Monday, August 16, 2010

Thunderstorm Interrupted


Matt called about 20 minutes into his commute to Syracuse to say a big thunderstorm was on the way to Brookfield. He could hardly drive it was so intense and I should close the windows. I like to do chores in my jammies if I can but not with weather coming in. I turned on Weather.com to hear warning alarms and news flashes about the storm going through Syracuse and Utica in Madison County. That's me. I dressed hurriedly and went out with Izzy to get the sheep in, thanking my lucky stars that I have such a big, strong barn to shelter them. Not good to have a flock outside with thunderstorms coming. Sheep can be killed by lightning and wool doesn't like being wet in hot weather. I can lose it with felting right on the sheep's back. Well the sheep must have heard the weather report as they were filing in from the hill without my help. I ran around filling stock tanks with water in case we lost power. I slopped the pigs and fed the ducks. I made sure Miss Mamie was not stuck on her side again - which is how I found her yesterday - and gave her some hay. She can get herself down the slope out of the hay mow to graze a little but sometimes falls over and gets stuck. Matt also told me he noticed Sidewinder with a tooth stuck on her chest and that I should find her and clip it. This can happen when angora goats lick their thick mohair locks. It prevents the goat from eating or drinking and has to be taken care of with scissors. Well, the thunderstorm must have passed just north of me. It got me going early which is always a good thing. On deck for today - sewing a couple of the bags I cut out yesterday and cooking some of the eggplant, peppers and tomatoes I bought in a weak moment at the farmer's market. I have a couple of orders to mail out and banking to do in New Berlin. With the kids gone I've lapsed into my quirky little farmy life and plan to enjoy it for the next three weeks until school and shows start.

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