Saturday was one for the books.
While I was trying to rasp a horse's feet, the horse was acting like a Mexican jumping bean, couldn't figure out why until I looked over to see a darling rat snake climbing the ladder to the hay loft right beside us. I ushered him to the floor and reprimanded him for trying to go after all our barn swallows. The birds are responsible for keeping all the wasps and flies out of the barn. They must remain unmolested.
I was the bouncer and this guy was escorted out.
Later in the day, he made his way back up the hill and back into the barn area. Once again, he was asked to leave. I'm sure he's responsible for the dwindling number of janitors I have in the barn at night. (Usually at least 20 toads patrol the barn aisle at night eating all the bugs, lately I've been only finding handfuls).
Eviction served, but not before he latched onto my thumb.
Next time I catch him, he's getting a ride to the other side of the property-- let's see him find his way back then!
After weeks of trail clearing, I was feeling smug at 2 PM on Saturday afternoon. 75% of the trails were back to pristine condition. 30 miles done, 10 miles left to clean.
Massive amounts of limbs have been run through the burn pile recently. The cleared trails were enjoyed for 4 hours before a wicked, wicked storm system plowed through here.
A tornado struck in the area and all the tornadic winds caused some major mayhem.
My phone having died earlier in the day, I was unaware that we were under a tornado warning. It was around 6 PM when I decided the sky looked ominous, warranting bringing the horses in for their own safety. Usually, we have to bait/bribe them back to the barn. They all came galloping on their own. That should've been a sign!
Next, I struggled to manage closing the sliding barn doors. The wind was trying to rip them off the rails. Next sign...
Upper cloud formations were moving to the West, lower formations were hustling to the East. How many signs does one need?
By the time it died down, horses were let out, my dogs and I got home past dark to find oodles of text messages from friends warning me and then questioning our safety. Oops.
I was able to recon some fence rows by flashlight, but waited until daybreak to assess.
Glad we didn't try to drive to any of the houses. Foot travel only.
The formerly pristine trails...
Trees snapped right in two.
It was a chore to get to the main house.
Once there, it became obvious that cutting the grass today was no longer on the agenda!
Even the driveway down was blocked.
This is ridiculous!
Where to start???
When even the pasture fences took a clobbering.
Start somewhere ...
...like getting the patio furniture out of the pool.
Never dull around here. Thankfully, all creatures are healthy and accounted for.
So what if new erosion sites can swallow a VW Bug!
