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

[Denim Deb]

And that's why I prefer mares to geldings! I doubt very much that I'd ever own another gelding.

 

[Denim Deb]

OK, I crashed last night. Got dinner ready at the time I said, ate and almost fell asleep in my chair. So, after hubby ate I put away the leftovers and went to bed. And, just barely made it. I'm still beat this morning, so I think I'm going to go back to bed for a bit. They're calling for rain on Sunday which means no ride. So, I'll probably spend the afternoon sleeping.

My list for today.

1. Do last night's dishes.
2. Clean the bathroom.
3. Work more on raking up the field.
4. Since I found the paint, paint my tack shed.
5. Go buy a new pair of boots. Mine are falling apart!
6. Work on clearing out the garden.
7. Make dinner-browned rice w/broccoli and chicken.
8. Clean up after dinner.
9. Do some work on the computer.

 

[Denim Deb]

Well today was another day when my plans got all messed up. First off, they changed the forecast. It's been cloudy all day and a couple of times, we had a light misting going on. So I didn't even attempt to try and paint. I was going to go and buy my new boots since the store I'm planning on getting them is having a sale. I thought it started today, it starts tomorrow, so I didn't go. Then RU came over and asked if I wanted to go w/her to a tack store. They had wormers for $1.99 and she wanted to get a bunch. But, you could only buy 12 of them and she wanted to get 2x that many. I've never been to this tack store and have always been curious about it, so I went. I was expecting to be gone hour and a half, 2 hours max. Boy was I wrong!

First off, the tack store was farther away than I realized, so it took longer to get there than I was expecting. Then, she's a lot slower in a store than I am. I was ready to leave about 5, 10 minutes after we got there. The store is more geared to English riders-I ride Western. Didn't take me long to see that there wasn't much there that I wanted. We finally get done and she decides to go in a pet store that's right next door. She wanted to see their prices. So, we went in. We finally left there and are heading home. She decides since it's late and we haven't eaten, she'd stop and get us each an ice cream cone. After we had that, she decided to stop at the vet's and get some dog med she needed. All in all we were gone for 3 hours!

We got back to some very upset horses. Stormy wanted to eat and everyone else wanted hay. So, I got him fed, bagged feed, then real quick raked the area I wanted to have finished today. Dumped all that old hay where it can be used in a garden then put out fresh hay. I will be so glad when I have Honey out of the field. Right now, I'm putting about 80 lbs of hay out a day and that's mainly cuz she's a pig. If you go by what's recommended for the amount of hay, I should be putting out no more than 67 lbs. So that's 13 extra lbs a day. And, that adds up! But, she'll only be in there for 1 more week!

I didn't get home until after 4:00. I didn't take lunch w/me cuz I wasn't going to be that long! So, I've finally eaten and am now going to get started on working in my garden-that is after I feed the goats. Otherwise they'll do nothing but complain the whole time.

 

[Denim Deb]

Last night, I realized the full extent of the storm we have moving towards us, so now I'm debating on what all I'm going to do. I'm really wishing I had my hay shelter done cuz it's going to be a pain peeling hay off the RB in a storm! I'll probably have to monitor the weather closely so I can figure out the best time to go to the farm-that is, providing we don't lose the internet. :/ And, I'm wishing I had Honey out of my field and the stalls done. Quite truthfully, if I had that done, I'd put the horses in their stalls for the duration of the storm, maybe letting them out for a bit so I could clean the stalls daily, but that would be it. As it is, I'll be putting the hay in the stalls. Depending on how bad it is, I may or may not feed Stormy just 1x a day. It won't kill him to miss a couple of meals though I really hate to do that.

So, I think I need to get moving so I can get done as much as I can today and tomorrow. And, the clothes I was going to wash on Tuesday I think I'm going to have to wash on Sunday instead. If we lose power, I won't be able to wash them. And, I'd need to dry them in the dryer anyway, so why not?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I was wondering if the storm was headed to your area. We took a direct hit from Hurricane Ike a few years ago. Before the storm got too bad I noticed that all the critters were in the barn, heads peaking out to see what was going on. I left the doors open so that they had the option of coming/going as they pleased. My barn has several trees around it and during the storm a tree top came down and went through the roof of the feed-room which is on the west side of the barn - separated from the animals by a half-wall. Of course, I didn't know that until the next morning when the storm was over. We were able to get outside at daybreak even though it was still pretty nasty. All the critters were out in the middle of the pasture, totally away from any trees or fencelines, huddled together but amazingly calm. I don't know how they reacted when the tree came down but they were very leery of entering the barn for weeks after the storm - even after the roof was repaired.

Be safe!

 

[Denim Deb]

Last update I saw still showed this area getting a direct hit. This could be very bad. I've decided I'm going to close Misty and Stormy in their stalls for Monday at the very least. I was supposed to get hay today, but the guy just didn't have time to deliver it and doesn't know that he can do it tomorrow either. So, I'll probably head over w/my truck and horse trailer tomorrow. That way, I can get 4 bales and that will last me for awhile. Then, I'd get the rest later.

Fence charger is going to be switched to my battery operated one. That way, I don't have to worry about no power due to cloudy conditions.

I'm going to fill every container I can w/water for the animals. I also need to bring home a few things from the farm for just in case we lose the power for a few days. It's supposed to be worse than Irene.

I have a dead tree in the goat pen. I'm going to try and get that down tomorrow.

I am not looking forward to this-especially since hubby's working all kinds of overtime right now.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Good plan on storing water. At my place no electricity means no water! Of course, if you get a lot of rain you'll probably have all the water you need. Sending positive thoughts and prayers your way!

 

[Denim Deb]

I figure between my tank and all the containers that I have, I should be able to have about 150 gallons. My only problem being no one else really HAS any plans for this type of situation so they'd all want to use my water. And I'm sorry, I just don't think I should have to share. I've taken the responsibility for my animals, why should I have to plan for theirs as well? I'm seriously thinking of putting my extra water in where I store my RBs. That way, hopefully it will be out of sight out of mind.

Then I'm also wondering if the neighbors would notice if I brought the horses home. I have a whole RB in my hay shelter here. Only problem being, I don't really have any shelter for the horses at home. But, if I could rig something up, as well as a pen for them, bring Cindy home and give the chickens a ton of food and water, it would mean I didn't have to go to the farm until this storm blew thru.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm almost ready for the hurricane. Hubby worked today, so that meant I did stuff by myself. But, other than needing one more tarp on my hay, filling up some water containers out at the farm, washing and ironing a load of hubby's work shirts and baking some bread, I'm ready. And the good thing? I didn't have to go shopping!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Glad to hear it....when is it supposed to hit?