. That's just one of those things that should always be on hand out here in do it yourself/off the grid land.

Took a stroll to look for some flowers as the desert has started greening a bit with the warm weather. Somehow the plants hold in just enough water over the winter to be able to kick into action when the temps are right.

Started cleaning up all my tools and made sure everything that needed covering was covered in case of rain, as it is in the forecast for tonight through Friday morning. And guess what?...It started drizzling at 7:45 very lightly but has continued for over an hour. Our first rainfall of 2009 and the first since early November of last year. So far the rain gauge has recorded .006" in the past hour. Looks promising at this point for some real rain tomorrow. If the spot behind my first dam fills up tomorrow I will be eternally grateful....and so will these flowers.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'll step out into the snow and make a rain dance for you!

Anonymous said...

I just saw you on Texas Country Reporter, I had it on DVR and decided to watch it while I had a few to drink. It looks great the way you are living off what the earth and God has given you. Best of luck with your research and keep up the good work.

Ben in Texas said...

Glad you got some rain out there.. must be State wide,, getting rain here outside Fort Worth as well.. needed it badly.

kahuna said...

what's the difference between a bull and a steer?

John Wells said...

Kahuna....Im a bull and you are a steer....sorry BD, I couldn't resist.