The Honest Courtesan

Though December is the rainiest month here at Sunset, with rain nearly every day, it doesn’t usually rain as heavily as it did last week.  When I cleaned the stock tank in October, I decided not to refill it and just let the rain do the job, since Jonathan and Hercules have been drinking out of the rainwater catch basin anyway.  Between mid-October and December 7th, the rain filled the tank about 1/3 of the way, then by Tuesday morning it had reached the 2/3 level; in other words, we got as much rain last Monday as we did in all of October and November!  It rained some on Tuesday and then heavily again on Wednesday morning, so by Wednesday afternoon the east paddock looked like this despite the fact that there’s a drainage ditch between the barn and henhouse, to the right side of this photo.  Jonathan actually likes the rain and Cicero doesn’t seem to mind it much, but Hercules hates it, the chickens prefer to stay inside during it, and Louie could barely be coaxed out of his nest all week; for a few days there I was actually feeding them inside the stable, because it was the easiest way for everyone.  Thursday and Friday were much lighter rain and Saturday was actually clear and sunny, so the standing water has drained off and the animals were all roaming around as normal; I’m glad I took the precautions to ensure proper drainage when we first moved here.