hqueen's collection of Far From the Usual stuff.

[hqueen13]

She might, Deb, but it probably wouldn't last because she's not good at cleaning up, so it's mostly manure. She lives by herself and works full time and has too many animals to effectively care for them. It's sad, really. We'll see how the relationship develops over time but I might try to suggest that she get rid of some of them at some point because she has way too many to handle and care for them. I shudder to think of all the may mud they are in, they could easily get some kind of bacterial or fungal infection that could kill a horse if it's not caught and treated. Not to mention that she doesn't have a clean dry place to put an animal if it needed to be quarantined, or even just on stall rest. It's very sad. The lay off the land is working against her, the mid runs into the barn when it rains because it's down hill, but she doesn't take care of removing the manure.
I had a good day yesterday, I ended up spontaneously going to pick up a friend of mine and bring her back to my place to spend the night. Well, that happened Monday and I took her home yesterday. She's not in a great place and we haven't seen each other in years, she moved up here from our home town, and so I went and picked her up. We had a great time hanging out and I taught her to knit. It was great to catch up with her and hang out again.
So because I didn't get anything done except errands on Monday and Tuesday I've got to catch up today. Laundry, vacuuming, kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, maybe mop. Hopefully I can get myself together to cook for dinner too. BD and I made beef stew while she was here and it turned out great. Tonight in hoping it will be kale and butternut squash with sausage.

 

[Denim Deb]

Sounds like people I know. They can't seem to grasp the concept that keeping the manure down helps w/the mud problem.

 

[hqueen13]

Well, she may or may not know that, but she has too much work to do to even begin to tackle the problem. I think I'm going to work on trying to convince her to throw hay up the hill rather than along the fence at the bottom. That will encourage the horses to move around more anyway. I don't even know how you could begin to fix the issue because the water will always run down hill. Sorry of a huge french drain system and mucking the actual paddock every day, I don't have a solution. Lol I guess the first solution is don't buy property on that kind of a hill!
Had a really good day in the office yesterday. I got a phone call early from H, my former coworker that was such a good friend. It was fabulous to reconnect with her, she and I were very close before she moved away. I also found out that she still had a file that I could use in the office which will help tremendously. That definitely started the morning off well.
I got quite a bit of work done that morning and then had a meeting with RC, the boss, and pitched to him to add a half day to my one day per week in order to help me accretive my goal of saving money for a down payment on a truck. An additional half day per well should give me enough that I can put away the $200 per month goal that I have.
BO, the gal that mostly does what I used to do also asked me if I could cover for her for the week before the holidays because sheer and her hubby are going to Berlin for a little more than a week. Of course I can, lol. That will be a full weeks pay for me which will be huge. I won't get it until after Christmas but it's still a really big deal.
So lots of bits of good news yesterday.
I got a bit down when I got home since the bf want feeling too chipper either. We fixed leftovers for dinner and then pretty much did nothing for the rest of the evening. Maybe that's why I'm feeling down because it isn't all that much fun to come home and be blah all evening.
Of course to to it off, yesterday afternoon it got dark way too early, and began sleeting on my way home. After I got home it turned to snow, and have us a light dusting. Snow on April 15 this year and snow on November 13. WTH? 7 months. That's crazy! It's mostly gone this morning, of course, but it's supposed to be below average cold for the next week plus.
My friend canceled her lesson that we had set up for today. I'm kinda ok with that since I'm still feeling a little blah. I'm ok with not spending any gas and money today. I'll probably just work to keep cleaning up the house and getting more laundry done plus some knitting. I do have a phone call with a gal in my animal communication class to practice so that should be good.

 

[Denim Deb]

Maybe your friend could look into this stuff. If I had my own place, I'd be getting it for my run in.

http://www.equiterr.com/index.htm

 

[hqueen13]

I've seen similar stuff, Deb, and it is really effective. I don't know even where to start for her because it's THAT bad. :-/ she is also so tight on funds that is the other problem.
As annoyed as I get with the pellet stove, it does a good job. It's been running on low and today is the coolest and windiest so far this year. It said 19 when I got up at 7 (up from the low of 18 overnight) and the house is still comfortable. I can't decide if I should bump it up higher or not worry about it yet. I guess I'll see how I feel after my chores are done.
We got SO much done this weekend! Friday we got another bale put out and got the window frame painted in the house. Saturday morning we got up and the bf finished worrying up the electric on the far side of the pasture. When we string the electric tape back across to block the pasture again it will make a complete circle, which is always better. While he worked on that I harrowed the sacrifice section of the pattie since there is already a lot of manure out there. I finished that and he helped me get the leaves our of the round pen and get it harrowed. Whee driving in small circles!
Finished that and got to work organizing the shed. Made a lot of progress on that. You can walk IN the shed and walk around and stuff! Got everything out on shelves and organized in a place so we can find it. Got all the junk that we didn't want out and a lot of it posted on freecycle. We still have to finish sorting through the smaller shed and get those things organized, but we made a lot of progress and I'm very happy about it.
Finished that and speed by a Ts place to help her look at getting electric set up for a horse that won't stop busting boards. Then we ran to home depot to get supplies for finishing the lights in the hay barn.
Came home and crashed.
Sunday we got up and the bf did all the outside chores again, which was so sweet of him.
Then he got to work on the lights and I started ripping out my over grown garden. I cut a large bucket of okra and salvaged some dried lima beans. I dug the little Pastore plants and got 5 cute potatoes (which the dogs later ate, grrrr!). I had to stop and help the bf a little too make sure he was ok at the top of the 10' ladder. He got the lights working which was a huge thrill.
he finished up and came to help me burn everything in the garden, and then I'll clean it out a bit more later.
We crashed after that and ended up ordering pizza, which I didn't want to do but I didn't have anything else prepared.
It was a very successful weekend and I'm happy we got so much done. A lot was able to be checked of the list, now we just have to keep plugging away at a few more things.
Yesterday I was in the office, which was nice since it poured all day. Now I get to play catch up with errands today and get some cleaning done.

 

[hqueen13]

Today was an alright day. Nothing special. I had 2 phone calls to make and didn't get to talk to either one of them. A little annoying but it is what it is. I'll try again tomorrow.
It was insanely rediculously stupid cold outside today. Got up at 7 it said 19, low of 18, weather channel said feels like 9. Argh! Looked ahead and the high on Friday is 34 and I have to go be in the cold with my instructor for 4 1/2 hours! Must get lighter fluid so I can take my hand warmers for she and I. We're so going to need them!
I got the sheets washed and pulled out the down comforter. Bout time I guess.
I did walk the dogs after I finished the barn chores wearing 27 layers. I even put the coat on the littler dog! The wind has howled all day long. I took down my big wind chimes, they were getting a little carried away. I strongly dislike wind, especially on top of cold.
Got the lighter blanket washed along with the sheets so all of that can be put away for the season.
I went to the grocery store and spent $110.00 I normally so at Giant and use the little scanning thing as I shop so I know what my total is. I was at Safeway this time so I couldn't do that. I need to compare reciepts and figure out if it is really that much more expensive or if I just spent way too much money. Ugh. I don't even feel like I'll be able to make it 2 weeks on those purchases. Some I will, but others not as much. I got 2 loafs of bread, one will go in the freezer. I got 2 bags of chocolate chips, they were on sale. That will last a very long time since we basically only use them for pancakes. Got a 5lb bag of rice which should last a while. Got some extra cans of beans for our greens and beans soup that we love. So there were some long term porches, but not enough to make me feel ok about spending that much.
I don't know if it was how much I spent or what, but I kinda ended up down for the rest of the afternoon. I did take time to practice guitar and knit for a while, which was good, but I still wasn't feeling so chipper.
The bf cheered me up a little when he got home. I showed him my playing and then we made french bread pizzas. Oh, good thing about shipping at Safeway? I did find Applegate pepperoni which is organic and doesn't have the preservatives like regular pepperoni! I'll be getting my pepperoni there now! I'm thinking I might have to split my shopping to save money.
We cleaned up the kitchen and even scrubbed the bottom of the dish drain since it needed it. It's the little things right?
He's now snoring next to me and I'm relaxing before the dogs go out and then we crawl in bed. I'm enjoying some real apple cider with captain Morgan 1671 limited edition in it which is so lovely!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Cheers!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm not looking forward to that cold on Friday either. I have a lesson early in the morning, so I think I'm going to be cold for it. But, unless EH contacts me to cancel it, I won't. I'll just make sure I wear my long johns for it! Normally I'll wear my Carhartt overalls and skip the LJs, but I don't think I can ride very well in them.

One thing you can do to check whether or not a price on something is good is to get a bunch of 3x5 cards. Then on each card, you write a different item you normally use. Then, list the normal price in each store you shop in. You can also use a small notebook. Then when you shop, take that w/you. That way you know whether or not you're getting a good deal.

 

[hqueen13]

Yes, Deb, I think I'm going to have to start keeping a little bit of track. I suspect that giant is cheaper on quite a few things, but probably not all. Pain in the butt to price compare!
13 this morning, and yesterday's high was only 26. Ugh! At least it's not supposed to be so windy today.
I need to do some cleaning today. The floor needs to be vacuumed good again. I should mop again but I don't think I'll get that far. Who knows. The bathroom should be cleaned, and I should take care of cleaning up some of the winter clothes strewn all over the place.
I have a meeting with the gal from the extension office today, I just hope she shows and doesn't cancel again. I've got to get this rolling before its too late. It might almost be too late if we don't get some warmer weather again.
This afternoon I have a call with a lady to do some practice for my animal communication then I have my class call after that. I need to follow up with the 2 calls I made unsuccessfully yesterday and hopefully reach them.
I was going to try to make bread today, but I don't think I have enough milk. The milk I have is sour anyway so I'm not sure I could use it. I guess I'll figure that out and then go from there.
Other than that not much happening I guess.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

If its raw milk and it's sour - it should still be fine for bread....but it it's "store bought pasteurized" throw it out!!

Hope you get all of your 'to-do's' done!

p.s. Stay warm!