Monday, October 29, 2012

Preparing for Sandy

Whew, it's been a busy month; just flown by!  We spent this past weekend preparing for a visit from Hurricane Sandy. 

When we first moved to the area I didn't really consider the possibility we'd be affected by hurricanes .  We are pretty far inland but occasionally will feel the effects of large, coastal storms. 

Last year, our storm preparations were focused more on the barn and the critters. 

Here DH and DS are repairing one of the barn doors.
 
We had more animals then and it was like a large puzzle figuring out how to fit all the animals into the barn.  It reminded me of the old brain-teaser, "Okay, you have a fox and three chickens and you have to get them all across the river but they can't all be in the boat at one time . . . "

Our milk cow, Lily.  In the background are Belle and Patchy Pony.

The horse and pony had to be kept apart from the goats because they steal the goats' hay and the goats had to be separated from the cows because the steer was too rough with the goats and the horses had to be separated from each other because the pony beat up on the old horses when he thought they were eyeing up "his girl"  . . .  Quite a puzzle.

We divided the cow's stall into two sections and put the cows on one side and the horse and pony on the other side. Then we put up a temporary wall in the goat's stall and put the goats on one side and the two old horses on the other.  We closed the barn up tight and everyone rode out the storm just fine.

This year our preparations for Hurricane Sandy were focused more on the house.  We spent the day Saturday caulking and painting windows. 

 
While we were at it, DH cleaned our old windows from the outside and I washed them on the inside.  I have a confession, we've lived here two and a half years and not once have I washed the upstairs windows of our house - keeping it real, folks.  DH and I keep marveling about how nice it is to be able to see out the upstairs windows.  Maybe we should consider washing them more often . . . just a thought.
 
The rest of our hurricane preparations were easy; dusting off and filling the oil lamps, filling some jugs with potable water and some five gallon buckets with water to flush the toilet.  That's the worst part of losing electricity; the well pump doesn't work so therefore, no running water.
 
Caring for the animals was much less complicated this year. Lily came in from the pasture thoroughly soaked and eager to be let into her stall for a rubdown and some hay. She is due to calve on November 10th so we're hoping she doesn't go early! Currently she is our only cow so she gets her own room in the barn.
I carried the cordless screwdriver out to the barn and put a bar across a back stall temporarily. This will allow the goats, we only have three on the farm right now, access to a back stall while Rio gets the hay in the front room.  Patchy Pony was elected to go to his own stall across the hallway.  Rio is patient and tolerant of the goats.  Patchy will sometimes get a little too pushy with them.
 
DH covered the windows in the chicken's area with plywood and they've had the good sense to stay inside today.  The dogs will spend the worst of the storm in the basement where it's warm and dry. 
 
Right now, Monday afternoon, we have steady rain and some wind; the front of the storm is moving in.  Forecasts predict the majority of the tempest will move over us later this evening or overnight.  Every once in a while a gust will blow the top of the pond into small waves.
 
But all the critters are safe in the barn and everything, so far, is pretty quiet.  DH went in to work for only a short time this morning, I had an unexpected day off and we let the children take a break from school work.  After we went out to tend to the animals, we spent a quiet afternoon finishing laundry and reading.  It's good to know we've done all we can to prepare and now we're able to relax and watch the storm move in.  We are thankful for a warm, sturdy house and barn.  Let's pray Sandy moves on quickly!

1 comment:

  1. that comment about the windows is so awesome... and so very, very real. i feel echoes of it in my own life... =) wondering how your guys rode out the storm? we lost power up here around boston but had it back about a day later. my officemate's family's house down in northern nj was hit by a tree - some of it came in through the kitchen roof. pretty crazy. hoping and praying you guys are all safe and there wasn't too much damage to the farm. update as soon as you can - carla

    ReplyDelete