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

[abifae]

Ugh. I grew up with a drunk and I'm with you.

 

[Denim Deb]

Today at work we were back working in the stream. She's talked about cleaning it out for quite some time now, just never got around to it. But, w/all the rain we had last Sunday and w/how badly it flooded, she decided it's time. The water is still high. Normally, I can step across it and stay completely dry. Or, if I do choose to walk thru it, it's only a couple of inches deep. So, we did the smart thing-we wore shorts, boots and no socks. And, we found out that the stream is MUCH deeper than she realized! Quite truthfully, except for the spots that she has already for stream crossings, we cannot cross the stream w/out getting water well over the top of our boots, so we didn't even ATTEMPT to go in in most spots. But even so, I had water come over the top of my left boot 2x. So, they're upside down on a couple of step in posts drying out.

After work, I went to the feed store, then the farm. I had my DD call me wanting to know if I was OK. I was a bit puzzled, couldn't figure out why she'd be concerned. That's when I learned about the earthquake. I didn't feel a thing. And, I've talked to a couple of others who were driving who didn't feel anything. So, apparently, if you're driving during a mild (?) earthquake, you won't even know it.

I got more of the weeding done. I'm still not finished. I would have been but KN had put down a bunch of these snap together mats she trash picked. I forget now why she put them down. I hate them. When it's hot out, you burn your feed if you're barefoot. When it's wet out, or if they're snow covered, they're slick as snot. And, they have a ton of weeds coming up between them. So, I spent some time today getting them up. I still have a couple more to do, but ran out of time. I had my chiro's appointment today.

 

[Denim Deb]

I got a call from RU tonight. She really, really, really needed me to come to the farm. One of her horses was stuck, and she had no idea how she was going to get her out of there. And, at first, she hadn't even been able to find the horse.

Attached to the back of her barn is a large run-in shed. Part of this is sectioned off to store RBs. The horses had tried to get to them, and she had had to chase them out. She didn't realize that the horses had apparently chased one of them OVER the RBS! She was in a gap, just barely big enough for her. On her left, was the side wall to the run in. In front of her, next to her and behind her, there were RBs. She brought the tractor in, and tried to move one. But, the horses had been eating on this one, and we couldn't use the tractor to move it. We pulled as much out as we could, then she was able to use the tractor to get some of it out. But the problem was the next RB. It was not at a good angle to get to w/the tractor. We couldn't push it forward, and we weren't having much luck moving it by hand. But, it had to be done. Finally, the BO, her DH, another boarder and myself were able to tip it. This meant that there was now enough room for the horse to get out. But, she was too scared.

RU gave me a boost to the top of the RB. I was able to get in front of her, and get her to back out, then turn around. Believe me, she was happy to get out of there! She's now in a stall. RU will be checking on her to make sure she doesn't colic, or anything.

I forgot my shorts today, but in a way I'm glad I did. At work, we worked more on the stream. And, the one area we worked on had a ton of stickers. My arms got stuck at times. But, since I had on jeans, other than having them snap a couple of times, I didn't get stuck.

It doesn't seem possible. I'm down to single digits! At this time next week, I'll be almost done work.

OK, I'm falling asleep, so good night, all.

 

[TanksHill]

sleep well!!

 

[savingdogs]

If the earthquake is strong enough you feel it in the car! I'm glad you were okay though.

 

[Farmfresh]

Horses will get themselves into the worst predicaments! I am glad you were able to get her out without any one getting hurt.

Reminds me of a time when I was still giving lessons. The stable where I worked was about half full of pricy Thoroughbreds getting started and learning to break from a gate. I was outside giving a lesson in the round pen when a boarder girl came screaming that a horse was hung up in the stall wall! I could just imagine one of those high strung pricey Thoroughbreds dangling by a leg!!

We raced to the barn to find one of our old lesson geldings, a 16.3 hand, 25 year old Quarter Horse calmly waiting for us - back foot through a rail of the stall wall. Old fool was kicking at the stallion. We just went in grabbed a foot and shoved him out. I even think he was embarrassed!

 

[abifae]

wow deb! lol. glad you got everyone unstuck

 

[FarmerJamie]

Hey Deb, stay safe the next few days!!!! I remember what you said about evacuation routes a few months ago. Let us know.

 

[Denim Deb]

Believe me, w/this storm, I'm staying put! There's not really any place I could go to get away from it. Chances are, they'll be no church on Sunday morning. I'm sticking a RB out for the horses either tomorrow, or Saturday at the latest. I'm hoping I can wait until Saturday. It's going to depend on the storm.

OK, do I need to get a shower tonight or not? Every morning I check the forecast to see what I'm taking, the truck or the bike. I knew there was a chance for showers later in the day, so I checked the hourly forecast to see when they were expected to hit. And, according to that, I was good up until around 6:00 pm. Only problem w/that was that it meant I wouldn't be going horseback riding. (Hubby plays poker on Thursdays, so I'm trying to go riding then.) So, I took my bike.

Well, either TWC lied, or they were just plain wrong! It got really cloudy while I was at work. I had started on stalls, then we went out and worked some more on the stream. Tomorrow, I need to take a bucket w/me-there's a bunch of ripe elderberries at that spot! She had someone coming at 10:00 or so, so the idea was that while they were there, I could finish the stalls, then we'd go back out and work some more. We had both the pickup and the loader bucket full when the person arrived. So, we left them in the field. I had 1 stall left to do, some manure to pick up in the field, sweep the aisle, and I'd be done the barn. I get the aisle swept, and felt a couple of drops or rain. Great, just great. I went over to my bike, started it up, put my helmet on and rode it around to the hay/tractor barn. I parked it in front of the one tractor. That meant it was out of the way. Then, I head back to the pickup. The windows were down and we had tools sitting around. I got everything put away just in time. Then, I drove the pickup, then the tractor out of the field.

The person who had come had left, so the boss comes out. I take the tractor back to the burn pile, she takes the truck. Part of the load fell off of the truck, but I didn't see it. It was pouring by this time, and there was some thunder and lightening. I'm praying that God will keep me safe. I dump the tractor and head back to the barn. I'm almost there when she comes along w/the truck. So, I park the tractor, jump in the pickup, and we go unload it, then go back, I get the tractor, and we head for the barn. We get them both in, we're both soaked to the skin-and it stops raining. I had a dry pair of shorts w/me, as well as a sweat shirt I had worn when I was riding over. We get in the house, I change into them. We throw my soaking wet clothes in the washer on the rinse cycle just to get any loose stuff of of them, then in the dryer. By the time I got into my shorts, it had started to rain again. And, it continued to rain for at least an hour. My lunch was at the farm, so she gave me a PB and J sandwich. It finally stopped, I put my dry clothes back on, and went to the farm. From the radar pics, and the forecast, I thought I would be OK for the rest of the day. I wanted to get some more of the weeding done. It didn't happen.

As soon as I got to the farm, I gave Stormy his 2nd feeding, then went and checked out my tack shed. The windows were wide opened, and I was sure I was going to have to mop up a big puddle. Very little of the rain actually came in, so it was fine. I close the windows, bag feed for Honey for a week, then let Misty in w/Stormy. By then, it was starting to rain a little again. That meant I wasn't about to work outside. But, I noticed that CL was there, and I wanted to talk to her. So, I head down to her tack shed. I get down there, we talk for a bit, and it stops. She has a mini that she wanted to let out of her field for a bit so it could graze. Only problem being, she can't catch him. She's telling me about how KN can catch him, but she doesn't know how she does it, and she doesn't know what to do. So of course, I offer to catch him. I think I impressed her. W/out using a lead rope, w/out using any grain, w/out chasing him around, w/no fancy equipment, just body language, I had him caught in about 5 minutes. She hands me a lead rope, and I take him out. She tied him like a dog, and we kept an eye on him. This can be dangerous, but he was fine. Then, it starts to rain again, so we go back in her tack shed.

And, we talk some more. She wants me to teach her how to do some of the stuff I do, and she'll pay me! RU calls on the cell, and we talk to her. W/the hurricane moving up the coast, there's a very real possibility that we won't have any power. So, that means no water for the horses that have automatic waterers. LF has a stock tank in her field. Normally, she uses it if she's feeding loose hay. She's going to fill it up. The tank in my field is almost full. I don't know if I'll bother to fill it or not since we could get several inches of rain, and that may be enough to fill it. There's a 100 gallon tank in the riding arena. It's full. If the power goes out, the gate will be opened, and CL's horses will have that water. RU has a 100 gallon tank that wasn't being used. She brought that down to put into KN's field. It needs to be scrubbed out, that will be done tomorrow. So, that takes care of all the fields w/auto waterers. She'll be sure the tanks in the other 2 fields are full.

The mini decided he wanted back in his field, so I unhook him and put him in. It's raining lightly. So I go back to my area, feed my chickens, put out hay, give the cats food and water, put Misty and Stormy back in, and leave. It wasn't raining too terribly hard, but I still got wet.

So, since I already got soaked 2 times today, do I need to take a shower tonight?

 

[sunsaver]

Keep that generator handy and give us regular updates. I'll get worried if you suddenly disappear. I also want a blow by blow accounting of the storm, if your power stays on.