Our new "Barn"

"Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud". 

~Maya Angelou

We understood the dire need for a shelter for the newborn lambs,
so we decided to purchase a coverall tarp structure,
 from a local neighbor,
 to provide the shelter for the animals.

We had asked a few people to come and help us set it up,
little did we know that our good neighbors;
 Martien and Roeby had rallied the community.

We had an overwhelming response with over 24 people coming to our ranch to set up this coverall.
It was incredibly heartening to see all the help arriving and giving so freely of their time and energy to help us out.

The community rallied and we are beyond grateful.

I was a touch concerned as to how to feed everyone, as I had not counted on such a large crowd.
But, even that was taken care of!

The fancy lambing jugs were loaned to us by Twilight Hutterite Colony.
The large group set about building up the coverall, while others completed other jobs;
our future water pumphouse and electrical shed,
 was insulated and completed by some of the work crew.
Other people, helped out with vaccinating lambs, feeding bottle babies,
feeding the ewes and lambs and getting more hay bales.

The work started at 10am and by 5pm,
 we had the first ewes and lambs in the barn.

Almost two weeks after the fire, the barn is still smoldering,
occasionally a small flare up starts.

We have a staw bale maternity pen,
another straw bale pen for the older ewes and lambs.
We have the coverall up,
 for the immediate care and protection of the fresh lambs,
and  a small shed ready for the water and power.
We have the waterlines dug up and a new power line installed.
We hope by the end of this week, we will have power and water restored for the animals.

We are hauling water with a water tank from town to our stock daily.
So, things are slowly moving forward.
As time moves on, we are not reeling as much,
 and are now primarily focused on this lambing time.

We have had meals delivered to us, cards from far and wide, donations, phone calls, emails and so many kinds words spoken to us.
For a (somewhat) hermit like me,
this is both heartening and totally unexpected.

Here is an impression of the day:

Thank you,
 for being our rainbow!

Update Barn Fire

Feb 27, 2015

A small update:

I am overwhelmed with the kindness and generosity of so many people. The number of sweet comments, words of encouragement, emails and messages has been enormous. Although, I do not have the time to thank each and every one who has sent me a message, please know that they are read and appreciated, and taken to heart.

Thank you to Jess, Jacquie, Eileen, Charles, Jan and so many others who have coordinated an effort to try and help us replace some of the things we have lost. We are touched by so many people’s generosity. We actually feel rather awkward about accepting the donations to us, as I mentioned in a previous post, we feel there are so many other worthier causes, people who have suffered greater losses. We are used to paying our own way, if times are hard, we work harder, cut back and do what we need to do. Your kindness has been so heartening, thank you.

If in any way we can pay it forward, we will.

Lambing time is a day or two away. It feels like a freight train is headed in our direction. It is a little paralyzing, as it is hard to know where to start.

So, on the business side of things:

We have found round bales of straw, so this weekend Eric will haul them home so that we can build a windbreak for the ewes.

We have borrowed some cattle panels to build a corral, to place the straw bales around.

We have ordered some lambing supplies, things like bottles, stomach tubes, teats, marker sprays, tags, applicators etc.

We have ordered hog panels to make some temporary lambing jugs.

We have also bought a small tarp covered “building” that we can set up sometime next week for the weak animals who will need more care and shelter.

The insurance people and the fire people have been looking for the cause of the fire, once we get clearance we can start the cleanup. 

We hope to have the power and water going sometime next week.

Within the chaos and disorganization; is work to be done.

Eric is the type of guy that plows through, gets busy “fixing” things, he is in organization mode. Often, a little curt, maybe at times a little too direct, but it is his way. Roy, is plugging along, helping out wherever he can. Jess will be coming home this weekend to help with building a shelter.

I like to write, rather than talk about these things. It helps me create order and perspective. So, with this update, I would like to share another small survival story.

We have an old red cat that we inherited with the farm. This cat is the one who hangs out with the pups, shares their food, he is the squirrel and mouse catcher, the dog trainer and he is a pet. He is also a survivor. He has used up his quota of nine lives. About 5 years ago, he got run over by our 1 ton dually. He disappeared and we could not find him. A few days later, I found him, his belly was open, his intestines were dragging on the ground, his ears and tail were frozen. He was at death’s door. I brought him into the house, gave him antibiotics, cleaned his wounds and comforted him. I had resigned myself that he would not make it. His condition was so poor. Well, this old cat did survive, he did lose part of his tail, his ears are shorter and he still has a small drainage hole in his belly. He is recovered, looks healthy, his coat is shiny and we are now 5 years further. The barn was his favorite place to be, due to the warmth of the furry puppies, yummy puppy food, mice and all the other perks ( attention, ear rubs etc) of being a loved barn cat. 

This old cat, once again used up some lives, he managed to get out of the fire, while our other 2 cats did not. His paws are black with soot, but he is out greeting us every morning again.

I think he is invincible.

The beautiful sunrise over the ashes reminds us that every day is a new day.

Feb 28, 2015
Lambing has started,  we are scrambling.

Fena, "watching" at a polite distance from a ewe who has just lambed.

2 March, 2015

The first two days of lambing went okay, however last night and this morning was brutal. An icy north wind, minus 14C. Huge wind chill factor.
 Checking every hour, moving moms and babies into stock trailers, giving them a drink of colostrum, towel drying them and hoping they will be okay.
We did lose a few last night.
At 3 am moved the whole flock to a different spot, that should give them more protection from the wind.

The wind was howling today and the drifting snow was like a sandblaster.
My skin is raw.

All, I am wishing for is some milder temperatures and no wind.

Our Barn

For our family and friends who are not on Facebook,
you may not know,
 that we lost our barn to a fire yesterday.
We, are devastated, sad and tired.
So, here are the posts, I have posted on Facebook, yesterday and today.

24 Feb 2015

Dear Friends

Our barn burnt down last night, killing all but 1 pup, some of the sheep and lambs in the barn.

 I am totally devastated.

Dear Friends

Thank you for the outpouring of love. We felt it. The many kind words are a balm to our sadness right now. Our grief, is of course shared, with the puppy owners who have also lost. Many would have received their pups this week. They too, are feeling the loss and sadness. They and many others have followed the weekly progression of these pups, have seen the videos of them frolicking with the lambs. One of the shar pups managed to escape and I think that reminds us to have hope. This pup (Brown), was always one of the really naughty pups, a challenge to keep in the pen, the escape artist among the pups; these talents, is what kept her alive. She made it out of the barn, through brambles and thorn bushes to our front door. Amazing, for a pup that has never been that far away from the barn and never been to our house before. I suppose, we shall name her “Lucky”. Unfortunately, Border Collie Ginger and the remaining 7 shar pups, and 30 ewes and lambs, and two cats, were less fortunate.

This loss of animal life is incredibly heart breaking.

For those who asked, our Meco (our Macedonian pup), did survive as he was not in the barn last night, so did Katcha, the mom of the pups, as she was being weaned from the pups.

We are thankful no human life was lost, all the adult dogs, the main flock of ewes, the horses and the cows are safe. The material damage is enormous, we lost our tractor, other equipment, feed, panels, troughs, waterers, gates, augers, a trailer, kennel panels, water pumps and so much more. Our barn was a huge structure (300 feet long x 80 wide by 24 high), and it is now leveled to the ground. Fortunately, barns can be rebuilt, and equipment can be replaced.

We need to stay focused, as our ewes are due to start lambing in 10 days’ time, we need to find a way to set up some form of shelter, or wind break, re-order lambing supplies, build some panels and focus on doing what needs doing.

We are grateful to our neighbors and friends who have jumped in to help, loaning us water tubs, and a tractor and whatever we may need. Their support and help is very much appreciated.

It feels so daunting and overwhelming right now, and spontaneous tears and sadness wells up at unforeseen moments. We are resilient and we will get through this.

Thank you for kind words, the hugs and kind thoughts. It really is very much appreciated.

25 Feb 2015

Another day.

We have more acceptance today. We are not as shell shocked as we were yesterday. The tears, and sadness are still, just under the surface. I personally do not like to “talk” about it, as I get a little emotional. Being emotional, exhausts me.

I, do not want to go to that deep dark place of horror, thinking about the animals and their fate. It is simply to tragic to “go there”.

Unfortunately, we are still partially in that “what if” stage. What if, under the rubble and roof, a pup did survive in a small pocket somewhere? That thought prompts us to go and look. Independently today, Eric and I both went and looked, if maybe, the border collie Ginger, may have survived. Moving through the rubble and the smoke, pushing the metal sheeting aside and peering under it, looking.

The realization that none of the animals survived, is seeping into our consciousness. Roy, spent most of the day yesterday combing the area around the barn, looking under bushes and trees for any remaining pups. That act alone, brings tears to my eyes, it is just so sad.

So, I try not dwell on it.

The work has started now; the claim to the insurance agency, writing down what we had in the barn, getting quotes and planning cleanup. 

We have to put a value to things, stuff that has been collected over the years. The wooden oak panels that came from the Netherlands with us, the tools that you gather over the years, handy things like duct tape, rope, chains, even baler twine. Dog collars, leads, food bowls, buckets, nails, screws, hose pipes. The little things that you have on hand are gone. I am sure, we will run more and more into these little inconveniences as we go along.

Their is an urgency to get power and water back on. These are priorities now. Fortunately, the big flock and the cows are used to eating snow for their winter water supply.

I have read a few comments and seen some people rallying to possibly set up a “gofundme” account, however, Eric and I were talking, we really do appreciate the support, however, we feel there are so many other “worthier” causes. If anyone feels a strong need to send us something, a card, a photo, a quote or a little heartening message would be welcomed.

~Louise