Hurricane Preparation!

We spent most of our day today preparing for Hurricane Irene that is expected to hit us through the night. The most important part was getting the animals ready for the storm, making sure they have enough shelter and protection from the storm. We separated the sheep and put them in the lower barn and put the Alpacas in the upper. As you can see in the picture, "Belle" is not at all pleased about her living arrangements, but she'll over look it for some extra grain! The hardest part of a storm like this is the stress it puts on us
because we are very concerned for their safety, so needless to say we probably will be up most of the night checking on everyone.
One thing we did notice throughout the day was the pacing and humming of the alpacas, the sheep seemed to hide more, the bees were unbelieveably busy, almost to the point I thought they were swarming because there was so many at the entrance, the longer I stood there, it was apparent they were frantic to get inside. 

 In addition to preparing, Tim found some scrap wood and covered the top of the greenhouse in the event a branch falls on top and breaks the glass panes. The chickens are housed next to the inside, separated by wire, so we are worried about glass hurting them...
and then the bees! I was busy putting everything in the storage box and put this cinder block on top to prevent the cover from blowing off exposing the bees to the rain and winds. If that were to happen it would chill the brood and kill them, as well as the bees. This is my only hive to make it this year and I want to take every measure I can to make sure they are safe.
So for now, we are ready and prepared for everyone to ride out this storm and hope and pray all is well for everyone, as well as family and friends!