Weekend Activities

Hope everyone had a great July 4^th. We had a somewhat productive yet unproductive weekend filled with family and friends. We spent a majority of the time with family, enjoying the long weekend. I always seem rejuvenated after a long and relaxing weekend hanging out with family.

We did get a few projects started so there was some productivity going on! Mike spent some time working on the tractor and the post hole auger. We are in business! The last time we used the post hole auger, we had to borrow a tractor and ended up not only ripping the shear pin out, but busting the auger itself. Mike was able to get it fixed and on to the new tractor. What a joy that new tractor is. We’ve already put it to good use a number of times since we bought it (ok, so it’s not totally ours yet but you know what I mean).

While Mike tinkered on the tractor, I pulled out some of the old blankets that were damaged either last year or the year before. I scrubbed them and figured out where all the tears and holes are. There’s no way of throwing them in to a wash machine to get them clean so I had to get out the hose and brush and scrub like crazy. They aren’t 100 percent clean but they are good enough now that I can bring them in the house and start fixing them. I’d love to pay someone to fix all the blankets but that would add up and we are putting every penny we have towards hay. So no extravagant pleasures like paying to repair blankets. Not sure I’ll be able to get them all repaired but I’ll get the majority fixed and then figure out how much it’ll cost to get the others professionally repaired.  Guess I’ll start saving back those pennies for blanket repair. But I learned my lesson last year. Instead of washing blankets in October when the high is in the 60s, I opted to wash blankets in the 80s. Amazing what a 20 degree shift in temperatures does to help the process along. I even tackled one that was so mud encrusted thanks to Rabbit ripping it off of herself and then smashing it in to the mud. I was only able to get five blankets/sheets done but its’ a start anyway.  I think I picked the worst of the blankets/sheets that need to be repaired. But anything is better than nothing.

I also started tackling the big project of scraping the hay barn to get it ready for painting. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to spray paint it or if I’ll have to do it all by hand with a brush. Right now, I just need to get all the old paint off. I spent an hour the other night and got the majority of the paint off the north side (at least up to where I can reach, which isn’t that high because I’m short). Unfortunately, there wasn’t that much paint to begin with. I’d been looking around our place a while back and realized that the Sanctuary looks dumpy. Not just the normal dumpy, but the neglected dumpy. We haven’t been able to do anything around the place in a few years so now I’m anxiously trying to figure out how we can get at least the old garage and hay barn painted before snow flies. I’d love to get the hay barn re-shingled or put up Ondura siding/tin but that won’t happen this year.  We have Ondura on part of the barn and it’s great. I’ll be happy at this point to get the tin fixed on the barn and the roof back on the leanto for the horses. All of the horses are trying to cram in to the leanto off the barn and there’s simply not enough room. Anyone want to help dismantle a roof and put it back up? Oh, and back on to scraping and painting. The hay barn is in desperate need of some repairs. It has missing boards and rotten boards that I want to fix before we repaint. There’s no point in scraping and painting boards that will be replaced. So my hope is that we can get the building fixed up and looking less scuzzy. At this point, I don’t care if it looks pristine, just as long as it doesn’t look like the pithole that it’s become.  Sad to say but I have winter on my brain. Where everyone else is thinking summer and fun activities, I’m thinking winter and all the stuff we need to have done before winter and in preparation for winter.

There’s just so much to do and no time to get it all done. Mike sprayed for mosquitoes last week and it was amazing. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes are coming back.  Not sure if these mosquitoes are the second batch or what but it would be nice to be outside when the sun is setting and not get eaten alive.  

The ponies need to be moved to a different part of the lawn. We still have to put up corral panels because of the little Bear. The ponies tried to make a break for it the other day so I had to put them in their pen and start throwing hay. I do NOT want to keep throwing hay when there’s plenty of grass. If the grass is eaten down, then hopefully we wouldn’t have such a mosquito issue. At least that’s my hope anyway. So last night I went to move the corral panels but the wind had died down and the mosquitoes tried to carry me away.  I got hit five times in the same spot by five different mosquitoes. The dirty little buggers were out in full force.  I’d somehow managed to wrench my back so I ended up calling it quits in hopes that we’ll have wind some other night and can get to the panels before the mosquitoes come out in full force. I want the ponies and mares on the lawn by the red shed.

The mares need to be moved from their current pasture. There’s still plenty of grass but if I play my cards right and rotate the pasture, I might be able to use that pasture again for a little bit. If I give it a break, I can probably do a better job of rotating pastures. So if I get my poop in a group and get the ponies and mares out on the lawn by the red shed and then walk the other mare pasture to make sure the fence isn’t down, I’ll be as happy as a lark. (I think some trees feel on the fence when the tornado passed by us.) Of course, that all depends on the wind and mosquitoes. Unless we have a 30mph wind, I doubt I’ll be able to check the pasture where the mares need to go.

The alternative is to see if they will load and send them to Madison. I was originally planning on taking Brego and Ivan to help cut down on the pressure that the big herd is putting on the main pasture but we’ll see how it goes. I think Mom and Dad would prefer Ivan and Brego over Rabbit and Mayhem. Ivan and Brego are such easy keepers.

I’m hoping to haul Ivan and Brego up to Madison this weekend so that they can eat down a different pasture. This way, they’ll get a little bit of one-on-one pampering and maybe get some “barn time” away from the bugs. We’ll see how it goes. Transporting horses to Madison isn’t as easy as it used to be. Now that Highway 19 is closed from Humboldt to Madison, we have to go a different route, which adds a solid 15 minutes. I know I shouldn’t complain but it was exactly 30 minutes from our house to Mom and Dad’s house. I got spoiled. The added time and mileage adds up after awhile. But it’ll be worth it to see Ivan and Brego enjoy some time in Madison. I might start calling it the “Retreat” just for kicks.

So, we are still here and busy as always. If anyone wants to help with fencing, scraping, painting, fixing roofs, spraying weeds, or simply playing with the herd, let me know. We could use the help!