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Catching my breath..
Aug. 6th, 2011 09:02 pmIt's been a totally hectic couple of days here in my neck of the woods..I'm about ready to collapse in a heap of overworked muscle-sore sweaty exhaustion.
Stayed out at the farm Thursday night as usual. Got up at 7:30 and after a quick breakfast we began the day. Sue did the first feeding for Buddy, and gave everyone their hay while I had my coffee and toast; then we switched and she had breakfast while I put all the horses out in their paddocks. Got that done by 9:30 and started on stalls. We cleaned all the stalls, swept the floors, cleaned paddocks, fed horses, brought horses in at dinnertime. It was warm, but not as hot as Thursday, thankfully. I did work up quite an appetite. While we were doing all this, Jack was mowing the lawn, waiting for one of the hay farmers to call to say he was baling his hay. Hay is going to be a real problem this year, because the weather has been so crummy. So when a warm dry spell comes and farmers bale hay, we go collect hay no matter what the time of day (or yesterday, night). He went off in the sturdy old farm truck to pick up a load, and Sue and I took the time to eat a quick dinner: my famous leek and potato pie, and a fresh salad. Glad we did, because by the time the last load of hay was safely stored in the barn, it was almost 10 p.m. We were all wiped out. The barn smelled wonderful, the hay was so fragrant it brought up visions of sunshine on green meadows.
I still had to drive back to the city, and who would have believed it? There was a huge traffic jam at 10:30 at night! OMG. I got home at 11 p.m., took a quick bath to get the hay dust off, and fell into bed.
Woke up, had breakfast, and back on the road by 10:30. Got stuck in not one, but two huge traffic jams. Stopped at the feed store to pick up some grain for the horses, and some ThrushBuster for Rochelle's foot (she has a major case of thrush in that hoof). When I got to the farm, Sue and Kelly had just put Buddy in the paddock with Kismet and Teddy. He is getting so much better about being with them, and Kismet is being ever so good to him. Now we have to get him used to not having one of us in the paddock with him; today Kelly stood on the other side of the fence where he could see her, and come say hello, but not hide behind her. He was very brave, and I think tha t it won't be long before he can be out with them all alone. We are trying to treat him the way his mother would have if she were here, and make him into an independent and confident horse. He's 13 weeks old now, and is growing big and strong. We're very proud of him.
While that was happening, I powered through the stalls in the big barn: 6 stalls in just over an hour! I just put my head down and got it done, although I was huffing and puffing by the time I was done. Heh. I am woman, hear me roar..(or in this case, gasp for breath, lol). Scrubbed out the water barrel in the field for Midnight and Kyra, filled the barrel, sprayed the two of them with fly spray, yelled at Midnight for playing silly buggers while I was fixing his fly mask, fed everyone hay and grain, filled the waters, cleaned all the paddocks, and picked some lettuce for my dinner. Then I called it a day, and got in the car and drove back into the city. It was 6 p.m. Made dinner (and realized it was my first meal since breakfast)
I'm kind of glad I'm going to work tomorrow. At least in ICU I'll have a coffee break.
Stayed out at the farm Thursday night as usual. Got up at 7:30 and after a quick breakfast we began the day. Sue did the first feeding for Buddy, and gave everyone their hay while I had my coffee and toast; then we switched and she had breakfast while I put all the horses out in their paddocks. Got that done by 9:30 and started on stalls. We cleaned all the stalls, swept the floors, cleaned paddocks, fed horses, brought horses in at dinnertime. It was warm, but not as hot as Thursday, thankfully. I did work up quite an appetite. While we were doing all this, Jack was mowing the lawn, waiting for one of the hay farmers to call to say he was baling his hay. Hay is going to be a real problem this year, because the weather has been so crummy. So when a warm dry spell comes and farmers bale hay, we go collect hay no matter what the time of day (or yesterday, night). He went off in the sturdy old farm truck to pick up a load, and Sue and I took the time to eat a quick dinner: my famous leek and potato pie, and a fresh salad. Glad we did, because by the time the last load of hay was safely stored in the barn, it was almost 10 p.m. We were all wiped out. The barn smelled wonderful, the hay was so fragrant it brought up visions of sunshine on green meadows.
I still had to drive back to the city, and who would have believed it? There was a huge traffic jam at 10:30 at night! OMG. I got home at 11 p.m., took a quick bath to get the hay dust off, and fell into bed.
Woke up, had breakfast, and back on the road by 10:30. Got stuck in not one, but two huge traffic jams. Stopped at the feed store to pick up some grain for the horses, and some ThrushBuster for Rochelle's foot (she has a major case of thrush in that hoof). When I got to the farm, Sue and Kelly had just put Buddy in the paddock with Kismet and Teddy. He is getting so much better about being with them, and Kismet is being ever so good to him. Now we have to get him used to not having one of us in the paddock with him; today Kelly stood on the other side of the fence where he could see her, and come say hello, but not hide behind her. He was very brave, and I think tha t it won't be long before he can be out with them all alone. We are trying to treat him the way his mother would have if she were here, and make him into an independent and confident horse. He's 13 weeks old now, and is growing big and strong. We're very proud of him.
While that was happening, I powered through the stalls in the big barn: 6 stalls in just over an hour! I just put my head down and got it done, although I was huffing and puffing by the time I was done. Heh. I am woman, hear me roar..(or in this case, gasp for breath, lol). Scrubbed out the water barrel in the field for Midnight and Kyra, filled the barrel, sprayed the two of them with fly spray, yelled at Midnight for playing silly buggers while I was fixing his fly mask, fed everyone hay and grain, filled the waters, cleaned all the paddocks, and picked some lettuce for my dinner. Then I called it a day, and got in the car and drove back into the city. It was 6 p.m. Made dinner (and realized it was my first meal since breakfast)
I'm kind of glad I'm going to work tomorrow. At least in ICU I'll have a coffee break.
