Not sure what all I'm going to get done today. Hubby's been saying for weeks now that he and I need to go out and do some Christmas shopping. Well, he keeps stopping at a bar on his way home from work. And tonight is the only night we have left to do it. He's going out w/our DD tomorrow night, Saturday I have to get wood and have a Christmas party in the evening, I'm not skipping church Sunday night and I refuse to go Monday evening. Nor do I want to miss the Christmas Eve service at church. I had been going to bring home one of the boys to do in tonight. Instead, I'll be bringing all 3 of them home tomorrow. Any I don't get done can stay in the horse trailer until I'm able to do them. So, my list for today:
1. Work on ironing shirts (done)
2. Wash and hang out a load of laundry (they're in the washer right now)
3. Practice piano (done)
4. Feed animals, put out hay
5. Go to Bible study
6. Clean field and dump cart
7. Feed Stormy and take care of the chickens
8. Do dishes and finish cleaning living room
9. Work on firewood-I need to get the rest of the wood out of the back of my truck
10. Rake up some of the yard-I'll be putting the leaves in old feed bags, taking it to the farm and putting it in w/the chickens
11. Feed goats
12. Work in bedroom
13. Go out w/hubby
14. Work on cleaning out truck? That's going to depend on my time and the weather
Hey, stranger! I was just wondering how you were doing! Miss hearing from you.
It took me longer to hang out the clothes than I'd expected. And, I still had to load the cart. So, I was late getting to the farm, which meant I was late for Bible study. Then I found out we had choir practice, and I didn't have my music w/me. So I had to share w/someone else.
Get back to the farm, get Stormy fed, bag feed and start cleaning the field. I was able to get everything new cleaned up as well as some of the stuff that was frozen. I could have fit more in the cart, but wasn't sure how well I'd be able to pull it if it was completely full-it's OK on flat ground, but I knew there would be some ruts where I needed to go. Get in the back and found out that RU's horses had once again broken thru the electric to get to the hay-and they had hay out. So I dumped the cart, then chased the horses out and fixed the fence. I honestly don't think the electric is working but had no time to check it out. I don't think RU owns a fence tester, but I do. And, since I don't want to be constantly chasing the horses out of there, I'm going to have to find the time after Christmas to check it all out.
Finally get back up to my field. Go to lock up my chickens. I forgot to close the gate from my area behind me, so the chickens got into the parking area. Well, apparently someone moved the gate cuz my pullet couldn't figure out how to get back in. And, 2 of my hens have apparently lost their hearing. Everyone else came in. But my pullet was running up and down along the fence trying to get in thru the fence. RU has a semi trailer body that sits parallel to my field. When my chickens get into the parking area, going under that is one of their favorite places to hang out. And they didn't want to move! So, I had to chase the pullet in, then figure out a way to get the hens out from under the trailer. I used my manure fork.
By the time I got home, it was late. And, I couldn't get down the street! They were doing some work and had equipment and trucks on both sides of the street! They had to move stuff so I could get to my house. For lunch, I had a hash brown patty. The wood was still frozen in place, so I took my splitting wedge and used the backside of it to knock the stuff loose. Got everything out of the back, and put some of that wood and some of the dry stuff I had in the wood holder. Basically I just got enough in for the night.
Fed the goats, then grabbed a rake and started to rake. I had 7 feed bags. They're now full of leaves and are in the back of my truck. Then I started to clean up around the door. While I was doing that, hubby got home. I figured we'd be leaving right away. Nope, he had to sit down and relax for a bit. Then he tells me that someone gave him a gift card to a liquor store and it's near one of the malls in the area and he wants to go there. I ask him if it has an expiration date. When he said no, I suggested that he go another day. Nope, he had to go then. I knew what the traffic was going to be like if we had gone the way he wanted to. I finally had to get on Mapquest, and show him the way I had in mind to get there. We did have stop and go traffic for maybe 2 miles, but it wasn't bad. I hate to think of what the traffic would have been like if we had gone his way.
We get there and he goes in while I wait in the car. I wanted to go back the way we came to get to the mall area. He wanted to go a different way. I knew the traffic would be horrendous going this way, and I was right. It wasn't until we got almost all the way down that I found out why he wanted to go this way. We were supposed to be going out to eat. And he wanted to go to this one pizzeria/bar. If I had known he wanted to go there, I would have told him no. I've eaten there B4, and there is almost NOTHING on the menu that I'll eat. I ended up w/a little bowl of vegetable soup and a cup of coffee. (It wasn't enough. I had to come home and find something to eat.) He ate nothing, but had a couple of drinks.
I don't know if they mixed their decaf and regular coffee or what, but I started getting vertigo attacks. And I feel the way I do when I accidentally get caffeine. Whenever we go out, he always wants to sit at the bar. W/the way I was feeling, sitting on a bar stool was NOT a good idea. So I told him I was going to go and wait in the car. I figured he'd be right out. Nope, there were some guys in there that he knew, and one of them bought him a beer. I sat in the car for almost 20 minutes B4 he came out.
It's now 8:00 and we've done NOTHING. We go in Wally World and while I would have liked to have looked more, I found a couple of things I wanted to get. We check out and go to a local music store. Our son, our DD's boyfriend went in w/us on getting our DD an electric piano. This is a nice one since it has a full key board. She plays by ear, but wants to learn how to play for real. So I wanted to get her some books. I knew what I needed to look for, hubby doesn't-he doesn't play. The guy shows me where the books are. I find a set of 3 lesson books for adults as well as a couple of books of fingering exercises. Hubby is arguing w/me the whole time over what I'm getting. The guy that worked there basically told him that it was a good choice.
We finally leave-20 minutes after their closing time. We're driving home. I can't seem to get him to understand that how he drives-especially at night and when I'm feeling dizzy can trigger vertigo attacks. I was glad when we got off the major road and got on a back road. Then he wants to know if it's possible to get together to get a trailer load of firewood on Saturday. I've gotten wood in the trailer B4. It takes quite a bit of time to load it. Then, it's hard to jack the trailer up enough to unhook it from the truck. On top of that, I have some stuff in there and I'm bringing the roosters home tomorrow. If I don't finish butchering them, I plan on putting them in the trailer until I can. He starts to argue w/me. He doesn't want me to butcher them. He wants me to just get rid of them. I finally told him that I didn't want to discuss it any longer.
I'm exhausted, and didn't get my list all done. I didn't do the dishes. And work on the bedroom consisted of changing the sheets on the bed. If something doesn't change soon, I think I'm going to have to leave. If nothing else, it will hopefully give him a wake up call.
I don't know what all I'm going to get done today. I barely slept last night which makes me think I was right about the coffee. A friend, EH, is away, so I'm feeding her horses this morning. She has someone else doing it the rest of the weekend, they just couldn't do it this morning. And, since I have to go right past there on my way to TSC, it's not a problem. But, that means I can't go back to bed. But even if I could, I doubt that I'd be able to sleep. So, my list for today:
1. Wash and hang out a load of clothes (they're in the washer)
2. Put away a load of clothes
3. Finish the ironing
4. Feed animals and put out hay
5. Put leaves in the chicken pen
6. Feed EH's horses
7. Go to TSC for chicken food
8. Clean field
9. Feed Stormy, bag feed, take care of chickens
10. Send roos to freezer camp
11. Work on firewood
12. Make and eat dinner
13. Wash dishes and finish cleaning kitchen
14. Work on bedroom
I was just too beat to really get stuff done yesterday. It took me awhile to get started, but once I did, I was in slo mo all day. Got everything done at the farm I needed to do B4 leaving for EH's house. I used to work for her, and any time I barn sit for her she has my do a few other things and pays me for it. So, she wanted me to clean the stalls and groom the horses. Then she called me up to tell me that the person who fed them Thursday night said the one horse broke a fence board and could I fix it. Not a problem.
I don't know how much of it was I was beat and how much of it was she had the shaving really deep in the stalls. I don't ever remember them being that deep B4. Normally, I can clean a stall in 10-15 minutes. And that includes dumping and scrubbing the water bucket, then refilling it. Well, it took me about 25 minutes per stall. And the water buckets were filthy! Plus, the horses did not want to stand still when I groomed them, so I had to keep a constant eye on them. At one point in time, KN called. I was glad. I sat down and took a break while I talked to her for several minutes. I know EH is currently looking for someone to clean stalls again and I had thought about doing it. But yesterday made me realize that I don't want to. I walked into the barn, and it smelled like horse pee. By the time I got done cleaning stalls, all I wanted to do was go home and get a shower and get clean clothes on. But I couldn't. I still had to find and fix the board. She has the slip board fence and the horse had taken several boards out as well. So I walked all around this field trying to find the broken board and putting the boards back in place. I never found the board so I'm thinking the other person must have replaced it. I was finally able to get to TSC and get my shopping done in there.
Get back to the farm, give Stormy his 2nd feeding, bag feed and start picking up manure. RU comes down the lane. She stopped and we talked for a bit. She can't get her tractor in w/the RBs. It has the wrong type of tires on it and the horses are back in the hay. In addition, both the bull and the ram are now in that field. I did not feel like messing w/either of them at that time of day, so I got the cart filled, but didn't dump it. It was also getting late. I didn't even bother catching the roos. I knew I didn't have time to do even 1 of them, let alone 3. So that means I'll have to do them on Thursday. I got home to a cold house. It took me longer than I was expecting to do everything today and I was expecting it to be warmer than it was. So, I fed the goats, took down the laundry, then brought in some wood and got a fire going. By this time, it was after 4:00 and I hadn't had lunch! So I ate some leftover chicken and tried to get up some energy for doing more around the house. I just couldn't. Then hubby came home way B4 I was expecting it. I thought they'd be out til late and would eat out. Nope, they came home around 5:30 and I STILL hadn't gotten my shower. So I went and got washed. Good thing I was already planning on washing jeans today.
Never really ate dinner. Tried to take a nap hoping I could get enough energy up to do some stuff, and did manage to stay awake long enough to read some in my Bible. But I finally gave up. Stuffed the stove and went to bed. Woke up at the normal time, looked at the clock and fell back asleep.
Now I'm up. There's no fire, but it's going to be warmer today. I may or may not make one. I have my jeans in the washer and will be hanging out a load of clothes B4 I leave for breakfast. Don't know that I'm going to make a list for the next few days. All I'm basically planning on doing is getting wood and cleaning the house.
Went to a CMA Christmas party last night. I had a blast! I laughed so much during the Pirate Pollyanna that I've lost my voice. But I also got home a lot later than I'm used to-it was around 10:30! I went straight to bed and didn't get up until shortly B4 7:00, so I must have really been tired. I'm waiting for it to get just a bit later. I didn't get all the wood out of my truck, and they're calling for rain starting today as showers, then rain tonight and tomorrow, so I want the wood out.
Because of the situation at the farm w/the back field, I've decided for now I'm just going to have to add to Mt. Manure. And since they're calling for the rain, the cart I had all ready to go down there was dumped as well on Mt. Manure. RU has said she's going to have to put up regular fencing around the hay, then put the electric up and we'll have to check to be sure the electric is working properly. She tried to get by cheap since she just got the tractor, and it's not working.