Aint' Nothin' But Shit!

Since 3 pm Friday, I have been dealing with shit. The weather warmed up nicely and the runs were mostly dried out, aside from a few spots that were still a bit soggy. I took the opportunity to clean up. All I can say is THANK GOD we bought the tractor!











The water is from me dumping the trough...








After lunch Mike decided he could spare some time to help me. of course, the manual labor still fell to me, but it gave me a bit of a break between loads.



And this is what we are left with... a big old pile of shit! Not ALL of this came out today, only about half of it. But STILL - that's a lot!



Ticket was turned out with Lucy and Roger. For most of the time, I heard her squealing and I know for a fact that the squeal is usually accompanied by a strike with one front leg. Apparently, either Lucy or Roger got a belly-full and she got bitch-slapped. Just broke the skin, not really even any blood...


See the two dogs at the base of the telephone pole? They spent much of the morning barking non=stop at the squirrel up on the line. They belong to one of my neighbors and because I like the guy, I didn't shoot his dogs. I cussed under my breath a bunch though...


Roger B Rabbit - sticking close to Lucy (HIS woman) but keeping an eye on Jazzy, who was turned out on the pasture.


Lucy (and Roger's butt) - hanging out...

Warming up and drying out!

Wednesday Jan 18, work sent us home early. We had a crazy blizzard going on with wind and snow and drifting snow and it piled up FAST! The next day, they said "STAY HOME!" Then we had sleet and freezing rain. By Saturday, January 21, it was 40 degrees and melting fast!

I spent 5 hours in the barn cleaning stalls, and using the hoe to create a "drain". It's actually low on the back side, but the horses poop and step there, so it builds up and won't drain. This weekend, I am going to re-route the drain so it goes under the fence and down the outside. It should be pretty easy to do because the horses haven't packed it into concrete!

It poured rain again this week, I think Tuesday, but it could have been Monday. Just to keep things soggy. Yesterday, we had a high temperature of 50 degrees, and today's high was 43 degrees with a stiff breeze. The runs are mostly dried out and headed back to being dusty except for the trough across the front of the barn (which is now poo soup) and low areas.

I have doctor appointments tomorrow - one with the chiropractor and one with the orthopaedic surgeon. I am still recovering from my falling out of the truckbed a year ago and things get out of whack every other month or so.

Right before Christmas, I did something to my right shoulder. I don't remember over-working it, pulling a muscle straining a tendon, or sustaining an injury. It's possible I hurt it by running into the doorjam in one of the rooms (which I am known to do on regular intervals) but this time I don't remember it. So I'm going to go talk to the doctor and see about ruling out something that needs repaired. I DO know it is in the tendons or ligaments on the front, leading point of my shoulder, not in the joint itself. So we'll see. The problem is, with all the feeding and chores that need done in the barn, there isn't much free time to not use it and let it heal.

I will try to remember to get before and after pictures of the barn mess on Saturday. It's supposed to be cool but clear - perfect working outside with a shovel and a tractor weather.

SNOW!!!

The weatherman finally got it right! He said it would snow and it did! What he DIDN'T say was that the wind waould be sustained at 20 mph with gusts to 35 mph. They released us early from work and when I got home, I had to shovel off the COVERED back porch! As of 4:00 pm, it had stopped snowing and we only had four inches on the ground. There should be more later this evening.

This morning, when I let the dogs out, Kizzy went running across the porch then screeched to a stop. She has never seen snow! This afternoon, she LOVES it! She puts her nose in it and run, looking like a 4-legged snowplow! She and Jasper had a great time rolling and playing in the snow!







I had to shovel a path to the wind-blown grass so Weenie could go potty.


They were standing around but as soon as I came inside, Millie and Bullwinkle started playing. Too bad I didn't get decent video of that!

What's Going On??

A LOT! And, well, not a lot! Seems like we're alway busy but nothing to get excited about!

Mike started back to school last Monday. For the two weeks leading up to the big first day, he fussed and fretted. On day two, he almost had a complete meltdown, worried that he would completely fail and end up having to pay all the tuition money back and not have a job. It was like he ran head first into the estrogen cabinet - he sounded like a whiney, bitchy little girl! But then again, he hasn't been in school for over ten years, so I can see why he might be uptight about it. Tomorrow starts week two and hopefully, it'll go better for him!

I have been working still, supporting the division Director since his Administrative Assistant took a new job. There is a possibility that they will offer the job to me on a permanent basis, but that is not guaranteed. If it happens, it'll be a serious bump in pay for me. But I'll count that chicken when (and IF) it happens.

The horse numbers are the same and are stable. There are nine here at home. Millie came home in early December and after a ride and a cold snap, she caught a little cold, which she passed to Bullwinkle, so the youngsters were coughing. An anti-bacterial from the vet cleared it right up. The horses at the house are: Millie, Bullwinkle, Angel, Jazzy, Roger, Lucy, Ticket, Texas Chili, and Foxy. They are all fat and fuzzy and happy.

Kizzy, our newest addition, is growing like a weed. She has stayed proportional and (in my opinion) is THE CUTEST yellow Lab EVER! It's been several weeks since she's had an accident in the house, but she has taken to digging. Jasper decided that was great fun and joined in. So there are now several potholes in the yard, which annoys the crap out of me, but hey, she IS still a puppy! Rylee and Weenie watch from inside at the sliding glass door and tattle on them, so they barely get a new hole started and they get into trouble. GOOD GIRL RYLEE!!

We haven't had much of a winter. On December 39, the high for the day was 50 degrees! It has cooled off some, though today is around 40 degrees. The weatherman keeps saying it's going to snow, but it never materializes. Being a weatherman is the only job I know of where you can be wrong 75% of the time and still keep your job!

So, for the most part, my week consists of work until Thursday, picking up poop on Friday, running around or riding on Saturday, and hanging out doing as little as I can get away with on Sunday.

I did go for a ride with my new neighbor today. Angel was a little stinker! She kept "spooking" and whipping around. It was like she would walk along, see something, think "Yikes!" and spin around. Apparently, monsters live everywhere!

My neighbor's dog likes to go along at his own pace, and we had to stop and wait for him several times. Then once, we waited and waited and he just stood there. Then it occurred to us that he was stuck in the middle of a field of tackweeds. So Maranda got off and bailed him out. That was an exercise in itself, because she had decided to pony her second horse. There horses were fine and she was able to rescue the dog. Riding into the breeze coming back was cold but over-all, it was a great time!

Remember, the best view is that which is framed by the ears of a horse!

Random Stuff

December 29 it was 59 degrees. Since then, the low temperature has been right around 30 degrees. My point?? My youngsters have a "Spring Crud". Millie and Bullwinkle both developed a cough and a mild snotty nose. They were on sulfa pills for 5 days, then were switch to Uniprim - an anti-bacterial. The only coughing they do now is when the "exercise" - read "playing". They both feel better and are eating well, so they are on the mend!

The "big dogs" - Jasper and Kizzy - have taken up digging in the yard. We are sure it was Kizzy that started this new "game".

Mike is going back to school starting Monday. He will hopefully be done at the end of summer - which means he will have finished his Bachelor's degree and will graduate.