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

[Denim Deb]

Until about a month ago, I haven't played any of my CDs in years! So, I have no idea where it could be. Hopefully as I continue to clean, I'll find it. I just hope it's not destroyed.

Well, I found part of my living room floor. I still have to find some more of it, but that will happen next Monday.

It was another hot and humid day today. I got a phone call right when I was getting ready to leave, and it was a call I had to take. So, I left later than I'd planned. I was going to ride Misty. But, by the time I got the field cleaned, it was in the 90s and humid! I would have liked to have ridden her B4 I did the field, but I don't like to ride her right after she's eaten, so that was out. I did work w/Licorice some. And she now takes the bit real nice! She also lets me take it out nicely. Later in the week, I'm going to see if she'll let me put the bit in wearing her trail halter. (For those that aren't familiar w/them, it's a halter that has rings on it so you can attach and remove the bit easily. They're great for trail rides.)

Since it was so hot, I did a bit of mowing instead. It was mowing I wasn't planning on doing, but I felt bad for the horses in that field-especially since one is a yearling. They have some really nice grass, but there's a lot of weeds. And they were out of hay. So, I took pity on them and mowed the field. They were quite happily grazing when I left.

By the time I got done, it was lunch time. So, I fed Stormy and sate back and ate my lunch as well. When I was done, I cut the last 3 boards I needed for my chicken house. Then I got them painted and started working on the rest of the house. And I got er done! I need to cut the piece for the window a little shorter-I can't close it all the way cuz it hits the roof, and I want to put an outside perch on it as well as a closable chicken door, but I don't have to have them. I wonder how long it will be B4 someone decides to lay an egg in there.

I also got a couple buckets of weeds pulled out at home, then worked some on firewood. It's so nice seeing the wood shed getting filled. And I loaded the dishwasher, but won't run it until the morning. By the time I got that done, it was almost 9:00! So, I'll be running it in the morning.

 

[goatgurl]

did ya find the cd? go look in your truck.

 

[Denim Deb]

It's not in my truck. I would have found it last time I cleaned it out. And right now, I can't really look in my truck. I have the backseat full of animal feed. I had a coupon from TSC, so I stocked up and have no other place to put it.

Today is going to be another hot, humid day. But this might be the last of the really hot weather. I hope so. It just drains me. I'm going to the hay auction today. I hope they have some good deals. But, since I don't need to buy as much hay, I can afford to spend more on it.

I'm also going on a hike. The county I live in has a total of 6 county parks. At the end of August, JT does tours of 5 of them. I don't do all of them unless I have time. But the one today is one I really enjoy. If I didn't know I was in South Jersey, I'd think I was in some other state. SJ is known for being pretty flat. There's actually hills! Only problem being, JT was in an accident a couple of weeks ago. She didn't see a pothole when she was driving her scooter and fell off. There were deep shadows on the road. I've almost hit some potholes myself that way. So, she can't lead the hike. So, another volunteer and I are leading it. I'm not 100% sure I recall exactly how the trails go, so I'm taking some surveyor's tape for just in case! But I have to run to the auction B4 I go on the hike. I have too many roosters and no time to do anything w/them. So, I'll be grabbing at least 3 and taking them over. I hope they go for a good price. At the very least, it will help me w/my feed bill. I'm going thru 50 lbs. of feed every 8 days.

I woke up early, which is good since I have stuff to get done here. I'm just waiting for hubby to leave. Once he does, I need to get busy. My list for today is:

1. Dishes
2. Housework
3. Normal animal chores
4. Catch and drop off roosters
5. Hike
6. Hay auction
7. Firewood
8. Yard work

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hope your roosters bring in some cashola!

 

[goatgurl]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses their vehicle as a storage shed, lol. hope the roosters sell well. I've got 26 baby ducks and as soon as they get old enough to tell male from female they are going to the sale too. my only problem is that the guy who runs the sale charges a 20% commission and i think that's kind of to much. who knows, may be the new norm but i don't like it.

 

[Denim Deb]

I had thought of getting a truck w/out the backseat since I don't have kids at home anymore. Then I realized how handy that backseat really is. I'd be lost w/out it. At times when I've gotten feed, the bed of my truck is too wet to put feed back there. And I can also store extra bags back there.

I don't recall what their commission is, but I don't think it's 20%. And, I was able to grab 3 of them. I grabbed the 3 that seemed to be going after the hens the most. 1 is the one that attacked me a few times. I have no idea how much they brought, I didn't stay around to watch. But that's 3 less mouths to feed. And, I still have a few more that need to go.

Hike went fairly well. We didn't go as far as planned since we started later than normal. Plus, we did get off the trail a bit. But it was probably a good thing we turned back when we did. Some of the people were really struggling to make it back to the parking lot! I didn't need to use any of my surveyor's tape. The trail was well marked-until we got to the one spot, but we had no trouble going back. I remembered how I came.

I did get 25 bales of hay. I paid more than I wanted to-$4.25/bale, and they were a bit lighter than I wanted them, but there wasn't a lot of hay there. It's been so hot and dry that there's not as much hay out there as normal. I need to figure out exactly how many more bales I need. And even though I have my appointments next week, I'll probably go to the hay auction. I want to have all of my hay by the end of September.

I was able to pull a couple more buckets of weeds. It took longer than I was expecting, but I'm making progress. I can see a difference. I hope to have that area all cleaned up by Saturday, then move stuff around some over there.

I also got more of the wood done. I have at least 1/3 of a cord done. In some ways, I'm excited. In other ways, I'm a bit discouraged. I need at least 4 cords. It's taking me longer than I want to get this wood all done, but w/the heat and humidity and everything else I need to do, it's slowing me down.

Tomorrow is not supposed to be as hot. I'm so glad. I have my lesson tomorrow, and the weather's supposed to be gorgeous for it.

 

[Denim Deb]

Today is going to be a busy but beautiful day. It's only in the 50s now, and it's only supposed to get into the lower 80s w/lower humidity. I hope they're right. I have my lesson and much prefer riding in cooler temps to hotter. And, I don't have a lot planned for at the farm today. I've been working on cleaning along the fence line some when I have spare time, so I'll probably do that. Then, I have a motorcycle run this evening. I think I'm going to need something a bit warmer than a sweatshirt since it's going to be cool again this evening. If I get home from the farm early enough, I want to do more wood and a couple more buckets of weeds. So, my list for today is:

1. Dishes
2. Housework
3. Practice piano
4. Normal animal chores
5. Lesson
6. Fence line
7. Yard work
8. Firewood
9. Motorcycle run

I think that's enough, especially since I'm seeing real progress on everything.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm jealous of your weather - but - "they" say we'll have an overnight low that's actually below 70 this week!

 

[Denim Deb]

We didn't get as nice a day as they were calling for. And, it's supposed to get hot again. I'm so looking forward to fall.

Lesson went well. I didn't ride in it at all. EH had T working on canter departs. I've never done one in my life! So, there's no way I could have done it. After the lesson, I got on her and rode back in the woods. I kept her at a walk. She gave me a bit of trouble about heading back, but then calmed down. So, we took a nice walk in the woods. There's a small hill, so we went up and down that a couple of time just so we could both work on our balance doing it. She did fine. There's a log down over one of the trails that we haven't had a chance to get rid of. I wasn't sure if she could step over it or not, so we stepped over some smaller logs that are on the trail for jumps, then tried that one. No problem. She spooked once, but it wasn't that bad and she got over it real quick. I was quite pleased w/how she did.

LF wants to take lessons as well, so I told EH. Since I'd have to take her, the best thing would be for me to go first. Then when LF has her lesson, I'll just ride back in the woods. And once we know for sure that LF and her horse are good to go out w/Misty and me, we plan on going on a trail ride once a week.

LF also had a friend out today that wanted to ride her horses. The one hasn't been ridden this year, so I got on her first. She didn't act up on me, but I didn't bother to adjust the stirrups and they were way to long! Plus, the saddle was slipping and since I couldn't reach the stirrups, I couldn't get it to go the other way. This horse is taller and wider than Misty. I don't know if it was just the width, or if it was also because of the saddle, but I had to get off. It was hurting my hip. I did stay down while the fried rode, and now she's talking about lessons as well!

I was also able to get a whole cart load of stuff cleaned up from one section. Most of it was either multi flora rose or mulberry. When we get a good rain, I'll take the tractor and a chain and pull the roots out. But it looks so much better right there. I'm hoping I can get 2 cart loads done a week. Then after I spread the manure, I'll take the cart of stuff down and put it in the burn pile.

I'm really making progress on the weeds in parts of the yard and the firewood. I got 2 buckets of weeds pulled and did more wood. I now have about half a cord of wood done. By Saturday, I hope to have the section of the yard done that I'm working on as well as all the wood done that I have at home. Then I can start looking for more wood. By the end of October, I hope to have all my wood done.

We didn't go on our motorcycle ride tonight. I hadn't gotten an e-mail like I normally do, so I figured I'd better call and see if we were on for tonight or not. Between the one guy's bike being in the shop and others away on vacation, they figured there just weren't enough people left to make it worth while. So, I'm glad I called first.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'll be glad when this week is done. It's a busy week, but a good busy in a way. There have been tours of the different county parks and some I really enjoy going on-like the one I did on Tuesday. Today we're going to Red Bank Battle Field to view the Whitall House. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bank_Battlefield So, I need to make sure I leave on time. I also need to clean my field and mow it. I plan to start working on it while the horses are eating, then finish up when I get back. So my list for today is:

1. Housework
2. Dishes
3. Piano
4. Normal animal chores
5. Tour Red Bank
6. Clean field and mow
7. Yard work
8. Firewood

Oh, and getting rid of those 3 roosters meant my chickens were much happier yesterday. By the end of October, I hope to have them all banded and divided into breeding flocks. Once I have that done, I'll keep them locked up until they learn where they belong.