hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

Yeahhhh it may come to that. We'll see. We did get pictures of the coop this weekend, and got the nesting boxes in and the roosting bar installed, so I can get the new pictures posted and hopefully it will SELL so I can have some CASH!!

@baymule to answer your question regarding "on" all the time or not the answer is yes and no. So I kind of liken it to conversations happening around you. If you're just walking around in a crowd, you can hear lots of talking, but you don't necessarily hear all the conversations. They're there, but you're not really listening to them. If someone speaks to you, you can hear it, and you can either acknowledge them or choose to ignore them. You might not hear them clearly at first, so you may have to ask them to repeat themselves. If you're tired, or not focused, you may not even hear them at all, and they'll have to say something to you a second time. That's pretty much how it works Sometimes I have animals that say things to me out of the blue. I was leading the horses in to eat at the old farm just after one of the horses arrived, and he was giving me trouble walking in, so I told him when he stood there with his head in the air he looked like a mule. The next day he was walking fine, but it was my horse that didn't want to walk this time, and I clearly heard the other horse say "It's HIS turn to look like a mule." My reply was NOBODY is going to look like a mule, let's go! So sometimes it does happen, but most of the time I'm too preoccupied with whatever I'm doing, so I don't hear the chatter. A lot of the time I pick up more on feelings and energy than I do on actual words.

As for being afraid of the pigs, well, they will know it. They're highly intelligent (probably the smartest animals that we eat, really), and so they'll KNOW if you're scared of them. That's not to say that you should cover up your fear, because that will make it worse. Now the animal knows you're afraid (because they just KNOW) AND you're acting in a manner that doesn't align with the fear. Admitting you're afraid is the best thing you can do when working with animals you're scared of. I've been there plenty of times with horses, dogs, or other livestock that I HAD to get a job done around. So I just tell them, "hey, I'm scared of you, because I'm afraid you'll XYZ, and I don't want to get hurt, but I have a job to do here (which is probably FEEDING them, LOL), and tell them that we just need to get along long enough for me to do that. I say all this outloud, because it helps get the energy aligned and it helps convey the message. Talking is our way of communicating, but so much happens nonverbally, so for us talking can help align all the nonverbal stuff that we aren't aware of and find it difficult to control.

I could chatter on about this forever

We had a great weekend. We got SO much done! Now to see if I remember it all....

We got most of the house picked up and straightened, and Lilith's cage cleaned, and several loads of laundry run.
We ran some errands, and managed to get the coop taken care of and pictures taken.
We got the chimney's swept out (I think that happened on Thursday or Friday...)
We got the leaves blown out of the gutters, thanks to the neighbor's AMAZING backpack leaf blower (In his words "it'll blow a brick, so it will be just fine blowing the wet leaves out of the gutter!" I was like Oh my!)
We got a load of firewood for free (needs to dry and be split but it was FREE!)
We had a nice visit with GH and SH who stopped up in between their trips to see the house.
I got to soak in the tub.
We got the Christmas stuff put back up in the attic, and straightened some of the boxes up there.
The BF got the rest of his gun stuff organized and put away.
I even had time to knit and I got the BF's awesome scarf finished that I started last Christmas as a present. I just need to tuck in the ends, put on the fringe and then block it.

It was a great weekend, we got so much done, and yet we also had some down time together. It was the best way to spend the weekend in my opinion. I also didn't have any extra horses to care for, and I didn't have to go to the barn on Sunday because I traded out one of the days that the other girl owed me, that way we could hang out with GH and SH for a little while. It was SO nice to not have to go to the barn and do all that work. It will take me about 10 minutes per day to care for Storm and a buddy if they're at my house, maybe 20, possibly 30 on a "bad" day. I REALLY want to get him home!!!

This week looks much more "normal" thankfully. I'm really looking forward to my business call again on Tuesday so I can figure out what's next in my to do list to get moving forward so I can start generating consistent income. This is a priority!
Otherwise, I really need to do some cooking this week, because we've been eating way too much junk lately. I'm so sick of the junk food. I want real food again, but I get so tired of cooking it!
I think TM is going to come up on Wed and see the house and trim my hair. I think we're going to have lunch together, but I'm not sure exactly what the plan is yet. I think I'm also going to send my truck in to have the auto armor put on it and have the dent repaired in the front bumper. I need to check in with the guy today to see if he can bring me a loaner to the barn so I don't have to drive all the way down there to do it. I'll miss my truck for a day, but I really don't have many places to go, so that helps.

So I filled up the truck again, and the BF was right, they hadn't tripped the odometer in the truck when I got it, I thought he did it but he didn't. So I'm getting just over 17 mpg, which is not terrible at all, and the tank is bigger, which means I don't have to fill up nearly so often, which is NICE! It stinks because it's over $10 more at a time to fill it up, but only having to fill up once a week even with all the extra barn chores is NICE. This week I won't be doing a whole lot extra, so I probably won't have to fill up until the weekend, which is great. I think I have enough in my budget to get me to that point, which is super helpful!

That's about all that's happening from 'round these parts. It's been GORGEOUS this weekend, like sweatshirt weather instead of layers weather! But that also means that now it's muddy as crap and we have rain on the way tonight/tomorrow am. I'm not sure what's worse, cold and layers, hacking ice but frozen ground or warmer, no layers, no ice, and slipping all over the place in the mud....

 

[baymule]

Thanks for the explanation. The best part I read in your post above;

I GOT TO SOAK IN THE TUB.

 

[hqueen13]

LOL, yeahhhh that was nice! The tub is narrow, but decent length. The back is pretty upright, so it isn't much more than sitting in warm water, but I just need my soaks in the tub!

Had a pretty good conversation yesterday with the BF about finances and where we are at and what we need to do. Hopefully he'll shift and stop eating out at work so much. It's costing us a lot. I basically told him that the amount he's spent eating out at work is the cost of one new window. For real. I think when I put it in terms of that he can grasp what's going on. The challenge is that he's got to remember that when he goes to pull into the convenience store in the middle of the day. We did make him chicken salad so he can make some sandwhiches last night, and got him organized with a bunch of other snacks. I just hope he eats them!

Yesterday evening I finished off the MD flag scarf that I was making him. Only been working on it for a year.... But that's cause I'm slow, and then we moved. But anyway, it's finished. I just need to check with my mom to make sure I know how to wash the yarn so that the red doesn't bleed on white and then block it and it'll be ready to wear. Of course it's a balmy 50 degrees and way too warm to wear it right now. But at least he's got it, we've got plenty of winter left and I'm SURE it's not going to stay this warm.

I got some terrible news this morning, and I'm still reeling a bit. Last night my phone texts started going off. I rolled over knowing it was probably a group text from the girls at the barn. I swear they run at all hours. I didn't read it but turned off the notifications so much phone would hush and went back to sleep. This morning I got up to find out that one of the small herds of horses broke out last night, and one of the horses ended up on the road and got hit, and they lost him. The group of horses was mostly TM's horses, the barn owner, but the horse that was lost belonged to another boarder. She and TM had been in a bit of a rift over some things that happened that really weren't TM's fault, and then it's her horse that gets hit on the road. They were at least able to bury him on the farm last night before the rain hit overnight. I was worried that it was too muddy to take care of him, and knew we had more rain coming. I'm glad they were able to get it done, though. In the process TM got kicked and has a bruised/broken rib as well as a hoofprint. I have to go over there this afternoon to do chores, and TM was supposed to come over for lunch tomorrow to trim my hair and see the new house. I'm REALLY hoping she comes over because I think she probably needs some support right now. She and I have talked about certain things that I don't think that she'd share with anyone else, and I'm concerned that she'll need to talk about it. And I think it will be better if she can get off the farm for a bit. Please keep the farm and everyone there in your prayers and thoughts. We could all use a little support right now.

I had my biz call this morning, but the gal cancelled on me. I hope she's able to do it tomorrow instead, but we'll see. I did get another post written, so at least I have that done. I'm slightly frustrated because I want to get moving on my biz, but I feel like I need support. I'm not sure if this is the universe's way of telling me that I need to do things on my own, and then support will come or what? I did quite a bit of writing this week, and wanted to go through everything today to get some stuff organized so that I can begin to get a system in place, but I guess that will come later. I could go to the office today, but I really don't have reason to be there. Although I could clear out some more files, since it is now January, so I guess I can go get that done. Maybe I will, that'll be more $$ on the paycheck! I wasn't expecting to have time to go over since I had my call, but this frees me up a little more and I'm not really inspired to do much else here in the house. Then I'll just go from the office over to the farm to do my afternoon chores. Guess that's a good plan, though I'd rather be at home, but money is money!

 

[sumi]

I am so sorry to hear about the poor horse Hugs sent to you all over there.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hope BF sees things your way...eating out is not so necessary - windows are! I think you're doing the right thing by having things he can grab and go with. Hope it helps.

Sooo sorry about the horse and the discord at the barn. None of that is easy and is made even harder if there are 'issues' between some of the folks. Certainly will keep them in our thoughts!

 

[baymule]

That is terrible about the horse. Happening during a tiff doesn’t help matters any.

Eating out every day gets expensive. Putting it in language that your BF can understand was a good idea.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm so sorry that happened. It's never easy to lose an animal, and having one get hit makes it even worse.

If you can find it since it's an older book, a good one to read to help w/figuring out finances is The Complete Cheapskate. If I could get my hubby to follow the advice, we'd be in much better shape financially.

 

[hqueen13]

Thanks yall.
It was tough doing chores on Tuesday, I ended up there a lot longer than I wanted to be.
Last night I did get a text from RW who told me that she thinks Storm was trying to tell them something. Apparently before they brought that group of horses in, he was running around like crazy. She actually left him in the field because he was so bad she didn't want to handle him (which is the right answer). Then when TM and her son were bringing in the 5, it was totally normal, until somehow one of them spooked and that made them all jump, hitting TM and her son in the process. Thats when they bolted out the door and headed up the driveway. RW told me that after everything was somewhat settled and they caught the other 4 horses, she went back to get Storm, and he was calm, like unusually calm. Even though he's been there for 2 months, he's still prone to spooking at things if they are moved, and shying at the cars parked in front of the barn. But RW said he was really really calm. I told her that it didn't surprise me a bit, that he just knows. He's so sensitive and really tuned in, I think he's aware of so much more than we are. I'm really glad that she let me know. She's had a rough year, this year so far, and I told her to go hang out with him because he's always so healing for people that need it. He really knows just what people need.

Thanks for the tip, Deb, I'll have to see what I can find. I've got several books, and I just LOVE the budgeting thing that I use online. It's called youneedabudget.com It gives me all sorts of analytics, and really helps to clarify things. It makes you assign all your dollars to a "job" to pay for things, so you can be aware of how much you really need for everything. It is so nice to know when I get gas or groceries that I've already got that money set aside. It's really helped me a lot in the past year, I've been using it consistently for over a year, and I got the BF on board last January. He doesn't track it with me, I haven't quite figured out how to get him to do that, but at least he lets me keep track of his accounts. That's better than nothing anyway. And we've made some big improvements over the past year, the challenge is that they don't feel very big because we're still stuck in the same way that we were. I'm really praying for a big tax return so we can cut out some of the smaller credit card debts that we have. Having even just one of them gone will help tremendously.

I was a little upset yesterday. I was supposed to have my second call with the gal that I'm in this program with (I won it for free, it's a 3 month program, supposedly) on Tuesday morning, and she cancelled on me at the last minute, and so we rescheduled for yesterday at 2. Well, she completely no showed a second time. I'm frustrated and can't quite figure out how I'm playing into this situation. The most irritating thing was that she was on FB replying to messages a few minutes before we were supposed to have our call. I can't figure out what's going on with her, though I'm beginning to think that this is a new venture for her and that she's trying to build her business, which probably means she's juggling whatever other income/job, plus I know she's got a kiddo, so I'm sure it is challenging. I'm trying to be gentle with her and myself, but it hasn't been easy. Hopefully I can figure out a resolution soon. I want to start really building my business!!

 

[baymule]

Sure would like to see some pictures of Storm!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

He is gorgeous! One of the coolest pics I've ever seen was of Storm playing in the snow! Do you still have that one @hqueen13 ? I think it was a Pic of the Week at one time.