The past 2 weeks have been spent, like everyone else, surviving the brutal weather. From the snow and ice and sub zero temperatures, to the brief thaw and resulting flood. Mornings and evenings consist of driving to the farm, breaking ice, feeding and watering. When we are finally able to live on the farm, life will be a breeze! Well, at least I won't put as many miles on my truck :-).
Hay was getting low in the hay tent, so last weekend during the thaw it seemed like a good idea to haul a trailer load from the storage container at the bottom of the hill to the tent on the top. All went well until the tractor started spinning and slipping on a steep part of the road. The ice thaw had left a slick coating of mud over rocks, and with the heavy load it just would not go. We ended up piling it on the gator 8 bales at a time and taking it the rest of the way up the hill until the load was light enough to pull. I suppose proper planning and preparation by doing this before the worst weather of the winter would have been smart. But, unfortunately I can't drive the tractor. Other than this, a few frozen busted pipes in the pole barn and frozen bathtub drains in the rental house, we have faired pretty well so far. I feel very lucky, because know others have had many worse difficulties. Yesterday, the flash floods came to Scottown. 775 at mile 8 was impassible for a while. By evening, I was able to get through on one lane of the road. The driveway to the farm was completely under water as was the county road. Luckily (good planning this time) we have an alternate entrace that was built last fall with the dozing work. While working inside the barn, Scout started barking and we heard a male voice outside. At the edge of the water in the dark was a young man and woman carrying a small baby trying to get through the water on foot. On the other side of the flood water, a car was waiting to pick them up. They were unkept and ragged. I noticed even the baby's thin blanket and booties were dirty. His tattered pantslegs were wet almost to his knees from trying to cross the water. "Can we get through here?" he asked nervously. "We are trying to get home and that's my brother over there to pick us up." "No way, the water is too deep and its too dangerous" I told them. The water was high and it was flowing forcefully. Anything in the water would get quickly washed away. He would have to drive back to Proctorville and take another route. "I dont think I have enough gas" he said. "my gas light is on." He was obviously distraught. We had a can with a few gallons of gas in it, which we gave him to put in his car and they went on their way. During the process, they briefly were inside the garage to get the baby out of the cold. The encounter left me feeling unsettled. Hopefully, all will be well. I didnt have my camera and it was getting dark so I wasnt able to get any pics of the flood. Today, you can see where the water was - in all the areas with no snow. The surveyors did a pretty good job marking the flood level with pink flags. It looks like the water went slightly above in a few areas, but still far away from the garage and where the house will someday sit. Meanwhile, Jako is growing like a weed. He is getting used to the snow, and actually started playing in it. He's 8 weeks old now and starting to look more like a puppy and less like an opossum.
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AuthorMy name is Christy Franklin. Archives
February 2021
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