Wednesday, March 16, 2022

November Hill farm journal, 148

 Whew, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks here. My mom is in rehab and I’m thrilled to say she’s doing very well. She’s been such a champ, working hard in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and navigating the routine being in a facility with a roommate. She is so lucky to have a wonderful roommate who’s 94 and dealing with a broken hip and all the work that comes with that. I hope I’m as strong and determined as those two are when I’m their age!

The herd is doing well, managing our ups and down of temps and rain and a few snowflakes last weekend. I’m so ready for full-blown spring and I think they are too. 

Today we had 20 American hollies and 6 eastern red cedars delivered. I was nervous about the equipment and the chaos and how the horses might react. I went out as they finished up their breakfast in the barn with a pocket full of horse cookies and a packet of Confidence EQ gel. I never halter any of them to move them to different areas of the farm, but I put Keil’s halter on, gave him a cookie and some gel in his nostril, and walked him to the back pasture with the hay. The donkeys ran and bucked and Little Man marched out. Cody pulled away from my husband and had a little runabout in the big barnyard, but then he too calmed down and they all got cookies and gel and that was pretty much that. 

The original landscaper we’d contracted to do the planting backed out a month ago and our order was canceled. Thankfully our arborist took the project on and we’re so happy with the work they did today. The only downside was that our original order was canceled and the 11-foot hollies were released to someone else. What we got isn’t as tall but they look great!


The cedars are in a holding corral until our next planting day in two weeks, so we can give the horses a chance to settle in with these new trees. The cedars are going in the back pasture. 

I’m relieved this first planting got done so well before the rain rolled in this afternoon, and really happy to have this first phase over and done with. Now they just have to grow! 

In other news, I just had a flash fiction piece accepted by River Teeth Press for the third volume of their Awake In The World anthology. Will post the info here when it’s printed and ready to order! 

And we have some birthdays coming up! Will post some birthday greetings soon. 

4 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

Happy to hear your mom is doing so well. The plantings look great! They won’t take long to grow at all. Too bad the other landscaper backed out but you’re still getting things done. I think we all can’t wait for Spring, this might have been one of the worst winters in a while that I can remember.snowed again last weekend but today it will be 70. The herd is happy without their blankets and have been rolling in the mud. Blue has his 25th birthday coming up next week too.

billie said...

Hurrah for 70 degrees and happy birthday Blue!!! 25!!! We’re in the biggest birthday cycle of the year here, with Cody, and Will (he turns 1 and was born on Salina’s birthday, so we’ll celebrate both of them that day), then we move into my husband, Keil Bay, Little Man, and my daughter’s days in April.

Enjoy your break from snow and cold and I hope this is it for the winter up there.

Kathleen said...

So happy to hear that your mom is doing well. Love the new plantings!

billie said...

Thank you - I told her you sent good thoughts and she says thank you and hello. :)