Rain and rising water

Apple tree in bloom

If you get this post by email you won't see the video go directly to Lost in Leetonia if you want to see it. We have gone quickly from snow white to brown to Spring green over the last couple weeks. The temperatures have swung as much as 40 degrees in a day. Our apple tree usually blooms on Mother's day and was a bit slow this year, but is making up for lost time.
It rained so hard last night it was deafening. I awoke to see the creeks along our house swollen and the new bridge getting a work out. Pine Creek made it to 9 feet but is now backing down if we don't get anymore rain. Wind came with the storm yesterday and took out our power for a few hours and of course there are a lot of people up at camps.
Summer is the time we lose the most power the most due to tree hitting the lines. The rain soaked ground makes the root bases easier to topple in a wind storm. I am getting my generator into top shape and ready for the weather.
I always forget how much work there is to do outside once the weather gets warmer. We have cut the grass once and it needs it again. It is also the time that I seem to find everything that is broken that needs repaired and the porcupines haven't helped. We saw a record 15 of them a couple weeks ago in about a 8 mile stretch. They chewed my gate and did a number on the wiring on my trailer to the point I had to rewire the entire trailer. Why can't they eat the trees and leave my stuff alone?
The bears are out more this last week. I have seen two close to the house and Lee saw three cubs coming up from Cedar Run yesterday. It is such a big change from Winter when it is quiet and cold. Now the birds are up chirping early in the morning and everything seems livelier. The trees seem to add an inch of new leaves a night and it is gradually becoming a dark summer forest again. This is the time of year to truly enjoy the woods and nature. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

What a difference a day makes

Staying warm

First Tracks

Rooted in

We went from fog and the 40's yesterday to wind gusts of 50 mph and the 20's today. Overnight a heavy rain with thunder changed to snow and we had about 2" on the ground this morning. At Cedar Run the creek levels rose quickly to nearly 8' from a 2' level yesterday. The levels are heading back down with the snow instead of rain.

I took a mile walk today as the sun peaked in an out and I didn't want to miss it having not seen the sun for days. I don't care for wind in my face so my picture looks like it is sub-zero. A couple Chickadees were all that braved the weather besides me. As I walked up the hill a mile several little snow devils popped up here and there to remind me of the wind's ability to swirl in marvelous ways. 

Doesn't look like we are in for much of an improvement in temperature for a while, but the snow did cover the ice up and I would imagine there will be a few people snowmobiling on the upper parts of the mountain. The snow came just in time to keep the south side of the hill facing our house from being uncovered as it had lost the majority of its snow yesterday.

Speck, the Chihuahua, is basically hiding out from the change of weather and Leo isn't all that crazy about it either. Seems most of the animals agree with them and are bedded down somewhere until the wind stops. Have a great Leetonia day and stay warm. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.

April Showers bring fast water

Well, we got tons of rain last night and the creeks sounded like trains rolling down the mountain. The video is of Cedar Run south of Leetonia. Pine Creek is at 6.5 feet not its highest by far. I seen it at 12 feet and that is just scary. Complete trees go down the creek at about 50 mph when it is that high. If you have only been here when the creek was a babbling brook it is definitely a different experience to see it raging. It comes up fast and can catch you off guard if you aren't careful. It looks like rain, rain, rain and more rain for at least the next 10 days. It should wash the snow away, but it makes doing outside work almost impossible. Mountain girl, Paula, logging out.