Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Life is odd. I read over Monday's post....I couldn't post yesterday I was too busy.
First we went to the VA in the morning. Marc had a pain clinic intake appointment. Nothing new there, they have no idea why he is in pain and can't give him any more meds than he is on. Check. They are referring him to neurology for nerve studies. sigh.

We head out to Starbucks...You can read THAT fiasco here...Kettle and Cup
We finally get home, exhausted and soaked because it has started to pour while we are out...I am reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I went up to read in the bedroom by the fireplace..I was freezing! Marc came up and laid down and we both passed out for awhile.
We woke up to Shiloh yelling that we were flooding..
Marc said, "Yeah, right.." and got up to look.
Meanwhile I flew to Shiloh's room where I saw this:


Oh, you don;t know what they are looking at? Here, look closer....

Yeah the creek was out of its banks...Now usually it is about two inches deep and down in a twenty five foot ravine.

Have I mentioned to you that we fought the city on the new development they allowed north of us? I have? Have I mentioned that they said the run-off would be minimized by new techniques for water run-off containment systems that the developers were using? I have? Have I mentioned that we did not believe them? Good...Carry on....

By 2:30 Marc had taken the truck to go check creeks and bridges. He ended up getting closed away from the house when they closed a road while he was out. Apparently He did not care..he got home anyway. Meanwhile..I told the boys and Jon to move the chickens, and Flashe, our buck, to the goat barn. I asked them to let the horses out in the front yard..Maybe you can see why...

And then we watched with a sick feeling....we have been through this before but not ever with so little rain...only five inches of rain caused this...oh, and did I mention the development north of us?





Those were the last pictures I got because I saw the horses running around the back and the trying to get them.
I got downstairs and outside. Marc had Candy and was taking her over to a neighbors that has higher property, the kids were trying to get Buddy out but Hope was going bonkers. She remembered the other flood and was pulling away from them. She was rearing and Matt was trying to hang on to her while Ethan put on the halter she had slipped off...She was throwing Matt around but he was hanging on her neck...Erin got some great pictures and tape of the whole thing....She is going to put it up on youtube and I will post it later.
Praying the whole time, we got Buddy out and Marc had come back by then..Marc took him over...while we continued to try to calm Hope...Finally got leads on her and headed down the street..sort of.
That's when things got nuts. She went ballistic, the police, thank God they came by, had to stop traffic in both directions because we could not control her, or do much more than hang on. They sent animal control over, two very nice women...who had no clue about horses. I was trying to calm her. Poor baby, she was so freaked she was biting her tongue and bleeding from the mouth. She knocked me in the head with her head pretty good...Think I have a slight concussion.
When she did that she pulled away from me and Jon and Matt got her. Marc came up about then and was trying to calm her...She started backing up and almost when backwards over the bridge.
By this time I was sitting on the bridge crying...Almost ready to "Curse God and die". I was just so frustrated with the situation. We put all our money into this place to have a small sustainable farm, a couple of horses, some chickens...my dream had always been this...and it was crumbling, or washing away if you prefer, before my eyes.
When we moved here we knew we were in a 100 year flood plain. Not a problem. It had flooded once in ten years. The year after we moved here they began building upstream. In 2004 our entire property went under in armpit high (on me) water. But we had had an unusual 15 inches of rain in 24 hours.
Since we moved here the creek has been out of it's banks numerous times and flooded our property 4 or 5 to one extent or another. Our pasture is bare mud from all the sludge that was laid down...and we are losing massive amounts of property to erosion.

Anyway..
So Marc was able to get her down to the neighbors but not before she reared and came down on his foot and kicked his knee. Yeah....Good thing he is in a wheelchair most of the time.

We thawed out, at soup, and then I took him Back to the VA for X-rays...Not broken...Just very very bruised.

The rain had stopped and the creek was receding, but not as quickly as usual. I heard the rain start up again at 3 a.m. and couldn't sleep, so I came downstairs, prayed, and then blogged, checking the back every so often to make sure we weren't flooding and I did not need to bring the goats onto the porch.

So....that is my last 24 hours.

If you happen to see a farm for sale, with a big farmhouse in pretty good condition, a decent barn, a stock tank, creek and fenced...an orchard would seal it for me...I don;t care if it is in Alaska....let me know if it is under 250,000.
I don;t think I can do this anymore.
Oh, and if you can't understand why I haven't just sold the horses? There has been a drought ...horses are selling for 300-400 dollars here...and being sold for meat.
No way.

8 comments:

Karen Baking Soda said...

Oh Marye...don't know what to say, horrible! I am so glad you all managed to get the animals out safe. I hope it's going to get better real real soon. Thinking good thoughts and sending warm hugs!

Monica said...

Oh {{{{{Marye}}}}} I'm sorry. Praying for you all..

April said...

Marye, I am praying for you and your family. I am glad that Marc only sustained bruises, and all of the animals are ok!

Betsy said...

Praise the Lord there wasn't any damage to your home! What a terrible thing to have to deal with! ((Marye))

Jen said...

Thank goodness you're all okay, but what a mess. I'm so sorry!

Marye said...

Thanks everyone..It just felt good to write the frustration.

The creek is a trickle, the sun is shining, and my garden is somewhat limp and waterlogged but intact. :) Life is good, and my Anchor holds.

Marie Rayner said...

Marye, I hadn't realized you also had this blog. I am so sorry that you have had to contend with this mess. (((hugs)))

Anonymous said...

So sorry this has happened again. I understand over development. Our last house flooded many times and our septic would back up each spring. I pray I never have to live that way again... sleepless nights wondering if the tubs will fill with heaven knows what and the seasonal creek overflow. (Those were some tough days.) I'm glad things are okay now, but pray God guides y'all out of this.