Jan 31 update

WOW, Joe Decker did a great job of removing the blackened scar that was left from the fire. Looks smooth but still has traces of smoke smell but that is to be expected. Joe did a 5 star service and I HIGHLY recommend him if you need any logging, excavating, clearing or that type of work. Thanks Joe and Nancy for your great community service. You are two great people. I know if I ever need any more work like this, they will be the people I will call.

It's been almost two weeks and we are trying to sort through everything now. I want to thank all the people who stepped up and helped us right after the fire. Jeff Boone who rushed over and helped and made sure the sheep had hay. Rocking E who generously donated alfalfa for the first few days to tide us over. Chris Haymond for taking my Clun Forest pregnant ewes until I could get a shelter built. Nelson, my brother and Mom who came and helped us on the day of the fire. Amy Bradley who stepped forth and taken the rein of coordinator for "barn fire" contact person. Becki, Chris, Claire who are putting a sheepdog benefit trial to help us. Jeff Roger and Katya, who have stepped in and helped with work. Tony and MaryAnn who have been there everyday for me. Varun, Walter, Steve, Kelly and the rest of the guys from the FAA who built a lambing shed for me. Jayna and Nate who brought supplies!! Audrey who brought sheep stuff....All the sheepdog folks, from Canada to California to Alabama to Wyoming. The Frisbee and music folks have been great....just everyone!!

I know that I have missed people but there has been tons of people who have helped us when we were dazed and numb. We will be starting a Thanks You page for all those poeple who have written, provided a shoulder to cry on, helped and so forth!!! We thank you all!!

Now that I am not so dazed but still numb, Jeff and I are amazed at the people who have helped in so many ways. We thanks each and everyone of you for your kindness.

Next step is a work party this Saturday. We also need to get gravel so if anyone has a good contact for gravel drop Amy a line. Her email is on the website. We also need to put up fencing where the barn burned down so the sheep can go into their normal pasture. Right now, they are with the horses and need to have their pasture back.

OK, so the plan is gravel ASAP and a work party. We figure there will be several work parties. We will keep you posted on these. We have called barn building folks and hope to see some plans soon. With out limited budget we will see what we can get.

That's it for today...more in a day or two. We are blessed to have friends like y'all!!
Diane~

Jan 29th Update

The weekend has come and gone. The sheep shed is mostly done. Varun, Walt, Kelly and Steve from the FAA came out and started assembling the shed. (I work at the FAA with these guys and they are amazing guys!!) Jeff Rogers, a herding friend also spent most of the day helping doing the shed work. Varun brought Jared and James (cousin) and they had a blast playing with the animals and doing odd and end bits of work too. Such energy in children!!

The guys need to put the roof on the shed still and will come back to finish that. The shed is for the pregnant ewes that are soon to lamb. We have no dry stall or shed for the moms-to-be so having the guys build this shed is wonderful. I am really blessed by Varun, Walt, Kelly, Steve and Jeff to take the time to do this for me.

Kelly moved the one dog kennel to a dry and clean location. It's pretty much trashed but until I get a new kennels it will do. The other kennels are also history. Amy Bradley and Erin O'Brien (herding students) spent most of the day helping me move gravel and take care of sheep and tons of assorted work. Tony Castillos and MaryAnn manned the kitchen and had hot drinks and hot lunch for the gang. King 5 came out and did a special feature on Kodiak. It aired on Sunday at 5:00. Roberta Romero and Allen were from King 5 and were very nice. Joe Decker dropped his debris clearing equipment off. He will start the debris removal On Monday. He is a wonderful person to help us out on this. If you need a person for excavating, he is the man!! Great person with a customer service of 5 stars.

It was one busy Sunday!! More updates to follow

Jan 28th Update

Well, barn shopping is not a job for the faint hearted. First, hardly any barn companies are open on Saturday. We talked to a couple of folks and guessing/quotes are $50,000. Yep, with the Insurance check for abnout half of that amount, those quotes are a no-go. We are checking into a pole type of Barn. Again, many phone calls and no one home. Will try again on Monday.

Went to Home Depot and GI Joe to get an estimate of the stuff we lost in the fire. Ever walk down aisles and imagine all what you had, it is amazing. There is so much stuff that we lost and we probably haven't gotten anywhere near the total.

We still have to do the camping, outdoor gear, music and livestock tallies. By the time I fill in the loss form, I have a major migraine. Words to the wise....walk your barn, houses, whatever with a video camera and put the tape in a safe place. Obviously, not back in the house you just taped....like what good will it do, if your house burns down and your video tape of the contents was in the house.

On a sad note, one of the Katadhin ewes who had smoke inhalatin died in spite of the medication. She was too far gone. She will be missed and was one of the orginal ewes that I got from Patrick Shannahan.

Tomorrow the guys from work (FAA) are coming out to put up a 10 x 20 ft sheep shed for me. Those guys just rock. I am blessed to work with a great and caring group of people.

Diane

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