Treasures in the mist

Clouds on Ute Mountain 

It's still raining. We woke to another gray day. The ditch water is still running slowly into our big llama pasture. It may have gotten diverted somewhere before it gets to us. It's running real slow now.

Ditch into our property.

Playing in the water has led us to some wonderful discoveries on our little piece of earth. We found a few stalks of Mullein in the field on the way to the ditch. Some are gone by, some are getting ready to bloom and there are even a few of the first year mullein, before it blooms.

Mullein, about to bloom.

Mullein, first year.

This is my new best friend. This plant is supposed to protect and inspire healers, energetically. It has many medicinal uses, and I plan to study up on them in the next couple of weeks. We may be able to use this in a poultice to help heal our injured/lame Pekin duck, Guadelupe. It is supposed to be good for joints and inflammation. While looking up this helpful plant, I found a wonderful resource and what looks to be a great read at The Medicine Woman's Roots.

We dug up two of the first year mullein plants and have them drying on a screen in the garage.

We also found mushrooms growing in the compost, which is mostly just a mixture of llama poop and hay. Now we know something good is happening in those compost piles.

Shrooms

Some of our corn has reached seven to eight feet tall.

Corn 

 Richard picked an ear off of one of the colored stalks that had blown over.

Pretty corn. "Painted Mountain"

The wild asparagus is going to seed and has little red/orange berries all over it.

Wild asparagus next to the irrigation ditch.

And Richard got to witness firsthand how our little Patty girl get's out of her pasture.  "She just tucked her legs up and soared over the gate," he told me. She jumped the fence this morning to get back into the goat pasture.

Patty. Isn't she cute?

Getting wet.

Woke to a wet, gray day.

It rained all night again. In fact, it sounded like it was pouring, as it steadily and heartily bounced off our bedroom "windows."

Chicken yard this morning.

So, this morning we let the two very wet llama girls back into the barn with the boys. I'm thinking with this weather, they will stay close and not attempt to walk through wires. We closed them off into the small paddock next to the barn anyway.

Everything is soaking wet. But, at least we have not gotten the flooding my mother is getting in Colorado Springs.

Driveway this morning.

I AM thankful for the water, I really am. But when our neighbor showed up at our door to inform us that we get water today, all I could think was "Are you kidding me?"

Waterday! Tarp barrier ready to divert to the trees.

So we've diverted the ditches into the landlords' plantings of trees, and we are off to town to do our grocery shopping. When we get back, I guess we will try to flood the fields. Comical.