Rainy Weather Ahead

Since arriving we've heard about the semi-drought conditions that this area has experienced for awhile.  From the low levels of the lakes I can see what they are talking about, however, after years of living in Southern California, we have experienced more rain in the few months we've been here than over years of time at our old home.  Of course the land here is designed to absorb the downpours whereas the former location would have been overwhelmed and flooded.

Yesterday after a busy day of getting things done around the house the kids and I joined Jennifer on a trip to the library while Kevin and Patrick stayed here to paint and clear out some of the overgrowth in our front yard.  I'll have to make a point to take pictures at this library because it is a really wonderful facility with SO MUCH for the kids as well as having excellent resources for us older "kids".  The day stayed beautiful as we finished here then went to Pat and Jen's for an afternoon swim and BBQ.  Kevin and Patrick finished up and joined us there and we had a great evening together.

Once back home though is when the skies opened up and the rainy weather the forecasters had been warning of moved in.  We had lightening and thunder and the skies opened up and just poured!!  Kevin and I needed to run to the store and were drenched, despite the umbrella, when we attempted to leave there and get our purchases home.  From these downpours we've realized a necessary addition desirable for our home, GUTTERS!!  It is really bizarre that in Southern California where the rain is more an anomaly practically every home has gutters.  Here where rain is just par for the course in the life of this land, there is a strange absence of these useful devices.  I've included some photos of a previous rain downpour we experienced here to show what I'm talking about.

Our front yard with rain coming off the gutterless roof as it pours outside.

To step outside of our house during a rainstorm is to invite an instant shower as the water literally pours off our roof and without a gutter to catch and channel it away it flows on to anything that's directly below.

So with a week of  thunder storms forecasted I think it's an opportunity to make our plans for laying out  an effective gutter system for our home and one that will eventually include a rain catchment system for taking advantage of the plentiful water that does fall when it rains and storing it for use in our future garden and landscaping projects. 

In the meantime we'll huddle inside and watch it come down or duck and cover when it's necessary to go out.  Have a great day, staying dry as we enjoy all this liquid sunshine!!

Lynda