Raining Cats & Dogs

We've had drenching rain squalls on and off today. It's been pounding and pummeling, frighteningly at times. The streams of water have washed all the pollen and dust off my grubby, angled windows. It's a definite bonus when you get your windows washed for you! It's also been 'useful' to see where water can leak into the house - as in seeping through vinyl window seams and needing a towel to mop it up ... I've also had the best excuse for not doing my laundry, since I hang it outdoors.

We've needed rain for quite some time, so this is a very welcome turn of events. It does mean though, that my usual 3 swims daily are on hold, and I have to find indoor things to keep me occupied. I can't go outside on a whim and start weeding the lawn or the lake in this deluge. Nor can I stroll through my yard admiring and smelling the plants I have nurtured - the perfume from the showy white heads of Tall Meadow-rue have been intoxicating these last few days, and the emergence of Pickerelweed blooms (photographed over the weekend) has brought some amazing color to the shoreline.

The lake level has risen today, and our hauled up-onto-shore kayaks, are now being tickled by lapping water. The Milfoil weeds we raked up onto our beach to dry before carting them away, are saturated, and the grasses I tend for the Muskrats look like they're growing in a marsh! Our dock decking is waterlogged, and if not tethered to the frame, sections of it would have floated away.

My mother would have remarked that, 'this is weather for ducks" ... so I was happy to see the Black Duck Mom with 5 ducklings taking full advantage of these soggy conditions.