hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

I learned that trick years ago from the person that taught me how to trim goat hooves. He had black pepper handy for just in case.

Hmm, thanks for the tips for the bleeding... black pepper would take some guts to try, but there are a lot of things that work that aren't pleasant. I actually have liquid Trace Mineral Concentrate which works amazingly well but it STINGS like the dickens, which is why I didn't grab for it. I need to mix up a diluted bottle to spray on wounds, it heals things up amazingly well. Love that stuff.

Thanks for the tips about the meals, Britesea. I know most of those things, it is just putting them into practice that is the challenge. We ate out way too much this weekend, but we also did a lot, so I guess it is par for the course. Tonight we're going out again with friends that are in town, and tomorrow I must cook! LOL. I need to think ahead and figure out what I need to thaw to prep something to have in the crock pot. I need fresh greens and some bananas from the store, but that is really about it. I can make do with almost everything else that I have.

The hardest part is that my weekends are packed doing stuff, so I don't have much time to cook, the week days are better, but then I am often running doing errands and appointments and such things. So its a toss up, really. What I really need to get into the habit of is canning things in advance so that I can simply heat and eat and be done with it. I'm just not quite there yet, and cooking is such a laborious mental/physical task for me that trying to plan ahead like that is really difficult when the cooking has to be done every day anyway. I do have the items waiting to make the sausage egg and spinach frozen burritos that I like. They are nice to have around and I haven't had them for a while. Now I just have to get the time together to make them. Hmm, maybe for lunch tomorrow with my friend... Then she can help me put them all together! LOL

New horse arrived on Friday and is slowly settling in. He was much more chill than his owner thought he might be so that is a great thing. She's very relieved, and the mares are conveniently knocking him down a peg or two, so he has been bottom of the line since he arrived. This morning he was allowed to stand 15 feet from the hay feeder, so that is an improvement. I kept him in last night with the mini because the wind has been fierce and without the protection of the shelter or being allowed in the hay feeder regularly it isn't fair to him. He'll probably be in most nights this week since the weather is supposed to be that bad. We're expected to get snow this weekend, of course because it is the weekend of the expo. Like clockwork every year.

As per the norm, I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it in... but what else is new?!

CL got a new horse and he lost weight since the other horses wouldn't let him at the hay feeder. I did pull some out for him one day. But, he's settled in now.

Gah, I thought this thing was supposed to save drafts. I had half a post written catching up and now its gone. I guess I'll have to try to start over...
We lived through the blizzard, we got about 30" total. Thankfully the winds didn't blow near as bad as they were expecting, so we lucked out on the drifting issue.
Friday I worked the expo, which was pathetic. The organizer ended up cancelling after that, which was the smart thing to do but it meant she lost a LOT of money. I feel really bad for her. It started snowing about 3:00, and so I quit working, we shopped for a bit (got a NICE australian duster for the BF for only $100.00!) and then ran by the office before I headed home. We had a few more things to take care of before we could call it a night.
We prepped 2 50 gallon barrels with tank heaters to have water on hand for the horses, I had 18 gallons in big jugs in the house that was clean, plus 13 1 1/2 gallon jugs that wasn't so clean for backup and toilet flushing. We had flashlights, lanterns and oil lamps ready to go, the generator was full of gas and checked and put on the porch, the snow blower was full of gas and ready on the porch. I brought in Scooter and the mini that night, and we refilled the hay feeder with another big bale before turning in. Dishes were washed, laundry was done, and everything was fairly clean pending the chaos that we knew was coming.
Got up on Saturday morning and found over a foot, with it still coming down. I decided to bring the rest of the horses in so that they could be dry and warmer, so we prepped stalls and got everyone tucked in. The BF snow blew some just to reduce some of the load, but we didn't do much at all.
Finally by late in the evening the snow was slacking off. We checked the horses, gave the ones food that needed to be fed a second time, and left everybody in for another 12 hours.
Sunday morning arrived crisp and clear, which is usually how it is the morning following a big storm. I love the way it feels the next day, everything is sparkling and gorgeous and the weather is wonderful.
We set to work trying to get back up and running again. Thank GOD for heavy equipment. I don't know what we would have done without it. We started by getting the horses out again. Shoveled from the barn to the pasture gate (a whole 10 feet, thankfully!) and got the gate open enough to get the horses out. Turned Storm out first so he could go make space for everybody. It was above his knees! Got everybody out of the barn and the BF fired up the bobcat. He started with the parking area, so we had room to work, then dug out the gate into the barn yard. As he was working on that we found out the landlord and the gas line maintenance guy were stuck down the driveway, so he headed down with the bobcat to see if he could help dig them out. He wasn't really in a good position to help, so he headed back up the driveway while the landlord's son, JB, came from the opposite end of the driveway with the big tractor. It took them a while but they got both trucks unstuck. In the meantime the BF had managed to get the bobcat stuck when one side of the tires slipped off the driveway. So the trucks came back up and got him unstuck, and then he went back to work in the barnyard. He cleared through the barnyard, and we hand dug open the gate so that he could push the snow into the pasture to make enough space at the gate to work comfortably. Before he got too far along, I had to un-bury the cord that ran to the tank heater in the paddock where the mini was, and almost died trying to wade through the snow. Well, not really, but it felt like it. He finished with the barn yard, and headed towards the manure pile so that we had somewhere to put all the manure that was going to come out of the barn. I set the mini up in the barnyard with hay and water, and then closed the barn doors so he couldn't wander in. Poor thing couldn't have walked through the snow if he wanted to, so he was sequestered to the barn yard until the snow melts and I can get the gate to his paddock open again.
The BF cleared to the manure pile and I was able to start dumping wheelbarrow loads from the barn. He headed towards the house and the cars to get them freed. I kept mucking stalls... He was able to use the bobcat to clear next to the cars, then in front of his jeep. He cleaned off the jeep, and then rolled it out of there, then cleared in front of my truck and rolled it out of there and then used the bobcat to scrape the whole thing clear. SO much easier!! He finished up really clearing the driveway (including the pile of snow that the gas line guy left when being "helpful" and plowing the driveway but it got too deep, so he just left a big pile of snow in the middle of the driveway), and then pulled the snow blower out. There isn't any easy way to get equipment into the barnyard on the house side of the barn (the barn is sort of two sided), so he went to work with the snow blower. He blew a path down into the barnyard, got the bathroom door and the wash stall door clear (where all the extra water was stored), and then blew a path out to the dog yard, and made a tiny space for the dogs, and then blew a path to DB's pasture. It was a one track path, the snow blower was struggling because the snow was so deep. He couldn't even clear to the dirt because it was deeper than the blower is high. I was still mucking stalls...
We finally finished and were exhausted. All told we worked for about 8 hours in recovery mode. I shudder to think what we would have done if we hadn't had the equipment. I am very very grateful that we can use it.
Monday I decided I wasn't even going to attempt to try to go into the office. I was just exhausted and there was still more work to be done (not as much, but cleaning up in the house, mostly). My office was supposed to open on time, but no one really ended up making it on time, anyway. The BF's work opened at noon, but he found out later that was only so that they didn't have to pay anyone that didn't show up that day, since technically they opened for the day. He was ticked about that since he went to work for the landlord instead (but he got paid well by the landlord, so that's ok, even if he did have to use a vacation day). The landlord had other properties that needed to be cleared, so he picked up the BF that morning, and took him to where the big tractor was already waiting and set him to work. He cleared for 7 hours or so and got a lot done. After he got home we decided to try to run a few errands and he wanted to show me where he had been all day, since I had never managed to take those back roads before. We stopped by and found the other guy still trying to finish things up. He was having trouble running the tractor, so the BF showed him how he had done it, and finished things up. He got a job offer to drive trucks for the guy, he has an event rental company, so we'll see what comes of that.
We've finally recovered, but now the mud is here. The second new horse, Simon arrived last Saturday. It really helped Scooter a lot, he is now settling in much better. The mares aren't being quite so nasty now that there are 2 new boys instead of just one. The herd is separating a little more so they are taking turns in the hay feeder instead of hogging it the whole time. Now if I knew why they wasted half a BIG bale, I'd be a lot better. We had to dump it last night and that did NOT make me happy.
We finally caught up on our grocery shopping, and went to BJ's for several things (including toilet paper, which we almost did run out of in the middle of the storm... of all the things I forgot to stock up on a while ago!). While we were there we found snow shoes! Now I own a pair of snow shoes! The BF got them for me as an early birthday present. I tried them out while there was still a little bit of snow left on Sunday and they work great! They are fun to use, and fairly comfortable to walk in. Its still more work than regular walking, but not as bad as wading through snow!
On Sunday the BF also managed to dig out the arena, so now we'll be able to ride. They have the salt stuff to put into it that will keep it from freezing, but they haven't been able to get it put down. It might happen now that the arena is clear again, if it ever dries enough... just can't win!

WOW - sounds like a marathon event! I might gripe and complain about the mud here...but snow AND mud is worse!

Glad to see you - been awhile!

Thanks FEM! It has been a while. I missed yall too!!
Just got back yesterday from a 4 day trip to NC. Well, 2 days of driving down and back and then 2 days of hanging out with family for my birthday. My sister even made it down, which was really nice. I got a couple surprise gifts, one from my aunt and uncle that is a serving set that matches my silverware. I know it cost quite a bit, so that was really a surprise. I also got to go to the barn where my mom works, which is a therapeutic riding facility, and help them with a couple horses. I showed them the long lining technique that my riding instructor uses, and it really helped one horse a lot. He was completely different after we finished with him, and he did better in the class that they used him for in the afternoon. Still not pleasant, but better. I gave them some suggestions, and so hopefully he'll continue to improve. Doing that made the trip a business trip so everything will be expense-able, which is good news!
I ate way too much yummy food and had way too much sugar over the weekend, and my stomach wasn't pleased about it, but it was worth it. The BF and I both agreed we need to make sure we really pay attention to our meals and try to eat well again. I don't know what the issues were that caused us the discomfort, but both of us had gas and were bloated almost the whole weekend. Just the difference in the quality of ingredients that I use to cook versus the regular world.
We ended up getting a cadillac SRX as our rental car, which was really nice. I enjoyed riding in it and using all the bells and whistles. We also spent less than $100.00 on gas despite driving over 1000 miles total.
Last night we rolled into town and unloaded the car before going to his mom's house for dinner. We found the bathroom rug in front of the toilet drenched with water, and Toby had a scrape and swollen eye. I checked with my friend that watched the animals and she said that she didn't notice either when she was there this morning. Toby's eye might not have been as bad in the morning but I find it hard to believe that there wasn't any crusty on his head when she was there. I also figured out based on what she used while we were gone that she didn't clean the litter box every day for the cats, which isn't good because there are 2 of them and they should really have a second box, but I don't have anywhere to put a second box that wouldn't be obtrusive (like in the living room... ew!). I'm a bit disappointed, I asked her about the rug and Toby's eye, and she really didn't have anything to say about either of them. I think for the next trip I'm going to talk with another friend that might be able to stay at the house and see if she'll be interested in doing it instead. We'll be gone for a week, and since she boards I can "pay" her with a reduced board rate, which will keep it out of my own pocket anyway. It'll be another trip for business, too, so that will help keep it all nice and tidy. I don't want to lose the friendship with my friend T over this, but she's just not as detail focused as she should be.
Now I've got to get back in the grind of running the barn again. The horses will need a bale of hay tonight, and everyone needs to be fed. Its also supposed to start snowing tonight, so we've got to get the chores done quickly. We're not expected to get more than 6" so I'm not all that stressed about it, I just don't want to be feeding in it, or have trouble putting the bale out. We've got to return the rental car before they close, and somewhere in the midst of all that find dinner. I'm exhausted and almost falling asleep at my desk already, so today is going to be long. As much as I want to go to yoga tomorrow, I would be perfectly happy if they cancel due to snow! I do have a doctor's appointment, but that's not til 12, so I suppose I can fairly easily get to that by noon.
Just keep on truckin.

Finding a good housesitter/petsitter can be difficult; not everyone is as conscientious as one would like. I guess that's why my son is in demand these days. If you give him a written list to follow, he will follow it to the letter. He had a minor emergency to take care of one time (a fire started in the field behind the house he was watching) and he gathered up the chickens and kept the dogs close, so that they could be evacuated if necessary, and kept a close eye on how the fire dept was doing with it.

Wow, that's great of your son! Being on the spectrum I am sure that details are very important to him and I'm sure he does a great job. The 20 year old son of a friend of mine handles all the water for her livestock including all manner of poultry, goats, pigs, sheep and alpacas. He does it exactly the same each time, which is a great help when I farm sit for her. I know when he's with me all I have to worry about is the feed, everything else will be done perfectly.
It is tough, I love my friend, but she's just not observant. So it goes. I always worry that I'm going to miss something like that when I farm sit for other people. :-/ It does happen sometimes though.

In other news the workshop that I was putting together for this weekend making a couple of self care products using essential oils looks like its got enough people to go off.... EEK! That means I actually have to do it!

Hope it goes well for you!