Lots and Lots of Rain

Rain was in the forecast. Lots and lots of it. 

Carrie wanted to refresh the gravel in the lots anyway, so she had a load of gravel dust delivered to get ready. Unfortunately, the guy who we'd hired to spread it, Aaron, disappeared.

We talked about spreading some of the gravel dust ourselves, but it never happened. The rains came and, boy, did it pour.

I'd left a poop bucket outside and it had already start to fill up by the time we did morning chores. I left it be to see how high the water level would rise.

My coat got soaked through the first day of the it.

The boys' side was doing okay. It was dry and the guys had been considerate enough to do most of their pooping under the lean-to. 

I still had to collect stems in the rain, but that had been expected.

The girls' side was a whole different story. The former residents (boys) had worn down the gravel dust to dirt and water was seeping in and pooling in areas under the lean-to. 

Carrie pumped water by hand while I did chores.

Carrie came out a couple of times midday to keep checking and cleaning out the girls' area.

The whole lot became a mud pit. One horse showed a desire for cleanliness, but another pair who won't be named enjoyed rolling around and wallowing in the mess!

Carrie tried to move gravel dust and fill in one of the lakes by hand while I was teaching, but there was too much water coming down and not enough time or energy in her life to combat it effectively.

Other places got hit worse than us. The school system was getting a mix of flak and praise on social media. Today would have been the first day back in school for some young kids, but ACPS closed schools. Some parents were highly frustrated while others pointed out that roads were closed and some areas flooded.

Scottsville proper was battling the James River.

There are pumps that activate in town whenever the river rises above 13 feet. The news said it crested above 21 feet this time.

The put up a wall and closed the leevee. Supposedly, this was the highest the river has been since 2010.

The schools made the right call to cancel physical school and remain virtual. It would have been a nice day off in the pre-COVID world, but with virtual teaching it was just another day. My classes went on as usual.

It rained all day and through chores at night. I spotted a pair of eyes glowing at me from the corn field as a black cat watched Loki and I work.

 The rain had stopped by the next morning. There was a lot of water everywhere!

Carrie and I used a stem to measure how much water collected in the poop bucket from earlier. We got a good 6"!

I took a video of the drainage coming off the fields and running through Maddy's lot. The 'river' flowed for over 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Abby lounged about in the mud. Micayla said she thought Abby was part pig. She hates baths and loves to get dirty!

We needed days to dry out. At some point, we need to transfer the big pile of gravel dust in our yard into the dry lots to combat the erosion and prevent more standing water in the future. There's always something to work on at a barn.