Not Ready

I've not been near a tv to hear the weather in about six days but I've heard an ugly rumor that this Saturday we are to get rain and snow. There go my plans to really wrap up some major fencing and other projects. I may be outside despite the rain and snow to finish up a few projects that absolutely have to be done before the ground freezes.

I'll be honest, I'm not looking forward to winter. I never really do but it's even more so this year. With so many oldsters, I'll be worried sick. Any time there will be a chance for snow I'll worry about what I should do. Do I stall them in the barn, do I blanket them, how cold will it get, do I need to start feeding extra hay/grain, etc.? It's a never ending debate in my head to make sure that the horses are well taken care of during these colder months.

I'm not exactly sure when our winter supply of hay will be delivered. Luckily I have the CRP hay we picked up last month to feed the herds. I just dread the thought of winter and all the additional chores.

Luckily Mike had the forsight to plug the water heaters in yesterday morning. Unfortunately the water in the blind pen is not as protected and was frozen over before we realized how cold it really was. I'm so grateful to Mike. He's now taken it upon himself to keep the water tanks full. So while I throw hay during the winter months, Mike fills water troughs. I really am spoiled. Hopefully some day we'll be able to put in some new water lines for additional automatic water troughs. But that's all in due time.

I need to pull all the blankets out and assess the damages done last year. I never did get around to repairing blankets last spring and I want to have everything repaired, waterproofed, and labeled for size so I don't have to fumble in the dark and cold with a wrong sized blanket on a cranky horse.

I'm sure there's more I could ramble on about but I'm exhausted. The last few days have been draining (and could be why I haven't seen the 10 o'clock news/weather in awhile). I'm hoping that life will finally settle down now and I can tackle some important projects that I've tabled over the past few months, including taking more pictures!