Friday, September 29, 2017

Forecast

Well, the weather doesn't look like we'll be working on any outside projects this weekend. Too bad because we have a slew of them to work on. I had hoped that Mike could work on the truck motor but not sure that's a go either. I know he has to work at his paying job but with the rain, it's anyone's guess.


There's still so much to do and so little time to get it all done before my brain shuts down for the night. I have TWO weeks to get the playday and obstacle course figured out. Two weeks!!! I need more time.


I'm going to have to spend some time this weekend getting some stuff done and organized for it. I'm normally such a planner and it's driving me nuts not to plan as much. Unfortunately, I'm TERRIBLE about marketing so we'll just have to see how it goes. Anyone good at marketing and advertising?


I'm sure there's more to mention. I know there's a bunch of thank yous coming but I want to spend more than 30 seconds writing to provide a decent thank you.


Hopefully I can get myself back on track starting in October and go gangbusters. We'll see. So much to do, so little time to get everything done. You'd think with the days getting shorter, that I'd be able to spend more time online getting stuff done. But nope. I'm like my kids, when it gets dark, I'm ready for bed.


So we'll see how things progress. But if the weatherman is wrong and the weather is actually  nice (and you're bore), stop on out. We have plenty to work on!

Thursday, September 28, 2017

Been Gone

You may have noticed that I've been pretty quiet this month (and some of last month).  Well, for the last few days I've been super quiet. Why? Because I've been on vacation. And oh what a wonderful vacation it was!!!


We started a new tradition of going to the Black Hills at the end of September to see the fall colors. We'll get to continue this tradition until the kids are into serious school and we can't take a day or two off any more from all their activities. But until then, we will go.


And how could you resist these colors?



This view was driving back into Spearfish Canyon after being at Roughlock Falls. Beautiful. That's all I can say. I love going to the Black Hills in the fall. Quiet, beautiful, and serene.

And then I come back to the paying job, the Sanctuary, and reality. Dont' get me wrong, it's not bad but to not have any worries in the world is fantastic (even if it is short lived).

But the paying job has me hopping too. I know I shouldn't talk about work but it does interfere somewhat with the Sanctuary. They've extended my hours so that I can get more done. I guess I'm that productive. It's a bit of a juggling act because not only do I have to juggle my work life, home life, and sanctuary life, I also have to juggle my work life between two MASSIVE projects. So I sometimes feel like all I'm doing is chasing after all the balls that I seem to be dropping. I'm not complaining, it's just how I feel some days.

So with the paying job adding hours and piling on more work, I dont' feel like I have as much time to devote to the Sanctuary like I want and need. So I guess that's sort of why I havent' been blogging as much or putting posts on Facebook. I hope I can get more organized now that the giving season is starting. How can it be fall already? The last I looked, we were going into spring.  I think maybe now the Easter decorations finally came down. But now it's time for Halloween decorations and then Christmas decorations. I wouldn't even decorate if it wasnt' for the kids. But kids are my #1 priority and so I devote my free time while they are awake to having fun.

Now that the days are getting shorter, the kids seem to be willing to go to bed earlier so I can do more paper pushing in the evenings, if I can fight the urge to simply curl up and go to sleep when the kids go to sleep.

This adulating this isnt' as much fun as its' cracked up to be. :-)

And I'll have to find Chaos's halter. Sometime between the time we left Saturday afternoon and when we got back Wednesday night, Chaos decided to jump a fence and get in with the mares and Junior. Luckily Mayhem wont' tolerate his attitude and pushes him around. Which surprises me because he's second in command in the big herd. I guess Mayhem will be top mare. But it's maddening to know that Chaos jumped the fence. It means I need to get the electric fence up better and make sure it has a better charge to it. That horse stresses me out some days. And of course I was doing so well trying to keep the thistles and cockelburs at bay this spring/summer but then all hell broke loose at the end of July and all of August (and I lost September) that the cockleburs won the battle. When I say all hell broke loose, it's nothing bad. It's the standard kick in the butt that I get every year when all our running whallops my butt and I get behind on all the stuff that needs to get done around the place. Its just a fact of life around here.

So that's why I haven't been around and I probably wont' be around much later either. I'm going to try really hard to get back to a standard program starting in October (umm...self, you realize that's only three days away right?!...ACK how can October be three days away?!!!>!) Yes, I am going crazy.

And now I'll press the Panic Button to ensure all panic will resume at the Sanctuary. Panic in getting all our projects done before the snow flies. Anyone want to help? We have all kinds of activities. You name it, we probably have it on the to do list.



Friday, September 22, 2017

20 Degree Shift

We are going into a HEAT Advisory for this afternoon (only because it's fall and we arent' supposed to be in the 90s). And yet, I just saw a picture of Hot Springs and it's snowing. That's only about 6 hours away from us and there's snow. Crazy weather. So much for fall. I think we'll move straight from summer to winter based on the temps this weekend!


For those not around the area, we are near Sioux Falls (on the east side of the state) and hot springs is near-ish Rapid City on the west side of the state.



Nothing like a 10 degree swing in temperatures for the next couple of days!



Thanks South Dakota for ya!

Look Whos Driving

I needed to pick up Junior and Lace yesterday and figured I might as well take the dogs to the vet for their yearly shots. I'm all about killing two birds with one stone (sorry, hate that expression but that's totally what I'm filling...getting stuff off my to do list). Time is so limited these days that I have to really sit down and figure out how to squeeze in all that has to get done.

Junior and Lace needed to come home but will hopefully be going back in a couple of weeks. Junior already looks better being on the pasture in Madison so I'm hoping we can get him back up there for a little bit longer. I am already stressed and worried about Bo. I'd rather have only one horse to really worry about rather than two (ok, so I worry anyway but it's different).

Penny was due for her shots so I figured I'd run to the vet and then pick up the horses.

Can you tell they were not impressed with me after their vet appointment.


Farley loves to travel. Penny, not so much. But hopefully we can fix that. Penny is very much overweight and Farley is about right, sitting at 82 pounds. Unfortunately, he's too big for me to lift in and out of the truck but he needs help getting in and out. This is why we dont' travel with him...and he farts. All. The. Time.

This was my view after I got Lace and Junior loaded. Penny tried to talk me into letting her drive home. Not yet girly. you need to be able to see over the steering wheel. :-)


But all is good again and hopefully we can convince Penny that traveling isnt' such a bad thing.

Crazy Weather

It's 74 degrees this morning. Umm, it's September 22. What's going on?!!?! This is July weather, not September weather. My only regret is that I cant' take the day off the paying job to take advantage of the nice weather and get a bunch of stuff done outside. I need to get blankets washed, repaired, and waterproofed before the temps drop. But not sure that's going to happen. After today and tomorrow, the temps are dropping but I'm not going to be able to get any outside projects done.


So I guess we play it by ear. I just hope that we can finish up with the hay barn before the snow flies. Everything else, I can make do with what we have. There are just a few projects that HAVE to be done. Going to try and be realistic in what can and cant' get done before the first snow.


And all while trying to prep for the playday.


Yep, I'm in panic mode.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Belated Thank Yous

I'm behind in my thank yous so they are going to be random as far as how far back I should have been posting these. I am too far behind that if I continue to stay behind, maybe I'll be ahead of the game?!?!

So I want to say two HUGE thank yous in this post.

The firs thank you is to Lori H. for your monetary donation. We'll use the funds towards our 2017-2018 Winter Hay Fund! For those that don't know, Lori has a knack for knowing just when I need a pick me up. She's like a guardian angel to not only the Sanctuary but to me too. She also generously donated towards the euthanasia of the coworker's horse. Luckily they found a different owner, that will hopefully do right by the horse. But Lori graciously offered to help fund the euthanasia if that became the choice we had to make. So a huge thank you to Lori.

I also wanted to thank Jenny M. for their monetary donation. We'll use the funds towards our 2017-2018 Winter Hay Fund. Every dollar counts and we consider ourselves very blessed to have donations to keep the horses fat and sassy this winter.

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you thank you thank you.

I am always so very humbled by everyone's generosity. I started the Sanctuary because horses are my passion. To have such amazing supporters makes me proud to do what I do. You make it possible to follow my dream and my life long goal to help senior horses. It's truly humbling.

Every dollar counts towards the 2017-2018 Winter Hay Fund. If we are able to exceed the hay bill, we will look at purchasing additional hay and hopefully being able to open our doors to another deserving senior horse.

So from the bottom of my heart (and from the horses as well), thank you for your kindness, generosity and moral support.

And this isn't all. There's more thank yous that need to go around but its' getting late and tomorrow will be here before I know it.


Storms

Talk about the calm before the storm. After getting done with the paying job, I rushed home so that I  would have time to grab the horses I  needed for the farrier. It was super windy, like crazy windy. I hadn't remembered it being that windy earlier but I'd been so wrapped up with the paying job that I hadn't really noticed. Least to say the paying job is putting me to the test so there's not much left of me at the end of the day. I think that's part of the reason there's so little to report. I'm exhausted and I'm doing minimal chores.


But back to yesterday. We trimmed up King and Lightening. Lightening needs more work on trimming. It's so hard to know a horse's past. The feet tell a lot and even though Lightening may have been cared for (he's my personal horse), certain aspects were neglected, like teaching him to stand and accept trimming and rasping. I can't really say too much because there's a couple in the herd that can't get their feet done because they were never taught, and that's my fault.


But all in all, both did well. King's feet are doing well. He's been lame for awhile with bruising but it seems like the bruising is minimal this time around. Because there's a nip in the air, we opted to forego the shoes like we'd talked about last month. We won't have another trim scheduled until November. Everyone is looking pretty good so we pushed it out until November.


While we were working on the horses, Mike went up to put a sheet of Ondrua on the hay barn. When we were forced to quit this weekend because of the mosquitoes, we'd had to leave the vent hole open. We'd run out of screws to put the purlins in so that was the end of that. But Mike got more screws (who knew you'd need more than a 5 pound box of screws for this project, and that's just for the purlins). But the hole is covered. And I am sure glad Mike got it done last night, even if he did have to fight the wind.


About 11pm the wind picked up even more and a storm blew through the Sanctuary. We missed the reported tornados but the weather was bad enough to send me into a tizzy. After being a half a mile away from a tornado, I'm a little bit more freaked out about storms. But after an hour the storm had passed and all was right with the world again.


I didn't see any damage this morning but it's hard to see much in the dark. I am SO not ready for morning chores in the dark. If only I could have morning and evening chores in the daylight for a few months more. Having only one month where the sun is actually up when I do chores is just not enough!


We still have lots to do but I dont' see me getting any of it done. I need to bring Junior and Lace home either Thursday or Friday depending on the paying job's workload. And it's time I have to start feeding the ponies hay again. I am NOT looking forward to that. I was hoping to hold off on feeding hay for at least a couple more weeks but I don't see that happening.


Because I'll be running around, I probably wont' be able to do the Thursday noon Live session on non-horse related but sanctuary related topics. Either I'll be at the paying job or picking up horses (and my data plan is about out of data again...how does that happen?!)


I have more good news coming but still need to find more time to share it. Excited to release the new layout of our website but it needs a lot more work. But "steady as she goes" is how it's going to have to be for awhile.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

New Website

One of the many bits of exciting information I've been itching to share is our new layout of the website. Still the same URL but a whole new look and feel. There's still a lot of tweaking that needs to be done on the site but I wanted to get something out there that was a bit more up-to-date.

http://www.borderlandshorsesanctuary.com/home

If you have ideas on what we can do to improve the site, I'd love to hear them. Hopefully there will be much more added and modified to make the site even more interesting.

More and More Exciting News

I have so much exciting news I want to share but I need more than 30 seconds to compose what I want to say. Because there's so much to share!! The problem is, the paying job has me hopping so I'm a little stressed out about getting stuff done.


So I just wanted to say, there's lots going on behinds the scenes and lots of HUGE THANK YOUS coming out soon too!


But for now, I have to get back to the paying job. I think maybe I need to put on my resume something about juggling two jobs/careers (not including a family)....can you tell I had to do my performance review for my paying job?!




ok, enough about boring stuff. Will have lots to share soon... I hope.


Keep checking back, I promise to share all the amazing news soon.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Hay Barn Progress

If you were on Facebook yesterday, you may have noticed the constant updates. What can I say, I was excited! Finally making progress on the hay barn. Last weekend we put the purlins up on the east side but were itching to put up the sheeting. We put up the first row of purlins on the west side and went to town putting up the sheeting.

Too bad the new sheeting makes the rest of the barn look super dumpy but that's on my radar to fix. It's just time and money that's required at this point. The biggest hurdle we had to face was taking out the vents at the top. We don't need them and they are the reason the barn leaks, sort of. This is the original cedar roof and it hasnt' been touched in the 48 years or so since it was built. I'm guessing 80 years but it could be more. Our house has dates were it was remodeled in the 40s so I'm guessing the buildings went up in the 40s as well.


The dogs kept us company for most of the day.



Farley wasn't as impressed with the goings on and tried to hang out in the shade. I swear that if Penny could climb a ladder, she would have been up on the roof "helping" as well.



This is the view from the west. We had to do some cleanup work Saturday to get to the barn. Trees had grown up between the windmill and the hay barn. Much to Bo's dismay, we took his itching tree. Those trees aren't supposed to be there. We'd cut them all down about 9 years ago but they all came back. It's a never ending battle. Can't get trees to grow where you want them but can't keep the trees out of where you don't.


So apparently I can't figure out how to upload pictures in order. This was the view Sunday early afternoon. We were both itching to get the sheeting on. There's a learning curve with Ondura and there's some finer points we didn't know about. But for the most part, the sheeting went up easy. I saw that because *I* wasn't the point putting in the nails and trying to reach across the sheeting (which is about 4 feet wide.)



With the new roof on, it does make the rest of the barn look crappy. But we'll work on it. My biggest concern was the roof. Like the saying "No hoof, no horse" the same goes with buildings. "No roof, no building". Not nearly as catchy but still the same.

Mike wants to get back up on the roof this week to put another sheet of Ondrua up. We ran out of screws for the purlins and the mosquitos came out promptly at 5pm last night so we lost about two hours worth of work. But there's still a hole from the vent that we'd like covered up. In case something happens and we cant' get back to this project until later this fall, we'd like things buttoned up as best as we can.

So that's where my focus has been and it's been a huge focus so sorry if I haven't been around. There's just too much to get done in a short amount of time. I'm in panic mode. I wish I would have started sooner but I guess it's better to simply start than wait for the perfect time. Because there will never be a perfect time to start.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Roofin' It

If the rains hold off, we'll be on the barn all of Saturday! I'm excited. Is that wrong?


There's still a ton of work to do before we are ready to get the Ondura on the hay barn but I'm hoping that if we can do a little bit of work tonight (before the mosquitos come out) that we can tackle the hay barn roof first thing Saturday morning. I shouldn't have as great expectations of getting a lot done, but I do.


I am hoping that we can get the purlins on the west side of the barn in the morning and then start putting the Ondura sheets on in the afternoon. Because of the vents, we can't just do one side. We'll have to do both sides a little at a time. Unfortunately, we need to start on the north side of the barn so that we are safe and will have an easier way to wrap up the project on the south side (where we have a lean too roof to stand on). But I'm worried that we aren't going to get it all done before the snow flies. And the south and east side of the hay barn is in the worst shape. There's no shingles at all in a couple of spots so I'm hoping we can get it buttoned up soon. I may have to beg for someone to watch the kids on Sunday. If we had two straight days to work on it, we might....just might....be able to get most of it done.


Fingers crossed.


And lets hope the rain holds off so we can actually get to work on the barn. I'm anxious. There's already talk of snow. Of course, it should hopefully not be for awhile but people are starting to talk snow and it's only September. I am not prepared. There is still TOO MUCH to get done. We still need to haul hay home from Harrisburg and that will take some coordinating to get done. I may have to push the issue soon. And there's still blankets to wash, repair, and waterproof...oh and put in an automatic waterer.


But for now, it's one major project at a time.


And then in the back of my mind, I still need to be working on the upcoming fundraiser obstacle course and playday. I'm totally not prepared for that and we have LESS Than a MONTH! EEP!


I'm sure to be in a panic for the next month and  I'm sure to share in my anxiety over it. I need to go in search of some Zen. :-)


If you get bored, stop on out tomorrow and watch us fumble around with trying to get the purlins and Ondura sheets on the barn. Spectators are welcome...hecklers are not.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

We Have a Logo!

We have a logo!!!!!

ok, so we had a logo about six months ago but it's taken me this long to get it downloaded and to start using it. But YAY for having a logo. And the best part, we were able to get the logo created for free thanks to the generous donation of time and labor (and listening to me be wishy washy) to Randi H. So very thankful that we can finally look a bit more professional.

Slow and steady right?


Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Super Busy

I thought September would slow down or at least give me a few minutes to breath so I could actually post pictures, videos, and blog posts. That hasn't been the case and it's already the 12th. I'm losing days and going into a panic.


I need a solid 4 days to get the hay barn roof done.


I need 4 days to get the barn scrapped, primed, and painted (with two coats).


I need minimum of 6 days to put a new roof on the old garage (taking shingles off, building eaves, and putting new shingles on).


There's not enough time for that. Add in washing, repairing, and water proofing blankets AND putting in a new automatic waterer.


Oh, and planning for the obstacle course and playday next month.


Yea, I don't see it all getting done. I need to be more relaxed about it. What gets done will get done and everything else will just have to wait.


Except I'm not that kind of person. I'm totally Type A so those that are Type A can understand my predicament.


I was going to be productive last night. I wanted to move the ponies but the mosquitoes were so bad I couldn't do anything. I'm afraid tonight will be the same. I got my wires mixed up with the farrier so farrier night is next Tuesday night. It's a bit difficult to juggle the paying job, kids, horses, and others's schedules. I seem to be losing my touch these days.


So if I don't post much, it's not that we aren't busy, it's that I'm busy working. And there might not be too many FB posts or videos this month. I seem to be running out of my quota. We're going to have to suck it up and pay the extra to go unlimited for all internet/phone stuff. But until then, I have to stay away and not watch or make videos. Sigh... technology is supposed to make life easier. I'm not sure it has.


Alright, back at it. Trying to solve all the worlds problems.

Friday, September 8, 2017

Need Help for a Senior Warrior


I was informed this morning of an owner who plans on taking their senior horse to a rendering plant/slaughter house/butcher shop. I have no idea where exactly the location or the name of the facility.


I'm tapped out financially otherwise I'd take the horse on. I can't commit and risk not having funds for the permanent residents already.


The owner doesn't believe the horse will make it through a South Dakota winter. But this is not the right method for the horse. This is not the way the horse should die.


I can't guarantee that I can raise the funds fast enough to secure a proper euthanasia before the horse heads to somewhere in Sioux City. But a peaceful crossing over is much better than going to a butcher shop where you have the smells of death, blood, and meat surround you.


Euthanasia through our vet is $250.  I am glad the owner doesn't want the horse to suffer through a South Dakota winter. So I have to think of it as the owner is trying to do right by the horse, but the means in which they are doing it aren't the means in which I prefer.


I'm willing to take pledges or donations. I would almost have to know that the money is coming in before I can commit but I don't want to take the money beforehand in case I'm too late. I don't want to scream that the truck is coming because in the end, the horse will not be on this earth. However, I want to do right by this horse. I am just too far behind in getting a euthanasia clinic going.


So, do you think we could quickly raise $250 in about 24 hours? I almost need to tell the owner by the end of the business day. I'm afraid they act pretty quickly once the decision has been made.

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Lets Talk Outbuildings

I've missed a few of our Lets Talk session on the blog so you may want to head over to our Facebook page and listen. August was super crazy and it looks like September is shaping up to be even crazier. But for now, I did want to talk outbuildings because they play a large part in the Sanctuary.


We have a number of outbuildings at the Sanctuary and we use every single one of them. The gist of my talk was that if you have outbuildings, keep an eye on them and when something breaks, try to fix it if money and time allows. Because if you let the little things that break go, they'll turn into bigger things. Granted, redoing a roof is a big deal but usually you want to tackle a roof BEFORE it starts to leak or before there's problems.


We are faced with a number of issues. Some are minor and others are going to be catastrophic if we don't get to them pretty soon.


So the barn. It's really in pretty decent shape. On the backside, the roof is tin. It needs to be replaced because it does leak. But because it leaks directly onto the concrete, it's going to be something that has to wait. I'd like to do the Ondura sheets but that'll have to wait a few years. I think with a bit of sealant, we could get the leaks fixed but I need to be out when it rains. However, the barn DOES need a good paint job. I started this past weekend. I only went as far as I could reach without having to get the ladder out. It looks sharp but also silly. My theory was, I wanted to get as much done as I could even if it meant only getting the bottom half. Yes it's backwards from what you're supposed to do but something is better than nothing at this point. Now the barn glows at night!1



The red shed is in decent shape although when the tornado went through, the top peak in a couple of places broke so water pours in. I need to figure out what to use to fix the holes and just climb up there. We have a ladder that would fix it. But I need the time and a bit of materials to get up and do some patching. It's going to turn into an issue soon if we don't get it repaired. The two little buildings on the left also need some roof patching. I'm hoping Ican get something done this month. It's nothing major, just slap some tin on the roof and call it good. I've let it go and it's causing problems for me.



Then there's the dreaded garage. With the chimney gone and a hole, we had to do some quick repairs. And not really quick. Major work needed to be done. There were no eaves. The previous owner put some cedar shingles to fake an eave but that didn't help. The owner that build the garage didn't build eaves so now we are paying for it. This past weekend, Mike ripped off the shingles, built eaves, and reshingled. The problem is, we can't get the other three sides done. It's a gabled roof so there's four sides to the damn garage. Without full weekends to rip off shingles, build eaves, and slap new shingles on with lots of help, its' not going to get done. And it really does need to get done. The roof over the garage door is terrible and I am afraid  I'll pick up a nail soon. But there's priorities. The garage doesn't leak.



But the hay barn DOES leak. This was the roof we were supposed to tackle first before the gigantic hole in the garage roof. We'd been planning on reroofing this barn but I don't know how to do it. I thought we were going to get a boom truck but that's not available now. We have all the materials...well almost all of the materials and if we could have a solid weekend with some help, we could get maybe one side done...maybe. Things always go slower than what I expect. But this roof leaks and there are no shingles in some places. So I think the hay barn has to take priority over the garage although I worry about the shingles not finished off like they should. But if we lose the hay barn, we'll be in trouble. I use the hay barn for storage and lights and a bunch of other stuff. Its' darn handy and I don't want to lose it but we need help in getting it done.


Anyone want ot help? You dont' have to be up on the roof, down on the ground running errands would be perfect too. But we need help and I'm not normally one to ask for help but we are in a bind if we want to get two roofs done before the snow flies. And with the weather the way it is, I expect winter will be a month early this year.




So who's up for a little bit of physical work? I can feed you! If you're free let me know. And remember, keep up with the maintenance of your buildings. If you don't, you'll lose the building. I've learned that first hand. I guess that's why we are pushing to get the hay barn done.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Weekend in a Nutshell

I've been absent from blogging and Facebook for awhile. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things. A few minor blows sort of took me down for a little bit but not for very long.


So here's what we got accomplished over the long holiday.


I pulled up all the temporary fence in the big pasture. The horses had run through it and taken it down because I didnt' have the electric on it anyway. And the electric wasnt' working right to begin with. There's some loose wire and a fence post or two I still need to pick up but there's only two or three to go back out and retrieve.


I scrapped and painted (primed, and painted two coats) of the barn over the weekend. I'd taken part of Friday off to work on the barn and then it promptly rained. There wasnt' supposed to be anything and then it turned into a downpour. Luckily the rain didnt' take the primer off. I only got the bottom half of the west side of the barn. So it looks pretty redneck right now. But my thought was, better to get SOMETHING done, than nothing and if we get a day or two of nice weather, I can go back and work on it again. Now I just need to get the ladder and scaffolding out so I can work on the upper part. Hoping this weekend but not holding my breath. Anyone want to paint?


Mike worked on the garage. He not only patched the hole the roof, he put on new eaves and new shingles. There was about four layers I guess on the old roof. I don't think we'll get any more done on the roof unfortunately. We need to tackle roofing the hay barn because that is in much worse shape. It leaks like crazy. And even though we are in the middle of the garage, it doesn't leak and the alfalfa and straw bales in the hay barn are going to get ruined if they havent' already. But it all takes more time that I had estimated.


I'm just hoping for a long fall so we can get a few more projects done. I need a week of fantastic weather and time off the paying job.


I also got some trim stained and started varnishing it so that we can finish up two projects that we had started on the house. It's not Sanctuary related but it is time away from the Sanctuary to get the house looking nice. I'm tired of the place looking dumpy. It's so hard to keep up with everything and after 12 years of neglecting the outbuildings, it shows.


I could really use the help this weekend but we need to haul hay bales and my son has a birthday party to go to. So I'm not really sure who to swing everything. There's so much that needs to be done.


And now I've tossed in our annual playday  fundraiser because we DESPERATELY need to get funds raised to pay off the hay. I hate having loans and it's really rubbing me raw to know that I can't outright pay for it. But the playday should be fun. We are tossing in an obstacle course in the morning so hopefully that'll grab a few more people. Now to actually tackle getting things ready. I'm so far behind I just don't know if I can get it all done!