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

[Denim Deb]

We had such perfect weather this morning! I would love to have more days like that. It was warm, but not humid and there was a nice breeze blowing. I actually felt cold at one point in time! And since the weather was so nice, I got quite a bit done, just not the way I'd planned.

I had planned on doing dishes and cleaning the bathroom B4 I left for the farm. Only problem being, I can't find my date book. So, I was doing a bunch of cleaning trying to find it. Since the farrier was coming, and he normally sets the next appointment up B4 he leaves, I needed to check to be sure we didn't schedule it for when I had something else going on. I finally gave up. I couldn't find it. As it turns out, it didn't matter. The farrier didn't have his date book either. So, he's supposed to text me w/a date.

I was also able to start on my RP! It will have 26 posts. I drilled the holes in 6 of them, and have the in the ground! It took me a bit to figure out how big a hole I needed to drill for the rope, but once I got that figured out, that part went quickly. What took the longest was getting the posts in the ground.

I also started on planting the tomatoes in the chicken pen. I didn't get all done. As much as I hated doing it, I had to take out more jimson weed that was really giving a lot of shade. But, they were in the way for planting the tomatoes, so they had to go. I'm hoping I'll get more in tomorrow and that they'll grow quickly.

It took me longer than I was expecting to do all this. I had hoped to work w/both Misty and Licorice, but just didn't have time to do both. So I decided to work w/Licorice some more. And she was a brat! She was fine when I tried the twine and rope in her mouth, but when I went to put the bit in her mouth, she really copped an attitude. And she was a bit pushy as well. That WAS NOT an acceptable behavior, so I pushed back quite hard. I had to do this a few times. And she was really acting up then-even rearing. But I kept working her, and she backed down. She still needs a bit of work, but she's getting the idea of taking the bit w/out throwing her head up, and to drop it w/out throwing her head up. I'm hoping that by the end of next week, she's taking it nicely.

By the time I got done that, it was after 3:00. I had planned on leaving at 2:00! So, I got the chickens fed and put away, got everything set up for tomorrow and left.

Since I left later than I'd planned, I didn't have enough food or water w/me, so I had to stop on my way home and grab a bit. Then, once I got home, I had to relax for awhile. Then I needed to run to the bank and a store. Once home, I fed the goats, then worked on the one flower garden. I need to do the other one tomorrow, then I can finally get the flowers I bought in May in!

I still had firewood to work on. So I took a few minutes and sorted thru what I have that still needs to be cut and/or split. Some of what was in the pile was the right size, so I put it in the wood shed. Tomorrow I plan on cutting the last of it up, then split up the rest.

Came in, got the dishes done, then cleaned the bathroom. I got done a lot later than I'd planned, but I can sleep in I the morning. I feel good about having it all done. After tomorrow I'm hoping I can have my gardens all pretty much done as well as all the firewood I have at home taken care of

 

[Denim Deb]

Today is going to be another busy day-I hope. Hubby and I have some errands to run and I need to get a hair cut, but I'm also hoping to get a lot done at home. I want to get the flower gardens done. I want to get my vegetable garden done. I want to get the pile of firewood done. And I want to finish planting the tomatoes at the farm. So, we'll see.

Oh and once I get the wood done at home, there's a cherry tree at church that broke. They said I can have it. Once I get the wood done at home, then I'll start getting other wood.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm starting to hate Saturdays. I don't get much done. I got my hair cut and I got more of the tomatoes planted in the chicken pen. But that's it. I waited around again for hubby to be ready to leave. I would have rather have gotten up and done work this morning. I'm not going to church tomorrow evening-we're having a cookout at my parents' house. So maybe when I get home, I can do some in the flower garden. Oh, and hubby finally noticed the asparagus I transplanted. He asked me about it this morning.

 

[Denim Deb]

I got nothing done today-except feeding the goats and Thumper, collecting my eggs, making a cucumber salad and eating at my parents' house. I woke up dizzy. So, I didn't go to church, I didn't go to my riding club meeting, and I didn't get anything done. I don't think the vertigo was caused by my Meniere's. I haven't been eating properly, so I think it was due to low blood sugar. Even at my parents, I had to get up from the table and go lie on the couch. I felt bad cuz I couldn't help my sis w/anything.

The dinner was for my parents' birthdays. Mom's was June 30, Dad is July 30th. My sister and her hubby were coming up from Florida heading to NY this weekend, which is why we had it today. And we all chipped in and got them a generator. They were w/out power for 5 days! I think they really appreciated it.

Now I'm home, and am ready to go to bed soon. I hope I feel better in the morning.

 

[Denim Deb]

I feel better, much more normal. I went back to bed this morning, and was better for it. I wasn't sure what all I was up to doing at the farm. But one thing I knew I wasn't up to was working w/horses. KN had called. She and DF were going riding and wanted to know if I wanted to go. I declined and am glad I did. Honey spooked for KN. She stayed on, but it caused DF's horse to spook-and she came off. I would not have been able to handle Misty if she had spooked.

I did get my field all cleaned again and spread the manure. And I worked some more on my RP. I got 4 more posts in the ground. I have 4 more that are ready to go in, then I have to hunt up some more. I know there's enough kicking around the farm. I just need to remove things like old staples, nails, etc. There's no Bible study tomorrow, so I'll work on it some more then. And if the weather cooperates, I'll be going to the hay auction. I'm hoping I can get around 60 bales tomorrow. If I don't, I'm going to have to go the following Tuesday. I don't want to since that's when I have my appointments, but we keep getting bad weather when I can go.

I didn't attempt to do anything inside or outside today. However, I think I'll work in my gardens tomorrow morning. That way, if it does get nasty in the afternoon, I have that done. And if it's nice in the evening, maybe I can do some more.

 

[Denim Deb]

Don't know what I'm going to be doing for sure today. I awoke to thunder. And while it's stopped, it's raining out. We could get more T storms as well. I may go back to bed for a bit since there's no Bible study. I don't need to leave quite as early. I think I'm going to make up my list, and then just play it by ear. So my list for today is:

1. Norman farm chores
2. Work on RP
3. Hay auction
4. Housework
5. Dishes
6. Laundry
7. Yard/garden/orchard
8. Firewood
9. Normal animal chores

Time will tell as to what all I get done.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Don't you have enough to do without doing Norman's farm chores too?

 

[Denim Deb]

Now if I could only figure out who Norman is so I could have him do my chores!

Well, I did go back to bed for a bit. By the time I got up, it had stopped raining, so I ran out and pulled some weeds out of the flower garden. Then came back in and made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I was getting ready to leave when I heard thunder, so I looked out the window and it was pouring again! I turned on the TV so I could see the radar. It showed a cell basically right over us. But they were also saying something about flooding. So I decided to wait until it slacked off B4 heading out.

When it had almost stopped raining, I grabbed my boots, raincoat and waterproof hat and left. I didn't get very far B4 it really started to pour! Even w/the wipers on high, I could just barely see. And I was encountering quite a bit of water on the road. As much as I would have liked to have stopped, there's no place on most of the back roads around here where you can pull over, so I kept going. I just didn't go that fast. I checked the rain gauge when I got home, and we had gotten 3.1" of rain!

It was still raining when I got to the farm, just not that heavily, so I went ahead and fed everyone. W/everyone fed, and turned back out, I bagged feed and refilled my stock tank. I didn't want to take any chances on them having no water if the power went out, and the tank was almost empty. It also had mosquito larvae in it, so it was a good thing I dumped it.

Because of the rain, I decided to skip the auction. I know from experience that when the weather is like this, there's not a lot of hay there and it's expensive. Plus, the forecast had been calling for more rain in the afternoon. I didn't want to risk getting any hay wet.

I also didn't want to work on my RP since I didn't want to get my tools wet. But I figured the one thing I could do was to round up more broken poles and bring them over. I also brought over 2 good poles since I have 2 that need replacing. As of right now, I need to get 4 more. I'm hoping that the ones I'll be replacing are long enough. If not, there are 4 more down in the back field. I'll be bringing up either 2 or 4 on Thursday after I dump (or spread) my manure.

Once home, I relaxed for a bit, then loaded up the dishwasher and washed the kitchen floor. By the time I was done, hubby was home. We have a critter under our shed and we wanted to figure out where he was going under. We found 2 holes. There's now a trap set up in front of the one. If it goes in that way, it can only go thru the trap.

W/the trap set up, I worked a bit on the firewood as well as some more on the flower garden. Needless to say, I also fed animals. When I finally came in, I got a shower, then threw a load of shirts in the washer. I'm going to put them on hangers in the basement and hope that they dry overnight.

Now I'm relaxing for a bit. I'm going to try to get to bed on time for once.

 

[Denim Deb]

Ugh. It's early and already my day is messed up.

First off, hubby was making a ton of noise last night-which meant I couldn't go to bed as early as I'd planned. So, I overslept.

I had planned on going out as soon as he left for work and working in the flower garden some more. Well, we got another drenching T storm. I don't know that it's stopped yet. And they're calling for more rain this morning. It hadn't been supposed to start until this afternoon some time.

So, I'm not 100% sure what all I'm getting done. I have a ton of stuff I need to do-both inside and out. And I'm going to work for awhile this morning. At least she has stuff that needs doing inside. I had been going to mow. Don't know that that will happen this week.

I need to work on my RP. I can't redo the electric tomorrow until that's done, but if it's pouring rain, I can't work on it. I wanted to work in my gardens and firewood. I don't know that I'll be able to. So, I might just get caught up on the laundry and dishes and do some housework today. I'm supposed to go on a motorcycle run this evening. I have a feeling that's going to get cancelled.

 

[Denim Deb]

In spite of not knowing what I was going to do, I got quite a bit done. B4 I left, I worked some on the laundry. Then, even though it was raining, I left. I went to TSC first. I need a new tire on my cart, so I wanted to buy one B4 heading to the farm. They didn't have them. There's 3 other TSC's in the area, so I'm hoping one of them will have it.

After leaving TSC, I headed to EH's. I worked for about 1.5 hours in her barn. It's a good thing I had stuff that I could do inside! Otherwise I would not have gotten any work today. She has a stream on property-it was flooded! And there were fields flooded all over the place. In fact, one retention pond was so flooded the only way I could tell where it is is by the cattails that are growing around it. CL's field is also flooded.

By the time I got to the farm, it wasn't raining too heavily. I got everyone fed, let the chickens loose, bagged feed and decided it wasn't raining heavily enough to keep me from doing anything. So, I started working on the RP. Out of the 16 posts I needed to get in, I got 9 of them in! I had to get old staples, screws, etc. out of some of them, but the 3 I didn't get in are all ready to go!

I have a chicken that's due to hatch out eggs. The other day, one of them exploded. I cleaned them up the best I could, and put some new shavings down. Today when I checked on her, it smelled like another one was going bad. So, I decided I'd check on them and make sure they were all OK. Much to my surprise, 3 of them were peeping and one is pipped! I wasn't expecting that until tomorrow at the earliest. I hope the one that pipped is OK. I was able to set it up so none of the other chickens can get in w/her.

I came home, and relaxed for a bit, then went out and did the animals. Then I worked in the flower garden for a bit. The motorcycle run I could have gone on tonight was cancelled. So I came in, got a shower, something to eat and am now relaxing. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day.