Thursday, March 2, 2017

March Blew In Like A Lion Alright


It feels so wrong to write everyday for 28 days and then 
skip a day!  But here we are again.  
So the last day of February was beeeauitful yet "weird" feeling here in our neck of the woods. 
The weather station was calling for severe weather and the air was heavy. I decided to take
advantage of the warm day and start cleaning up remaining garden mulch.  
By garden mulch I mean;  the excess straw and any leftover underpaper from last 
gardening season.  If you follow along with me you may have read before that when I plant
my garden, I lay down several thicknesses of wetted old newspapers then cover that up with 
old hay and straw to keep the weeds down.  It's back breaking work and takes a whole day or more
to get it all done but afterwards looks so pretty for weeks and weeks.  Last year, I tried something new.  Since we have a mechanics shop; we get so many boxes for parts and jugs of oil etc.  I'd read
that you can cut those down and use the same way as newspaper.   My biggest worry was snakes getting under it but ... if they did... I was never aware of it.  It really worked pretty well.  One friend commented here last year wondering what kind of mess it might be after it was all done?  Would there be lots to rake up that didn't break down?  But I can tell you; hardly anything was left!  Keep in mind... I let it go all through Fall though til now.  After I got it raked; I text Myguy and asked him if it would hurt my old tiller to run if he hadn't changed the oil or tuned it up yet?  He said no not at all, but told me he doubted it would start since it hadn't ran in months and is getting so old. 
I coaxed her out of the red shed, then topped her off with gas.  She started on the third pull!  :)  
(Man I love that old tiller)  Sure beats a hoe!  
It felt so good tilling up a sweat and even though it will need done again come April tenth-ish;
it will all go easier when that day does indeed come.  Got the onions all planted too.
We have five heavy chickens and a few roos that get to roam free everyday and they 
had a grand time in the freshly turned soil.  It was their last day to free range because they keep 
getting in the herb and peony beds.  It's been one thing to 
 deal with them poopin on the kitchen porch- 
but another to mess with my peonies.  

As evening wore on; we didn't see even one  raindrop.  
But the radar sure showed us right in the center of some ugly weather.  
Myguy and I prayed before bed ...then hit the hay and awoke to an absolute  racket outside.  The wind got crazy!!!!!!!---
and we could hear stuff blowing right off the porch.  We jumped out of bed and ran to the door
trying to "see" anything... but it was just black out there.  
Then the power went out.  Dark is an understatement.  Myguy had flashlites
ready so we turned those on and just waited it out.  When it calmed down we went 
back to sleep and come morning ran out to see if all the animals were alright.
Thankfully the cows were still in the pasture but 

our olde barn took a lick.  The roof was totally gone over our chicken coop side.
We got on the four wheeler and checked fences and one tree is still laying on the fence in the back pasture.  So we called the horse and donkeys to the barn  and got them in a different pen til we can get the tree cut and fence picked up. 

Behind the garden; a rabbit cage was overturned as well as the antique, wood cookstove.  Some trees were snapped off but nothing like our neighbors across and on down the road.  Big ole trees are uprooted and others snapped right off.  And it wasn't til just a little bit ago that our power came back on.  It wasn't too bad at our house because Myguy brought one of the welders home and fired up a generator so our fridge worked.  Plus the coffee pot!  :)  

After Myguy got off work yesterday we  went to town and bought a couple big tarps and screws.  
We had to get something over the roof to keep predators out and the chickens in.  Plus we have lights etc that were all exposed too.  We gathered up some old boards to lay here and there over the tarps that might help with screwing them down and looking up here came our youngest- Tony to help.  
What a blessing he is!  Our old barn is soooo  dilapidated and I just prayed like crazy while he and Myguy were up on that rotten roof.  Thankfully no one fell through and for now.. it's patched.  We don't know what we're going to do yet- it's just hardly worth fixin anymore.  The termites have eaten all the posts off and while it's probably time to build a new one; ... money is a definite factor.  
Tony kept talkin the whole time how we're getting a new barn.  That it's time.  lol  
Of course we joked around that Blakelea will need a nice stall for her little pony.  
We shall see?  The main thing is everybody is  alright; ya know?  
Thank God for that.  

Well speakin of horses; I better go water the horse and donkeys and 
figure out what to fix my sweetheart for supper.  I didn't thaw anything 
since I didn't know we'd have a stove tonight!  
I sure do enjoy electricity don't you?  
xoxo 
L

2 comments:

Jean said...

Lea, what a storm it must have been! Thankfully you are all safe.

Praying for strength for you all and for repairs to the damage.




God Bless

Tins and Treasures said...

Good evening, Lea,
Wow, what a day you had! I am glad you are okay. Thanks for keeping us posted. Right...electricity is a hard thing to get along without. Enjoy what's left of the weekend. Take care, ~Natalie