Our view from the basement door toward the barns -- and my clotheslines!
The path down to the barns is now a mini river. Hopefully it will dry up before we have another freeze or it will be a bit tricky to get to the animals.
Over the weekend we had 7 goat kids born to 4 mothers. One didn't make it, but the rest are doing very well. The weak one spent overnight last night in the house. It was amazing to me how her voice sounded just like a small child's voice.
It's a good thing it has been above freezing at night, since the mamas and their kids have taken over Sandy the cow's area in the barn.
I thought this one was especially cute! One of the mamas parked her kids right in front of the hay feeder, and fought off anyone else attempting to eat. So, the boys had to move things around a bit, and then things were fine.
Jonathan's laying hens enjoying some of the sun's rays.
All has not been rosy, however. This warm weather has greatly sped up the melting process down in the Fargo, ND area, and flooding is beginning to happen. I know of one family that already has a moat of water surrounding their house.
This is an article from today's Fargo newspaper, the Fargo Forum:
FARGO/CASS: Walaker: Tough week lies ahead
Fargo and Cass County officials rallied Sunday to speed up flood protection plans in light of a new forecasted Red River level of 38 feet by next weekend.
By: Mila Koumpilova, INFORUM
Fargo and Cass County officials rallied Sunday to speed up flood protection plans in light of a new forecasted Red River level of 38 feet by next weekend.
Some county residents south of Fargo spent the day immersed in flood preparations, to which the most recent forecast lent renewed momentum.
“We’re going to have a tough week,” Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker said Sunday. “We’ll be going 24 hours a day for the next seven to 10 days.”
Officials worked Sunday on plans to start delivering sandbags to Fargo’s most vulnerable neighborhoods, deploy alternative flood protection equipment and ratchet up sandbag-making operations today.
Fargo, Cass and state officials will resume hosting daily 8 a.m. televised flood meetings today at Fargo City Hall. The meetings also can be heard on WDAY AM 970 and by clicking on the station’s radio stream on Inforum.com.
“In some ways, our attitude is similar to what happened last year,” Fargo City Administrator Pat Zavoral said Sunday. “We don’t have a really long time.”
The city will start delivering the roughly 750,000 sandbags already available to neighborhoods today, beginning with Harwood, Hackberry Drive South and River Vili. The city will need volunteers to construct sandbag dikes and continue filling sandbags at “Sandbag Central,” where hours will be extended from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. starting today. Volunteers should call (701) 476-4000 for directions.
The city will also ask the National Guard, area colleges and high schools for people to help build dikes.
“It’s going to be a scramble, no question about it,” Walaker said. “Trying to get ready for 38 feet is doable, but we were hoping to have a little more time.”
Cass County jumped into high gear Sunday as well.
“We have a lot to get done between now and the weekend,” said Sheriff Paul Laney. “It’s like last year all over again. But this time, we’re much better prepared.”
The county will work on erecting sandbag and clay levees this week. The Cass County Emergency Operation Center will start taking calls at 7 a.m. today at (701) 297-6000.
The county will also activate its emergency response teams starting Tuesday, including its boat response and rescue team on Wednesday.
“People need to realize it’s here,” Laney said. “It’s here. It’s here today. If you need to protect your home, the time is now.”
County inmates have filled 20,000 sandbags. The county has worked out an agreement with the city to use one of its sandbag-making machines today.
“It will be 24/7 until we’re done,” Laney said.
Halder Thompson was raring to get a head-start on this year’s flood fight long before Sunday.
A resident of Forest River Road south of Fargo, he checked with the county about lining up sandbag supplies three weeks ago. He moved most furniture to a rented storage unit. On Friday, he checked with the county again: Sandbags would be available today.
The new forecast made it especially hard to stay idle Sunday. Working on a dike would have kept anxious memories at bay: the three sleepless days at the height of last year’s flood fight, and the three weeks he missed from work.
“It’s building up, the tension,” he said. “You don’t sleep at night.”
South on Cossette Drive along a swollen Wild Rice River, Joe and Wanda Omodt decided against waiting for county-issued bags and sand. They bought their own and hosted a dozen friends and family over the weekend to build a 3,000-bag dike.
“You kind of have to work when you have help available,” Wanda said. “We feel like we’ve got a good start.”
“We hope our time has been wasted,” Joe added.
Please pray for the area, and especially for all the people affected by the flooding.
This weekend is also North Dakota's annual home school convention -- held in Fargo.
9 comments:
I adore baby goats, and I especially love the little one being held!!
Oh, the one little one is sure cute! Hope to make it to Fargo this weekend,if the flooding doesn't stop us.
What a lovely group of goat kids - I'll bet you guys are busy!
Out of curiosity, who are you guys getting the Angus meat from for the beef you are selling? I knew you didn't raise the cattle, but I see it listed for sale on the farm site. I had somebody ask me and I said I would find out - I was sure it was somebody with similar philosophy as you!
I finally looked you up on Google Maps -- I had no idea you guys were that close to the Canada border! You are WAY up there! (kind of dashes my hopes of every visiting some day - LOL). and I had no idea there was that much water in north North Dakota - what a great geography lesson for me! :) I love your long long driveway -- I wish our house had been built further back off the road than it is, even though the road is infrequently traveled. But I suppose back in the day ours was built (the 1870s) the wanted to be close to the road...
I think I've asked you this before but I can't find the post, would you be willing to share what kind of chickens you all order? Just that time of year when we've been talking about getting our chickens.
Thanks for stopping by, Caroline! I hope you goats are all doing well!
Tracy, thanks for checking us out. Yes, there is just one road north of us before you hit the Canadian border. Long driveways can be a challenge -- particularly in spring and fall when the melting snow, thawing ground, and rain turn it into a condition only monster truck drivers love!
Camille,
Our son Jonathan just created a new blog that will answer your question about our chickens -- found at www.thepoultryjournal.blogspot.com
Hope you find it okay! Feel free to ask him any questions you might have.
Did you ever make it to the homeschool convention? I didn't see you, but then I missed a lot of people since there were over a thousand people there.
No, we didn't make it to the convention. My husband participated in a hockey tournament instead. Would've loved to have been there. From all the reports I heard it was one of the best conventions yet.
Camille, the convention was great, and there was a lot of people there from northern MN. I think the Purity Conference brought a lot of families there, since a lot of girls signed up from MN.
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