Surviving

We've been busy at the Sanctuary but it doesn't seem like there's much to report. Just the same old same old drudgery that happens during the winter months. Throw hay, put in round bales, fight hay nets, grain hard keepers, haul water, haul more water, and haul even more water.


We had a super cold snap this weekend but everyone seemed to have come out of it just fine. We were actually out of town overnight during the super cold night. I would have preferred to be home but alas, that wasn't the case.  No one seemed the worse for wear.


The mares and Junior are definitely drinking water. I let it run down because there was so much going on that I didn't have time to haul water every night. I won't let that happen again. I hauled 16 buckets of water to the tank. I don't fill the buckets completely full because I can't carry 5 gallon pails of water without spilling water all over me and thus freezing in to my coveralls. So I'm sure it was more like 4.5 gallons or so. But the tank was pretty darn empty by the time I finally got to filling it. Luckily the tank is just around the corner instead of way the heck back in the back 40 like it used to be. So prefer keeping the horses closer to the barn. Life is so much easier.


We put in round bales last night. Of course, I'm out after dark putting on hay nets. There's usually curse words but oh well. I guess that's just the nature of the beast until I can come up with a better plan for keeping the hay nets on (and Mike gets better about putting the round bales in the feeders).


Rabbit is lame again. She's as lame as before so I have no idea what's going on. I wasn't able to grain her to give her the meds she needs but I'm trying to keep up with it as best I can. I think the meds are helping but I don't think it's the ultimate fix. I did give her a massage the other night and she seemed to really relax and enjoy it. Now with the colder weather, I'm sure she's hurting once again.


I've been a little bit under the weather the last few weeks so I'm dragging as of late. Too much to do and so little time to try and get everything accomplished. The longer nights and short days don't really help matters. Of course, not getting any sleep doesn't help  matters. Last night I was able to get four hours of sleep. Yay me. Except that it wasn't four hours continuous. Yup, the amount of sleep I got was the amount some people get during a nap. I guess that's just the nature of the beast (what with having an infant in the house). But the joys of seeing every hour of the day is getting old quickly.


There's a lot I'd like to do but my energy level for the Sanctuary is pretty minimal at the moment. I'm still trying to adjust to a baby in the house, working full time (and being away from home for 11 hours a day), and still making sure that everyone is happy and healthy at the Sanctuary during the long months of winter. I was hoping to do some fun stuff to get people interested in the Sanctuary but that's going to fall through the cracks like I had feared.


The weather is supposed to be better later this week so I'm hoping that I can do a little bit of cleaning and organizing while I'm out waiting for the hard keepers to finish eating. I need to get organized this year. The place is mass chaos at the moment and as much as I thrive on it some times, I'm not right at the moment.


So I'll keep plugging along and hoping for the best until winter subsides and life gets easier again. If I don't post much, we are here, just trying to survive.