Spring?...maybe on paper

Well, spring made its official debut yesterday, on paper at least. Here in the mountains, I wasn't too happy to see what the storm brought...besides blowing anything that wasn't attached to the fringes of our property, the 55+ mph gusts ripped a metal roof off one of our animal shelters.
It remained barely attached on one end and then dangerously flipped around in the wind gusts we continued to get yesterday morning, making me very nervous that it would be ripped off completely and take out some of our house windows. Unfortunately I was alone at home with the kids, but luckily my dad is visiting & was able to come & help me dismantle the roof during a break in the wind.
The door on the old chicken coop (home to the newest chickens) was also ripped right off its hinges sometime during the night. Then later the next morning, the upper half of one side of the coop was ripped off & some of the interior was rearanged. Seems like mother nature decided to give us a jump start on our plans to tear down the old coop, causing quite a bit of juggling on my part (in the pouring rain & strong wind) as I tried to find a safe & dry place for the chickens. Thinking positively, I first tried integrating the new chickens with the old ones, hoping that they'd gotten to know each other enough lately during their free ranging adventures. While the old chickens didn't outright attack the new ones, they forced them out into the run & wouldn't let them into the coop for some much needed warmth & food. So, after some chicken chasing again, I moved the new chickens into a stall of the barn. After realizing it wasn't as dry as I'd hoped, I created a dry spot for them & their food by propping up a sheet of plywood & placing newspaper & shavings behind it.
A combination of lots of precipitation & an unusual direction of the wind from this storm caused some water intrusion issues in our garage & some windows & flooding around the property, leaving me to wish I had those rain barrels that I've been thinking about. In addition to all that rain, the storm brought snow as well, closing the highway & keeping my husband from getting home...luckily he was able to drive to my parents place instead of being stuck in his car all night like so many other stranded drivers.
Despite all the inconveniences of yesterday (and yes, we're thankful that really is all it was compared to what many have/are going through lately), I was reminded of God's glory & a promise of better days when in the midst of it all I spotted a beautiful rainbow.
So, spring may not be all about warm sunny days for us yet, but I'm hopeful that all the rain & snow this year will make our (typically dry) growing season a productive one...one thing I'm sure of is it will, without a doubt, bring gorgeous wildflowers to our property & surrounding hills!
Thanks for visiting! I'm hoping to participate in Homestead Revival's Barn Hop on a regular basis from now on.