Monday, January 25, 2010

Dodging the Flood - I Hope!

Wow. What a difference a month makes! I mentioned earlier that the pretty little farm that Legs calls home is not so pretty under water - this is what I mean.

This photo was taken during our last evacuation back in September:

Don't worry. We have a lovely pasture just across the road that our neighbors let us use when it gets this bad (usually only once every 2 or 3 years...it's been a rough stretch). Here is a shot of Dusty and Skylar (Legs' stable mates) in their temporary home:

Note the water line on my jeans. I had to wade across a "stream" that was once road to get to them. The funny thing is that the news crew was there doing a story on the dangers of crossing water flooded roads. I kinda walked through right in the middle of the broadcast :o) Oh well...just weird like that.

The French Broad River valley that we call home is really a beautiful place. Most of the time. Just a month ago we looked like this:

Still, it can get ugly. Recent heavy rains and warmer temps resulting in the snow melting has turned the ole French Broad into a ranging bitch again (sorry for the profanity, but she really makes me mad sometimes). V and I didn't sleep well last night, checking the NOAA hydrograph every few hours. The pasture will get wet at 18'. At 20' the barn goes under. As of last night NOAA was calling for a crest at 18.5' by 7:00 tonight.

Just got home from the barn...water water everywhere. BUT the barn is dry. And, the latest river update has it cresting at 19' in just
about an hour. V will call with an update then, but looks like we will be fine. Which is great, because we have another concern with flooding. Our newest addition to the barn is a 6 month old mini-donkey, Zachary.

He probably CAN swim, but we'd rather not test that theory.

The horses, however, are having a ball! Legs is a bit of a water baby, and V reported he has been splashing all day. I'll try to get some video tomorrow...it's a hoot when he gets going! Took me forever to get him dry enough to get his blanket on tonight, because guess what - they are calling for snow showers tonight! I can deal with rain/flooding, I can deal with snow, but both at once??? Come on, Momma Nature! Cut us some slack here.

Such is the price of living in paradise.

PG

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