It's not THAT hot, but we haven't had rain in a week and it's dry, dusty, and low 90s out. Definitely a "walk straight from the laundry room to the shower" when I come in from the barn day.
I've realized this summer that feeding wet has been a real blessing with the horses and donkeys. They all get breakfast tubs with their cool (this time of year) "soup," Salina gets another tub around 2 p.m. and again at 6, and they all get dinner tubs in the evening. It's reassuring to know they're getting water plugged in all through the day.
I've been rinsing hay in the hay nets lately and especially in this hot dry weather, the hay seems absolutely luscious wet. They seem to love it, and I figure it's one more little piece of beating the heat and making sure everyone gets water into their bodies.
We are fighting bugs. Not the flies, although of course that is an endless battle. (the double shipment of 30,000 fly predators 3 weeks ago with another double shipment on the way right now has done a lot to decrease the population!)
What we're fighting as of 24 hours ago is either a nasty summer cold or a flu. Husband has been feeling off the past two days and has worked from home. Daughter and son woke up yesterday with sore throats which have shifted to congestion and general yuck today.
A quick trip to the grocery store helped stock the shelves with the regular weapons:
tissues with lotion
ginger root
lemons
fruit popsicles
jello
soup (I have one container of turkey soup in the freezer but other than heating that up I'm not really in the mood to make homemade soups mid-summer!)
vitamin C
We have various and assorted herbal teas, local honey, and my trusty homeopathic kit, so hopefully this will be a short, sweet battle for all of us.
I'm not yet having symptoms but still treating myself with the same vitamin C, ginger root tea, etc. so that hopefully I can either miss this one or have a mild version.
If sweating works to flush the system I should be just fine. :)
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
the six-year old psychs out the boss mare
Last night we decided to give the geldings some time in our front yard. They love grazing there, and we love having them right by the front porch. My husband went out to shift things so that Salina and the donkeys could have the big barnyard while the geldings came down front.
It didn't exactly work that way.
The donkeys got wind of what was happening and came running. That, of course, triggered Salina to come running, and there they were, in the front yard grazing away. We decided to just let all of them down, which is a rare occurrence.
Keil Bay sauntered down and took his position in the midst of the grass. Cody and the pony came cantering down the grass paddock, only to be stopped cold in their tracks right at the "gateway" to the front yard.
Salina had decided she only wanted her "immediate" family down front, so she parked herself in the grass just inside the gate and turned her rear to Cody and the pony.
The pony decided to live in the moment, and just graze where he was, since the grass paddock does in fact have grass too.
But Cody (the six year old) became obsessed with trying to sneak past Salina. He got behind the holly tree and took a sneaky step toward the gate. She couldn't possibly have seen him, but she whipped her head around and flagged him back.
He went around the other way. Again, when he got one step too close to the gate, she turned and flagged.
After 3 or 4 times of this, she seemed to get exasperated, much like a mother who has told a child something 4 times with zero effect. She turned and flagged again, once, then two more times for good measure. This triple flagging caused Cody to wheel around and walk a few steps away from the gate.
Salina must have felt she had gotten the message across, because she moved a few feet forward to a new patch of grass. It was about thirty seconds before Cody saw an opening and took it, going from standstill to gallop. He shot right by her and headed all the way down to the furthest corner in front. She looked up and then continued grazing. Too much trouble to go roust him out.
The pony had been watching all this while continuing to eat.
I guess he figured Cody had paved the way, and since Salina hadn't gone ballistic, it was safe for him to follow suit.
A few seconds later, the painted pony dashed through the gate and down front in a flash of brown and white.
After that there was only the sound of serious grass pulling and chewing, and the hard swish of tails and stamping of hooves that screamed "HORSEFLY!"
My husband took a break from his laptop to show off his horsefly-aversion skills. The horses are very good about letting you get the big biters, and will almost always stand patiently while you wait for the fly to land.
Usually if you do this for a few minutes the horseflies get savvy and leave the area.
It was a rare night that they all get to go in front together, and sometimes one or more have to be removed, but last night they were happy to graze in peace.
It didn't exactly work that way.
The donkeys got wind of what was happening and came running. That, of course, triggered Salina to come running, and there they were, in the front yard grazing away. We decided to just let all of them down, which is a rare occurrence.
Keil Bay sauntered down and took his position in the midst of the grass. Cody and the pony came cantering down the grass paddock, only to be stopped cold in their tracks right at the "gateway" to the front yard.
Salina had decided she only wanted her "immediate" family down front, so she parked herself in the grass just inside the gate and turned her rear to Cody and the pony.
The pony decided to live in the moment, and just graze where he was, since the grass paddock does in fact have grass too.
But Cody (the six year old) became obsessed with trying to sneak past Salina. He got behind the holly tree and took a sneaky step toward the gate. She couldn't possibly have seen him, but she whipped her head around and flagged him back.
He went around the other way. Again, when he got one step too close to the gate, she turned and flagged.
After 3 or 4 times of this, she seemed to get exasperated, much like a mother who has told a child something 4 times with zero effect. She turned and flagged again, once, then two more times for good measure. This triple flagging caused Cody to wheel around and walk a few steps away from the gate.
Salina must have felt she had gotten the message across, because she moved a few feet forward to a new patch of grass. It was about thirty seconds before Cody saw an opening and took it, going from standstill to gallop. He shot right by her and headed all the way down to the furthest corner in front. She looked up and then continued grazing. Too much trouble to go roust him out.
The pony had been watching all this while continuing to eat.
I guess he figured Cody had paved the way, and since Salina hadn't gone ballistic, it was safe for him to follow suit.
A few seconds later, the painted pony dashed through the gate and down front in a flash of brown and white.
After that there was only the sound of serious grass pulling and chewing, and the hard swish of tails and stamping of hooves that screamed "HORSEFLY!"
My husband took a break from his laptop to show off his horsefly-aversion skills. The horses are very good about letting you get the big biters, and will almost always stand patiently while you wait for the fly to land.
Usually if you do this for a few minutes the horseflies get savvy and leave the area.
It was a rare night that they all get to go in front together, and sometimes one or more have to be removed, but last night they were happy to graze in peace.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
it's a pinot evening
Everyone in my household has left me to go to our local community game night, and I've cracked open a bottle of Pinot, watched an episode of McLeod's Daughters, and now I'm heading out to check on the equines, who are presumably out there enjoying the time of day when flies disappear and the temps get low as the sun goes down.
Not to mention the approach of the dinner hour.
To my right is the latest chapter in my "Nutrition as a Therapy" class, titled Muscle, and to my left are the remaining pages in the novel-in-progress. I think tomorrow is the day I shall finish typing in the edits and prepare to send this baby off to my good reader, pull out the magical pony pages, and set to work finishing the first draft.
I'm feeling good after about two weeks of daily yoga. Today's chuckle came when my daughter joined me, and our online yoga instructor told us to "bring our gaze to our third eye." We got the impossible silly giggles, but apparently that's what this particular yoga practice was likely to incite. And it succeeded! If you're hungry for yoga but don't like to leave the house, try Yoga Today. It's a great resource.
For now, I'm off to the barn. There is no telling what is going on out there - this morning my husband found Rafer Johnson in the arena, taking himself what I call "a private moment" while Salina stood steadfast in the back field, refusing to come in until her best buddy was spotted and rescued. (as if he needed it!)
Not to mention the approach of the dinner hour.
To my right is the latest chapter in my "Nutrition as a Therapy" class, titled Muscle, and to my left are the remaining pages in the novel-in-progress. I think tomorrow is the day I shall finish typing in the edits and prepare to send this baby off to my good reader, pull out the magical pony pages, and set to work finishing the first draft.
I'm feeling good after about two weeks of daily yoga. Today's chuckle came when my daughter joined me, and our online yoga instructor told us to "bring our gaze to our third eye." We got the impossible silly giggles, but apparently that's what this particular yoga practice was likely to incite. And it succeeded! If you're hungry for yoga but don't like to leave the house, try Yoga Today. It's a great resource.
For now, I'm off to the barn. There is no telling what is going on out there - this morning my husband found Rafer Johnson in the arena, taking himself what I call "a private moment" while Salina stood steadfast in the back field, refusing to come in until her best buddy was spotted and rescued. (as if he needed it!)
new post over on mystic-lit
I wanted to alert any writers who read here that I just wrote and posted over at my other blog, mystic-lit.
Come on over and add your final edit tips and practices.
Come on over and add your final edit tips and practices.
Monday, June 22, 2009
much cooler monday
This morning it was much cooler than it has been the last few days, and because there's a slight breeze and alternating cloud cover and sunshine, it feels very much like an early autumn day.
All the horses and the donkeys were noticeably more chipper. Keil Bay chased the geldings out of the stalls while I was making the breakfast tubs, and that kept him busy enough that he didn't stand and bang with impatience at my slowness.
The donkeys rolled the round bale right off the pallets and then Redford proceeded to climb on top. We nipped that little activity in the bud, as I am paranoid about little donkey legs getting hung up in the pallets.
The pony had an actual Jungian scarab beetle in his water bucket, which I admired, carefully dumped, and then it just disappeared. That is probably part of the synchronicity of the sighting, but I had hoped to get a photo.
I'm not sure what is going on with our weather and the season, but I find it interesting that the day after summer solstice feels like fall!
All the horses and the donkeys were noticeably more chipper. Keil Bay chased the geldings out of the stalls while I was making the breakfast tubs, and that kept him busy enough that he didn't stand and bang with impatience at my slowness.
The donkeys rolled the round bale right off the pallets and then Redford proceeded to climb on top. We nipped that little activity in the bud, as I am paranoid about little donkey legs getting hung up in the pallets.
The pony had an actual Jungian scarab beetle in his water bucket, which I admired, carefully dumped, and then it just disappeared. That is probably part of the synchronicity of the sighting, but I had hoped to get a photo.
I'm not sure what is going on with our weather and the season, but I find it interesting that the day after summer solstice feels like fall!
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