Resuming normalcy.
Yes Dino and other readers, it has been some time since my last Blog entry. Thank you Dino, for hte peer pressure. Here is the scoop.
We learned last month that my significant other type person’s father is terminally ill. He has been hospitalized since late October and while we thought he was improving, he frankly is not. He was released to home hospice care nearly two weeks ago now.
So, since October either Kevin or myself (rarely both as it is not at all easy to find reliable people to care for all of our animals) have been traveling to Chicago to help his mother to pay the bills, grocery shop, visit his father in the hospital and keep the house standing and in good repair. Damn Chicago plumbers and their outrageous prices, but I digress.
I have been diligently working to finish the kitchen remodel that I began last fall so that I can clean all of our kitchen implements and food from the dining room, which will be turning into our hospice care room within the next week or two (the parents are moving in with us so that we can help them both through this stage of life).
The parents have a big house full of knick-knacks (what I consider clutter) that they have been sending home with us by the carload. So now I am contending with piles of vases, tee shirts, plant stands, baskets, craft items, figurines and the like. The Neighbor’s Place and Salvation Army will be tired of seeing me soon!
On the home front, for those who have been reading this, both the tractor (broken water pump) and backhoe (dead starter) are now in working order! My sled has been retired for two whole weeks now!! The downside is that I am not exercising as much as I had been, but chores no longer take two hours to complete.
The new excitement here is a game we call Musical Horses.
With all of the snow, our electric fencer has grounded out. One smart and devious horse (Mirelle) discovered this fact and somehow learned to squeeze herself under the top line of fencing while stepping over the bottom two lines, thus entering other horse’s pastures. She loves to do this at feeding time, so that she can eat the older horse’s grain. Mirelle is not in need of any grain, much less the high-fat diet that my old Trakehner mares eat, so this causes some consternation on my part. I have resorted to throwing frozen horse apples at her to send her back to her own pasture. Not my proudest moment, but one does what one must.
Brillar, who lives on the other side of the old Trakehner mares has also discovered this secret skill. Each evening I find him waiting for dinner in a pasture that is not his own. Once removed and fed where he belongs, at least he stays put (until the next night).
Another bit of good news is that our automatic waterers have been working as they should for the past month! That is, until it warmed up on Friday. One still works, the other is somehow now frozen. How the heck that is even possible, I do not know. At least I am quite proficient at fixing the darn thing.
My big plan for this morning is to change the configuration of the flow of electricity to the fences in the pastures so that they once again will zap naughty horses. I think this is possible, but will have to report back later to see if I am in fact correct in my assumption. Please, please let me be right!
This afternoon I am driving to Eau Claire to help a client to film some footage of several horses that she is offering for sale. Since most buyers of our Warmblood horses (in her case they are Dutch) come from out of state, video is of the essence. Thank you You Tube for satisfying potential buyer’s with instant gratification! Of course, due to the time of year, the horses are massive hair balls… let’s just hope that they are cooperative hairballs. If nothing else, it is always pleasant to be around baby horses (those that we are filming are slightly less than one year old) as well as spending time with a fellow horse lady. The biggest problem that I am likely to face is keeping myself from bringing more horses home with me… she has one big mare that I covet, and a two year old that would be a dream… control yourself Billie!
anonemoose said:
Billie,
I feel very selfish but I’m glad you are back. I am very sorry to hear about your significant other’s father. You are facing a new and different normal. My thoughts are with you both as you face this journey together.
If you are working with the electrical fence this afternoon, I, for one, expect a report when you are finished. It can be extremely brief - just enough for the readers to know that you haven’t hurt yourself in the process.
Have a safe trip to Eau Claire and yes, control yourself with the horse buying.
I’m glad to see you back.
moose
February 24th, 2008 at 9:00 am #
Billie said:
Moose,
While I did spend hours and hours working to energize the fence, the darned thing is still not working. It seems to be grounding out but I can not tell where or why. Great frustration!
Billie
February 26th, 2008 at 11:14 am #