The Nightly News, Except It's (Very) Early Morning...

Today I cleaned the two 12x12 animal shelters, and removed the straw bedding that had been exposed to the flood water. In the east (boys) barn, the water had only covered about the front 3' of the floor, so even with some wicking, I was able to save more than half of the straw. The west (girls and Buddy the Llama) barn sits several inches lower, so it didn't fare so well. I had to remove all of the straw and the pelleted wood bedding beneath it. The rubber stall matting now needs to be removed before we can add another layer of crushed rock to raise the level of the floor about 6". The sheets of matting are 4' x 6' x 3/4" thick rubber from recycled tires, and they are mega-heavy. Bill and I together can barely drag them, so I didn't even try to get them out by myself. Two young men from our church are supposed to come over tomorrow (make that THIS) morning, and help us take care of those two chores. Since Bill works for the state, he has Monday (MLK Day) off, so we are planning to bring all of the animals home that morning by making three trips with our Honda minivan. I will post pictures of that adventure on Monday evening.