A fruitful day with multiplying water

Pumped water all day, getting it to places where it will last longer.

There's water left over in the lower dirt tank, which holds pretty good. I measured the stucco tank level at 7 PM and will measure again at 7 AM, the moment of truth. I will then know how much it loses per day when it's full. Scary! I think optimistically it will be down an inch by 7 AM, which means a loss of 2" per day. While I would prefer half that, I will have to live with whatever it is until I can locate and patch the leak(s) this winter. Last year it leaked about 6" a day when full, so I know this is a great improvement, but it's still hard to watch it leak. The lower dirt tank loses about 3" a day, so at some point water is better off left in there.

While I babysat the pumps today, I worked a little more on my madrone project. The hole is half filled and when I get it filled, then I'll start making the ground higher into a slope. On this photo the dead yucca blades are the part that still needs filling in, which will cover the dead yucca. It's not a difficult project, it's just that my body isn't young anymore and wears out too fast. But there's no hurry. Every bit helps.

I believe this is the third time this summer that water has stood in the arroyo where the little soapberry thicket volunteered to grow (after the dam started backing up the water there). The thicket still hasn't recovered from 2011, but it's getting there. 

The year is a little over half over and I've had half my average annual rainfall, so it's all good. Here's a photo I took of the house several days ago when no rain fell.

And here is a photo taken by John Wells, from his place ten miles to the west of me, yesterday when I got all that rain, and he didn't get any. The photo is looking toward the clouds obscuring the Christmas Mountains that I got rain from.

I think the reason I couldn't find any butterflies, birds, or dragonflies to photograph today is because with all the daily rain around the area, everywhere is a wet oasis, therefore wildlife disperses.

The Davis Mountains Hummingbird Festival is this weekend and tomorrow two big van loads of participants will be descending upon the oasis early in the morning. I hope they get to see a male Lucifer Hummingbird  while they're here. I've only seen one hanging around, off and on. The others have probably migrated already.

Since I won't have to water, or pump water, I'll be able to attend the festival on Saturday. Obviously, my life isn't geared toward a rigid schedule.