Rain, Rain, Go Away

As my husband would say "I'm in a mood" and I guess I have been for awhile. The paying job is working me over but the rush jobs and poor planning should be over this coming week. Then I can hopefully put my focus towards the Sanctuary. But we'll see. I finally had to get nasty about finishing up some of our remodel projects before Christmas. So my attention has been elsewhere for quite some time. (The first remodel job started in March and the second in June and neither are done so you can maybe feel my pain).

But enough of my nagging. On to better things....the horses!!!!

So I have the mares and Junior in the pasture near the barn to make life easier for me to haul water (and it's much better protection from the weather). Speaking of weather, we have a nasty storm rolling in right now. It's been raining all afternoon and not just a little drizzle either. When I went out to do chores around 4pm (because I insisted that I would do chores in the LIGHT during the weekend), it downpoured. I'm not sure if my coat will be dried out by tomorrow morning or not.

I would feel better with stalling horses but no one seemed all that worked up. So instead, I opted to throw blankets on the delicate flowers and go with the flow (and hope that they dont' rip them to shreds before real winter sets in). But my thinking is that if we get a ton of rain, the horses will get wet, and then they will get chilled. Chilled horses = bad. So, I opted to get drenched and blanket horses. Some were ok with it while others gave me the stink eye.

I think there's something wrong with Junior's eyesight. He is more flighty now than he ever was. I knew he was touchy about his back end but now, any time I haul a hose near him or do anything fast, he gets upset. So I'm wondering if he's starting to lose his eyesight. He's 28 so I expect a few more ailments coming his way. But it's hard to take knowing that he's uncomfortable. He wasn't too thrilled with the blanket but Rabbit seemed rather pleased. She really is a dear. She simply doens't feel good with all the muscle pain. I need to find someone who will do massage for free.

Chaos

I was digging around in the ol' archive and came up with a few good pictures. All my recent pictures are on my phone and I can't get them off because I cant' find the cord to download them. The other set of pictures are on a flash drive that went awol. Yes, this place is a madhouse. I had such high hopes that this year I would be more organized. I should know better.

But the reason I was looking through old pictures is that Gentle Spirits Horse Rescue and Borderlands Horse Sanctuary are having a fundraiser at our local Tractor Supply Company and Horse & Hound. We'll have a Wish Tree with a list of all our needs, along with pictures of all our residents.

Gentle Spirits is doing all the work (thank you!!) and all I had to do was look through pictures. There's so many good ones but so little time to pick them out when you have a one year old vying for your time. But stop on over to TSC or Horse & Hound if you are local and check it out. I'm not exactly sure when the trees go up but check it out!

I'll post our wish list soon.

Dude

As always, I'm terrible at planning. I signed up to participate in the vendor area of the Hartford Christmas this Sunday. I figured having a booth might help promote the Sanctuary and get our name out there. I have so many ideas and so little time but I thought this might be one way to get out there. We'll see if it was worth my time and money. I'll have items up for sale and it would be nice to get them sold so that there's less stuff in the house (as Mike points out there's too much stuff).

So stop on our to Hartford, SD around noon. I'll be there promoting the Sanctuary!!

Chaos  (pics are all from last fall -- 2015)

I know there's more but I'm drawing a blank. The paying job is cracking down on certain websites and I'm afraid blogger is one of them. So my posts my be few and far between until I can train myself to sit down and write posts at night. We'll see how it goes. There's so much that needs to be done but when you're snuggling with kids, it's really hard to give that up and do research and just try and ways to promote the Sanctuary and make ends meet.

Hopefully by this coming weekend, I'll be at least a little at wits ends and can really start tackling some projects. But we'll see. I'm sure I'll be in panic mode by Wednesday. And if the weather continues down the path that it is...rain turning to snow, I'm going to really freak out!

Caption This

It's been awhile since I last posted. The paying job is going to make blogging a bit more tricky so the posts may be a bit more sporadic until I can dedicate more face time with the computer.

But in the meantime, I found these goodies in the ol' archive and figured I'd share. Can you caption this sequence of events between Brego (on the left) and Ivan (on the right)?

Water

So, after posting one to two days after about being in blizzard alley, we get our first snow storm. Not only that, but it was bad enough that they called off my work (and usually hell has to freeze over before that happens). There was enough wind that it was hard to know exactly how much snow we actually got. At one point, I was hauling water with two five gallon pales and the snow was dragging on the bales (a curse of being short).


I knew we were to get snow but I wasn't expecting the cold to come barreling down on us as well. I didn't get a heater on the big water tank until Saturday and the ponies don't have a tank heater because the outlet burned up where I need to plug it in. So it looks like I'll be spending all winter hauling and smashing ice multiple times a day.


On the bright side, my lack of time did save my butt. I never turned off the heater on the automatic waterer so it never did freeze over. Unfortunately, the insulation somehow shifted this summer and dropped down on the part that makes it automatic so it was overflowing. Mike couldn't get the lid popped off but was able to wiggle the insulation out. Unfortunately, there's no insulation now in the automatic waterer so we are headed for disaster if he doesnt' get off his lazy butt. I expect impending doom on the automatic waterer later this week (because I dont' foresee Mike doing anything this week...why... I have no. idea....can you tell I'm grumpy).


Nothing too exciting going on otherwise. I was hoping the temps would warm up a bit so I could pull blankets off Bo and Rain. I put blankets on those two because Rain can't handle any little bit of cold (he still doesn't have a winter coat and wont' get one) and Bo needs to pack on a few more pounds before I am satisfied. I dont' foresee him packing on the pounds very well now that winter is here.


But we have different hay and they are powering through it. It's got a hint of alfalfa in it so the horses are powering through it. We  need to put in bales tonight before the next storm rolls through. I guess the next storm is mostly freezing drizzle, so no six inches of snow to contend with at the least.


I had planned on going in to buy grain on Saturday but the kiddos were sick so figured we'd stay home. But we did run in to TSC to pick up some grain. I haven't quite figured out how long grain will last. I'm only graining three but as winter progresses, I'll have to start graining others (Jim, Rain, Brego, Zeke).


I need to have the farrier out to trim up Rabbit and Dude. Unfortunately, our farrier wants to retire so I'm in search of a new farrier. I'm struggling to find one.


There's a lot to do lately but I'm stressed and with stress, I sleep. I wish I had insomnia instead. Then I could get more done. The holidays will be here and the house is a disaster. To the point where I can't feel comfortable any  more and it's wearing on my nerves. So hopefully I'll still be around to post a few ramblings but if not, it's because I'm too cranky and dont' want to ruin the upcoming holidays for anyone. It's all very little and minuet but still very irritating. People dont' realize that their actions really do irritate me. Don't treat my ideas like they are stupid and don't ignore me. It's not a hard concept.

Blizzard Alley

This post made me laugh. Apparently we are in "Blizzard Alley"... average 1-2 blizzards a year (41 to 74 from 1959 - 2000).


https://weather.com/safety/winter/news/blizzard-alley-info


Here's a few experts that caught my eye (and made me laugh)


The annual probability of a blizzard exceeded 50 percent through all of North Dakota and Minnesota, as well as most of South Dakota, western Nebraska, northwestern Iowa and northeastern Colorado.  This includes the cities of Minneapolis, Duluth, Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Fargo and Grand Forks.

One reason is the terrain of generally flat land, along with some hills and streams. The lack of trees also makes a difference in that trees provide friction that can help to lessen the wind. The combination of the land and the lack of trees allows strong, cold winds to blow southward from Canada across the northern Plains.

Also, this area is frequented by strong low-pressure systems intensifying to the east of the Rocky Mountains, tapping cold, Arctic air behind them. This means significant snow events in this area are often accompanied by strong winds, sometimes exceeding blizzard criteria.

Maybe that's why I get freaked out over winter. So many blizzards. Wonder what they would say about those storms that were never marked as blizzards but came darn close!?

Winter will Be Here Friday

We are going to be in a Winter Storm Watch starting Friday. Winter will be here. A Blizzard Watch to the north of us. The weatherman isn't sure if the pattern will change. So, winter begins Friday


I may post more later but I wasn't expecting a blizzard to the north of us. I should know better. Still lots to get done before the first snowflake appears. At least we have half of our hay. But I keep tossing around the idea that we should pick up a Lantry mustang. But that means the waiting list to get into the Sanctuary will have to be on hold. It's not our focus to take in a younger horse but the alternative. But then there's the time and funds, which I have neither. So I don't know. I guess we'll just see how it all plays out.




but until then, I'll be running around trying to get things tucked away. I came home last night to hoses hanging from all sort of odd places. Hoses were hanging like Christmas lights. Some days the help I do get is a lot more work than it really needs to be.




but I'm grumbly this morning so I won't go any further.




I just wanted to say, winter will be here in two days. eek!

Getting Stuff Done

I was feeling rather confident this weekend and even up to this morning. And then reality hit me in the face and I'm feeling overwhelmed again. One step forward, two steps back. I just have to remember, it'll all get done (or it won't) and in the long run, it doesn't really matter...well...sorta. It does matter when there's no shingles on a roof and the barn roof is leaking I noticed this weekend that the hay barn is missing shingles. I knew it leaked but now it's going to leak even more. I have a third of the materials to do one side of the roof. I am not sure if I can get up there or not but I guess I have to. It's simply a matter of time. I'll need the tractor and a good solid few hours to put the ondura sheeting on to cover the hole. I guess I'm going to be pushing for that project as well. It never ends.


But I'll get there. Slow and steady.


With the long holiday, I spent Veteran's Day celebrating with my family, relaxing and enjoying the nice weather. It was nice to get away from the stresses (even if they were still bouncing around in my head).


Saturday Mike worked on the flatbed trailer. He put a whole new floor in it. Now if I could just figure out how to convince him to put a new floor in the horse trailer. It'll need to be done soon. I wish we could have had more time before the weather turns bad to tackle one last outside project (ok two).


Sunday we hauled hay. My hay guy is my uncle and he's also a farmer so I can't get irritated with him by not having my entire load of hay delivered. We used to do big squares and those had to be out of the field immediately. Switching to rounds has been a game changer for me. Not all the hay is delivered at the same time (logic of my uncle's) but it makes it tricky to get it to the Sanctuary.


We'd been doing the onsy, twosy trips up to pick up a couple of bales but I NEEDED to get a full load brought down before the first snow flies. I don't want to try to maneuver around our yard with a trailer and tractor when there's snow (and mud).


So we were able to finagle two loads of hay. But it meant going up and getting it ourselves. No problem! Luckily my uncle had the first load loaded up on the flatbed and we used his truck and trailer. His trailer holds 11 and our trailer holds 3. Big difference. But it takes a half an hour to drive up and another half an hour to drive back home. Do that three times and you've got a solid three hours just in drive time (but imagine going a little slower because you're hauling hay AND borrowing someone else's equipment). Then there's unloading, which for us takes awhile. It probably took us a solid 45 minutes or so to unload the 11 bales, where it takes my uncle maybe 10. I won't complain. I'm happy to have a tractor with a loader rather than just the old chevy, using the pull and drag method.


I'd made arrangements earlier in the day to have my farrier come out and do a quick trim on King and Tommy. I need to find a different farrier who can work with Rabbit. She needs to be trimmed every four weeks (my farrier is looking to retire). So we squeezed in two quick trims and two loads of hay.


It felt good to have half of our winter hay sitting in the yard. Now to get it all paid for.


I still need to send out thank you notes and receipts for the fundraisers from last month. I'm so far behind. I'm hoping that I can tackle those projects this week. I'm tired of being behind on everything. Who needs to sleep right? I am hoping the stress from the paying job is about over (at least for this big push on a project). So instead of having to work 3-4 hours every night on the paying job projects, I can work 2-3 hours on Sanctuary and household projects. The garage is still full of stuff from my sister's house (from when she moved last month) and it all needs to get in to the house before it snows. I do not want to scrape my car every morning and push off snow. So there's yet more tasks that have to be done before Friday morning. A bit of a challenge to clear out the garage to get cars in. Wherever there's a flat surface, junk piles up. I also need to move the ponies to their winter pen. It'll mean hauling water a shorter distance and not having to wander in the dark as far. I'm hoping to cut my chores down in the morning to a minimum. I'll get there. Just a matter of time...although I'm limited on that and the threat of snow is causing me some stress.


I am ready to go back on vacation. Who's with me?

Holding On

Here I thought I was going to be really good and post almost every day in November and I haven't. From the three to four weeks of tooth aches (and finally getting a root canal) to my computer at my paying job crashing and deleting ALL of my high-priority deadline documents, I've been a bit MIA.


It's silly I know to let this type of stuff get to me but it has, so I haven't really posted much. There's so much I want to do and that needs to be done but I'm burned out. Once a few more projects get off my list, I know I'll feel better but there's just some stuff bouncing around in my head that I can't seem to get out. And with all that bouncing around, I tend to stress eat and stress sleep. And when I mention it, people always say...eat healthy. Umm.. stress eating. How am I supposed to eat healthy?!!?  :-)


I guess I'm simply riding my pity train again (wonder if I could get frequent flier/travel miles?)


I'm so far behind in thanking everyone that helped out in last month's fundraisers. So much to do and so little time...well, really there is time now but by the time I get the kids to bed (and they are going to bed early, I'm wiped out too).


I've got all kinds of ideas but I can't get to them for one reason or another so we are missing out. And because I am silent, people don't know about us. The other problem is, if I finally put ourselves out there, the horse people will discover us and want to "retire" their horses but I can't take on any more. If I say no, that's a black eye for me. If I say yes, I'll be an irresponsible sanctuary manager and will be in trouble quickly. It's a lose-lose situation (sorry, totally negative nelly here).


I know I'll get out of this funk soon enough. Others have it much worse. The neighbor to the south of us had a house fire and they lost everything in the house. I'm glad I missed it but Mike saw the flames, smoke, and fire trucks. It's still too fresh in my mind to get over a fire. Ours wasn't a house but it still has a lasting affect on me. I feel terrible for our neighbors. Good people.


The weatherman is talking a storm next week...most likely at the end of the week. It's a total flash back to last year. On my second day back to the paying job after being on maternity leave, it snowed....bad. And I almost got hit by a truck. And it wouldn't have been a fender-bender kind of crash, it would have been a life threatening crash because I would have slid through the intersection and been t-boned on the driver's side by a Ford F350. So I thank the gods above for keeping a watchful eye on me that day (and other days that I'm too oblivious to notice). But it's a little bit spooky for me.


I also bought a tractor. Started making payments on it, but it'll help with keeping the place look less like a junkyard. And for those that say, oh she's super lucky, or how do they get all the great finds....I don't. The Sanctuary isn't pay for it, neither is the Sanctuary paying for the big tractor that we use specifically FOR the sanctuary. We searched, we scored, and we finagled into getting those tractors. We were patient and we had to bide our time. AND, we are paying for it out of our OWN pockets and donating the equipment to the Sanctuary. And neither are new. If I could figure out how to get around to finding a grant to finish paying off the tractors, that would be fantastic. But until then, don't say anything to me that would sound anything but sincere because I'm paying for it by myself....see, getting totally crabby now. :-)


I know from the outside looking in, everything is just peachy. But there's a lot people don't see and I won't post on this blog because it's a bit personal. So, if I get a little snippy or cranky, or downright crabby, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to figure out how to cope with all that's going on....stuff I've mentioned and stuff I haven't.


So if I don't  post again for awhile, we are around. I'm just trying to stay afloat. If you've emailed or left messages, I'll get there. I'm just trying to stay above water. After being taken down a few pegs on my ladder this summer, I'm just trying to hold on.

Working Weekend

Not really much to report. Last night the kids and I played outside, enjoying the warm weather. How can it be 70 degrees and the first of November? I will enjoy it for as long as it lasts. We are supposed to have warm weather today and tomorrow (70s!) So I'm going to take advantage of the crazy warm temperatures and try to get a few more outside projects accomplished.


We'd started waterproofing blankets but Mike thought using a weed sprayer would go faster. It made the job go faster but I don't think the blankets actually got waterproofed. I may just take out the ol' paint brush and go like crazy to get what I can done before the gallon of waterproofing runs out. I've been lacks on doing the Wishlist Wednesdays. I guess I should have wished for waterproofing!


I also want to try and squeeze in a little bit of painting on the little garden house. It's not directly used for the Sanctuary  but it IS the first building you see when driving up. I'd rather not have our entire place look like a poophole. So we'll see. I should have maybe asked for a gallon of exterior white paint while I was at it for the Wishlist Wednesday. I have neither paint nor waterproofing so we'll see if I have enough time in the morning to grab the materials I need.


We are also getting one step closer to finishing up more of the two remodels in the house. We are so close I can almost taste it. In fact, once the remodels are done in the house, I'll have more space and feel more relaxed. There's simply been so much to do and we are never home that nothing gets done.


Here's to a productive weekend. Daylight savings time may help some but with kids, it won't help us. But I'll take what I can get. Beggars can't be choosers.


Anyone want to come and help? We'll probably lose Sunday to family stuff but if we can spend even just a few hours Saturday afternoon getting things done, I'll feel better.

Turning a Blind Eye

I don’t remember when the news broke about the horses west river. I hate to admit it, but I turned a blind eye. I know others were more informed of the situation. I had faith that the situation wouldn’t be nearly as bad as it is. I can come up with any number of excuses on why I turned a blind eye.

I’ve had no involvement and just know what I’ve read, which is very limited. There is only so much that one person can manage and what was happening out west wasn’t one of them (too many personal goings-on to focus my attention). Now I wish I had paid more attention. The minute life slowed down long enough for me to think about the situation and read a little about it, there’s so much that I and we as a community could have done.

Standing from the sidelines, I’m seeing things unfold that aren’t right but there’s nothing I can do. I turned a blind eye and now it’s too late.

I was asked a couple of weeks ago if we were going to take in any of the horses. No. I am struggling to get the funds to pay for this year’s hay. I don’t have enough funds for another mouth, let alone make the trip and purchase a horse that will have significant medical issues to focus on. It hurts to turn a blind eye. We aren’t set up for wild horses. They aren’t really wild but not handled. But I’m not set up for that type of situation either. I have two small kids and very little time to even manage the horses that we do have now. How could I possibly bring in a horse that will need all of my attention? When we took in Chaos, he was an unhandled yearling. But I had the time back then to work with him, mess with him, get him used to being handled and to turn him into an awesome gelding.

So I turned a blind eye. I gave myself every excuse in the book to turn a blind eye. I feel like my hands are tied and yet I know the inevitable. Hundreds of horses will ship to slaughter and people are fine with it. I am not fine with it. Yet, I turned a blind eye for too long so what can I do? I have ideas but it’s too late.  And even if it wasn’t too late, I don’t have the funds. I’d need to work with a bunch of people to get a few of my possible ideas for helping up off the ground. I don’t know.

I hate that I turned a blind eye. I hate that my hands are tied. I hate that hundreds will die. I stand at auctions and see less than 100 horses and I struggle knowing that most of them will not see the next year. I can’t imagine looking at hundreds of horses and know that they will not see the next year. How can someone sign the death certificate for so many? This is not a game. We do not have the right to say who lives and dies and yet we do. Some people should not have that power. I am in charge of 14 sanctuary horses and I consider their health and life quality every day. And it weighs heavily on me, like it does for anyone who runs a horse rescue, or even owns an animal.  It is not a responsibility that should be taken lightly. They look to you for guidance, protection, shelter, etc.

So, how can I turn a blind eye knowing that hundreds will die? Yet, my hands are tied.

There is too many disjointed thoughts to really make a decent post. I just know that the magnitude of the situation is huge and yet I feel helpless. I feel as though I am standing at the edge of an abyss and if I were to take another step, I would fall in. How can I sleep at night knowing that I SHOULD do something and I COULD do something if I could figure something, anything out? How can I sleep at night knowing hundreds will die? If not this situation, there are others. Others standing in the slaughter pipeline waiting for their turn to leave this earth. I want to do something but instead I stand in front of the abyss turning a blind eye.

October in a Nutshell

Pphhheew, now that October is in the rear view mirror, I can maybe put my feet up for more than 30 seconds and get a few things done around the place. I love October but it seemed to have slipped away before I could enjoy the time.

I’ve been absent from much of Facebook and this blog because I’ve been a bit wrapped up in outside activities that don’t really relate to the Sanctuary, but take my time away from it.

So, lets see if I can do a month in review just to give you a taste of the chaos that has been my life. Some will be TMI (most of it really) and probably not appropriate for this blog but…it’s my blog and I’ll do what I like. Tehehe

October rolled in with planning for fundraisers and praying for decent weather. October 2^nd, a very good friend hosted a Halloween Fundraiser Party and we raised $500, which is all going towards our Winter Hay Fund.

The following weekend was our annual playday (didn’t have it last year because I was on maternity leave and couldn’t get my brain in gear). After paying for arena rent, we made $400. We also received additional donations so all proceeds are going to the Winter Hay Fund. We are sitting near $1200 towards our $3500 winter hay bill. I’ve been picking up last year’s hay for now until we can get a load of hay delivered. My hope is that buying last year’s hay will help cut costs until the cold really sets in and we’ll need this year’s hay. But we are still struggling with getting any hay delivered.

The second weekend in October also saw me helping my sister pack and move to her apartment. It’s been a long time coming and everyone is happy to see her out of the house she’s been in. It’s the house she and her now ex-husband built a few years back and there’s nothing but bad memories in that house. Moving has been a five year process to get out of the house thanks to mortgage companies and other such oddities. But that’s all TMI. But it did mean that you can accumulate a lot of stuff in five years. So I spent lots of time packing and hustling to get what I could, done.

The third weekend in October was my birthday. I asked for one hour to myself so that I could prime the little garden house. I’d taken a day off earlier in the week to scrape the little building. But I only scraped three of the four sides. I left the side no one ever sees, knowing that I might not get enough time. I did discover that the top of the wind mill fell directly between the little garden house and the hay barn. When we moved in, we had a working windmill but that promptly stopped with the first wind. When the tornado blew through a few years ago, it took the top off. I never really bothered looking for it. And I discovered that it had fallen almost directly down and avoided both buildings. It’s a four foot span between the hay barn and the garden house so someone up above was watching over us. The top of that windmill could have easily come through the roof of either building, destroying it, costing us a ton to repair the building.

So on that Saturday, I was able to squeeze in two hours of priming and Mike scrubbed off the dirt on the blankets and lightly waterproofed the blankets. I wanted to use a brush and really coat them but he suggested a sprayer, which didn’t really give them a decent waterproofing, so we’ll see. We are looking at putting a second “coat” on but I’m betting it won’t really do the job like I want. But for now, it’ll have to do. Beggers can’t be choosers. I was able to spend two hours priming the little garden house but didn’t get everything done. My fear was that I wouldn’t’ get it painted and it’s the first building you see when driving up the driveway. We also made a quick trip up to Madison to pickup a load of hay. Our little flat bed can hold three big round bales. We need to buy a bigger trailer but for now, the little flatbed will have to suffice.

That following Sunday I was back at my sister’s packing and moving as much stuff as I could in the little bit of time I had. I was in go mode the entire time.

The fourth weekend, I finally got to do something fun for me! I’m the chair of the Minnehaha County Saddle Club and I had YET to be on a trail ride all summer so I went on the final ride of the year. I had planned, communicated, and posted all the information for each of our rides but hadn’t gotten to ride all year. I took Chaos because Maverick wouldn’t let me catch him. I spent over an hour pulling cockleburs from his tail. I chopped part of his mane and forelock. We are overrun with cockleburs.  I can’t remember what I did that Sunday, but I think I was able to finally get the little garden house finished, well primed anyway. I had to dig to find enough primer. Three sides and it took up 1.5 gallons of primer. That was some super dry wood. I had scraped it but you could hardly tell. I’m glad it’s primed and it makes me happy to see it, even if it’s primed and not painted. We are finally getting somewhere. I am the sole maintainer of outbuildings and it stresses me out. I hate being the only one to take care of everything. But that’s for a different grumbling post.

This past weekend I spent the entire weekend packing and moving my sister. She is officially OUT of that house and the final remnants of her terrible ex-husband are gone. She is free of the past and now moving forward, as we all can do. The past six years have been trying at best when it comes to that part of our family. I’ve tried to leave it out of this blog but it is a part of my life and my family is first and foremost. But now that she is in her OWN place, we can move forward and take a breath of fresh air.

I do need to do a bit of planning for a couple of fundraiser ideas but I’ve been so exhausted. Because in between all the building maintenance, packing, and moving, the paying job has decided to throw a wrench into everything. There’s been a lot of pressure since mid-June and I’ve been forced to prove myself time and time again and it’s rather exhausting. The past two weeks have been even more trying than normal. High priorities with little turn around time and then my sole work computer crashed….big and bad. As in, I lost everything. So the 20+ hours I’d spent on the high-priority that had to be done in 36 hours was GONE. And then I was left with no computer for three days. It’s been a struggle. So I’ve been a bit MIA from being online.

Not to mention there’s still the house fiasco I’ve been living in. That’ll teach me to try and remodel a room in the house. Ok, it’s two rooms but it’s been made abundantly clear that I am on my own for getting any remodel stuff done. But from the paying job stressing me out, making me spend extra time doing unimportant work, to caring for 16 horses and trying to fix buildings, and keep up with everyone, and taking care of two kids and all their holiday stuff, there’s very little time, if any to actually work on the house. So living in chaos hasn’t’ really helped the stress level. I know, I’m riding my pity train at the moment. I’ll be better in a day or two when I’m away from some of the stressors. I need to figure out how to remove more stressors. I’ve been doing that lately and it seems to be helping.

I’ve also been turning a blind eye to what’s been happening out west. I did start thinking about it the other day and it makes me angry and helpless. So I’m not really sure what to do. My hands are tied as it is. We are so small and I’m the only one doing everything with the Sanctuary. I want to do more, I want to do something that will make a difference (unlike my paying job but it pays the bills), I want to make people as passionate about the same causes as I am but I don’t know how. I want to work with others but no one wants to play nice with me. Share and share alike but no one seems to want to do it so we are all fighting the same fight but getting no where. I don’t know. I’m frustrated, so I’ll leave those comments for a different post…I’m sure it’ll come soon because I need to get a few things off my chest, not that it’ll make a difference but…I seem to do better with venting.

So, that’s been my life in a nutshell for the past month. Lets hope November is a bit calmer.

 

 

Hello November!

I have all kinds of stuff I want to say but my system keeps crashing. So instead I'll just say that I will return with all that we've done...mostly non-horse related but I still want to share.. I have lots rambling in my head so when the system I am on will stop crashing, I'll post more.