Relief. Thankful. Blessings.
Winter time always seems like it would be a restful time here on the farm. Much fewer plantings and weeding to do, fewer animals to tend to, a time of relaxation, planning, reviewing. We haven’t really gotten to that level yet. I have been pouring over seed catalogs and websites and working on garden planning with many crops, a transplant schedule and sale, managing our planted hoop houses with bed turnover, harvesting schedules, planting schedules and a microgreen endeavor. Ryan has been working on greenhouse construction, wash/pack room renovation, butcher room upgrades along with harvesting and watering as able and needed in our hoop houses. We’ve really been keeping pretty busy these shorter, darker days.
With all the projects and tasks going on here, it is so easy to get caught up in all that hasn’t been done yet. We had rude reminder Wednesday morning of the need to slow down, take time and just be thankful for where we are. Ryan went out to start my vehicle for me as I was taking the baby to the grandparents for the day and the kids to school. He smelled smoke and noticed smoke coming out of the shed which houses our chickens overnight and attaches onto our old wooden barn. He carefully entered the back utility room, noted that the fire door was not hot to touch, and was surrounded by smoke. The power was cut to the shed and it was dark and smoky. He was able to grab a couple fire extinguishers and put out the small fire which had turned the whole utility room into a sooty, smelly mess. After clearing out the smoldering debris, he determined that the extension cord overheated since it was a cold night and the cord connected to our stock tank heater as well as our infrared heater; it started smoldering and melting items in the utility room.
We have never been so scared and also so thankful for how things turned out. The timing was perfect as 5 minutes later, it probably would have gotten so hot to start the walls on fire and the overhead or if it had occurred in the middle of the night our chickens and very likely most of our sheep would have been at risk.
We have so many great things that happen on the farm, but we also deal with numerous challenges and frustrations like this one. We try to look at the bright side and can definitely see it with this situation. When we lose a lamb or a crop due to pests or the weather it can be very frustrating, but that is also life. So, all we can do is pick ourselves up, appreciate the lessons we are taught and learn from the situation. When things are not going as we would like, we try to look for the positives and are thankful they are usually there. For now, we’re grateful for new wiring and circuit breakers in the barn and shed!
