Rained off and on all afternoon, then a big thunderboomer cell rolled in right at last light and after the big scary storm it settled down to raining steadily till after one ayem.
Water’s beading up nicely on the new porch’s floor. Fortunately I already have a floor squeegee I’ve used for cleaning snow off the solar panels for the past couple of winters – now it’ll get more than three uses a year.
The wash didn’t run, of course – after such an extended dry spell that would have been shocking – but also after such an extended dry spell I’m going to have to learn to cope with mud all over again. The volcanic ash that makes up a generous quarter of the dirt around here makes a glutinous gooey mud that makes caliche (another quarter) look positively benevolent by comparison.
Good news is now I’ve got a place to take my boots off outside if I need to – that benefit honestly never occurred to me when the extended porch was proposed. 
Fortunately the new gutter works fine, so I don’t have to deal with thick mud right outside the Lair like all last summer. I didn’t see the babies, but the nest came through the storm fine.
I had a much better (ie much less painful) day yesterday. Didn’t accomplish anything, just sat around reading, but at least I wasn’t all pain-wracked and grumpy. Today’s not getting off to such a great start but we’ll see – it comes and goes. Sorry for whining just before the server crapped out so that was all there was to look at yesterday, but I do appreciate the good wishes.
I was looking at a web cam in Pecos County Arizona last night and they had some massive thundershowers moving across the desert. The camera gives a panoramic view and the rain was impressive.
Is there any chance that packrats or ground squirrels did away with the Phroeble chicks? I don’t see much white “paint” in that photo…
She was still feeding them as of yesterday afternoon. More than that I don’t know, but neither packrats nor ground squirrels are great climbers.
Maybe they’ve fledged and flown the coop. Didja have a chance to notice how feathery they had become when you saw her feeding them?
No, I only observe from a distance and not very often.
Be sure and provide safe boot storage if left outside, critters love to do damage to unattended footwear when left outside. Scorpions crawl in, yellow jackets nest, and animals chew on the leather. My Uncle used to keep a semi-taut pair of straps against a handy wall for his stall muck boots. Stored upside down.