Sights and sounds, lost and found

I don't think we had more than an inch of rain all summer but in this past week I bet we've had 5 or 6.  I'm not complaining.  Things are looking greener already.

Tuesday morning I went out to feed the ducks and saw this.  Look closely.

Later that day a friend and I hiked to a waterfall behind our cabin.  It's not a huge waterfall but a series of small ones and you can climb and follow them up and up.  On the way there we saw this cute little guy.

The waterfalls were running nicely since we had had a day or two of rain.  We didn't climb very high.  Mostly we parked ourselves on a rock and babbled, accompanied by the babbling brook.

Last night was our heaviest rain and today you can hear the creek that runs around our house from just about anywhere you stand in the yard.  Until this week Elk Creek was so low we could walk across without getting wet feet.


This morning I went out in the pouring rain to feed everyone and milk because it didn't look like it was going to let up any time soon.  One of my guineas was looking distressed, calling out for his friends while his feathers drooped from the downpour.  I didn't see the other 2 anywhere but went about my business.  James has moved his office upstairs where he looks out over our front yard, field and James River Rd.   He saw a car drive by our house once, then turned around and stopped in front of our gate and left a guinea there.  I'm guessing he was in the road and they didn't want him to get hit.  I carried him back to the fence but he wasn't in very good shape.  His right leg is injured and he's missing all his tail feathers.  He's now in a shed all by himself and hasn't tried to get out.  I don't think he's feeling very good.  Something must have attacked him and his buddy and he somehow escaped.  I don't know if he'll make it or not.  This video is kind of blurry because I didn't want to upset him and get close.  Whenever I zoom in for a video it comes out blurry.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  You can hear his distress call and maybe see his lame foot.


Goats hate rain.  They've holed themselves up in their barn for 2 days and then today when it cleared up they became very vocal and want all my attention.  I think they're bored.


The only animals on our farm that like the rain are these guys, the quietest of all our animals.

Three of these ducks were supposed to be magpies, a black and white duck.  It's pretty clear they're all mixed with mallard since they have bright green heads.  All 4 ducks are males so we won't be having any little Myducks next spring.