hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

That's a thought, it's not cheap here, but it is a thought, @sumi We don't have peat here, though. We're doing a little better with it, the other trick I learned is to make sure that I start it, and load it up pretty full, and then reload it before I turn down the dampers and close the door. This morning it got going quick. Yesterday afternoon I was pretty proud of myself, I started it back up again from like 2 embers, LOL. I was determined not to use a match LOL. It took me like 15 minutes just to get it started, but I DID it! Somehow there is so much satisfaction in that, even though I wasted quite a bit of time doing it

Not much else to report. It's about to get COLD again, so we stocked up the wood last night. That is, of course, after a rain snow mix rolls through, AGAIN. I don't think they're calling for much, but it is supposed to drop to 19 tonight, which isn't good for anything wet. I've only got Cowboy and Coyote this week, so not a huge work load, and the weather is supposed to break by Friday when I've got to do barn chores where Storm is again, so that's a good thing. I'm just not looking forward to chipping up frozen poop out of the area where Cowboy and Coyote's hay feeder is.

 

[hqueen13]

Thanks FEM.
The expo was good, it ran very smoothly, with a couple of very minor exceptions. I was pleased with how easily everything went through. She let me go an hour early, and while I hated to loose the time, I was relieved that I was able to start down the road before the roads got bad from the snow storm that was rolling in. I called the BF to let him know I was on the way to the barn, and he told me to let him know when I was about 30 minutes away and he would come down to help me. I would never have asked him to do it, because I know he doesn't want to be in that barn, but I was so so grateful that he offered. We stopped for dinner on the way home, and then I was able to get home early enough to take a shower and get some things unpacked. I'm still exhausted today, but all things considered, I'm doing ok. I think I'm going to leave the office earlier than normal, so I can go home and soak in the tub and do some laundry and catch up a little bit more. I found a blister on my toe this morning so I definitely need to stay off my feet for a bit as much as possible.
The show was good, and ran as smooth as it ever has, with only one real bump in the road. They did a "rescue to stardom" competition where trainers worked with a rescue horse to get them started and show off their skills. It ran WAY longer than it should have, but everyone that I was working with was super about having to wait and work with the time that things were supposed to be happening. I was very grateful for that! We only had a couple snafus with people being rude, but most of them came around by the end of the show (thankfully generally by the next day!). I even got some time to shop on Sunday, which was really nice. One of the early days I actually sent a friend out to get some pants for me that were in the clearance bin. I got a pair of Back on Track therapeutic pants for only $25! They're mens cut, but I don't really care, they were cheap! I wore them Saturday and Sunday, and I think they really helped. My feet hurt, so now I need their socks, too, but my knees were much better than the first few days. I also splurged on myself on Sunday and bought a Ukoala purse/bag thing. It's one of those that goes around your waist and has a strap around your leg, too. It's really nice, and I think I'll be able to carry it easily, I just have to figure out what to put in it to replace my other bag that I carry all the time.
While I was gone, the BF did a bunch of stuff for me, too. He did some cleaning, which was nice, but they he made me a zipper pouch to hold my computer cords for my laptop for work, and a sleeve to put the laptop in. It's adorable with foxes on it! He even lined both of them with a matching fabric, and figured out how to put the zipper in by himself! I was super impressed (I don't even like zippers! LOL). He got total brownie points for this weekend for sure!
I haven't heard from my friends that are always out of town, but I expect I will by tomorrow. We'll see anyway, but that will probably pick back up again. So it goes. I have the bills covered for March, and should have enough to order the new boots in a week or so, I have to wait to get in touch with him once they are back in NY at their home base where their warehouse is. He said he'll search for odd boots to see if he can find me a matching pair.
So good stuff, but now I need some recovery time!

 

[baymule]

For stomach flu and even food poisoning, I use Apple Cider Vinegar and honey, mixed half and half. I keep a bottle of it, mixed, all the time. Put about 2 fingers worth in a cup of cold water and SIP on it. Even if you throw it up, enough will get in your system to help. Finish the cup of water, sip slowly. ACV is nature's disinfectant and kills the "bad bugs" that are making you sick, while not harming the beneficial bacteria that your body needs.

In 30 to 45 minutes, the diarrhea and vomiting will usually stop. Then go to bed and sleep it off.

For dehydration, mix 5 spoonfulls of sugar and 1 spoonful of salt in a glass of water. Again, slowly SIP on it. The sugar/salt solution forms an electrolyte solution. When you are throwing up water, or it is running right through you, the sugar/salt solution will be absorbed by your body.

By the way, none of this tastes that great, but it will save you days and days of running at both ends and wanting to die.

 

[Britesea]

One thing to think about, is that if you move heaven and earth to accommodate them, they will figure no big deal, and you can expect them to do this kind of thing again.

 

[hqueen13]

Yes, FEM, that is such a blessing! I'm really grateful for her help, and it works well for both of us. She gets experience, and I get help so I can actually have TIME to ride.
This week is WAY busier than I'd like, and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I just launched a group program in my business, and while it's tiny it's consuming a lot of my focus, even though I haven't worked on it nearly as much as I need to yet!
In addition to that I'm doing a couple free card readings to get my feet wet because the deck is something that really resonated with me.
Add on top of that not being home for several weekends due to the work on my friend's farm and things at home are messy and gross. The floors are dirty and there's quite a bit of laundry that needs to be done, and the chinchilla cage is WAY over due for cleaning. And of course, the shed project and the driveway are stalled out. Which I guess is ok since we don't have nearly the funds that I thought we had available for that.
We really need to get organized and cook at home, and we always seem to be missing an ingredient that is needed for some dish or meal. I have to stop by the store on the way home to grab bread crumbs so we can make burgers.
So yeah, things are crazy tight and it seems like there's no light at the end of the tunnel at the moment.
And of course as I type this I look out the office window and see a small bunny. So I guess the universe is watching out for me. I'm just really ready to be in a different kind of energy because this is getting old.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Just a note to add - instead of breadcrumbs for burgers, you can put some oatmeal in a blender and grind it up and use that; it doesn't add any taste and works really well. Actually, I stopped adding anything to the ground beef for burgers beyond seasoning - but I buy 85% lean or better burger.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Wednesday I have NO WHERE to go, which is so exciting!

Don't say that out loud, or it'll be like a great big black hole and dozens of things will need to be addressed! Just stay quietly in bed with the blankets over your head and hope that nobody notices that you have a day to yourself!

 

[Britesea]

Don't get rid of your violets! Do this instead!
http://kitchenlane.com/2017/04/homemade-violet-liqueur.html

 

[hqueen13]

My parents arrived yesterday evening later than they originally expected, but that shouldn't surprise me by now. They always find trouble to get into along the way! This time it was a lavender farm or something like that. Good for them for being retired... but I would have liked to have had them there earlier, but oh well. I actually got everything done that I wanted to get done, and it was finished by the time I THOUGHT they were getting here. They did manage to roll in just before a huge rain storm that dumped 1 3/8" in about 45 minutes. We got the car unloaded just before it hit, so that was good. But then we waited until after it blew over before we left so that I could run down to the HR's farm and then we grabbed dinner. I didn't want to eat out, but we had planned to cook burgers, and that wasn't going to work so well since it was storming. So it goes.
I'm in the office for a long day, then I have to go do barn chores and then stop at HR's for the final visit. I think I'm going to leave a little earlier than I would for the barn, and stop to take care of the cats first. The kittens have made a mess of the crates, so I'm going to clean that up a bit, and let them have some play time in the daughter's room. I haven't let them out in 2 days and I'm sure they're ready to run around a little. They've been so much calmer since the 3rd one has been at the vet's office because he ate part of the towel in his crate (long story..... you probably don't want to know....). At least if I get the cats done before the barn then all I'll have to do is stop back by and put the ponies in their stall really quickly, so it won't take me but a minute or two. Hopefully it won't be storming, there's more rain in the forecast again.
After tonight I won't have to be back in a barn until Wednesday evening when Cowboy and Coyote's owners leave. That's a bit of a relief!
The storm last night was pretty bad, especially down where HR is (which is where we used to live). This morning driving down to the office after I left her place the corn fields were FLATTENED. I don't think I've ever seen it that bad. There were lots of limbs down and debris along the roads. It wasn't that bad at our house, other than the fact that the rain dumped fast.
Not much else to report. I have no idea when we're leaving to head down to the beach, but the break will be nice. I'm hoping we can get a few things done around the house before we leave, too. The gardens desperately need to be weeded, and I need to get the nasty invasive vine out of the azaleas. I think the BF wants to try to finish up the siding on the shed, too, which is almost done now that he has the soffit in place. He also has to install the little window, and build the doors and then we'll be ready to move everything and tear down the old one! I'm SO excited about that!

 

[hqueen13]

Thanks yall!
We had a great trip, though the first several days were HOT HOT HOT. Geez. Finally, Monday night the weather broke and Tuesday was gorgeous. Well, cloudy and it started raining in the afternoon, but so nice to be outside and not roasting. We spent too much money, and had a lot of fun, and came home earlier than planned so that we could keep working on stuff on Wednesday. Dad and the BF worked on the shed some more, and then went to the dump to get a load of mulch. Mom and I followed the shade around the house and got a lot of weeding done. She helped me get the nasty vines out of several of the shrubs and get weed killer painted on them to try to kill them (again). I can't wait to get everything mulched down so that it looks nice. The BF bought more garden edging a while back, and it will be great to get that put in and have everything looking good. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it after that again.

Other than that, not much to report. Mom and dad don't leave until tomorrow, and then I'll have to get everything picked up real quick since KN comes in Fri night. I'll be exhausted most of the weekend, but hopefully we can take it fairly easy. I'd like to keep working on projects, but we'll see how that goes.

Before we left for the beach (while it was so cussed hot) mom and dad started to help me get the records organized that had been left in the house. We started making a list of them just to try to figure out what we have, in case we have anything that's worth something. We have recorded 120 45's already. We didn't even start the 78's or whatever.... who knows how many of them there are. It's going to be a chunk of change to whoever wants to purchase them from us for sure. I hope that we can get that wrapped up soon so that we can get them OUT of the house. They need to move on. It's past time. There's also a tent that we need to get sold, too, but that will happen as soon as we start moving stuff around in the shed. Hopefully that will be soon, too. We'll see how that goes.

Not much else to report at this point. Just trying to keep things moving along and not exhaust myself in the process!