We thought staying on a sweet little farm with lovely farm animals would be pretty easy after our trial run. I think we jinxed ourselves.

If you live in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina, you are aware of the winter weather we experienced this past Thursday night and Friday. Our area got about an inch to 1 and ½ inches of ice and slush.

Shortly after Josh left for work on Friday, I lost power at the farmhouse and while attempting to flee to more inviting conditions was stopped by a large tree in the middle of the road. So much for my escape. I turned back, crawled into bed with a good book and read for the next two and a half hours until the power came back on. At that point one of the neighbors had sawed and removed the fallen tree, so I could leave.

When Josh and I returned to the house that night, Josh went down to the barn to close the chickens in while I started dinner. He called me shortly after to let me know that a tree had fallen next to the barn and was trapping the chickens.

I ran down to the barn to see this tree literally inches from the side of the barn. Just a hair to the right and the tree would have crashed into the roof of the barn. Most of the chickens had returned to the coop for the night, but two of the hens had gotten trapped on the other side of the tree. Josh had found an axe and was chopping the larger branches off the tree. It was cold, dark and I was starving, so I convinced Josh to save the bulk of the woodwork until morning. We cornered the two nervous hens, scooped them up and placed them into the coop.

The next morning, I had a greater appreciation for the grace of God who had spared the barn and the chicken coop from harm and spared us from having to deal with it. Josh took off most of the branches and cleared an area for the chickens to get to the yard.

Despite the weather induced anxiety attack, our stay at the farm has been fantastic so far! We’ve enjoyed some time alone since we’ve been staying with my parents while we search for a house. And we’ve gotten to try farm fresh eggs and milk from a farm right up the road. Plus, we’ve been able to try deer sausage and other forest delicacies since the family is full of avid hunters.

Monday morning, when Josh went to the hayloft to feed the horses, he found the remains of a chicken at the top of the stairs. Apparently, one of the chickens decided to roost in the hayloft instead of returning to the coop the night before. And something found it…

I didn’t take any pictures, but suffice it to say we only found the wings.

Despite the weather and having to mourn the loss of a chicken, we’ve enjoyed our little adventure so much, in fact, that we’re going to be sitting for them two more times in the coming weeks. And with views like these, who wouldn’t come back?

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