6.16.2011

Lightening! Wind! No Power! Gotta Put Up The Animals!!

So last night at about 7:30pm, the sky turned black and the wind started howling...then the power went out....I decided I had better go put all the animals in the barn for the night since I wasn't sure what was happening or when it was gonna be over. I take Baby (my dog) out with me and it is lightening SIDEWAYS. The wind is whipping the tops of the trees and I am actually a little scared to even be out there, but it is a full moon and I just don't want to risk leaving the barn door open all night or leaving the chicken coop open all night - someone told me most animal losses from coyotes, raccoons, dogs, and other critters happen on full moons...I'm not gonna risk it. I take off my watch, my earrings, and my ring and head out to the field with my phone and sat it on top of one of the wooden fence posts as I was walking through the gate. I grabbed the solar lanterns and hung them in the barn and closed the door  (the sheep and goats were more than ready to be closed up!) then ran over to the chicken coop where all but two chickens had already gone inside.....The Cuckoo Maran and one of the French Black Coppers had decided they wanted to hang out underneath the coop...which has a tin roof....and it is lightening and pouring rain...I pick up a stick and try shoo-ing them out from under the coop and they are just not cooperating. Finally after running around the field like a mad woman in this Oz-like weather, I was able to get them in the coop and close all the girls up. Good thing I decided to go when I did, the weather got worse and it stormed pretty much the whole night. Needless to say I got to be done with my farm duties a whole hour earlier than normal, but my phone got struck by lightening and our power was out for hours. This morning when I opened up the barn, the babies couldn't wait to play - they haven't had to be closed up for more than about 10 hours a night at most. Everyone is fine and the garden suffered minimal damage - I just have to rebuild the tomato cages and the cucumber trellis.


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