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

[Denim Deb]

Good to hear your feeling better. I had no idea your ears could go out of adjustment. Crazy..


So how do you put in fence post by yourself?? Are you hand digging? do they go in cement or just dirt? It amazes me how much you get done.

g

I use a post hole digger. I marked on the handles how far in I need the posts to go, then dig down that far. Then, I put the post in, and put the dirt back in. Some people use cement. I don't. If you have one break, rot or whatever, it's a PITA to get out. I got 4 in today! Tomorrow, I'll get all of the horses out of the front field, then get the tractor in, and use it to take some posts out that are in the wrong place. Then, other than the corner post, that section will have all it's fence posts in the proper place! I'm hoping I'll be able to get the corner in over the weekend. If I have no help, it will mean I have to do an awful lot of digger w/the post hole digger, so I'm hoping someone is around to help me w/the gas powered one. If I can continue w/this pace, I should be able to get the first section of fence up next week! And, I should be able to get the next section up the week after that!

When I put the electric up, I'll also have a piece that I can put up across the parking area. It's grass, and I don't really feel like mowing it. But, I know some horses that would love to come out and mow it for me.

I still didn't get enough manure. I plan on going out early on Saturday. They're calling for more rain, but it's not supposed to start until later in the day. So, I just might be able to get my manure and get it unloaded b4 it gets bad.

I got the first bit of asparagus out of my garden today! I'm going to stir fry it in some olive oil w/ onion, carrot and rice, and make browned rice w/stir fry veggies!

 

[savingdogs]

Fresh asparagas sounds yummy!

 

[Denim Deb]

Fresh asparagas sounds yummy!

It is. I'm getting a few spears every day. We prefer it stir fried to steam cooked, so I wait until I have enough, then break it all up, and stir fry it w/other veggies. Tonight, we had it w/potatoes, onion, garlic, carrots and zucchini. I wish I had had more zucchini and some mushrooms. I took some pork and some beef and cut that in bite sized pieces, cooked that separately, then added it in. It was good.

I finally feel like I'm making progress again. I had planned on doing more of the fence on Friday as well as cleaning more of the field. I had to work later than I expected then I got a call from KN that there were horses out. They had managed to knock down a section of the fence in the back. So, instead of doing what I had planned on doing, we did a temporary fix to the fence. This is fencing that RU is planning of properly fixing this year, but she's still not up to it. I put out some hay for the main herd, and was able to get thru the muck to put 2 RBs out in a field where she wanted to move some horses. They just haven't been moved because we couldn't get hay over there. I had 2 more to put out, but the tractor was low in gas. I wasn't sure I could get them out. And I was beat, so instead of doing the work I had planned on, I relaxed in my tack shed. Then, I went home and made brownies. We had a riding club meeting, so I took the brownies for a snack. There were only 4 of us at the meeting, it was a 9"x13" dish, we ate half of them. My family and I ate the rest of them Saturday.

Saturday, I had planned on taking it easy. I've been working too hard, and not relaxing enough. I had planned on going over to Cowtown in the morning. It's a big, outdoor flea market type thing and sometimes you can get great deals on stuff-like socks. I need socks. My muck boots keep putting holes in my socks. (Note to self, figure out how to fix muck boots so they don't do that any more.) Then, I was going to to over, feed RU's horses and go home. Once home, I was going to put my canoe in the back of my truck, get my canoeing gear as well as my fishing tackle and go to the lake. I was going to paddle upstream for a bit-its been awhile since I've gone canoeing in "my" lake, then I was going to go up near the dam, and do some fishing. They stock it w/trout, and that's the best place to fish. It was my niece's birthday, and they planned on having the party outside and having a fire.

Well, can we say that that's not what happened? Saturday was cloudy when I woke up. I had told RU that we needed gas for the tractor, and I was hoping that she have her hubby get it. As a precaution, I had taken 3 bales of hay w/me. Since I knew my plans were shot, I took my time getting to the farm. KN normally goes over early to feed the horses, and I basically just wanted to go, feed Stormy, feed RU's horses, put out the hay and go home. I figured KN and a teenager, HU could move the horses (minis) out of the riding arena into the area where they belonged. Then, I wouldn't have to. I forget what time it was when I left, but KN wasn't there yet. They only have 1 car, and she had trouble getting it from her hubby. So, I fed my horses. She showed up while I was doing this and fed "hers". Then we started to move minis.

In order to move them, we locked the horses out of the back field. We were able to catch 3 of them, and led them out of the riding arena into the RP. The rest just followed. Once they were in the RP, we started to take them out. They didn't want to go, but we were finally able to get them all moved. Then, we got the horses fed. No one got gas, but I tried to start the tractor because the hay was really needed. I couldn't get it started. By then, it was trying to rain, so HU and I covered the tractor back up. I fed Stormy, did a few other things that needed to be done, and went home. I basically did nothing at home either, then finally grabbed a bite to eat, got a shower, and went to my brother's house. Coming home was no fun. It was pouring so hard that at times, I could just about see the road. Needless to say, they didn't have the party outside.

OK, that's enough for now, I'll do more later.

 

[Denim Deb]

Where is this week going? I can't believe it's Thursday already!

We got some rain on Tuesday, but not much, so everything is slowly drying out, which is good. I'm so sick and tired of the rain and the mud.

I'm still working to get my pasture clean. I couldn't work on the area where I had been working, it's just too wet, so I started at a different section, and am working up to where I was. But, I pick up any new in the whole pasture almost every day. I need to put hay out in the back field. That RB is almost gone. Yesterday, right b4 I left, all the horses came out of the back field into the front. I counted 8 new piles as I was driving out.

Yesterday, I took down the cattle panels that make up the back fence in my pasture. Then, I got out the tractor, and pulled up the fence posts. One was rotten, so it broke off in the ground. Since I'm not putting a new post right there, I just filled in over top of it. The fence line isn't completely straight, but it will do. There's 2 posts that still need to come out, but they can wait. I still don't have the big post in the corner. There's never anyone around to help me when I need it. If worse comes to worst, I'll have RU's hubby help me tomorrow. For temporary, I put the cattle panels back up, I just didn't use as many staples so they'll be easy to get down. Today, I'll be working on getting the posts in on the other side. Then, tomorrow, I can put the fence up on that section, as well as the electric!

I had planned on going to a store and seeing about an incubator, but it took me longer than I had planned yesterday, so I'll go today. I also need to do some food shopping, but don't know when I'll have the time.

I'm also getting caught up on the house work! I have my kitchen almost all the way cleaned up. As soon as I get off of here, I'll be working some more on that. Then, I'll get started on my basement, then my living room.

I don't know where they came from, but I have a bunch of raspberries growing near my green house. This year, they've put a bunch of little ones down in my garden. I'm going to try to move them. If it works, I'll be able to pull out all the ones by my green house, they're in the way there.

I have 2 types of tomatoes up! I'll have way more plants than I can use. But, RU wants a garden this year. I'll probably have to help her get it in, so I'll give her some plants. She's wanting to do some canning, etc, and thinks it would be nice to do it together. I've already corrupted her, I mean gotten her to join here, so this will be good. I'm thinking we can work on her stuff one day, then she can come to my house and help me put up stuff the next.

 

[Farmfresh]

You are killin' me girl ... and I am just reading about your days!

Remember to just stop and sit SOMETIME.

 

[Denim Deb]

If it makes you feel any better, I took a nap today. I thought I was going to have plenty of time to get everything done, but it didn't happen.

We've had quite a bit of rain lately. And, I needed to put out RBs for RUs horses. Because the grass is coming up, and she wants them to graze as much as possible, I was only going to put one bale in each of 4 fields. To put the RB in one field, I drive into the RP, and drop it over the fence. Once I had it out, I then had to worry about getting the RB in the other field. And, that's where I ran into problems. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get thru the mud, but figured I'd give it a good try. Well, not only didn't it work, but I dropped the RB! And, I couldn't pick it back up. Every time I tried, it just wanted to tip over. So I left it. I decided to try w/another RB, but drive closer to the RP. It looked like it might have been drier over there. Well, I tried, and still couldn't get thru. I didn't want to drop this RB, so I made sure the bucket was high enough so the RB wouldn't accidentally drag on the ground, and made sure the spear was pointing up. I was doing fine, the RB was staying put, and I was backing out of the field. (Couldn't go forward, so I had to back up.) I was almost back to the gate when I looked forward. And there was THAT RB on the ground! I have no idea how it even came off, and I couldn't pick up that one either. So, I decided to go the long way to get a RP into this field. It meant driving the tractor on the road for a couple hundred feet, then going down a dirt lane to a gate, going thru the gate to the fence around this field, and dropping it over the fence. But, there wasn't much gas in the tractor to begin with, and I hadn't been sure I would make it. I didn't want to run out of gas, plus that gate is a PITA to open. I get out of the field-and run out of gas.

I go to the house. No one is there. I check the gas cans. There's not any gas in any of them. So, I grab a gas can and walk over to my truck. Only problem being, my truck is hooked up to my trailer. I had 3 RBs in it, and I needed to put 1 out. And to make it so I could GET to the trailer, my truck is facing the wrong way. There's no way I could unhook my truck w/out turning the trailer around. So, I get in, back up my truck, pull down the lane a ways, then back my trailer in, unhook it, and go get gas. Once back at the farm, I put the gas in the tractor, leave it sit while I drive back over to my trailer, hook it up, pull it out, go down the lane for a bit, then back up to where I can pull the truck in. Then, I opened the trailer door, and went back over to where the tractor was parked. The tractor started right up. I got a RB off, then went down the road, to the lane, down the lane, thru the gate, thru the field, drop the RB and go back. Since all the horses were in the front, I hadn't even bothered to close the gate. I shut it when I went back thru.

Once I was done w/that bale, I went up to where I was parked, and was able to get a RB out of my trailer. Then, I had to go down the lane, down the road, down the driveway and into the RP to drop it over the fence in my field. Right now, that's the only way to get hay in there. Then, I had to get 1 more of RU's RBs, and put it out in the last field. Once I was done, I parked the tractor, then walked back over to my area. I had just changed out of my muck boots into my regular boots when RU pulled up. (She's recovered enough to start driving again.) She needed my help taking something out of her truck bed, and putting it in her horse trailer. She got a used kayak! She was saying that she needed to find another one so we could go kayaking when I reminder her that I have a canoe. I have thought at times of trading it in, and getting a kayak, but was unsure if I wanted to or not. Well, I sat in her kayak. It took me all of 10 seconds to decide. I'm sticking w/my canoe. W/the damage I have in my back, I can't do a kayak. So, I pick up her kayak, and stick it in her horse trailer. Then I told her about the RBs. She wasn't happy, and I can't say I blame her. She's going to see if her hubby can get them out, but she also knows what that mud is like. So, she's not mad at me.

Once she left, I grabbed a lead rope. There is one horse there that's a real PITA. He's under the impression that fences are NOT for him, and it's not unusual to find him in the wrong field. I keep telling RU that she needs to charge his owner more, but so far, she hasn't. Yesterday, he not only got into the wrong field, but broke a board at the top of the exterior fence, and was loose! KN was the one that found him out, so she put him in the riding arena. His field is one that I put a RB in, so I hooked the lead rope onto his collar (yes, he wears a leather collar like a dog), and put him back in the field he belongs in. Hopefully for now, he'll stay put.

By the time I was done messing w/him, it was 4:30! And, I hadn't gotten done a thing I wanted to get done. I decided I was going to clean the new piles of manure out of my field at the very least. Since the RB in the back had been gone, the horses spent the majority of their time in the front field. If I leave just the 4 in that field, I normally get 4-8 gallon buckets of manure. Today, I got 10! I still had to feed Stormy, plus I had no feed set up for tomorrow. So, I fed him, got the feed set up, back up my truck, and get it turned around, then drop the trailer. Then I could finally go home. But when I left, all the horses were in the back field, so maybe I won't have too much to clean tomorrow. Needless to say, I didn't get much done at home once I finally got there.

 

[Denim Deb]

For the first time in a month, my hubby has a weekend off and it's raining. So, I'm taking it easy for a bit. I didn't have to be any place early, so after I woke up at 5:00, I did go back to bed for a bit.

I know that in all probability, I won't have the fencing and the field all cleaned by next Saturday. It keeps raining, and making it so I can't get done. I got some more of the bad section cleaned yesterday. And, I'm going down about 4 or 5" w/each shovelful that I get up. And while there's some stuff growing in the muck, there's nothing growing underneath. And since there's a lot of clay in the soil and it's still damp, it's really slick.

I had been going to try and get rid of it all. Instead, RU and I are going to find a place to put it. If we let it sit until next year, but turn it frequently, I think we can sell it. I have been seeing people selling composted manure, so we just might be able to get some money for it.

RU watched the gate yesterday while I went back into the field w/the tractor. It took me awhile, but I was able to get the one RB out. It's not in the greatest shape now, so we left it on the spear of the tractor. I'm hoping I don't need to put any hay out anyplace else B4 I need to put that one out. I'm not sure it would stay together!

Honey got out of the field. She was the only horse that found this spot. I didn't have time to do much w/it, just tied it together w/bailing twine. It's in the back field, so I have the herd separated for now.

The grass is really coming up in the parking area. So, when I give Stormy his second feeding, I feed him in there. Then I let him graze. And of course, his girlfriend HAS to be in there w/him. So, both Misty and Stormy are getting some nice green grass. The rest of the horses just stand there and try to figure out why they don't get any of the grass.

If it's not raining when I get to the farm, I'll probably try and get some more of the section I was working on yesterday done as well as put in some fence posts. Even if I don't have the whole field done, if I have the back section done, I can then let my horses in the parking area when I do the front fence. I'm going to put electric across it for when I have any horses in there. Misty is stopped by a rope, Stormy will go under it, and I don't know about the others. But, they all respect the electric.

 

[Denim Deb]

I just might get it all done by next Saturday after all! Yesterday, w/the help of PT, I measured the fence line along the front of the field. The posts that are in there are 10 ft apart! So, other than where the new gate is going to go, I don't need to put in posts for that side! I'm STILL needing to get the big one in in the corner, that's all that's holding me up from doing the fence in the back and the one side.

I looked at the mess that I'm still needing to clean up. It's mainly in just one section of the pasture, and I came up w/a bright idea. I talked to RU about it, and she said, go ahead. On Wednesday, I'm going to take the spear off the tractor. Then, I use the bucket and see if I can scoop up the majority of the mess. W/that done, there would not be that more more that needs to be done. It only takes me about 20 minutes, if that, to rake up a section where there's no old hay mixed in mud and manure, and there's only a few sections left, so I could be done by next week!

It's not supposed to be too wet for tomorrow, so I'm going to finally get the last load of manure I need. Then, I'm going to put it in my garden, get the rest of the fence posts in, put my fence up, and get my early stuff in. Some stuff I just won't get in this year, like spinach and peas. I'll maybe try for a fall crop of both of them.

I have most of my kitchen cleaned up, so I'm going to start on my basement. I have a table that I need to bring in. I will stick my incubator on that, and hopefully, at this time next week, I'll have eggs in it.

Once I'm done my fence, I'm going to start doing some cleaning up where RU wants a garden. The area would be divided since we're thinking of going together on getting some goats, a couple of good doelings, which would go in this area, and a buckling, that would go in w/her wethers. Then, we'd set up an area for a mating/kidding pen, and hopefully have kids to sell next spring! Plus, I'd have the goat's milk I'm wanting.

Hubby is home until Wednesday. I have what I need to make a killing cone, he's going to help me, then I'll FINALLY get my boys done. They'll probably be stewing chickens, but that's OK. If the killing cone comes out the way I'm hoping, I'm thinking of making them, and selling them on CL for $20.00 or so. Someone told me they sell for $40.00 if you order them, so this might be a way for me to make some extra money.

While I'm wanting to make my own cat food, I don't know if I'll really have time B4 fall. But, since I switched Rerun over to grain-free cat food, she's scratching a lot less, and all the sores she had all over her are clearing up. So, I'm pretty sure she was allergic to the corn. I've also switched Cindy. She was getting a bunch of sores as well, so I'm thinking she might also be allergic.

 

[framing fowl]

Happy Easter!

Do you ever just sit down and look back through your journal? What are you going to do with all your free time when you quit this fall?

 

[Denim Deb]

Go canoeing, ride Misty, go bird watching, write books, etc. If I can write the books I want, I'll probably make more money, and it will be easier on me. The time is fast approaching when I may need to leave. My OH was drunk by 8:00 am. Pray for me. I'm to the point where I honestly don't know what to do, stay or leave. I have very mixed feelings about it.