Listening to the rain

"Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God...onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony, and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones, and alabaster in abundance." I Chronicles 29:2
It's raining here in the NW. Imagine that! But what a great opportunity to show you the beautiful rocks we find in the dirt. When everything is wet, the true colors really come through. This is one of the drains we put in the patio. If you look closely, you can see water dripping off the end of the rain chain.

It took me nine months to realize this, but God still shows Himself in the rain. Sound funny? Let me explain. When we lived in KS, we got rain once in awhile. The thunder storms were incredible, to say the least. In fact, thunder storms are my all-time favorite weather phenomenon. To see the awesome, controlled, deliberate power of our Lord would certainly make me appreciate His grace and mercy.

Thunder storms have a beginning, a middle, and an end - just like watching a play performance. The rain in the NW has a hard time figuring out which act we're in. It seems to be perpetually caught in the first act. There is never any climax. Occasionally, I will hear bits of thunder and get all excited that we're moving on to the second act. Then I realize it was just an airplane! So, I settle back into my seat prepared for a long performance.

Since being in the NW, I have come to realize a longer play is OK. An anti-climactic play is OK, too. Not preferred, but OK. God still shows Himself from the treasures found in the dirt to the numerous bird calls to the long-lasting blooms that seem to be frozen in time.

Back to Work

"And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights." Genesis 7:12

We're not anticipating that kind of rain. However, we are getting the drains ready on the patio.


Breaking the stones allowed us to have smaller pieces which worked perfectly for the small areas around the drainage grates.

I wanted something to hide the grates without obstructing the flow of water coming off the rain chains. Since we have a never-ending supply, small rocks found in the dirt became the obvious choice. Works pretty good! I really enjoying seeing the contrast between the large flat stones and the small round rocks.

November snow

You've seen our rain chains directing water. Now you can see our rain chains collecting water! This photo was taken from our front porch and you're able to see the rain chain quite clearly. You even get a glimpse of our wood piles.
This next photo was taken while standing on our back deck. I zoomed in to get as close as possible. The crystal formations are incredible, aren't they?
My neighbors stated I have a water theme going with my blog postings. We do live in NW Washington. What other type of weather is there in the winter?

Rain, Rain Go Away...

Our rain chains do a great job of directing the water.
Because this part of our yard simply has no grass (yet), mud puddles are the current choice of yard art.
However, stay tuned for pictures of hubby's drainage system.