Shredded Shed

This is what we came home to--since we heard about it in advance, we went straight to the farm on Sunday when we got here--before we even went to the house. Evidently, there was a full-blown media gag on anyone telling me that this had happened until we got home so it did not ruin our vacation--and that is a good thing. Nothing I could do to fix it until we got here, and I would have blown it all out of proportion in my head. By the time I got here, I know everyone was okay and that is all that matters to me.

When someone finally cracked and told me about, I learned that early in the week, the neighbor called my mom (who was in St Louis with dad having heart surgery, but he is fine) to tell her there was a funnel cloud headed straight for the barns at the farm. Next thing he knew, there was metal and wood all over the place. ...in the ditch by the road, and evidently all over the pastures.

Rita told me she had been hauling metal out of the pastures all week to get it away from the horses, and called Headleys for advice for what to do about the few remaining pieces of roof that were left. Poor Rita--way more work that she signed on for this week.

It is true that this is an old bull shed--God only knows how old it is-- but it did have a roof on it when we left. And some gutters. And all the other sorts of things that a run-in shed should have.....like lights, etc. It worked for a run-in shelter, as ugly as it was.

It does not have any of those required things now. And is even uglier-if that is possible.

There were also some pieces of roofing missing from the front big barn as well--and some twisted but still partly attached. A skylight panel was missing from near the top, but most of the damage was on the edge closest to the bull shed--they are only separated by a driveway.

Since then, I have heard that a neighbor about a couple of blocks away at the end of the cul de sac across the road and down some from the farm had skylight parts in her yard. Even today, another piece fell out of a tree in her yard.

Ugh. Today, Barry was able to replace the missing pieces on the big barn, and Lowe's had the skylight in stock, so that one is taken care of. The bull shed is a whole other matter though. I have to order roofing tomorrow, and it should be in by the weekend. I can get the lumber to re-structure the roof frame at the lumber yard and have it all here for Barry when he gets home on Sunday. I hate it that this situation leaves the mares and babies with only some small trees for shade until the roof is rebuilt--but that is Mother Nature for you. Especially in southern Illinois. Fortunately, this is not supposed to be a brutal week.

How bout that for a welcome home?

I will keep working on vacation pics to post, so I can tell about our trip. My computer is acting up, so it is a bit slow going, but I will get there. I am actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow to see what has gone berserk on that front. I saw on the news that we have a signed state budget, so I am anxious to know how bad our agency is impacted. Cross your fingers