Final Prep for Fundraiser

We are in the final stages of preparation for the upcoming playday. I guess I’ve been more focused on the silent auction and bake sale, which is really the minor part of the playday. But I want everything to be a success.

I had a bit of a panic attack yesterday so I worked like crazy last night after finally getting home. I baked until midnight so that my nightmare of being unprepared won’t happen. We have a lot to round up tonight but I think everything is in good order.

We will be bringing some of the Sanctuary horses to the playday for a meet and greet. So even if you don’t have a horse to ride, you can still come out and get your horse fix by hanging out with the Sanctuary horses and watching people ride.

Hopefully the weather will hold. I did pick up hot chocolate and apple cider so there will be warm beverages to enjoy while people wait for their turn even if it’s chilly out. The weather keeps changing (typical for South Dakota). As of the latest report, we are at a 10% chance of isolated showers before 7am on Saturday with a temp of 51. At one point I thought I saw a forecast of potential snow (but not anymore)!  The snow can hold off for a little bit longer! I am NOT ready for winter.

Last night when I was getting home from running errands for the fundraiser, we got home after dark (again typical of South Dakota in the fall/winter). For some reason the yard light wasn’t on. At first I was a little worried but then realized it’s a full moon. I was able to see just as well without the yard light on because the moon was out. This morning was the same way. We had a beautiful harvest moon this morning. It makes getting up early a little bearable.  Hopefully whatever was wrong with the yard light won’t happen again tonight. This morning it was on (go figure!) We’ve had a few super dark nights and I do rely on the yard light. Now that we are into the full swing of harvest, the wild critters are going to start coming out. I’d rather not meet face to face with one of them.

Speaking of meeting face to face with wild critters, I did have an encounter with a fox. Last week some time, Mike saw a fox hanging out by the garage. We’d seen him a couple times that morning. I went out to do chores later in the morning. I was in the hay shed piling up hay when all of a sudden there was a flash of red right by my leg. The fox we’d seen early had been in the hay shed and came within about two inches of me. If he would have come any closer, he would have knocked into me! That’s the closest I’ve ever been to a fox (and I’d like to keep it that way).

I have been wondering what winter is going to be like. I am worried that we don’t have enough hay. I know it’s already mid-October but we are feeding hay already and the temps are starting to drop. I shouldn’t be surprised that winter is just around the corner. I’ve been watching Canadian geese flying south already. I was hoping that they would hold off and we’d have a long fall. Somehow I don’t think that’ll happen.

The last really nice day (when it was in the 70s), I washed some of the winter blankets. Why I didn’t wash blankets when it was 90 degrees out instead of the 70s, I have no idea. But that’ll teach me! I was able to get the majority of the blankets washed before I ran out of time. There’s still a handful that I need to take care of. I was able to take an inventory of blankets while I was washing. It’s a nice feeling. I also went ahead and did some waterproofing on the less dirty blankets. I wouldn’t say that I “cleaned” the blankets but rather that I got them “less dirty”. So anyway, on Wed I waterproofed seven blankets and they are all out on the lawn. I didn’t get a chance to pick them up before the last frost so I have to pick them up tonight. I still need to fix all of the tears and holes before winter sets in. I learned my lesson the hard way that if you don’t fix the hole immediately, it only gets worse and the outcome is a destroyed blanket. With the price of blankets and the number of horses that need blankets every year, I will make sure that the holes get patched. Hopefully in the near future I can sit down at night and do some blanket patching before the real winter sets in. When it rained last week, I was tempted to throw blankets on but instead I put the horses in the barn. Now that I have clean and soon to be repaired blankets, I can spend an afternoon adjusting the different blankets to different horses so that during a major snowstorm, I wouldn’t be fighting the wind, cold, and wetness that usually happens when I’m out blanketing horses.

I don’t think I’ll post anything again today. After this afternoon I’ll be busy getting things ready for tomorrow’s fundraiser. We have a LOT of items up for the silent auction. Come on out and see what all we have! Bring your horse and enjoy a day of play before the weather turns! Before you know it, winter will be here and this may be one of your last opportunities to get a ride in before it gets bitterly cold! So come on out, tomorrow, Saturday October 19^th at 1pm to the Cowboy Way Church arena just south of Hartford, SD. We’ll have a great time! Hope to see you there.