Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

I couldn't get on yesterday morning. The site wouldn't come up. I had a whole list I was going to post-which including taking a shirt to hubby since he forgot it! And I also had on there to finish my RP, clean and mow field, work, laundry, dishes, firewood, garden and normal animal chores. By the time I got home, I was too beat to talk about my day, so this is a 2 for 1 post.

Yesterday was messed up. I took the bike to take hubby's shirt to him. I get halfway there, look at the bike and notice that the weld hubby did when the exhaust pipe came off is cracked all the way around! So, I turned around, went home and got the truck. Talking to hubby later I found out that it couldn't have come apart w/the way he fixed it. But doing all that meant I lost at least a good 2 hours.

I finally made it to the farm, got everyone fed, then got the ropes all up for my RP! Later in the day, I made some "gates". So I'll be able to use it today. This is going to make my life so much easier and I should finally really be able to work Misty and Licorice the way I want.

I was able to get the field cleaned, the manure spread and the field mowed. I was going to mow the whole thing. Then I really looked at the section I was opening up. The grass was nice and tall w/very few weeds, so I asked myself, why bother? I knocked down some weeds in that section, and that was it. And I changed how I'm mowing. When I move my electric, I'm not mowing the "new" section. The section I'm going to be roping off is getting mowed w/the blade all the way down. And the 3rd section is getting mowed w/the blade all the way up. I'm hoping this will help keep the weeds down and allow for more grazing.

By the time I got done everything it was getting late-and I still had to go to work! I had planned on getting some stuff done, giving Stormy his 2nd feeding, then going to work, then coming back and giving Stormy his 3rd feeding while I finished everything up. Instead to try and save some time, I just stayed at the farm, then went to work. This is where losing those 2 hours really made a difference. By the time I got done, it was almost 6:00. By the time I got home, I was too beat to do much. And I forgot to put housework on the list. I never got to my bathroom last week and it really needed to be done. I was able to get that done, but never got to the dishes, the garden nor the firewood. So this morning, I'm starting w/the dishes. I still have laundry that needs to be washed and hung out, but I can wait until tomorrow for that. I still have a load to put away, but since it's sheets, it won't take long. So I'm planning on doing that and dishes B4 I leave. I need to get busy. So my list for today is:

1. Laundry
2. Dishes
3. Normal animal chores-home and farm
4. Work w/horses
5. Work in chicken area
6. Housework
7. Yard/garden/orchard
8. Firewood

Phew! Busy busy busy!

I do at times take a break, like today. Today was a fairly good day. I got most of my flower garden weeded B4 it got too sunny. Then I came in and relaxed, took a nap, ate, played on my computer, etc. Then I went to church to see about cutting down that tree. I get started and see another car drive up, it was the minister, RA. I was glad to see him since I really didn't like cutting that tree w/no one around. So he stands watch while I cut it. Get it all cut and the tree gets caught up on another tree! There was just no way I could get it down, nor did I have anything w/me to pull it out with. So I asked RA how long he was going to be there. I figured I could run to the farm, feed Stormy, put out hay, take care of the chickens, then grab a chain and go back.

Get back, and w/RA's help, get the chain on the tree, then attach it to my hitch and pull. I'm able to get the tree out. So I start cutting it up and get my chainsaw stuck! Both RA and I pushed on the section it was caught in, and had no luck. So, I got the chain, hooked it onto that section and pulled the truck up. RA got my chainsaw out. Then the neighbors saw what we were doing and offered to come over w/his chainsaw! His chainsaw was much more powerful than my electric one and he made short work of it!

While he was cutting up the tree, RA's wife, LA showed up w/his chainsaw. He didn't bother to take it out. Instead, the 3 of us worked on getting the wood in my truck and get the branches that were too small for firewood and piled them up. Then I headed home. I'm almost home and see some wood by the side of the road. I turn around, (in my street) and notice the property owner sitting in his yard. So, I roll down my window and ask if someone was coming for it. He told me I could have it. So w/his help, I got that loaded as well. There's still a few big pieces left that I had no room for. But since the guy is just down the street and has a riding mower, if no one grabs the wood overnight, he plans on driving it down to me. So, I got cherry and mulberry at church, and sassafras from a neighbor. This gives me a whole pickup load of wood. I know a few places w/wood by the side of the road that I'll be collecting as well. So, I'm getting ready for late winter fires now.

I didn't unload the truck, that can wait until Monday. I also need to finish unloading my trailer. That can also wait until Monday.

Phew lots of work today! Tree trimming can be exhausting!

That it can be. There's still a bit more wood out there, but I can get that by myself, probably w/my battery operated chainsaw. I'll be doing that another day.

We might get some T storms on Monday, so I'll probably unload the wood today. If it's bad out on Monday, I'll need to use the truck and don't want to drive all over w/it full of wood.

There's no church this evening. I'm not planning on telling hubby, then I'll go to the farm at the time I normally go on Sunday afternoon and do some work. I've started my 2nd chicken house. I need to get that done. I get that done, I'll be selling my original chicken house. It's just too tall for my area. I already have a buyer lined up. They're also taking a young rooster and 4 young hens! Since it's someone I know, I'm giving them a good deal. The rooster is one that I kind of hated to get rid of but have no room for. And 2 of the hens are ones that I hated to get rid of because of their coloring, but just can't keep all the hens I like.

It's a good thing I unloaded the wood out of my truck and the hay out of my horse trailer yesterday. It's raining! So, I'm not 100% sure what all I'm doing. I was supposed to work, but you can't mow horse pastures in this type of weather. And today was the only day I had that I could work. I'm not going to be able to clean my field because I haven't been able to get a new tire for my cart. They don't have them in my TSC and I haven't had a chance to go to one where I know they have them. It's just too wet to use the manure spreader-nothing will spread.

That being said, there is one thing that I know has to be done at the farm, I just don't know if I'm going to have to help w/it or what. RU and CU were away. In 1915, her great grandmother was killed in the Eastland Disaster. http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/history/what-happened This past weekend was the 100th year anniversary, so they went for that. KN calls me yesterday because there's a broken water pipe in their locked garage! RU had lost her phone, and KN didn't realize that she had gotten a new one, so she called me hoping I had a number she could reach them. Well, KN had to go in the basement and shut off the water. That's the only water on the farm. My horses were OK since I had just filled my tank the other day and she filled the tank for her horse and CL's. The chickens were OK. She let the other horses on the farm into the one field because there's a pond. So, RU and CU came home early. They were expecting to get home around 4:00 am. Depending on what's broken, I may have to help fix it. We don't know if it's an underground pipe or what since I didn't think they had water in the garage.

So, between the busted pipe and the T storms, I'm not sure what I'll be doing. I can't go to work. I can't clean my field. I can't work w/horses-they could slip. I can't work in the yard, garden or orchard. I can't do firewood. I have to do laundry, but it will go in the dryer. So that leaves housework, cleaning my tack shed and working on my chicken house inside of my hay shelter.

Geeze - hope you can get something accomplished. Maybe it's a good day to nap, lol!

I've had a hot, busy week! Didn't realize I hadn't posted since Monday! And I have a lot to catch up on here. So here's brief rundown of what I've been doing this week.

Monday. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting at the farm. So I was able to get my field clean. I also trimmed all along my fence line. My electric wasn't working. There's a ton of stuff growing along the fence line and some of it was touching the fence, so I got it all clear-for now. I also redid the electric that I use to keep the horses in the parking area. At home, I did some dishes and laundry.

Tuesday. It was hot out. I went to Bible study in the morning, then headed over to the hay auction. I was able to get 38 bales. And, I'm not going to need as many bales this year. W/all the work I've been doing to my field, the horses are basically ignoring the hay I've been putting out. I'm using less than 2 bales a week! I loaded some of the hay into my truck and took it to the farm. It went in the hay shelter at the farm. After I got done everything at the farm, I went back and got the rest of the hay. It went in the hay shelter at home. I also got some laundry, dishes and housework done.

Wednesday. Another hot day. I helped at the Nature Center w/a kids program. There's 2 that they do that I normally help with, a stream walk-which is really nice on a hot day, and canoeing. After I was done there, I headed to the farm. Since the forecast I had seen was calling for rain on Friday, I went to work. I was able to do some mowing, but not all that needed to be done. The belt still wouldn't stay on the one mower. That mower does a better job of keeping the fields mowed. So I used the other one to get the worst of the really tall and/or thick stuff cut. They think they've gotten the mower fixed now. I also did some dishes and laundry.

Thursday. Another hot day. That was the day we took the kids kaynoeing. For the most part, they did fine. And, it's the easiest I've ever paddled down the lake. I had the wind at my back, so it was pushing me along. Basically, all I had to do for much of the time was stick my paddle in the lake to steer. When I was done there, I went back to the farm, got my field cleaned and mowed, then headed home. I got some dishes done and cleaned my bathroom, then went out for 1/2 priced banana splits. I didn't leave as early as I'd planned because we had T storms roll thru. I wanted to go to the TSC over that way since, according to the internet, they had the tire I needed. Well, they didn't have it-at least not what I went in for. I had expected to get the whole thing, rim, inner tube and tire for $12.99. What I ended up getting was the tube and the tire-for $17.99. But, at least they had it. I just need to put them on the tire now.

Friday. Another hot day. I had planned on doing a lot on my next chicken house. Instead, I spent 2 hours on my manure spreader. I didn't realize it when I was spreading my manure on Monday, but I had run over the baling twine from a RB. And, it got all tangled up on the wheel and even into the manure spreader itself! So, I had to basically take the spreader apart to get it all off. And, it was hard going. But I was finally able to get er done and put back together. Then I worked for a bit on my chicken house. Got home, and I was beat, so I did nothing.

Today. I decided that I wasn't waiting for hubby to decide what he wanted to do. So I went out and started working in my flower garden. I got most of it done B4 I was out in the sun, so I went and started in my garden. I did as much of it as was in the shade, then started working in the orchard. I pulled out a lot, and still have a lot to pull out. The goats are happy since I dumped it all in w/them.

Now I'm taking a break. In a bit, I'm going to do some dishes and laundry and find something to eat. If I have time when I get home from the farm, I'll do more in the gardens and orchard.

I'm not overly happy. I found one of my chicks in the parking area-dead. I have an idea as to what happened to her, but no proof. So I'll be doing some work this coming week to make my whole field a bit more secure.

I also found an older chick in w/my momma and her babies. She has a big peck wound on the back of her neck. I was able to pick her up w/no problem. She was really acting out of it. So, I put some blue kote on her, and put her by herself w/some food and water. By the time I left, she was out of the little house eating and drinking. If she's OK tomorrow, I'll be letting her back out.

I got some more of the weeding in my orchard done. I was going to finish the flower garden, but decided to wait until Monday. Then I'll finally plant the flowers I bought-2 months ago! It might rain on Tuesday, so I figure that's a good time to plant them. I'm hoping by the end of next week to have my gardens and orchard basically done. Then, I'll start in earnest on the firewood and the rest of the yard. I'm slowly but surely making progress, even though it doesn't always look like it.

I shouldn't really be on here, but wanted to take a couple of minutes to do a quick update. This is going to be another busy week.

Yesterday I had a volunteer meeting at the Nature Center at 9:00. So that meant I needed to leave pretty early if I was going to be able to give Stormy 3 feedings. And it also meant I was really glad I could take the bike. I went to the farm and fed, then went to the Nature Center for the meeting, then back to the farm. I wasn't sure what all I was going to be able to do since they were calling for more hot weather.

Even though it was in the 90s, there was a good breeze blowing and it wasn't as humid. The flies were really bothering the horses, so I decided I was going to wash them all, then after they dried, I'd put fly spray on them. They were actually shivering when I sprayed them down! But, once dry and w/fly spray on them, they were much more comfortable. I also got the field picked and the manure spread, then headed home.

I had done some housework B4 I left, and was feeling tired, so I sat down and did nothing for awhile. Then hubby came home and started to bug me. I had a bunch of eggs to wash as well as dishes. Plus, I was out of bread. Even though every loaf of bread I've made in my bread machine falls, I decided to make the bread in there and see what happened. It was just too hot to bake bread. So, once I got the eggs and dishes done, I got my bread going.

W/the bread going, I went out and worked in my garden and orchard. I am just so behind in all of that. I got vine crops started inside, took them out, and still haven't gotten them in. But at least where they belong is now all weeded. Whether or not they'll do anything remains to be seen. I didn't plant them last night since there was the possibility of T storms overnight. I figured if we got them, I'd run out early this morning and plant them. We didn't get ay storms overnight, but we might get some rain this morning. Thunder woke me up, but the storms may miss us. We often have the storms go around us.

I have my appointments today, and an ice cream run tonight. So I'm going to be busy today. I have clothes in the washer, I need to do some housework. I need to run some errands between and after my appointments, then I have to go back to the farm to feed Stormy. That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to be home early enough for my ice cream run. I think I'm going to be tired.