Hurricane Irma: what we'll do to prep for horses

Living in North Carolina in hurricane season, even as inland as we are, I have developed a routine over the years for preparing in case bad weather related to hurricanes comes through. While November Hill is indeed on a hill, our property lies between two rivers and near a lake, so while we don't usually have to worry about flooding on our farm, the roads surrounding us are often in flood advisory zones when we get heavy rain.

For those not familiar with North Carolina, we have many big trees: oak, pine, tulip poplar, maple, etc., and the combination of heavy rain with high winds can increase the chances of these big friends toppling. Years back when Fran came inland we listened to the roaring of wind all night and got up to a landscape completely obscured by fallen trees. Our basement was flooded. We had no power for two weeks and had to walk to the local large grocery store which became a distribution point for bottled water. We had a toddler and a cat then, so there wasn't as much prep nor was the power outage nearly as difficult as it would have been with all our animals now.

This time of year, when hurricanes head our way, or look like they might head our way, I stock up on bottled water for humans, cats, and Corgis, as well as cat and dog food, human food that won't spoil and doesn't need to be cooked, and any batteries we need to power things like flashlights, etc.

I monitor the devices (iPad, iPhones) and keep batteries charged.

I fill the bathtubs with water to use for flushing toilets in case of power loss.

For the barn residents, our horses, pony, and miniature donkeys, I stock up on bagged feed and hay. Closer to the time the hurricane approaches I make sure every water trough is full of clean, fresh water. I fill all the buckets and keep them full in case we lose power. I make sure the water storage tank in our feed room is clean and full.

I have a wish list of things I'd like to have in place for power outages in general, but especially for hurricanes:

A whole-house generator.

A hand pump installed on our well, so that even if we lose power and thus the well pump, we can get water out.

Extra stall mats, shavings, and buckets for our garage, in case I ever decide to move the horses there for safety. I think this would only be true for truly extreme weather and obviously weather we could predict with enough time to safely move the horses from barn to house. This would also probably necessitate doing some practicing so they would be used to the drill and not alarmed by the garage doors being raised/lowered. Now that the barn roof is so secure this goes further down my wish list!

The thing that used to be on the wishlist which is now done:

New barn roof with hurricane clips! I'm so grateful we were able to get this done this year. The hurricane clips make it much less likely the roof will rip off during a tornado or high winds. Since our horses generally weather the storms in the barn this is important - our vet told us years ago that he sees many more injuries in storms due to flying debris hitting/cutting horses than he sees horses injured inside the barn, ASSUMING the barn is in good shape and is well-built.

We do not lock our horses in but with their shelters on both sides of the barn they can walk in and out and they seem very happy to stand in the stalls and keep their eyes on the storm.

We also have a good chainsaw and I make sure we have gas for it prior to a hurricane. It's essential for clearing fallen trees from fences, roads, etc.

Our hot water heater, stove, and heat are powered by our propane tank, but only the stove can actually be used when the power is out. Matches are essential for lighting the stove and also the wood stove if we need heat, which isn't usually the case since hurricane season is well before the cold hits here.

This year there's a new item on my to be done list that sadly hasn't been done yet and is too late for Irma:

A good tree trimming of the big oak adjacent to our house, the tree limbs overhanging the barn, and some fenceline branch trimming. This is going to require a professional with special equipment. The company I got an estimate from mid-summer turned out not to be the right people for our needs and I haven't had a chance to find a new one yet.

Sending out thoughts for safe passage for this upcoming storm and to those still reeling from Harvey.

Three little kittens...

...are coming to live on November Hill!

My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew took on the care of a number of feral cats this past year. They fed them, tamed them, got them all spayed and neutered, and then the final litter was born on the summer solstice in June. They will continue care and feeding and loving the cats, but decided the three little kittens needed a home. It took about an hour for us to say yes.

Meet, left to right, Fox, Summer, and Winnifred:

They will arrive after they get spayed and neutered. We can't wait to meet them and settle them in to their new home on November Hill!

On a long, dark night you need a Malkoff Hound Dog Super

A few weeks ago dear husband was out of town taking photographs of the eclipse and Baloo Corgi woke me up at 4 a.m. barking his head off at something outside. I went out, aimed my pitiful iPhone flashlight at the dark of night, saw nothing, and came back in. Sleepless at that point, I decided it was high time I found myself a real farm-friendly flashlight, so I researched high and low on the internet and found a pricy but highly-recommended and rated option. Malkoff's Hound Dog Super:

I ordered it, confirmation was quick, and it arrived that week with a handwritten thank you on the invoice. When I saw the box and then opened it up, I thought they had made a mistake. This was far too small to do what I'd read this light can do in terms of illumination.

It's easily held in my smallish hand. I popped in the batteries and turned it on inside the house. No way. I figured I'd been had. That night I took it to the back deck, figuring I was going to be even more disappointed when I turned it on and tried it out in real darkness.

OH MY GOSH.

This little thing can check the fence lines from my back deck and front porch. It illuminated every spider in its web from my back door to the barn. I checked the horses, donkeys, and pony from head to hoof, from the house. When the leaves are off the trees I'll be able to check the neighbor's fence lines too.

Never again will a Corgi bark and me wonder what is out there. Highly recommended. Seriously, if you have horses and you don't already have a good light, this is the one. You can see them HERE.

On brush piles, a metaphor

I've seen it before and now am seeing it again. As the wooded edge of our property gets cleared, we decided to create medium-sized brush piles of the cuttings along the way, instead of paying someone else to haul the brush away, instead of burning, which works well but adds a layer of stress to the work that I wasn't eager to take on.

Our farm helper (I dislike the use of the word helper here since he is in fact doing all the work - champion is more like it, as he is conquering some tasks we simply cannot do in any reasonable time frame) has meticulously layered the brush as he goes, avoiding the natural draining paths and areas where the pile would interfere with other growth we want to encourage.

There's a fairly long section of running cedar that is quite lovely and seems to prohibit brushier volunteers, so we opted to protect that and the brush piles were put on either end of it.

Initially the first few piles seemed large and although not ugly, they did catch my eye in a way that I didn't like, presenting as things to be gotten rid of at some point.

Years back we had a huge brush pile from my own clearing of overgrown garden beds and a few other areas and the pile was higher than my head and double the width of my arms spread wide. I fretted that pile for a year and then one day happened to glance out the window only to realize that nature's process of decay had done the chore for us. The pile had composted itself down to almost nothing.

Already I am seeing these smaller piles doing the same thing. The newer ones seem huge now in comparison to the earlier piles, which now look shrunken, and brown, blending into the landscape even more than they did when freshly cut and green.

I've seen birds using them for cover and squirrels dashing in and out. I suspect the bunnies are using them as well.

I notice how my own stresses and worries do the same thing - looming large and unwieldy and then shrinking down to the point that eventually they become memories instead of active thoughts.

The piles are now appearing to me as a sort of natural art installation. When I view them that way, they become that. A late summer show. I'm looking forward to seeing how they transform through the fall, into winter.

Drama in the storm

Yesterday we were under a tornado watch for most of the afternoon into the evening, and although we thankfully never had high wind nor any rotation here, nor the huge hail that fell in counties around us, we did have a severe thunderstorm.

As usual I was out at the barn making sure horses and pony and donkeys had fresh water, hay, and were settled in. It was pouring rain, thunder was booming, and suddenly the pony and donkeys went into high alert. The ducks were heading through the neighbor's yard at a nice clip, straight for our front field.

The pony's head went up high, ears pricked, and then suddenly off he went down the dirt paddock toward the front field gate at a huge, fast trot. He arrived at the fence about the same time the ducks did and they swerved and headed back in the direction they came from. The pony stood guard under the big oak tree for awhile until I lured him back to the barn, rain still pouring down.

Once he was in the barn eating his hay the ducks made their way back to the fence, ducked under, and ran across the front field to the "little" barnyard, where they gathered under the closer oak and began to eat millipedes.

They were eyeing the barn door and I was trying to figure out what would happen if they suddenly ran in the barn. Who among the equines would spook, who would not? Who would chase them out? I was wishing I had my phone and its camera and video capabilities but it was inside the house.

As I stood there watching a huge lightning bolt struck somewhere across the gravel lane, and as it hit and sizzled loudly the ducks' tails all waggled in unison with the sizzle. Then they took off and ran quacking back across the front field toward home.

I'm not sure what ducks were doing out in such a storm but they perked up my evening and by dinner time the storm had passed and all was quiet again.