[RedmondDressage]

We're up on top of the hill in Duvall so we're high and dry. I'm always glad that my fields are on a slope away from the house and barn during these kinds of storms! I was also extremely thankful for my enclosed barn yesterday... Not having to go outside to feed and clean stalls was priceless and having stalls to shut the horses in overnight to dry was a godsend! Poor mini-horse has such long hair that she's still not dry though! Gonna have to recruit my mom for some currying time on T-day... And my poor yearling who came from Georgia a couple of months ago is cursing the day I bought him and shipped him to this place

My other guy who is boarded somehow managed to cover himself mud even though he was blanketed... I was absolutely baffled as to how you get mud up by your hips with a blanket on... But we had a wonderful ride in the covered ring while the hurricane-like rains poured down outside. It was actually pretty cool and the nearby river seems to be staying at bay so that's good. I was SUPER thankful for the screens that cover the three open sides of the ring because not a drop of rain or a gust of wind made it through. I am waaaaay spoiled there!

[JoZ]

I took an unusual approach to the impending storm -- I left town! Nothing to do with the storm of course -- I'm in Boston for Thankgiving with my family. I left my friends in charge of horses, donkey, dog and cats. It seems that the river flooding situation is less severe than they had predicted, so for once, our farm is not in the worst possible place to be. I'm sure it's wet and miserable. It's also 3000 miles away which after some of the things I've weathered (pun intended) is a nice change and relief!

[Diamondindykin]

I have lived in Washington since 1996 and the last 5 years have been like this and it seems to get worse every year This summer was a rare treat but it just makes it harder to deal with all the rain............It has to stop sometime, right

[Heinz 57]

I have lived in Washington since 1996 and the last 5 years have been like this and it seems to get worse every year This summer was a rare treat but it just makes it harder to deal with all the rain............It has to stop sometime, right

I agree, it does seem to be getting worse each year, or at least becoming a "regular" thing.

If nothing else, I'm thankful that I've been able to see this to know what sort of adjustments we need to make for next year to try and avoid needing a paddle boat. I shlepped out there yesterday afternoon to drag my jumps to safety - they were beginning to float away.

[LovelyBay]

So sorry that you guys are swimming over on the west side! I'm worried about the amount of snow we are going to get over here on the east side this winter. Although, I think I'd rather have my horse in knee deep snow than knee deep mud. I keep hoping the ground will freeze.

[Diamondindykin]

I prefer frozen ground and snow all winter to mud and flooding!!!!

[Heinz 57]

I prefer frozen ground and snow all winter to mud and flooding!!!!

Mr. Heinz and I have talked about moving to the other side of the mountains. If jobs were easier to find over there, we'd do it in a heartbeat.

[Thoroughbred in Color]

Not so bad at our place. Just finished spreading hog fuel in all the really muddy areas and diverting the runoff a few days ago. Still a mess, but not as bad as it could have been. Its actually sunny here right now (like that's gonna last).

Some flooding on our road though, and I almost saw a Prius wash away this morning at a flooded intersection.
Neighbors field:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/.../Photo0790.jpg
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/.../Photo0789.jpg

Down the road:
http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/.../Photo0791.jpg

[JanDinWA]

We usually get some flooding over our dirt road in bad rains, because it runs along a creek. However, we were spared this time. We have some low spots in the pasture but also have culverts over them so the horses don't have to go down into the water.

[Crackerdog]

I agree, it does seem to be getting worse each year, or at least becoming a "regular" thing.

If nothing else, I'm thankful that I've been able to see this to know what sort of adjustments we need to make for next year to try and avoid needing a paddle boat. I shlepped out there yesterday afternoon to drag my jumps to safety - they were beginning to float away.

Update: Right now at 6:30 p.m. we are having pounding rain with lightning and thunder.

I think it only seems worse because our summer runs so late into the year. I have been keeping a journal for a couple of years now with a weather report and on this day last year it was about 20 degrees colder and threatening to snow and by the 27th it was raining. The year before that it was snowy and very, very cold and we didn't have power.

Ah, the good old Astoria-Megler bridge, what memories I have of that thing when I had to go from Ilwaco to Astoria in the winter. In even in a low to the ground car it's scary in the wind, I can't imagine someone driving a semi type truck over it in bad weather. Crazy.

[mvp]

I prefer frozen ground and snow all winter to mud and flooding!!!!

Me too! You have good taste in horse keeping, my friend.

[twotrudoc]

Yelm, JBLM, Tacoma and Oly are fine. I know my pal down in Toledo (an hour south in between Oly and Portland has severe flooding.

Ike the uber-amazing lime green Ford Fiesta forded small streams and and held the line in bursts of gusty wind I didn't lose power but the light at East Gate off Fort Lewis did, took forever to get through there last night!

[Gestalt]

So sorry that you guys are swimming over on the west side! I'm worried about the amount of snow we are going to get over here on the east side this winter. Although, I think I'd rather have my horse in knee deep snow than knee deep mud. I keep hoping the ground will freeze.

Oh I don't know about preferring ice over mud. I grew up in the Astoria area, they do get a lot of rain. But after dealing with these high desert winters I'm ready for milder temps and no ice!!! When you hear horror stories of freezing fog around Pendleton, believe them. Driving in that stuff is what nightmares are made from. Hope everyone and their critters is okay.

[Heinz 57]

Hope everyone and their critters is okay.

My critters are OK, but my husband is going to get whomped on when he gets home. I came home to find that he was home half the day and didn't notice that the water had dragged a good 20' section of the fence down with it. He feeds them in the AM and *should* have noticed, just like he *should* have noticed that my gelding's water was low (and didn't!).

I'm glad my boy is well behaved and didn't go for a spin around the neighborhood - but we won't always be so lucky!

[Calvincrowe]

Just wait until Mr. Heinz leaves a stall door open...with the horses inside...after you've reminded him a hundred times to check the doors before you leave the barn. Sigh. That's Mr.CC's "thing". It was fine with Very Old Cautious Horse (RIP buddy!), but with Giant Warmblood now living with my dear old Calvin, an open door/gate/bucket/coat is an invitation to investigate.

Wet, soggy and nasty up here, but getting better now that the steady deluge has ended. I hope your flooded field and downed fence is improving.

I am really hoping we get a hard freeze here this year, to kill off the plague of bugs we had last summer.

And Gestalt: I lived in Pullman for nearly 3 years, and that freezing fog is SCARY!! I do not miss that.

[mvp]

I checked with my cat, and she says this is better than last year. That comes from the fact that I rented her a place with great heat and excellent access to the outdoors, complete with few other cats in the neighborhood. She even decided that her excellent coat makes her impervious to water.

This is a happy, happy place for the old lady. She hasn't had accommodations this perfect in several years.

At least one animal is happy with it.

[UrbanHennery]

Glad everyone is surviving. We're reasonably dry up here - the lowest pasture is officially closed for the winter and the exit from paddock to pasture has started the slow decline to mud (next year I swear I will get some turf grid in there).

Thankfully, I got a bee in my bonnet on Sunday and skimmed all the sawdust sludge off the gravel outside the stalls. It royally sucked to do it (seriously heavy stuff), but it means that area is firm and draining rather than soggy and holding water.

I could do with a day of sun this weekend just for a break.

[horsepoor]

Thankfully, I got a bee in my bonnet on Sunday and skimmed all the sawdust sludge off the gravel outside the stalls. It royally sucked to do it (seriously heavy stuff), but it means that area is firm and draining rather than soggy and holding water.

Hey, we did the same thing here! Or, I should say, I got a bee in my bonnet and convinced SO to do the sludge skimming (maybe that makes me a bee in HIS bonnet?). It made a huge difference and the water would build up some during the big downpours, then magically drain away shortly thereafter.

But my arena remains too wet to ride. Ponies are getting grumpy so they may start going for walks up the road, just to keep us all sane!

[JGHIRETIRE]

I believe the owner got them out of there.
Yesterday PUD had a scheduled "maintenance" day.
I didn't have any power most of the day - that was speshul.

Holy high water!!! Can those horse get out of the water? I'm in northeastern Oregon, we are getting rain off and on, it's not too bad. But this wind is terrible. Yesterday and today has been non-stop wind coupled with very high gusts. Bleah.

[Weatherford]

Sounds an awful lot like Ireland!!! It's nasty cold rain again today; fields are flooded; roads are, too, and I have to go to the vet. Oh how I long for turnout sheds, hard ground (not mud) at the gates (we did put stone dust and sand at one gate this summer and it has simply disappeared into the mud...), and a real "American-style" barn (that is an with stall access from the inside...) Hope it gets better for you NW people!!! See you in the Spring, perhaps?

If there were so much mud before and after the snow, I, too, would prefer snow to rain...