warming trend!

It was 32 degrees out this morning when I fed breakfast, the warmest morning we've had all week. And it felt good to take blankets off horses and know that by mid-day they'd be lounging in 50 degree sunshine.

By the time Salina had her lunch served, the rest of her herd had meandered to the bottom of the front field, and so she was able to eat undisturbed in the paddock behind the barn.

At one point I glanced over at her and she was staring intently into the woods far behind the labyrinth path. She walked over to the arena fence and stood there looking, long enough that I realized something must be down there. When my daughter and I went, we spotted 7 deer hanging out in the woods. They didn't run at first, and we climbed right up Mt. Manure, which is busy composting, and watched them. One at a time, they formed a line and started running, white tails flashing.

When we got back up to the barn, Salina was still on guard, making sure we came back. She keeps track of everything around here, and it is a distinct pleasure to share that "mother bear" role with her.

The donkeys decided to hang with the boys this afternoon, and I thought that was funny. After her lunch, Salina headed down to join them all, knowing there was nothing in the woods and all was well.

We had a nice ride today, with Rafer Johnson in the middle of the arena standing over a jump, as if he couldn't quite decide whether to go over it or not. He ended up pushing jump poles around the arena with his nose, and then he went and hovered over the mounting block. One would almost think he was ready to be tacked up and ridden! I have a feeling he is ready to learn long lining. Time for me to get busy and learn how to teach it to him!

I stuffed five small mesh hay nets this evening, and hung them in the stalls along with the regular mangers full of loose hay, as an introduction. Salina walked in at sunset, swiped exactly two times at the hay net, and with a look of disgust, marched out into her grass paddock where she proceeded to munch on some loose hay.

This small mesh thing may need some getting used to.

The thing that made me happiest today was brushing out Keil Bay's tail. It is so silky and luxurious when it's brushed completely out, and he very helpfully lifts his tail and turns it from side to side so I can get underneath. I don't do it every time I groom him by any means, but when I do, we both enjoy it. Actually, that's one of my favorite things about Keil Bay. He adores being fussed over, and it's such a pleasure to fuss over him.

I can hardly believe we have two days of sixties and sunshine coming for the weekend.

long day

I'm not sure why this day has stretched on so long, but it feels like about 48 hours ago that I woke up. It was cold out, and when I went to the barn to feed breakfast I realized immediately that I needed to come back in with the big bucket and start warming up water tubs. They were all thick with ice and even where my husband had cleared them before he left for work, they'd refrozen.

The horses were all blanketed and enjoying the sun, and they'd been munching on hay for hours, so they weren't rushing back to the barn for their breakfast. Keil Bay stood out and nickered for his, and it was perfectly obviously he wanted to be served right where he was. But he had to walk around to the gate and come into his stall like usual.

While they ate, we added more hay piles to the front field, trying to find the sunniest spots where the ground wasn't rock hard and bumpy. I went in and out a few times, getting more hot water, and cleared the ice again before dumping it in.

Redford did his new "sound effect" which is the sound of a big truck horn. It's hard to believe that big sound comes out of such a little donkey! (as an aside, the Elevenses newsletter arrived yesterday, and Rafer Johnson and Redford were not only on the cover, they took up the entire second page! Ken and Marty are amazing to do all they do on their farm, plus keep a newsletter going out to their extended family, which we consider ourselves a part of... it's always fun to see what their donkeys and llamas and sheep are up to, and of course we especially like it when our two superstars make an appearance!)

Once we got everyone fed and watered, it was still too cold to take blankets off. I adjusted Salina's knee warmers and we came in for our own breakfast.

I have done a huge amount of laundry today, kept the woodstove loaded, and managed to answer some emails. We mucked and dumped, hauled more hot water, unblanketed around noon, and had lunch.

Did I mention tons of laundry?

On these cold days I go ahead and give everyone some warm beet pulp with chopped apples when Salina gets her more substantial 3 p.m. feed. They were all down in the bottom of the front field, so my daughter and I teamed up and managed to get Salina in the small barnyard, Keil Bay in the back field, the pony in a stall, and Cody in the dirt paddock. The donkeys stayed by the gate in front so they could be near Salina, and we served everyone their tubs. (I suppose this is why Keil Bay was expecting field service this a.m., but we almost never feed this way unless it's a special thing, so... I think he was trying to pull one over on us)

After they finished we opened everyone back up to the field and let them parade around and check all the assorted tubs in the event (which I don't think has ever happened here on November Hill) that someone didn't finish his/her food.

Did I mention I had to haul more hot water out to wash feed tubs after breakfast and again after lunch? The hoses were frozen solid.

I've lost track of what came next. I think we came back in for a break and some cocoa. Then we went back out to get hay set up for the evening, get water buckets back into stalls with nice slightly warm water, finish the last mucking and dumping, and get Cody groomed. He'd rolled himself into a cake of dust.

Mid-way the last paddock mucking, the entire herd galloped up the front hill. Every single one of them kicked up their heels, and then the pony went into some sort of wild pony fit. He was like Nascar Pony*, blasting all over the front field, circling wildly, bucking, taking off like a shot, and basically getting everyone stirred up.

Salina and the donkeys know things can get crazy when the geldings get going, so they came into the dirt paddock and stood by me. Cody played for a minute, but even he tends to get out of the way when the pony and Keil Bay start their game of "nip the armpit." It's brutal (not really, but it does look that way) and Keil Bay sounds like something off the African Veldt.

Without warning, they suddenly galloped into the dirt paddock, dodging donkeys, the water trough, Salina, the wheelbarrow, and luckily, me. They spun around and headed back out front, dodging all of the above yet again. Except the donkeys got in the way of the pony and he basically jumped over them and kept going. It was so wild I asked my daughter to close Keil and Apache in the front field. We let them wear themselves out and then got back to work.

We put Salina and the donkeys into their grass paddock, fixed up the barn for them, and took another break. At sunset, we got the geldings into their paddock and closed the gates, then picked all the hooves.

Now I'm back inside, still doing laundry, wanting to take a hot bath, and wishing I had a chef here to make dinner.

It's been a long day, but a good one. Another cold night but tomorrow it gets up to 50! No crunchy arena, no ice in troughs, and hopefully a good ride to end the week.

* If you're wondering why the reference to Nascar, it's because I've become obsessed with the fact that the hot new novel genre on Publishers' Marketplace is the Nascar Novel. There have been countless Nascar novels and Nascar romances selling like crazy this past month. Clearly I do not have my finger on the pulse when it comes to things like vampires, demons, and Nascar drivers as main characters. Sigh.

the snow tracked east

Thank goodness. As beautiful as it was the last time, I really didn't want to go through another snowfall that accumulated on the ground. We have a chilly day today, another cold night, and then heading into the weekend it looks like we will be up near 70. Which bodes well for riding and getting some field chores done.

Yesterday was a nice, long but relaxing barn day. After lunch, I got organized and gave Salina and Keil their Adequan injections, straightened up the tack room a little, and then my daughter and I rode together. She is alternating between her pony and Cody, and I'm alternating between Cody and Keil Bay. So Cody, who will be doing the most work in Pony Club, is getting daily rides. It works well because she is focusing on jumping with him and I'm focusing more on bend and rhythm.

By sunset I was just getting around to grooming the Big Bay, who had conveniently rolled in a patch of mud and was caked on his right side. My son came out to help, which gave me some time to get Salina and the donkeys cleaned up for the evening too. We had brought them in the back field through the arena, and they were all awaiting stalls and hay, so they were clustering at the gate into the back paddock.

Every time I leaned over to pick a horse hoof, I got a donkey head rested on my back. It was so sweet - Rafer Johnson especially insists on being in the thick of whatever is going on, and I love how the horses allow the donkeys to be so close without fussing.

I went back out at dinner time to help with the tubs. It was such a quiet night, still as the temperature dropped, and yet inside the barn we had the mystical-kit racing from one end to the other, donkeys playing chase with him, Salina in and out trying to keep tabs on her boys, and the geldings lined up in stalls watching the show while they munched hay.

Right now the sun is coming out and I'm hoping we warm up more than they expect so today's ride won't be so frigid!

5 things that I have missed, and it's not yet 9 a.m.

I woke up this morning in my own bed, feeling a sense of comfort and happiness at being home again, and wondering what the day will bring. It's amazing how many things I miss when I go away, and only remember when I get back again:

1. being snuggled up to by various cat bodies all through the night, and waking up with the Moomintroll cat being as close as he can get

2. the click of Corgi nails on the hardwood floor

3. Redford the Great braying a good morning call outside the bedroom window

4. the sound of the dishwasher to my left (as I type here) and the Moomintroll snoring on the chair to my right

5. Keats, the lovely Miss Miaow, serving as my own personal bread warmer (she is on the island, lying ON TOP of a loaf of bread, which fortunately, is wrapped)

home!

As much as I enjoyed my week of writing, it was good to drive up at home today and see my family including all the animals. Keil Bay didn't even act mad!

It's a gorgeous day and I was very pleased to walk outside and not sink into mud. Although now I'm reading there may be snow tomorrow - just in time for my return home.

Hoping not, but we'll go with the flow.

I also learned that Redford and Rafer are going to be on the cover of the Elevenses' newsletter this month - our cover boys!

Right now I'm catching up on laundry, getting unpacked, and feeling very happy that even when I go someplace fabulous, coming home is better still. That's a true blessing, and I'm taking time to acknowledge it.