hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

Thanks Cheerio!! Yeah, I think it is affecting people and things, we just don't realize it. I read blogs here, plus journals and things in a few other places and it seems to be a bit of a trend in the last few days of people struggling and having bad days. Heck, last Thursday night I swear half the horses were grumpy! Who knows...

Gah. I just got an ad from Chelsea Green Publishers... they are having a sale. SO many things I really want and could use!!!
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/winter-conference-season-kick-off-sale-save-35/
Gotta include the link so yall can lament with me!

 

[rathbone]

I swear, it is "something in the air". I have had the worst week also. Just trying to hang in there.

 

[hqueen13]

Whew. I am beat. But I managed to get a LOT done. Wahoo!
Came home and turned on some youtube videos to listen to while I was getting some cleaning done, and that made things go much faster. I managed to get all the loads of laundry through and dry and folded with the exception of what is hanging up to dry. I got the table clothes washed, dried and refolded from last weekend's show so they are ready to be put away again.
I got the kitchen cleaned up pretty good, not quite 100% but better than it was anyway, the sink is nice and clean and most of the dishes are done, and the dog bowls are all clean for tomorrow.
I FINALLY got the christmas stuff reboxed and put away, what a huge relief. I might actually be able to soak in my tub tomorrow! (Christmas pile of junk was sitting in front of the tub in our bathroom, strange, I know, but it had to get OUT of the guest bedroom so our riding instructor could stay in there the other weekend!)
I got the stuff to donate to the rescue together when we stop by tomorrow, and I have the prints ready that I am going to take to the frame shop to get framed. I am SO excited to get that project underway so that I can get these beautiful pictures on the WALL where they belong!! Just got to remember to get my groupons out in the morning so I can take them with me.
The youtube videos made my work go so much faster, and it was a quite fascinating discussion. The guy's name is Marshall Rosenberg and he speaks on Nonviolent Communication. I was really fascinated by the difference in approach to communication that he points out and how our society has been set up to communicate in a hierarchical way that creates conflict and thus violence. He's really funny and was enjoyable to listen to, and I was able to groove along getting things done while I listened.

At some point this weekend I need to pull out the frames and mats that I have and check on what I've got that I can put together quickly if work wants to order a couple more of his prints to hang in the office. I have to create a quote for the office so that I can take that in on Monday and they can make the decision and I can get them ordered. The doctor wants them quick fast and in a hurry, and I am just not going to skip making sure the boss man knows the prices and is a'ok with everything.

Tomorrow:
Get up early, head to the frame shop by 9 when they open.
Hope it doesn't take too long at the frame shop come home and work the horse.
If the other half isn't home by then come back into the house and do more cleaning/organizing.
When he gets home we'll head out for the errands:
Stop by the bank drop a couple checks in
Go to the rescue and pick up chin food and drop off the few items to donate
Stop by Lowes to check on the canning rings/lids that someone said were on sale (probably missed the sale by now, but hey, worth a shot)
Stop by Target to buy a magnetic whiteboard so we can better keep track of what is in our freezers
Go to TSC to check on hay pellets, over the stall buckets, and electric fence parts
Check at the Mill for any of the above that we don't get at TSC and compare prices on their electric fence parts
If time allows stop at the Gun shop and show the owner the gloves that he found and also have him check the repaired site that he has on the M4.

Sunday will be a trip to the grocery store after we get the freezer organized and figure out what the heck we have, plus clean out the fridge cause there is a lot of crap in there that is just plain bad. UGH. Sunday afternoon we'll just spend here relaxing, I might have to check in with some stuff for the equestrian center, and then we'll hopefully watch the probowl and I'll call mom in the evening. I am just so excited to get some of these things checked off my list!

 

[hqueen13]

ALRIGHT!
Great day....

Got to the frame store faster than I thought, and ended up hanging around. Lucked out by managing to park next to a meter on a side street that was broken. I put 3 nickels into it to make sure, and it was, so I left the truck praying that nobody would notice. (and nobody did!). I spent an hour working with the lovely lady and she really helped me sort through some options. I have a distinct love of velvet mats, and we ended up picking one out, along with another mat. I was really leaning to the velvet (of course) but when we started putting frames it turns out the other one looked a lot better with the best frame. The mat is more subtle with texture, but the frame really sets off the pictures. I just can't wait to see them done. The first one will be done in 2 weeks, and then I'll put the deposit down on the next one, and then the third 2 weeks after that. It slightly eases the pressure on the bank that way, or at least it does some. That's what I'll keep telling myself anyway.

Got home and had a great session with the horse. He's really still developing his strength and balance, especially at the canter and he is scrambling worse than a gaited horse right now. Its quite funny, really. He isn't throwing a temper tantrum and trying to get out of the work though, which is the awesome part. I'm able to manage him on the end of the 45' line (though I do need to make sure that the knot and loop at the end is more secure, just in case I need to really be an anchor.

Let him graze a bit while my friend and I caught up for a few minutes, and then came up to the house and got a few more things done. I cleaned up the kitchen from the dog bowls of the morning and threw the sheets from the spare bed in the washer since he was sleeping in there earlier in the week when he was sick (still need to get those out of the dryer actually...). I also managed to figure out how to get the sticky off of the peanut butter jars I have been saving and reusing. The sticky was exceptionally pesky, and I didn't want to scrub it with Lemon oil because it would have taken a lot of it, and while the Lemon is one of the cheapest essential oils I would rather not use it all up on that. What I did figure out is that the trick of using warm vinegar DOES work! I discovered the vinegar when the other half got gum embedded in the knee of his pant while photographing a wedding. Found it online, just warm up some white vinegar and then use a toothbrush. Takes the sticky RIGHT of the peanut butter jar, too!

About that time he got home and so we headed out to run errands. We stopped by the gun shop and so he could have his site leveled and chatted with the owner and his wife for a little while before heading up the road. Picked up the Chin food and finally made it up to TSC. Wandered around the store and ended up finding several deals. Picked up an extra pack of heat tape on clearance. Also found live traps, they were selling the medium size trap (for coons and such) WITH the small rabbit trap for only $25.00! We had been planning on getting a trap to deal with the ground hogs come spring, and this was an even better deal! Picked up hay pellets and finally found the over the rail buckets that I had been looking for forever. Stopped by Lowes on the way home and they were out of the clearance ball lids that someone posted about on here before, but we did pick up two little dry erase boards that we'll be able to put on the side of the fridge to keep track of what we have in the freezer, which should help a lot.

Finally came home and crashed, and soaked in the tub which felt really good. Had balsamic vinegar and mozzarella on toasted bread tonight which was really good. Relaxing now for a while. Got lots to do again tomorrow, including organizing the freezer

 

[Icu4dzs]

That was some day. I got tired just reading it. Lucky the meter was broken. That can be ugly when they come around and you can't prove they were YOUR nickels,
A 45 foot lounge line means you have a very large ring to train that horse. Are you planning to ride dressage?
Nice to know what is going on back in the "old country".
Trim sends
//BT//

 

[rathbone]

At the risk of being boring I am going to say the exact same thing - I got tired just reading what you accomplished.
Sounds like someone is feeling waaay better! Glad you are kicking that cold to the curb.

 

[hqueen13]

We have a 100' x 200' arena, so yeah, we have a bit of space, thankfully it wasn't frozen or TOO sloppy, which is normally the struggle in winter. We also have a 60' round pen as well.

Sometimes I don't know where the energy comes from, and yes, I am feeling better FINALLY! Now I am just sick of this house being a wreck! LOL That is a large part of my motivation to get it back in shape again. Takes a lot of work and a lot of time, and I am often short on the time.

Started watching my boss's horses yesterday evening while he's out on a business trip and discovered that Ice, HIS horse (if you know what I mean) came in limping. Boss didn't bother to tell me or nothin'... Typical of him though. I texted him and he says "oh yeah, I think he's getting an abscess on his right front...." GREAT. So now I have to figure out if I need to do anything for him while he's gone. I just HOPE I don't need to soak his foot, I don't really have that kind of time! I will if it needs to be done, I'd rather do that than wrap it, but again, if it must be done I'll care for him. He seemed a wee bit better tonight, I'll pick his hoof out in the morning again and see what I find. I would like to use some Essential Oils on it to try to help him heal, but I really don't want to do anything that will draw it out any faster that might cause me to have to soak it. Oh well, I'll just wait on it and see what happens.

Got home this evening and really didn't accomplish much. Getting home more than an hour late is not enjoyable, the sun is almost down, and there is still enough junk lying around in the house that it makes it hard for me to get motivated since its overwhelming enough that it seems too daunting to really attack. I've been able to maintain the kitchen a bit better than we have in the past, which is good, but that doesn't address the rest of it...

Had a fun day at work avoiding doing my normal work Worked with our new IT guy this morning to go over the computers in the office to assess what needs to be done with them and build up a spreadsheet with all the important info about each of them. We have quite a bit of work to do to make sure that all the computers are running as smoothly as they should, several of them are going to need to be replaced, and it will be a matter of deciding which to replace, and which can be moved downward to some lesser areas where we do not need as much power or speed. We'll have to see how that plays out. We've done a bit of remodeling since we changed some things around a few months ago and we finally got new furniture for the rooms, so I helped put together the chairs this afternoon. I enjoy putting things together so it was a fun way to avoid doing my own work Along with the upgrade they want some more photographs that my other half has taken, so that will be cash in our pocket once I get them done. I want approval just to make sure that they're ok paying us $250.00 to purchase these framed pictures. Then I gotta actually take the time to frame them! That is the pain in the rear end part since I am cutting the mats myself. I think I've got enough of the matboard to do two with... otherwise I'm going to have to go buy a couple more sheets... UGH.

I just hope I don't need to do much this week while I am taking care of the boss's horses. I just don't have much energy. At least it is only until Wendesday, and then our horses here on Thursday evening and then my other friend's horses (the easiest pair!) Friday and Saturday morning. Every day a different group, but thankfully this time none overlap. Now if the weather still holds I'll be doing good.

 

[rathbone]

You said something about getting home an hour late and it being too daunting to tackle the house. I know that feeling well. For me, I tend to be really all or nothing though, so I am working really hard at tackling small piles when I have only a few minutes. This however is very difficult for me. So it is a work in progress. So hard when there really isn't enough time in the day. Sounds like you are accomplishing an amazing amount though.

 

[hqueen13]

thanks Rathbone. I just loose the energy and motivation when I get home so late. I don't know if its the extra energy of taking care of the horses or if it is just the fact that it puts me home so much later, but either way I just can't get much done. This afternoon and one more day and I'll be done. Then it is our horses on Thursday evening, and the easy pair on Friday into Saturday. Could be much worse At least I don't have any doubled up this week, THAT is a real challenge!!

Just found out today that one of my coworkers is moving to FL, and is getting rid of a LOT, including her Pub height kitchen table and chairs. It is my dream table, it has a leaf in the middle that opens up and makes the table square, rather than longer. She's selling me the entire set for just $50.00!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I don't think its going to fit so well in our kitchen, but oh well! I am so damn excited about the table it isn't funny!! $50.00!!! That's it!!! We have a decent table from Ikea that we should be able to sell for a nice amount, I'm not sure if we'll get $50.00 for it, but we should be able to get some for it, so that'll help off set the cost even more!! Yeah, I've been like that for most of the day, LOL. She's got a few other things to sell, but I don't know that I want any of them. Thankfully she's also going to bring it over in pieces in her truck, and we'll load it into my truck so I won't have to go pick it up. Makes my life pretty easy!! I just can't wait!

Off to take care of the horses. My other half is home already so I'll go pick him up so we can go together, and then hopefully I can get a few more things done. I've got to get some supplements out for Storm, and unbury our kitchen table so we can take pictures of it and sell it soon.

 

[rathbone]

Congrats on the table. Isn't it funny how excited we can get over certain things. I sometimes get my heart so set on certain little details. And the details of that table sound very nice indeed.