Warmer Weather and New Idea

I haven’t paid any attention to the weather lately. I’d heard a rumor that it was supposed to be nice today but until just now, I haven’t seen a report.  Looks like maybe we can get rid of some of that awful ice if the weather holds the way the forecast is predicted! We have at least three beautiful days to enjoy before a cold front comes in. I’m not looking forward to the cold front, when the high for Monday is predicted to be zero degrees. Think maybe we’ll just hunker down and try to recoup from all these bugs we keep catching.

While I was at drill team practice, Mike stayed home and set the truck up to spread the salt/sand mix. He picked up the salt/sand mix on Monday and thought he had enough. But he soon came to the realization that it doesn’t go as far as he thought. Of course, he really coated a couple of the really icy spots.  I just hope that the salt/sand mix works over the next three days so that we don’t have to deal with as much ice.

Last night the horses were disgusted with me. I had to throw hay instead of let them gorge themselves on round bales. I have now come to appreciate round bales instead of dividing and throwing hay. We have eight round bales left and I need to hang on to them for when Mike goes on travel and for the week before the SD Horse Fair. I won’t have time to throw hay during all that commotion. I also want to set back a couple round bales in case of an emergency and we need to be out of town. We have a couple family members who’s health isn’t the greatest so I want to be prepared.

I suppose it’s about time we switch over to the big squares. The quality is much better. Now that we are going into colder temperatures, it’s probably the best for the horses. I think the horses disagree although I know they love this new hay. We have hay in the hay barn and the hay shed. I want to go through last year’s hay before we start in on the new hay but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I want every last little sliver of hay used and throwing hay over the fence means we lose a little bit. Hay is too expensive to lose even one sliver. I have to break open a new bale tonight in the hay shed anyway for the mares and ponies.  I’ll go the convenient route, and start pulling from the hay barn for the big herd. That way I’ll actually have lights again while doing chores in the dark. I got so spoiled not having to toss hay, that now that I do, I want to be able to see. I guess maybe next year we may look at ordering big rounds instead of big squares. I guess I need to change my logic and way of thinking.  With the cinch nets, maybe rounds are actually the way to go. I am a little sad to see the hay stash dwindling, but every day we get closer to spring and green pastures (knock on wood that we’ll actually get enough moisture to support our pastures this year. But I won’t think about droughts right now).

Our amazing fundraising team pointed out a major flaw in my thinking (which is exactly why we need this group!) I had hoped to do a Chocolate Auction in February but there’s very little time to plan, prep, and advertise so we are scratching the idea and going to focus on something around Easter instead.  That’ll give us just enough time to properly advertise the event and get everything in order. So if you want to be on the team, let me know. We can always use more help! Mark your calendars the weekend of Easter for some fun activities to help support the Sanctuary!