| THE STORY OF 2 BARNS The fire that destroyed my Goat Barn on the frigid night of February 16th, 2004, left me scrambling on how to figure out shelter for the 3 surviving nannies-COTTON, BLAZE, AND RUTHY, the latter who was due to kid in just a few weeks at the end of March. Through the generosity of goat producers in a dozen states, enough money was donated through the efforts of John Dodd in Texas to Lowe’s Home Improvement Center in Salina, Kansas, to provide the funds for building materials. Lost in the fire were also most of my power tools, including my Makita power saw, jig saw, and hand tools. I had saved some money so that I could buy a couple more Boer Nannies, but now that money was pressed into service to replace the lost power tools, hammers, and nails before construction could begin. Purchasing treated 4 x4’s in 8’ and 10’ lengths, as well as 8’ 2 x4’s, 2x4 hangers, 4x4 hangers and assorted metal plates plus nails of various sizes, I set about building a 16 x 24 foot barn in the cold, wet, and rain of a Kansas Winter. The big old hay barn became a temporary home for the 3 Nannies. My FB Boer Buck, Ace-In-The-Hole, had his own barn just 50 feet from the burned out remnants of the other barn. Clean up would have to wait until the new barn was built. Unless you have ever tried to dig post holes by hand in either frozen, soggy, or muddy clay soil in the winter, a person has no idea of the challenges I faced over the next two weeks. There were times I would ask myself, “What am I doing out here in this miserable weather building a barn for?” There was only one answer. “Ruthy was carrying the first set of FB Boer kids to be born on this farm, and she needed a space of her own to kid in peace and quiet.” I also needed a covered space to milk Cotton out of the cold, wind, and rain. She wasn’t exactly thrilled with getting on the milk stand twice a day in that kind of weather and I wasn’t too keen on the idea of trying to milk with frozen, stiff fingers. As each corner and center post was set, I stood and looked at the work still ahead of me. But I also felt a sense of accomplishment as well. Building a couple of small greenhouses in my backyard in Seattle was a piece of cake compared to the task ahead of me. Each smashed finger and dropped nail drove me harder. At times I had help from my husband, but for the most part I was on my own. The cold bothered his lungs and legs. With each rafter that went up, so did my feeling of self-confidence. I will admit, there were times when I felt like just throwing in the towel as they say. Then came the Cattle Panels that were 52” X 16 ‘ long to go up. Up and down ladders with hammer, staples, and nylon tie strips to hold the panels in place took its toll on my endurance. Many mornings, I hurt so bad I didn’t even want to get out of bed, let alone go out and work on the barn. But get up I did. The weather had warmed up to the low 50’s—quite an improvement from two weeks earlier when the temperatures were in the teens and 20’s. Now came the fun part—unrolling the two 14’ x 48’ tarps that were donated by goat producer Coy Stovall in Texas. I had help on this project—thank Heaven. As we unfolded the first tarp so it would be easier for me to carry up the ladder, I could not believe my eyes. Watching “THE LION KING” on video with my grandson was one thing, but to put a “LION KING” tarp on my goat barn was another! With the first of the tarps on the barn and tied down, I took a break to get off the roof and have a cursory look at this “barn roof”. I have to admit, it was kind of neat to see “THE LION KING” rippling in the late afternoon breeze. BUT the best was yet to come. The weather held and I was able to get the 2nd LION KING tarp on the other half of the barn and tied down. Now I had the two ends to enclose and double doors to build on the west end of the barn where I had left room for 40 bales of hay on one side and 4 barrels for goat feed on the other side in addition to my hastily built milk stand. Getting the milk stand in proved no easy chore. I had definitely built that sucker to last for a long time. I had used a pallet board and nailed it to 4x4 landscape timbers, plus built a feed trough on it. I wound up calling my brother-in-law who lives 80 miles north of us to come down and help me move it into the barn. As they say, “I didn’t have quite enough butt” to move it by myself. I don’t build things that aren’t going to last and this 300 pound milk stand was a testament to that. It is also very bulky. The east and west ends of the barn were enclosed with recycled corrugated metal roofing we had gotten earlier at a farm auction or two. I built a double set of doors on the west end that were a total of 8’ wide and hung them myself. Here hay and feed would be brought into the barn from my truck and later my minivan after the truck quit running. Lexan panels were cut to fit the peaks on the E/W ends to let in more light in the winter time. A small door was built on the east end to let kids in and out with a window above it for more light, especially in the early dark days of winter. I guess my major accomplishment would be that this barn was built with no blueprints, no drawings, and mostly with very little help from the family or my neighbors—It was built with determination, drive, and skills born of desperation akin to pioneers from the past. When the big door on the East end of the barn was painted and hung, I went to check on Ruthy in the other barn. She was moaning and groaning. Almost a month had passed since that fateful night and she was due in two weeks or so. But the barn was up, useable and would be fairly warm for now. One more section of fence needed to be put up where the old barn had stood. I pulled a 16’ section of cattle panel over, then located some 6 ½ foot T-posts and the post driver. In a few minutes the last section of fence was done and time for Ruthy to come inspect her new kidding pen. She waddled from the big old barn to the gate to the paddock where she would spend the next couple of weeks until her kids were born on the 29th of March 2004—a buck and a doe. During the time I was working on the barn, neighbors would drive up and down the gravel road in front of the farm, but never stopped. Some of these were the same people who had come over to knock down the flames of my burning barn on that cold February night. I wondered, “How could they not stop after having seen the sorrow and agony I had gone through that night?? How could they be so uncaring, so unfeeling??” Earlier I mentioned that “the best was yet to come”. You see, the farm lies in the flight path to Ft. Riley. The helicopter jockeys like to fly over the open fields on their way out to Western Kansas or Colorado. Within a week after “THE LION KING” tarp went up on the new barn roof, I had more helicopters flying below their 500 feet minimum altitude flight ceiling than I could count. Some of them even circled around to come take a second look. I am sure they thought they were seeing things with this bright orange tarp with the LION KING figures staring up at them—kind of like seeing a UFO right in front of you. I often have wished I could have been in those choppers to see and hear their reactions. I still laugh when a chopper comes over and the pilot does a fly around to get a second look. Gotta be a new guy up there that hasn’t heard about the “LION KING BARN”. THANKSGIVING BARN-2004 Taking a break after the completion of the 16’ x 24’ barn in March 2004, I turned my attention to rebuilding my herd. Donations from several people helped me buy two American Purebred Boer Does from a friend down at Haven, Kansas. I also purchased two Boer Cross Dairy goats and an Oberhasli milk goat. The Boer Cross Dairy goats were bred and kidded the end of May 2004. As the summer wore on, it became apparent that some of the goats were not going to meet my breeding standards so they were sold to folks in Nebraska, Wyoming and eastern Kansas. By October 2004, it became apparent that I was going to need another barn. Once again I would have little or no help on this second barn. I had way too many goats to put in the first barn and the big hay barn was getting rather drafty. Selling a few of the goats out of state gave me enough money to buy more 4x4’s, 2x4’s, metal roofing and hinges for doors. At first I had only planned to build an 8’ X 10’ barn, but once the framework was up for that part of the barn, I could see that it wasn’t going to be nearly anywhere big enough. Okay—back to “Plan B” as they say. The weather was starting to turn ugly—like cold, windy and rainy. Putting in more framework didn’t take long. It was that climbing up on the roof with 8’-10’ sections of metal roofing that just about did me in. Two Lexan panels 12 feet long were installed on either side of the peak on the roof to let in light during the short winter days. More smashed thumbs and dropped nails!! Thank heaven for farm auctions. I had enough metal siding and corrugated roofing to do the whole 10’X 18’ barn. I was still a week away from completing the new barn when the weather report gave me some news I did not want to hear—very cold temperatures and SNOW. Now I don’t know about other folks, but I am not real fond of that white stuff. It may be great for kids and people who like to ski, but for people like me who have to be out doing chores and taking care of livestock,, that is the last thing we want to hear. Besides, I had 3 nannies that were due to kid in a few weeks and the last thing I wanted was to have to contend with snow, ice, mud and frigid temperatures. This news racked up the need to get the barn done post haste. Trying to climb around on aluminum ladders handling long sheets of metal was a real challenge to say the least. Besides, I still had 3 doors to build to go on the barn. I prayed Mother Nature would give me a break and send that weather somewhere else or at least hold off until I could get the work done. However, I wasn’t betting on Her Generosity. The week before Thanksgiving 2004 the weather changed for the worse. Cold north winds and gray skies greeted me as I went out to do chores and try to get the doors built and hung before the snow arrived that was predicted for Thanksgiving Day. The first door to go in was 4’ x 5’ made of 2 x4’s covered with ½ inch plywood on the South end of the barn. Ornate black hinges that had come from a farm auction held the door as I put in a wooden latch to hold it shut. Next came a small 28” X 36” door on the west side of the original 8’ x 10’ portion. At least I could open that door and let the nannies and kids out and not have to worry about opening the big door and letting all the heat out. It also meant I would have to crouch over to go in to feed and put hay in the rack I had built in there. The last door to go in was on the west side of the added on 10’x10’ section. I was getting antsy as I knew that snow could come in any time. The wind from the NW would fill that part of the barn with snow drifts up to 2 feet deep or more. I frantically nailed 2 x 3’s together and tied them in with metal corner brackets. Cross braces were added to hold the ¼ inch plywood stable on the exterior of the door. Taking a break, I checked the sky to the north and west of the farm. Ominous dark gray-almost black-clouds roiled over the horizon. I knew the snow would be here before dark and the door still was not hung. “God, just let that snow hold off a couple more hours”, I asked as I grabbed my coffee cup and insulated gloves to go to the house to get another hot cup of coffee and warm up some. Checking my watch, I saw I had been out at the barn for most of 4 hours trying to finish up before the storm hit. My husband asked if it was snowing yet when I came in, and I told him “Not yet, but it looks like it could start anytime from the looks of the sky off to the Northwest.” I refilled my coffee cup, made a “pit-stop” and headed back out to the barn to hang the last door. The wind had started to pick up and the elm trees danced in the wind. I eyed the sky to the Northwest once more. I could see the snow headed our way. Could I get that last door hung before it hit full force? Struggling to open the door on the west side of the Lion King Barn, I swore as the wind caught the door and slammed it shut on my gloved left hand. Had it not been for the glove, I would have had a very mangled hand. I already had the hinges on the door and only needed to take the door over and drill holes in the 4 x 4 that the door would hang from. I took my drill and a bit to check to see if it was the right size for the hinge holes. The goats were squalling wanting to be let in out of the cold. I knew how they felt. I didn’t want to be out in that miserable weather any more than they did. However, they would have to stay out just a few more minutes until I could hang this last door. I took the drill and bit over as well as a ratchet to use to put the lag screws in, then came back and picked up the door. My left hand was now starting to throb from being slammed in the barn door. I didn’t dare take my glove off to look at it. I was afraid I might not be able to get the glove back on and there would go the door. I gritted my teeth as I picked up the door and headed out the East end of the LKB to hang it up. The wind was now starting to howl and ice pellets stung my face as I set the door in place. I put a thin piece of board under the door to give it some play, then marked the holes in the hinges. I set the door inside so the wind would not blow it over and hit me or knock it to the ground. I didn’t need either one the way my hand was hurting. I quickly drilled the holes in the 4 x 4 and set the door in place. I managed to hold the door up against the wind and ratchet in the lag screws. The wind was blowing harder and the goats were really starting to throw a tizzy fit as the snow hit full force. I propped the door shut with a T-post that was leaning against the fence and went to let the goats in. They almost knocked me down to get through the gate. I felt sorry for the 3 pregnant nannies. I quickly shut the gate, opened the two doors and shooed the girls into their respective half of the barn. It was going to be a long night—I could see that already. I gave them half a pan of grain, filled the hay racks, and plugged in the stock tank heaters. I fed the buck and Merlin, my Great Pyr LGD, and headed to the house. Anything else would have to wait til morning. The snow was coming down so thick that I almost felt like I was in another world. Tomorrow was another day and I would take care of whatever came my way then. Until then, my darned hand had started to hurt like a son-of-a gun and needed to be taken care of. HopefullyI hadn’t broken any bones in it earlier when the door had slammed shut on it. If any bones were broken, they would have to wait as I sure wasn’t going out in that snowstorm to have it taken care of. I’m tougher than that, and only time would tell. But at least the barn was done for now and any additions or improvements would have to wait til Spring. |
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| This is the barn that was built at Thanksgiving 2004. |
| East end of 16 x 24 barn built after barn fire of Feb. 2004 |
| Wing built on Thanksgiving barn-Summer 2005 |
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| This is the barn I lost in the fire of Feb, 2004. View is from the south side. I had just put new grey vinyl siding on the top, plus screens and new windows inside. I had also started repainting it and had plans to put on a new metal roof. Inside were 5 kidding pens I built myself, a milking area, room for 60 bales of hay, feed barrels and work area. The new Lion King barn was built just to the south of this. It was once an old hog barn. Photo taken August 2003 |