home again, home again

Daughter and I had a fun little getaway taking my son back to college this weekend past - we left on Saturday and got home last night around 8:30. We did some moving in, some hiking, ate lots of great food, enjoyed a room where we didn't have to clean anything, did absolutely zero mucking, and were reminded that even when you have endless TV channels there is never really anything good on.

It was such a nice time.

However, it was also really wonderful to get home last night and see the menagerie and dear husband. Today it was rainy, the sun finally came out around 3, and although it looks like we are in for some lovely sunny days, it's getting colder again and for now it is a huge muddy mess out there.

The horses look like ragamuffins!

I briefly thought RIDE! when the sun popped out this afternoon but today has been filled with laundry, getting things back in gear with the housekeeping, grocery store, etc. 

Tomorrow I am going to have to bundle up and just get out there no matter how chilly it feels. Because no matter how chilly it actually IS, it is not going to be ELEVEN DEGREES. Glad we got that under our belt so that 40 seems downright tropical. :)

I'm writing like mad every day and loving it.

And, on a not as great note, I am not going to be riding with Mark Rashid next Tuesday, at least not this trip. He is in NC this weekend and I learned that he would be more than happy to come right here to November Hill to do private lessons - I had hoped to rein in some of my horsey neighbors and get a block of privates for him but no one wanted to do it. Not even my daughter. So... next year I'll get more lead time and will start earlier with my recruitment. 

Hope all are having a good week! 

ugh weather and a little getaway

It started raining early today and we're now completely over-saturated again. Goodbye, cold temps, hello wet ground. 

The rainy day gift I received this morning was from the Little Man. I stepped out on the deck to get the beet pulp bucket this morning and he was standing in the grass paddock, so handsome in his cobalt blue blanket, staring a hole in the back door. When he saw me he whinnied two times. Keil Bay does this every day, Salina did it, but Cody is nearly silent, and the pony too. But not today! The donkeys, of course, bray like mad on a near-daily basis.

Tomorrow it's going up near 70 degrees and the forecast is warning of possible high winds, huge amounts of rain, and tornadoes.

I am leaving everything here in the capable hands of dear husband so I can take son back to college for his spring semester. Daughter is going along to visit the biology department. 

I'm looking at being back to regular routine here on Tuesday morning and I seriously hope there is dry weather so I can get back on the Big Bay.

The writing routine is intact - that is one of those things that can be done anytime and anywhere, thankfully!

thawing out

We had another very cold night and morning but by 11 a.m. we were up to 20 degrees and then on up to 38 or so by mid-afternoon. It was so nice to feel the ground starting to thaw and to finally get every single bit of ice out of the water troughs.

I had another dental cleaning to chauffer to so this was not a riding day, but I think the horses were just happy to go out with hay and warm up in the sunshine. 

The great thing today was how much work I got done with writing - very happy with how that is going. I'm doing pre-writing, which is mostly answering lots and lots of questions in the voice of my main characters, and today starting looking at the story arc more specifically with the characters motivations and stakes in mind. In some ways it's like warming up in the arena. More precisely, like laying the groundwork for more complex riding by building the basics.

Which makes me want to get back to riding!

I hope to do that tomorrow.

coldest day of the year (we hope)

It was frigid today - I could feel the cold on my cheeks and it didn't feel good, so I came back in and got a balaclava to wear. It about drove me crazy but it took care of the cold face.

Most of my barn time was spent managing water - clearing ice out of troughs, carrying buckets of warm water out so they had the choice. Keil Bay and Little Man prefer the icy water in the troughs. Cody and the donkeys prefer the warm buckets. 

I didn't ride, even though the wind was almost totally gone. Mainly because the ground was frozen hard - in those mud clump formations that just plain hurt to step on. I pulled horse blankets off mid-day when we got up near 20 degrees. They'll get them back on in a bit, for the night.

Most of my writing was done in the waiting room at our dentist's office while my son had his teeth cleaned. We stopped on the way home and got peppermint ice cream from the local dairy. Once home it was time to start getting horses in for their pre-dinner tub hay, and of course, more warm buckets.

Woodstove is going strong, we just had Italian wedding soup with local sausage meatballs and cornbread, and I think the cats and Corgis are finally settling in for the night. One more cold one and then tomorrow we're up near 40. It will feel like springtime after these single digit temps!

cold, cold night

I've decided I like writing at the end of the day about that day versus writing the morning after the day, if that makes sense... so tonight I'm adjusting the blog to reflect this.

It is very cold outside. About 17 degrees right now, with wind blowing. Husband brought all the water buckets in and we filled them with warm water, then took them out to the barn - I figure at least they'll have the choice - the colder water in the big troughs or warm bucket water, at least to start the night with. They got their usual warm wet beet pulp tubs too.

There was no riding today. The rain cleared up by noon but the cold wind came hand-in-hand with the sunshine - the hay tent was blowing like the sail on a ship. The crazy equines were clustering around it, then galloping away when it blew up. I put them all in the arena and let them play that game for awhile, then put their hay in the back field and left them to it. They cantered to their hay piles and the donkeys went at full gallop with a few bucks thrown in for good measure.

I did my writing in the truck today while daughter had her riding lesson in the colder-by-the minute wind. It was good to get home tonight and settle in for the evening.

The wood stove is hot, I have laundry going which I'm hoping keeps the well pump going, there are two cats in bed with us, and the rest of the cats (and the Corgis) have warm spots. I'm finally starting to yawn so maybe it's time to say goodnight. :)