hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

Every time you post about KN, I think you're talking about MY KN.

LOL, Sorry! I guess that is bound to happen at some point
JO cancelled on me again last night, but it meant we got to the grocery store for a few things. I thought salmon was on sale, but it turns out it wasn't, but we did buy $25.00 worth of other things in order to buy a 6 pack of snapple for $1.99. All told I saved $10.00 on that trip, and ended up only spending $30. I guess that's alright. Or as the BF puts it I didn't "save" I just "didn't spend..."
Got up this morning, got the horses fed and out on the grass, did a few things in the house, but not as much as I wanted, and thought I was almost late leaving to feed the other horses, then head to yoga, but I made it on time. Good yoga class, she really worked us hard, and had a play list in honor of Prince It was fun, and the hard work felt good. Raced home to get the horses off the grass, I was excited because they were really close to the opening, I got treats, hoping to lure them in, but they decided to be butt heads and run back out and then run around and then run in. That put me later getting to the office than I wanted to be, but there's not much to be done about it. I grabbed lunch and ate while I was working and I think I'm mostly caught up with everything that needed to be done. Now I just have to get stuff done at home. The BF was off early, so we'll see what he gets done by the time I get home (I'm not going to hold my breath...)
Saturday is my lesson, and Sunday I don't have much planned. I REALLY need to get the tiller into the garden and get that started or it will be too late to plant the greens and such. Its probably almost too late anyway. Hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done this weekend.
Next week should be much calmer, here's hoping anyway. I can't keep up this pace forever!

You are overdue for a break!

No kidding. I had a vacation at the beginning of the month... that's the hardest thing about vacation, it always seems worse when you get home!
I had a good weekend for the most part, at least Saturday was good. JO finally made it out to the farm for a visit and was impressed. I must say that we live in a really beautiful place, so it is easy to be impressed. Now we'll see if she decides to make the switch and board at my place. I really hope so, because I really need the income.
My lesson on Saturday was really good, and I was really worn out by the time the 2 hours was done. Storm did great, and looked better than he's looked in a long long time, and he didn't have any melt downs or temper tantrums. He expressed his opinion a few times, but really worked hard. So now I just have to make sure that I take the time to work him again and keep working him that hard so that he continues to improve and balance out. I miss my sweet calm horse, the horse that I could trust.
The BF worked at his other part time job on Saturday morning, and then came home and got started working on changing the oil and doing some repairs in the vehicles. He found that my tire pressure was about 5 lbs low all the way around, which seems to have accounted for the extra wobble that my truck has had for a while now. Oops.
Sunday morning we got up and headed out to feed over at my friend's place, and then run a few errands. We came back home and I ran a couple loads of laundry and then headed to the grocery store. I was feeling really down after I got back and ended up talking to MP, a business/life coach that I have started doing a little work with. She has been a huge help so far, and she sent me out to take a walk and gave me some questions to think through for trying to get more boarders in. So I have homework to do today while I'm on the computer, and hopefully I can get that sorted out and get some folks back in the barn. I have a feeling this is the kick in the pants the universe is giving me shoving me in a different direction. The trouble is that if I don't have income coming in, then I can't maintain this direction just yet!
So I headed outside and put the dogs out, and realized I was supposed to get the horses off the grass. I found that my boarder had done it for me, and that Storm was laying down sleeping. So I went out to hang out with him and he actually let me sit and lean up against his shoulder for a while. I finally got up and leaned on him scratching away the winter hair that he is STILL shedding, and then finally just sat on him. He let me sit there for a long time, and even laid down under me at one point which was really funny. I enjoyed hanging out with him, he hasn't let me do that in a long time. While I sat there, both he and Simon, who was standing guard, licked and chewed a couple times, so its good to know there was some processing going on, even if I didn't know what was happening. EP turned out her horse and warned me before she did so that if Storm got up I wouldn't be startled. Scooter was rather tired anyway, so he didn't run over to us. There were some boys walking down the road to the pond, and when they passed Storm finally decided to get up, so I had a ride up, which is always fun. It feels so cool when he gets up like that.
I finally slid down, and went to get the dogs and walked them. Finally the BF finished the work on his jeep and came in and we fixed dinner. DB had given us some Rockfish, which turned out well though we didn't quite cook it long enough on the grill. We ate the half that was finished, and saved the rest for dinner tonight. I have my plan for cooking for the week, and the BF has his plan for not buying food out, and so we should be in a much better position this week. We'll see how good we can do anyway. We've really got to make some changes or we're going to be stuck in this position forever! And I'm getting sick of it!

I know that feeling!

Well, the BF ended up working his part time job both Tuesday and last night, so that's some extra cash. That should help a little bit. I'm mostly worried about the business now, I need boarders to fill in the gaps or I'm going to be in trouble!! I'm ok for a few months, because I do have some savings built up, but its not going to last long at this rate. I really really need internet to go in because then I can do other stuff to make money, but that'll cost money, too. UGH!
I'm supposed to have another essential oils class on Saturday, but I've only got 3 people signed up. At this point that will at least cover the costs of all my materials, which will leave me a lot left over for later use, which will be ok. We'll see what happens. I need to bust my butt and get that stuff organized today, I don't have much time to take care of it between tomorrow and Saturday morning.
I did find a little time to work Storm yesterday evening so that was good. He did very well and we worked for about an hour. It felt good to be able to check that off the list. Now I just have to figure out when I can do it again... He really does need the regular work again.
So it goes... things keep chugging along.

I need to get working my horses regularly as well. I'm just so far behind w/everything else.

Well, with weather like this its not likely to happen this week :-/ There is rain in the forecast every day except today. We need it, and when the sun comes out everything is going to explode I am sure! As long as the pollen doesn't blow back up I'll be ok. I've been MUCH more comfortable with the wet keeping the pollen down, and I'm ok if that continues!
Friday I ended up catching up with a friend I haven't seen in 10 years and his new girl friend. It was great to catch up and we had a blast. They ended up hanging out with me for most of the day and then we all went to dinner after the BF got home. It was great to have fun and laugh so much. We have lots of interests in common, so we have plenty to talk about and do together. She knows how to run the singer tredle machines like I have, so she's going to teach me to do that. He is interested in blacksmithing and stuff, so that gives the BF and KS a common interest, too.
Saturday morning I got up and ran around like crazy trying to get my stuff together for my class. The BF headed out with our hay guy to get a load of hay and practice driving the tractor trailer since he needs to go for his A license some time soon. I got my stuff together and ended up going in and out of a couple places twice because I forgot things I needed, and then had to go back to the grocery store when I found that the cucumbers I was going to use for my recipe had gone bad, that wasted probably close to an hour. I made it to start setting up right on time, so that was a good thing.
I ended up with 4 people instead of the 3 that I was expecting, which was a relief because it meant that my expenses were completely covered instead of mostly covered. I need to swing by the bank this week and get that money in! I also need to stop and get the money for feeding the chickens, too, I think that will probably go into the bank as well...
Got home from class later than I wanted to be, and the BF was trying to fix the kitchen light. The ballast had gone out while I was trying to prep for my class, so I had to use the tiny light over the sink to work by which was oh so much fun. We had to make another stop for something, and so we grabbed dinner and then headed home. It was so uneventful I can't even remember what we ate.
Sunday morning I got up and did the chores everywhere, and the BF headed over to his part time job to drive a delivery out to a location. He got home and we ate lunch and then got into the shower before we had to head to his god daughter's baptism. Thankfully it didn't last too long and then we all went to dinner at Bertuccis. It was nice to not have to worry about cooking.
Got home wayyyy too late from that and changed clothes really fast before the BF did chores at the house, and I drove down to my friend's to take care of their horses for the last time. I'm so glad they're finally home after being gone for 3 weeks! I don't mind their ponies, but it is a relief not to have my day start and end with their horses as well as mine. I got home just as the BF was finishing in the barn, so I took care of the inside chores while he wrapped up and then we both crashed into bed.
This week looks like it will be almost completely normal. Whoa what is that!? I didn't have to go anywhere this morning before I left for work, and the horses cooperated nicely for breakfast. They weren't happy when I left them in the sacrifice area instead of putting them on the grass, but I am flipping them to being out overnight for the next few nights before I turn them out full time on the grass. I will be glad when they can settle into this routine completely. I have a meeting with a potential boarder tomorrow, I'm not holding my breath judging by her communications via facebook messages, but I won't make a judgement call before I've met her either. She's interested in a tour, so we'll see what she's like in person. She has 3 horses so getting her in would take a LOT of pressure off of me in this moment! We'll see how she turns out in person, I have a hard time believing she's as quiet as she was in the messages with her simple one word replies...
I need to stop by the bank tomorrow as well, and I need to really focus on getting organized this week. I need to get the financial tracking done for April (which reminds me I need to organize the mileage from JS's trip here...), and I also need to figure out how I'm going to transition into my animal communication business more seriously. I've got to really start working on that because I need to get other income coming in that will get me away from boarding. I'm really tired of the instability that happens every time someone leaves. In a big barn having one or two people leave isn't a big deal... when you can only take 6 that's 1/3 of the income!
So that's about all that's happening around here. Rain rain rain and more rain. I'm so glad its washing away the pollen. I have no idea when I'm going to be able to work Storm again at this rate. They've been all goofy with the weather and being on and off the grass. The other night it was after dark when I brought them in off the grass, and they decided to run around like idiots for over 30 minutes. Scooter wouldn't let me catch him at all, and Storm was right there with him. Storm didn't want to run anymore, but Scooter wouldn't leave him alone, so he had to keep moving. Finally they allowed me to catch them, and so I put the halter on and just waited a little bit and then turned them loose. Scooter was way too hot to eat his dinner, so he didn't get fed that night. Nothing I can do about that. They're all a little mad at me this morning since I didn't let them out on the grass, I'm switching them to nights for a few nights before I leave them out there for 24 hours. So now they're confused and irritated that they aren't on the grass. They've got plenty of hay, so they have something to eat, they will just have to deal. I'm hoping to feed them earlier when I get home, and then I'll go out some time after 8 and open up the grass for them. I'm hoping I can avoid feeding in the rain that way, but we'll see.
We've gotten 3/4" so far, so we'll see what we get this week. Today is the only day without rain in the forecast.

I'm not sure how much rain we've gotten. The sun came out for awhile yesterday afternoon. It was so nice to see it.

We got over an inch yesterday morning...but we're supposed to be clear and beautiful the rest of the week! Temps in the low 60's and I'm loving it! Gonna enjoy it while I can because next week we'll probably be in the 90's. Crazy weather.