weekend fun

Cody was getting a ride today when the donkeys decided they wanted in on the action. As it turns out, the Quarter Horse knows how to do the herding thing. And of course the donkeys played along. :)

end of the week shenanigans

Yesterday as the snow melted away, the day got started early when Redford decided to announce near and far that they did not have enough hay. My husband had given them their morning hay earlier than usual, and they'd finished it up before the normal breakfast tub time. He brayed until I came to the door, and when I realized why, I went out and set them all up again. It was still too early for breakfast tubs, and I like them to have a good amount of hay before I feed concentrates.

I decided to let Salina and the donkeys have the heart of the round bale, in the big barnyard, since that side was thawed out and not as mushy as the other areas. They were excited to get back over there - it's a favorite morning thing for them, but I don't allow it all the time, as it can get messy around the bales.

When I went out again to feed breakfast, the 65-or-so lb. heart of the round bale had been moved about 25 feet. It was still intact, but they had strewn hay in a semi-circle in the process of moving the core. I have no idea who did it, or how, but they were having a fine time, so much so that they didn't even care about breakfast tubs!

The geldings were supremely jealous, and came in to gaze over the fence at the big mess of hay lying hither and yonder.

After breakfast, I told Keil Bay to come back up to the barn in a while, as I was planning to ride. When I came back out dressed in breeches and boots, he marched up from the back field. He was ready for a nice long grooming and a quick hoof trim. He and I are both getting better at that. I feel more confident, and he understands that these are very little "mini-trims" that keep his hooves in shape, so he stands perfectly still and helps me out.

I saddled him up with a new "wither relief" saddle pad I bought just to try. It definitely keeps the pad off the withers. I want to ride in it a few more times before I decide for sure how much I like it. We also used H's loaned bitless bridle. The Big Bay was loose and supple, but there was something going on with his neck, which he wanted to stretch down. We did a lot of walking and some stretches, and a bit of trotting, and we tested out the bitless bridle. He was responsive, but I think did need some adjustment to the way it works. We'll try it again a few more times and see how it goes. Yesterday, everything was complicated by the fact that we have had a week or so off, he had a new pad, a new bridle, AND as it turned out when I dismounted, a sizeable lump on his neck. I had noticed some hair missing there when I groomed him, but didn't feel the lump with the brush - it was when I ran my hands over him after the ride that I felt it.

My daughter thinks he might have been bitten - one of those teeth-scraper bites they do sometimes in play. Whatever the cause, there is hair missing, and the lump. Interestingly, this is the same area he always seems to "do something to" - he has had two twigs embedded there the past two springs. After getting him untacked, I let him have the barnyard for awhile by himself while I put things away. He got three doses of Arnica and I'll see how the lump looks today. It didn't seem to be tender, but Keil Bay is stoic, so sometimes it's hard to tell. I have a good remedy for deep bruising that I can use next if needed.

While cleaning up the barn aisle, I found some animal poop that resembles deer droppings, rabbit droppings, and, as I discovered while researching animal scat last night, red-tail hawk droppings. It seems unbelievable to me that a deer was in the barn aisle, during the day, but I can imagine a bunny coming up to the edge of the manger to nibble some hay from underneath. It wouldn't surprise me if a hawk came in there either - it was right at the barn door, and a site that mice have used in the past to access the mangers.

This morning I was awakened by our new resident rooster, who happens to be a miniature donkey named Redford. He has taken on the task of alerting us to morning, the time for fresh hay and turn-out to the field. An important job for the youngest herd member to take on. He does it very well.

the remains of the very snowy day

Out doing chores yesterday afternoon, I was faced with all the remains of the snow. There are still large areas of ground, roof, and deck that have large amounts of the white stuff, some of which is packed and hard, other spots which are still soft and surprisingly fluffy.

In between the white patches there are border areas of lacier white lying on top of cold, brown mud. A few areas are red mud mixed with white. Beyond the lacy areas is the bare ground, nothing but mud and wilted winter grass. Strewn helter-skelter across this vista are what I'm calling hoof packs. Many of them. Apparently, when horses are barefoot, as ours are, the snow packs into the hoof until it reaches a certain overstuffed point and then it simply pops out. That big clot of snow and earth has the perfectly formed hoof on one side, and brown on the other. They will be the last to melt, as they have now frozen hard as rocks.

I have to say it: as beautiful as the snow was, it is now the ugliest I have ever seen it here.

In an effort to find some lasting beauty, and to get rid of the manure and hoof packs I'd mucked, I trekked the wheelbarrow down the long path several times. The path hadn't melted, and the snow in the woods was still fairly pristine. It was a wonderland of animal tracks: deer, birds, the bobcat. Most had blurred a bit but were still quite visible. At every fence and gate I saw something which amazed me: the deer tracks would go right up to the obstacle and then reappear directly on the other side, as though they had walked up nose and nose with the fence or gate and then popped over as if on springs.

It occurred to me that each time I went up and down the path, it got harder and slicker. And then I remembered the best time of sledding I ever had, when I was 12 and a neighbor packed down our road from top to bottom with his 4-wheel drive jeep. We had two weeks off from school, we had good sleds, a bonfire, treats at every house along the way, and a sledding track that seemed to go on forever, with curves and a few dangers (our creek was one of them) to avoid.

I called my daughter, who was in the barnyard giving sled rides to the Mystical Kit and Dickens. She brought her sled to the path and down she went. Had we thought of this the day of the snow, we could have something akin to those luge courses I used to watch on Saturday afternoons on TV. She convinced me to take a turn and down I went, laughing and shrieking. When I emerged back up at the barnyard all the horses and donkeys were looking, ears pricked. Salina especially was riveted on me. I've seen her run with the donkeys, moments when she is with them, but recalling something from her youth, a long stride, the pleasure of movement, a buck and a head toss thrown into the mix. She understands, I suspect, the pure unbridled joy of an experience from childhood, shared with one's child of close to the same age.

When we finished the last of the barn chores, a bit before sunset, the geldings came in from the field where they'd been playing. There was 5-year old Cody, the 8-year old pony Apache Moon, and 19-year old Keil Bay. Who do you think had the muddy legs up above the knees? I guess all of us middle-agers found some fun yesterday, even in the melting mess of snow and mud.

warming up and chinese fortunes

This morning it's 20 instead of 6, and going up to 49/50 by the afternoon, so more meltdown and mush, but no blankets and ice in troughs. A reasonable trade, imo.

Although if I could trade for sunshine and dry ground, I'd take that one.

I'm having a hankering to do one of my stone runes this morning, but as I'm still downstairs and my runestones are upstairs in the garret, I resorted to the Chinese Fortune Sticks which are sitting on this desk.

This red can is full of sticks that have fortunes on each one, and you're supposed to shake them half out of the can, and select the one that protrudes the furthest.

The thing about these is that they are NOTHING like the Chinese fortune cookie fortunes. These are rather brutal and often say things one doesn't want to hear.

My question was simply: what can I expect for today?

The answer:

A long delayed package of value will come to you.

Well. That's a relief!

I'm expecting a new box of Adequan for Salina. A couple of special writing notebooks for the upcoming retreat. Neither of which have been long-delayed.

We'll see what happens.

If anyone has questions and dares consult the brutal sticks, ask it in the comments and I'll shake one out and type it in for you.

the morning after

As of now, it looks like we got around 6 inches of snow, and since it is currently 8 degrees outside, it isn't going anywhere. We should be getting up to 36 later in the day though, so I hope things melt down a bit. Tomorrow we're up to 50 and I suspect that will take care of the rest. Back to mushy ground.

The thing about snow, for me, is that I find it comforting and beautiful as it falls, and I love seeing it before anyone walks in it or drives through it. Once it's marred up by traffic, foot, sled, and otherwise, it simply looks messy to me and I get the same antsiness I get when my house is messy, except I can't exactly go out and straighten up the landscape.

The worst is when you drive into town and see big chunks that were plowed off to the side, dirty and compacted, and there until the temps get high enough, for long enough, to melt them away.

My husband, who was home yesterday, is back to work today, and I hope he makes it in and back home again this evening without incident.

And I sure hope the mail gets delivered today. We didn't get it Monday due to the holiday, it wasn't delivered yesterday because of the snow, and today, with 3 days worth of mail to deliver, on rural roads that haven't been cleared, it will surely take the carrier 5x as long at least.

In the south, having a decent snow means a lot of things grind to a halt, and that's another reason I like the kind that comes and goes quickly.

Yesterday afternoon the geldings had a huge party in the back field, trotting and cantering, grabbing branches on trees and standing with their faces turned up while the snow fell on them, rolling over and over again. We kept Salina and the donkeys in their own paddock, which is big enough for all sorts of frolic, but they mostly stood and watched the gelding entertainment. Rafer Johnson and Redford did finally emerge from the barn, and walked around tentatively with Salina, who looked absolutely regal - her black head emerging from her emerald green blanket.

This morning the donkeys made a dash for the round bale when they got morning hay, so it seems they have embraced the snow and have no fear of setting off into it.

The Corgis chose to stay out half the night. They love the cold and the snow. They even like the rain, and I sometimes find them lying flat on their backs, letting the soft rain fall on their bellies.

The cats are in and out at their own whim, doing what cats do. Stalk. Eat. Nap.

I dreamed last night that I had a new job as a sort of "diarist" for President Obama. In the dream I had done the same job for former President Bush, and was talking over the ropes with President Obama, telling him that generally we stopped the diary-keeping around 11 p.m. so hopefully he wouldn't mind going to bed then, because if he didn't, I would have to stay later and I already had quite a long work day as it was.

LOL.

Then I dreamed I took my kids on a field trip to a small factory that made styrofoam packing peanuts. We could see the peanuts flying out of the machine like.. yes, snow.

Then the factory owner asked us to participate in a test run of his newest invention, which involved grabbing stickers off an assembly line and sticking them correctly onto paper. Not sure what the point was, but he had all his workers lined up, practicing, and he wanted us to try and see how we did. His target goal was to get 6 done in a certain amount of time, before they rolled past us on the line. No one had yet been able to do it. Even with my perfectionistic placement of each sticker, I did it easily. He was trying to figure out the exact movements I was doing that allowed me to accomplish that.

I think I prefer my current job, thank you very much.