Flirty Mister Storm rocks his partial mohawk. It’s a mystery I’ve never solved, and he’s not the only one who has shown up with a roached mane (and sometimes, some horses show up with crazy-short tails). In any case, he’s one cool dude. 🙂
P.S. We’ve gotten some rain! It’s FABULOUS.
The mares may be the true leaders of a band, but when stallion says move, mares move!
Tenaz and a bachelor from another band had a little dustup recently while establishing territory between their bands.
I like the very tip of Tenaz’s flipped forelock highlighted by the low sun. But though the dust adds some photographic “drama,” I sure would rather have rain and moisture in the ground with less dust.
Skywalker peers back at me as if wondering whether he should give up the location of his pals, just around the shoulder of the hill he’s on.
It’s OK, fella; I was already pretty sure they were there. 🙂
(I had set my camera on the wrong white balance setting by mistake – poor ol’ eyeballs don’t see as well as they used to at close range – and the results came out quite at bit more *blue* than I usually like. But as warm as the day’s temperature was in reality, I find that I like the “cooler” scene. … A little wishful thinking, maybe!)
Winona naps while Mariah grazes under a stormy, clearing sky.
Maiku is Corazon’s long-time lieutenant. Every now and then, Corazon still has to confirm his general status.
Also, there was a pronghorn buck in the area, giving his warning bark. I think that just gave the boys the opportunity to show off for the girls. 🙂
Sooner than I thought it would happen, Garth Nelson emailed me early in the morning last week and said he and Jim Cisco were coming out to install the gutter across the front of the catchment structure!
They beat me to the basin, and this was happening when I got there!
The propanel roof sheets are just halfway across, but with rain in this past week’s forecast – for later in the week at the time – Garth decided that it was a priority to get the gutter in place.
The ends of the pipes supporting the whole structure had to be cut a bit to make room for the gutter pieces, which were built/formed/constructed by a local business in Cortez. The guys did NOT bring that cool battery-powered band saw with which they were all completely in love, so Jim (pictured) and Garth had to make do with the ol’ sawzall. It worked; it just took longer (and went through a few blades).
Level says perfect!
Garth put a couple of beads of caulk between each new section of gutter.
Jim and Garth drilled holes at intervals in order to then run long screws to attach the gutters to the steel purlins.
And these little metal cylinders (held by Garth) acted as spacers to keep the gutters a uniform width.
They had to cut the ends of each of the steel pipes (four) to enable the gutter to be flush to the purlins.
And then with their great and amazing strength, they were able to break off the ends. 🙂
In no time (it seemed to me), they were down (up!) to the last gutter piece!
When the gutter pieces were attached all along the front of the catchment, it was time to install the pipes from the gutter to the tanks. Holes had to be drilled above each tank to put the pieces in the gutter to attach the pipes.
A little vertical …
… and a little horizontal! (These pieces actually slope a bit. :))
And it looked like this! These are the first two tanks, piped. Jim is tightening the fitting in the bottom of the gutter.
Here are three of the four tanks piped, and you can see the valve-culvert lids in place.
Then … things got really exciting. Jim drove out to the basin in his weed-spraying rig, which has the 200-gallon water tank on it. When the gutter was in place and the pipes were installed, he pulled up alongside the eastern end of the structure and started pumping water up to the top of the roof.
And this happened:
And you know what I did: I bawled like a happy baby. 🙂
Garth marked a few places that were leaking, to be recaulked.
Overall, it worked well, and I WISH that I could attach a recording of the SOUND of water trickling through the pipes and swirling into the tanks.
This all happened Monday, and early, early Wednesday morning, it rained. Again Wednesday night, it rained. 🙂
Now, we just have to finish the installation of the propanel sheets across the rest of the roof, pipe the fourth tank and install the trough (I think). Our very big project is very nearly complete!
Kwana was still damp from an early morning rain a few days ago when I found him and his band among the trees.
He might be experiencing a bit of humidity frizz. 🙂
Maybe we’re going to get some rain soon. We can hope.
In the meanwhile, the horses are doing fine, and there’s a relative wealth of “feed” in the basin for them. Water is in lesser quantity, but there are seeps in multiple arroyos, and water trickles through rock layers to the surface in a couple of other arroyos/canyons. They know their home and where to find water, and the humans are watching closely.
Whew, working in the heat makes us sleepy. Time for a nap. 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 