Sometimes, things sneak up you. Like last night for example.
Here I was, happily right in the middle of juicing another metric ton of pears (only slightly exaggerating), a lovely vegan chocolate pear cake baking in the oven and smelling up the house delightfully, the goats were munching away at the weeds in the pasture and all was right with the world, when my dear husband comes quickly into the room and announces that the storms forecast for tonight have been escalated to a tornado watch, and the local news said we were going to lose power any minute.
I quickly put down my pears and we made a plan to secure the animals. I took the chickens, Tim took the goats. As if on cue, as soon as we stepped outside it began to pour. Now up till this point, the weather all day had been perfectly appropriate for an All Hallows Eve. It was blustery and rainy at times, overcast always, with fast moving clouds ominously suggesting something was coming. Often I caught myself smiling over the absolute appropriateness of hearing the wind howl over the eaves and creaky screen doors slowly open and slam. (I’m a big fan of holiday appropriate weather, gimme a white Christmas or cancel the whole thing)
So yes, the weather was threatening all day, but now at 5:30pm, all hell broke loose, again, appropriately for the day, if a little less conveniently for us. I also have to out my dear husband who in this moment decisively commandeered my beloved British Dressage raincoat (!!!) (his is currently in CA leaving him raincoat-less, that’s another story). Now friends, I got this BD raincoat in 2009 and nothing compares. Nothing. I mean, the English know how to deal with rain, end of story.
So my cheeky husband, wrapped in this stylish feat of modern engineering, could at least keep his upper half dry in the deluge. Meanwhile I was forced to grab my old Marmot rain jacket which lost its ability to repel rain oh eons ago, it doesn’t even attempt to repel or even resist anymore, it just opens its fibers and welcomes the water right on in. I might as well have been wearing a towel. Even naked would have been better, because now, the weight of the all the rain in my jacket, was hampering my ability to wrestle the chicken tractor into a more secure location. My jacket was also somehow at the same time able to funnel water at an alarming rate directly into my wellies. Choice words may have been said.
But I persevered, because #farmlife and I am a strong woman raised by a strong woman. My mom is a woman who, after my sister’s wedding at our farm, in her Mother of the Bride dress, climbed up on our old Massey & Ferguson tractor to pull out a stuck vendor truck in our pasture, after all the men failed, she succeeded, in a dress. That’s my mom.
So yes, I secured the chicken tractor, somehow refilled their food while keeping it dry in sideways rain, I don’t even know how I pulled that one off. I then added a tarp on top of the tractor and anchored with bricks to keep said sideways rain off my hens. (Sidenote, sadly a chicken tractor is not a hen-sized john deer, but a moveable chicken coop.)
At the same time Tim was letting goats Gilbert, Geoffrey, Gus and George off their tethers in the field and ushering them back to their shelter. Goats hate the rain. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them move so fast.
Back inside, dripping and breathless, We went to work preparing ourselves for no power. I had to finish my batch of juice or waste the cut pears so they quickly got processed. Tim pulled out a go bag, filled water jugs, and stockpiled our candles.
After quickly cooking dinner, we waited…the wind whipped into a frenzy, the rain pounded, and we could hear trees crashing down in the woods. Our power flickered, but somehow miraculously stayed on. And when we checked the forecast, we saw the threat had been downgraded, and we were probably through the worst. We relaxed and settled in to enjoy our chocolate pear cake with a bit of cashew ice cream. Making vegan cake is new territory for me, and this, while tasty, definitely had a little case of “soggy bottom”. Paul Hollywood anyone? And if you aren’t watching the Great British Baking Show, what are you even doing with your life? (Yes I know there are new hosts and Mary Berry is gone, but I have to say, Sandy Noel, and Prue have grown on me.)
All in all it was a good lesson to see how we would fare in a worse storm. Tornados are not common here, but you never know. And we’ve yet to go through a Virginia winter. I know the snow accumulation will be less than what we were used to in Colorado. But East Coast snow has its own dangers, generally wetter and icier than it’s western cousin, it can definitely be more treacherous at times even in smaller amounts.
In other Hidden Meadow news, the bathroom demo is still underway. We have a call into the guys who installed the roof and skylight five years ago, so with their help we’ll get to the source of the leak. Tim cut away more drywall on the ceiling and found where we think its coming through from the roof. (Spot the Oscar supervising below)
Also this week I found some gorgeous marble stone tile at 75% off it ended up at $4 a foot instead of $17. We snatched up all they had and got $800 worth of tile for $200. I’m starting to pull together ideas and loving the direction. (The tile we bought is in the top left) I’m thinking the lantern tile for the floor, white crafted subway tile for the shower, black tile for the shower floor and wall behind the clawfoot tub. A repurposed wood cabinet for the pedestal sink, sea salt paint for the walls and chantilly lace white for the ceiling.
Outside the walls of our home, fall colors have exploded the past couple weeks. The beauty in this valley is ever changing and breathtaking. The below photos are just on our drive into town. Not the worst views.
This weekend will be a fun and a busy one. Tonight is a date night to see John Crist in nearby Lynchburg. Tomorrow is the cider pressing party we’ve been invited to, and Sunday we’re having a few neighbors over for a curry night. Tim makes amazing curry and with the cooler temps it just feels right. Oh and one more fun update. The puppies’ eyes are now open! They currently look like this, and I can’t even. We can bring ours home December 7.
Until next week friends.
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