I woke up this morning to Keil Bay's extremely loud, very distinct hyena squeal, which he went on to repeat three times before my husband went out to give morning hay and make sure things were all right out there. Everything was fine - my guess is that the pony was being a pest, bored from being in most of the day yesterday and all night, as we have been completely soaked again over the past 24 hours.
Husband came in and discovered that Bear was chewing on the remains of a dead squirrel, Keats the cat had left a puddle on the STOVE, and Dickens E. Wickens had camped out on the sofa all night, which is a big clue that the rain gauge is over the top. When I walked into the living room, in fact, there were three of our cats sleeping on the sofa, sort of like the last die-hard partiers from an all-nighter. It's one of those mornings when I have to wonder: what went ON in here last night?
We needed the rain, but now we've had it, in excess, so I'm watching the radar and hoping it comes to an end so we can move on to sunshine and a bit of time to dry out.
And now, I'm dreading the next chore - mucking out those stalls. On days like this, when it's still raining and you know they aren't going to go out, the lovely meditative quality of mucking veers into "oh, god, how much more can they poop?" - said as I give more hay, fueling the fire, so to speak.
This is one of those times I come up with ideas like indoor exercise trails, sort of like equine fun houses, where you give them a muzzle-ful of tickets each and send them off to have fun while the chores get finished.
And there goes the Big Bay, squealing again. We may have to bring the pony in the house.
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
I'm sure the cats were up all night having a poker game and have to recover. Bear needs his mouth washed out with soap, yuck! If you do bring the pony into the house, please do take some pictures.
ReplyDeleteWe're swamped with the rain too. Hope it ends soon enough is enough.
Arlene, I wonder if the squirrel came to join the poker game and just never made it out alive, or if he/she was the prize? Either way, it's too much like Deadwood for me!
ReplyDeleteI am in taking a break - stalls are mucked but I decided all equines needed to get the heck out of the barn, and I spent a half-hour filling hay nets and hanging them in various places around the paddock and arena. You'd have thought my fun house fantasy had come true - they were completely intrigued in marching around finding the nets and playing musical hay nets and generally enjoying a change in this boring rain routine.
Good thing because I then discovered an ant mound in the pony's stall and had another detour dealing with that.
Fortunately this all coincided with a break in the rain - mostly none at all, but at most some fine mist, which I decided they can be in for awhile until I get things finished up.
This is taking the entire day. The thought of being inside with a book and a cup of tea is the only thing getting me through it!
Billie-
ReplyDeleteDon't you wish you had a little spy camera set up to catch the shenanigans?! It would identify the ring leader too :)
We've been spared much of the incessant rain today, but big winds tore up Val's tarp canopy last night (bad decision not to take it down).
Let's just say we're desensitized to flapping tarps at this point.
It's been a long week :)
Ha! re: tarps and desensitization!
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree - it HAS been a long week. I am glad we got rain, the drought is over for now, here, and I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle tomorrow to have some fun.
Did you by chance see the YouTube video that was taken by a spy camera set up by a family who thought the neighbors were sneaking into their back yard and swimming in their pool when they were not at home?
It turned out it was their DOGS! Who went down the slide, swam, splashed, and had themselves a grand time swimming while their family were away. I just loved that.
Also reminds me of the children's picture book series "Good Dog, Carl." A lot of people were weirded out by the parents leaving the baby with Carl, but I adored it.
Well you had me seriously laughing out loud with this entry - now I think you should spin it around and tell the same story from the animals point of view...Bear "hummmm, tasty" etc. :)
ReplyDeleteLots of welcome rain here in VA, too - now ready for those awesome crisp autumn riding days that exhilerat both horse and rider :)
Thanks for sharing !!
Beth and Cookie
in Virgina...did you see her galloping video on FB?
Beth, I was saying earlier that if Chase, our beloved male Corgi who died last year, were here, he'd have swallowed the squirrel remains whole and that would have been the end of that.
ReplyDeleteI came in once from the barn and 3 cats were sitting in a circle watching a mouse run around and around. Chase, who had been out with me, looked at the cats like they had all gone nuts and ran in, grabbed the mouse, and GULP! it was gone.
Will have to go look for the video!
Billie, we were all highly amused by the goings-on at November Hill Farm on a rainy day. We are secretly hoping the pony is marched into the house - the ensuing adventures will be the foundation of a good Restoration Comedy. Is it too much to hope the cats cleaned up after their nightime rave?
ReplyDeleteSheaffer, I managed to entice the equines into a game of musical hay nets yesterday, which stopped the squealing, so no pony video ensued!
ReplyDeleteYou are indeed hoping for a lot when you suggest the felines cleaned up. They create havoc and then collapse into long periods of slumber.