Ever have one of those days where every time you're turning around you're saying duh? Well, today was one of those days for me. It didn't start out that way. In fact, it started out quite good.
DS needed some parts for his car. DH ordered them, and for some reason had them delivered to our house instead of DS's. And, he wanted me to take them to him. We had no idea when they'd get here. I also needed to take the back wheel from the bike to a shop and have them put a new tire on it. Plus, I had to go to DMV and renew registrations. So, I figured I'd go out to the farm, come home, eat some lunch and hope that the parts where there. Then, I could go and run my errands.
I was reading my Bible. I had a load of clothes ready to hang out, and a load of sheets in the washer. I was going to hang them out when I got home at lunch time. I heard someone talking near my front door. So, I put down my Bible, and went to the door. There was a package! It was DS's parts. So, I changed my plans. I decided to take lunch w/me to the farm. And, I'd take the parts and do all my errands from the farm. Plus, I decided to hang the sheets out instead of waiting since I had no idea when I'd get back.
I get to the farm and get everyone fed. I go to clean the field. I couldn't understand why there was so much manure in it. After all, I had just cleaned it. Then it hit me. I hadn't cleaned the field over the weekend. I hadn't gotten it all cleaned on Monday. And, I didn't clean it at all yesterday. Duh! So, I got it cleaned up. I went to dump it. I took the tailgate off of the cart. I get back on the mower and start to move. Nothing comes out of the cart. Duh, I forgot to hit the dump latch.
I was thirsty so I decided to stop at Wawa and get some iced tea. This was B4 1:30. I got home B4 4:00. In that time, I had to go to the bathroom 3 times! (The last time was at home.) 1 time was while I was waiting for my tire. They had no restroom there, so I had to use one at a gas station. I would have rather used the woods-and I did NOT sit down. Then, I had to go at my son's, then when I got home. Duh, this iced tea acts as a diuretic on me. I should not drink it if I'm not near a bathroom.
But, I got home just in time. We had a shower move thru. I just barely got the laundry down B4 it hit. It didn't last long, but it would have been just enough to get everything too wet to take down. And, I wouldn't have gotten it all down if I hadn't "run" to get the 2nd load in the house. I still can't really run, but I sure did try!
Hubby has finally been working to get my chicken coop built. And, I NEED it done. I need to get my chickens moved and penned up. Yesterday, one of the other roosters got in where my chickens are and chased Ralph all over. And, w/Ralph only having 1 eye, it really makes it hard for him to compete. The rooster also wouldn't leave. I had to literally CHASE it out of there. Then, I went in the calf house they're using for shelter, got Ralph out of the corner, and best I could, checked him over to be sure he wasn't hurt.
2 weeks ago is when hubby started working on it. He didn't have time to finish it. He was going to do it last Saturday and we had off and on showers. So, he was going to do it this Saturday. They had been calling for a really nice day. So, I had hoped we could get it all done, then get it out there, get everything all set up, make a fire, cook dinner over it, and have cake. (It's my birthday) Instead, they're calling for rain again. Sunday's supposed to be nice, but I'm not going to miss evening church for chickens, so I'm hoping we can get it built either this evening, or tomorrow, then get it out there on Sunday at the latest.
As of right now, it's not supposed to. And, they're calling for showers the following Saturday as well. I think we're just going to have to get it done tomorrow, and then take it out and set it up one evening.
Today was windy. And, I had to take my bike. (DS has his father's SUV, so DH has my truck.) And, it's supposed to get even windier, so I went as early as I could out to the farm. My plan was to feed, clean manure, work in Honey's stall, give Storm his 2nd feeding, back feed, clean the litter box, feed the cats and be home by 1:00. That way, I figured I could hide in the house when it was it's windiest.
Get to the farm. CL is out of feed. (I'm back to feeding her horses.) Someone got a new bag for her-and stuck it in my cart. That meant I had to take it in where it belonged and dump it. I didn't really want to do that because her horses are a pain, but once I had my guys fed, I did it anyway. The gate into her field is a pain because it won't stay open, and it only opens the one way. So, that meant I had to find a way to prop the gate open, get out and close the gate again w/out her horses escaping. I was able to do it, and hope this doesn't become a habit. While I don't mind driving it over if someone is there to help, I DON'T want people to just assume I'm going to do it by myself. It's not my responsibility.
Got all the manure cleaned up out of the field again. It's so easy now that I have the cart and the field is clean. If I can keep it this way, it will make my life so much easier. About the only thing I think I won't put in there is if there's parts of the RB they won't eat. I'll use a muck bucket for that. Then I can put it on top of Mt. Manure. It will help it to break down quicker.
Got started on Honey's stall again. I got ALL of the loose manure out of there! Plus, I started getting the stuff that's packed down! I should finish that tomorrow. Then, I have just one more stall that needs to be totally cleaned out. There's some in Misty and Stormy's stalls, but nothing like what was in the other stalls. W/that all cleaned out, my life will become so much easier. It will then just be a matter of finishing the stalls and putting the stone down in them.
Once I had that done, I put everything away. And, I decided to do 1 more thing B4 I left since it was still a little too early to feed Storm, and I didn't want to do more to the stall today. I was asked a few times if I'd lend out my 70 gallon tank. And, I've repeatedly said no. I'll be sectioning off a portion of my field soon and putting down grass seed. Once I do that, the horses will not be able to get to the auto waterer. So, that tank will be their only source of water. RU has part of a 55 gallon barrel that was cut to use for water. I told them to use that. I got to the farm the other day, and MY TANK WAS OUT OF MY FIELD AND IN ANOTHER FIELD!!!!!! The only reason I didn't move it then was because it was FULL of water. Well, today I dumped it. I put the barrel in it's place, and filled that w/water. My tank is in my trailer where it will stay until I'm ready to fill it.
I let Storm out, and was going to leave him out until 1:00. Well, I changed my mind. Both PT and KN showed up. I really wasn't in the mood to talk to them, so I put him and Misty away sooner and left.
I will be so glad when I have my area all done. Then, everything that's loose will be under lock and key. The tank will be kept full so I don't have to worry about someone else deciding to borrow it. The water dish that I use for camping trips will be out only when I have Stormy (and Misty) out in the parking area. That way, it is not being used by CL's dogs for a pool. It is not being used by the ducks. It's gotten to the point where I'm thinking everyday that I have 1 less day I need to come out to the farm.
Sorry you had a bad day at the farm (good day work wise, just frustrating, right?)
Sometimes, the best laid plans... I hope you end up having a nice birthday, anyway
Every year, I ask my guys for one thing - a homemade cake - for my birthday. I always make them a cake of their choosing for their birthday, plus their favorite meal, homemade (DS#1 used to test my limits with that - one year it was fajitas(which I had NEVER made before then), another it was Chinese food (another first for me), complete with egg rolls!). One year, the guys decided they'd just take me to the grocery store 'so I could pick out my own cake' - which I guess they thought was the same as homemade -except DS#2 started crying because he wanted me to pick HIS favorite cake, so I finally did. I have decided that, this year, I will bake my own cake the night before.
Well, they've changed the forecast again. Now we're supposed to get rain on Saturday and showers on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. And, the day I want it to rain, they're calling for nice weather.