Not only did I have a good night's sleep, but I forgot to set my alarm, so I overslept. And it's warm out! It's in the upper 50s! I really wish I didn't have my appointments today, I could get so much done outside. Depending on how dry my field is, I may try to get rid of a load of manure. If the manure is too wet, it just doesn't spread good. But it was so windy out yesterday that I'm hoping a lot of the field has dried. We're supposed to get a nor'easter tonight into tomorrow, so I won't be doing any of it tomorrow. And it's supposed to get colder out, so it could end as snow. So, I'm going to try and get home as early as I can. I'm going to work in the garden/yard/orchard as well as the goat pen first, then do wood. I can turn on the outside light to do firewood. I want the holder in the basement full B4 this storm hits. The temps aren't supposed to drop until late, so I won't be putting blankets on the horses until tomorrow morning. Hopefully I can fix Misty's B4 then. So, my list for today is:
1. Laundry
2. Housework
3. Feed store and bank (for hubby)
4. Normal farm chores
5. Bible study
6. Doctors' appointments
7. Errands
8. Goat pen
9. Feed animals
10. Yard/garden/orchard
11. Firewood
12. Dehydrate apples
13. Dishes
Yeah, I'm running around like crazy trying to get the last of the errands run before it his tomorrow. Or forecast is for 8-12" of snow! before thanksgiving!
Yesterday was an interesting day to say the least. First off, I needed to go to the feed store. Normally I leave early when I have to do that. But, since I had to go to the bank for hubby and the bank doesn't open until 8:30, I couldn't leave as early as I wanted to. I also needed gas, so stopped and got just $10.00 worth of gas. (Reason for that will be explained later on.) Went to the feed store, and they didn't have Stormy's feed. I've decided to change Misty's feed since I'm riding her more, so I needed to get a bag of that as well Licorice's feed. I thought it came to more than I was expecting, but couldn't figure out why until I looked at my receipt. I had asked for 2 bags of Stormy's feed, and 1 bag each of the other 2. They put the 2 in, then never changed it for Licorice's feed. So I guess I won't need to get that for awhile.
I get to the farm much later than I wanted to. I thought about not feeding CL's guys until later, but decided to go ahead and feed them. Her old guy takes longer to eat, so I have to wait for him. I get my guys fed, and notice that I needed to do some repair work to Licorice's "stall". So, I didn't close her in. She can be a pain, but that couldn't be helped. But w/everyone busy eating, I went ahead and got the feed out of the back of my truck. I stuck the extra bag of Licorice's feed in my shed since I knew it wouldn't all fit in the can. I got the feed in the cans, and let the chickens loose and checked for eggs. I got 4!
Of course, I was tripping over Licorice for part of this time, so I got some hay and put that out. Then I got a hammer and some nails. First thing I did was hammer down some boards on my "deck" into a piece of landscaping timber. Stormy broke the support piece under them. This is only a temp fix. I'm hoping I can do something better next year, but this should do for now. Then I fixed Licorice's stall. By then, CL's horses were done eating, and I let them loose as well.
I got to Bible study late. I still can't find my watch, and didn't realize until I was driving back to the farm that Bible study went way late! I had stuff that I was hoping to do either in the morning, or B4 I left for the doctors'. I just didn't have time. We had a nor'easter moving up the coast. I wanted to clean out the run in, didn't happen. I wanted to fill the stock tank. Didn't happen. I wanted to fill the hay nets and stick them in the feed stall so I could staple the "door" of the hay shelter shut. Didn't happen. I wanted to scrub the chickens' waterer and refill it. Didn't happen. Instead, they just got water in a pan. I just barely had enough time to do what I had to do, then left. The earlier I can get to the allergist, the better it is since I then have time to do errands between appointments.
By the time I was able to leave the allergist, it was almost 3:00. That left me w/just enough time to get gas. There's a big reason I waited to fill up until I got to that area. I checked on line for gas prices. Gas where I got the $10.00 was $2.679/gallon. Gas where I filled up was $2.509. So, I saved about $3.00 doing it this way.
I was able to get to the chiropractor's B4 time for my appointment. I was hoping to get right in and get right out. I didn't leave there until 4:00 and I still had to stop at Wally World. I go past one on the way to my appointments, but I would have been backtracking to get to it. Plus, there's no easy way home from there, so I went to another one. I don't like it as much. I wanted to get a new watch-I forgot. I wanted to get another small muck bucket, they didn't have them. I got a few things I needed, including some large, black iron on patches. I use them for holes in horse blankets. And Misty's has a hole in it. I'll be putting that one this morning B4 I leave, and getting the blankets back on the horses today.
By the time I got home, it was around 5:00. There was no way I was doing anything out in the yard other than feeding animals and wood. I got the animals fed and started on the wood. Then it hit me. It felt like someone wrapped a steel band around my head and I felt drained. I'm assuming it was due to the front getting closer. I didn't have a lot of wood that needed to be done, but it took me forever to do it. I got it done, and decided that I was going to put out the trash and the recyclables. Normally I do that on Wednesday morning. But w/the rain, I decided to do it early.
Hubby wasn't home, so I made myself some soup. I had started to fold laundry yesterday morning, but hadn't finished. I put away what I had folded. I was going to clean the bathroom. Didn't happen I was going to do dishes. Didn't happen. I was going to do more apples. The ones in the dehydrator aren't quite dry, so that didn't happen. At 8:40, I gave up trying to stay awake and went to bed. I had wanted to make a fire, but just couldn't stay awake long enough to do so, so I had to do it this morning.
The nor'easter has hit. I did manage to get my fire going, so it should stay warm in here. And I really wish I didn't have to go to the farm, but don't really have much choice. I need to fix Misty's blanket first. If the horses are dry when I get to the farm, I'll groom them B4 putting their blankets on them. If not, they'll still get the blankets on, I'll just have to take them off and groom them later. I want to get to the farm early so I can hopefully get home early and do a lot of housework. And while this system is supposed to change to snow later on, at least they're not calling for much, if any accumulation. So, my list for what promises to be a wet, windy Wednesday is as follows:
1. Fix Misty's blanket
2. Normal farm chores
3. Clean out run if if at all possible
4. Laundry
5. Housework
6. Dishes
7. Dehydrate apples
8. Feed animals
i feel like I'm missing stuff, but that's only because I can't do anything outside.
I'm taking a break right now. I got the hole fixed on Misty's blanket, but can't find my seam ripper, so didn't worry about the strap. She has another blanket that has a big rip in it, probably due to Licorice. So, I'll probably get that one fixed, then use that at least long enough to the strap on this one fixed.
I was able to get the run in cleaned out. i was killing time. It was just too wet out to do much of anything! The horses were all wet when I put their blankets on them, and of course Licorice and Misty wanted nothing to do w/the blankets. But, they were both shivering, Misty more than Licorice. At least Stormy is easy. He normally just stands there and lets me put it on him w/out tying him up first.
Once I had the blankets on them, and the run in cleaned, I put hay in the hay nets and hung them in the run in. Then I went in my tack shed. For the first time in ages, there was no water coming in around the one window! There was a little coming in around the other one, but it's not normally as much of a problem. So I went ahead and cleaned my shed the best I could. When I was done, even though it was way early, I went ahead and fed Stormy. I decided against locking up the chickens because of how wet it was. Much of their pen was flooded. Most of them were either in the run in, or right outside of my feed stall. It stays fairly dry there.
I also ran to the store and got some stuff we needed, then headed home. And, I timed that just right. It wasn't raining when I got home, so I went ahead and fed the animals B4 coming in. I hadn't been in long B4 it started to pour! So, I'm glad I got them fed when I did.
I got the fire going again, and in just a few minutes, I'll be doing some housework. But, it feels good to sit back and relax for now.
Didn't get done as much as I wanted to. Hubby came home, and got in the kitchen, so that meant I couldn't do the work in there I'd planned on. But I did get a loaf of bread made. And, I think it came out better than any other loaf I've ever made. I've been wanting grilled cheese and tomato soup, but haven't been able to make it since I had no bread. Now I do, so I can make it. And this should also help me to eat better.
Don't know what all I'm getting done today, but I do have to do some stuff-like dishes. We got a free pork roast, which hubby cooked overnight, and we've taken all the meat off the bone. It's delicious! So, we'll be eating that today as well as for several more meals. I'm hoping to make a pumpkin pie and some candied sweet potatoes-from potatoes I grew!
And of course, I need to go out to the farm. If I time it right, I may be able to ride the bike this afternoon. I'm hoping to leave from here pretty soon. I have a fire going, have eaten some, but I need my coffee!
Hubby got me an early Christmas present. He knows I want to get the greenhouse all cleaned and figure out a cheap way to heat it so I can grow stuff all winter. So, he got me a grow light and a heat mat so I can start seeds, and everything can have enough light! Hopefully I can get that all cleaned out soon.
I'm hoping to get to my parents' house 1x a week. My mom is not doing good. She's losing weight, and they can't figure out why. Plus, she just doesn't sound right. Normally, she's very bubbly and is quite talkative. Now she barely wants to talk, and her talk is flat. She's 81, and I don't know how much longer I'm going to have my parents (my dad is 85), so I think I need to spend more time w/them.