I awoke to a beautiful day if you like it at 25 degrees, and foggy with a sort of sleet mist that froze the moment it hit the ground. Having grown up in the desert I find the fog both eerie and beautiful. It’s also scary driving down the freeway when you can’t see beyond the end of your car. After living in California for nearly 10 years the fog out here is not in the least bit scary so I can enjoy the beauty of it.
I also awoke to a funny smell in the house. After I gave the inside dogs their freedom and raced them to the door so they could go outside, I looked at the pellet stove to see if it needed more pellets. The house was still warm, and I wanted to keep it that way for a while so I put in some more pellets, but something wasn’t quite right. The fire was fine I caught it just before it died out having run out of pellets. I cleaned out the box of ash, but the fan wouldn’t come on again. I fiddled with it for a while before I came to the conclusion that the funny smell was the smell of a burned out motor. Yes the fan died. Of course there is a special tool you need to take it all apart, and even if I managed to get the motor out, the only place to get parts is in Alamogordo. The stove is so old they probably wouldn’t have the parts anymore, and I have no clue how to fix it anyway. The only repairman we had in town closed down his business years ago. Oh well worse things could have happened.
I turned on the little space heater we have, and tried starting a fire in the computer room. I didn’t take the time to do it right, and I had to take my shower, and feed so I left it alone. It was still nice in the house as I said, and my wood supply is down so I elected not to start the fire till I really needed to. Looking at the temperature outside I dressed warmly and went first to let the chickens out. Yes the truck had a sheet of ice on it, so I started it first, released the chickens from their house, which they then refused to come out of. Who says chickens are dumb. I was the dumb one out in the freezing sleet slipping on the icy gravel.
Down to the barn I go, at least the barn water wasn’t frozen. My new setup was doing quite well. Of course the insulation tubing I placed on the upper line didn’t hurt either. The horses were starving (of course), so I rushed having taken too much time with my heating issues. Thank goodness we are having a mild winter. There was no wind so I was able to feed quickly without also having to freeze to death. I accept all gifts from God no matter how small they may seem to someone else. No wind is a great gift as far as I’m concerned.
I came back to the house with nothing more serious than Lightning chasing Sadie from the hay. I yelled at her appropriately, and made sure that Sadie would get her proper share. At nearly 22 Sadie no longer fights for her place in the herd. She makes the motions, laying back her ears, and bearing her teeth, but she backs down every time. Lightning, on the other hand, just turning four this year, is feeling more dominant. It’s time to take her out of pasture and start working her before she begins to think she is the alpha mare. Of course ten minutes in the arena with Marina would cure that problem, but without Rudy here it’s hard for me to move the mares around a lot. Then again, once Sadie’s feet are the proper length again she goes back in her stall, and I don’t have an extra.
Once at the house I fed the rest of the animals and proceeded to feed myself. I had gotten a late start because of the stove so by the time I ate, and talked with Rudy the day was half over. By this time I am puttered, so I lay down for a bit. When I awoke the fog had finally lifted, and if it hadn’t been so cold it would have been a beautiful day. It only got up to 37 degrees, which for me is not a good thing. My body just doesn’t like the cold. I went to town, ran some errands (including getting another space heater), and it was time to feed again. Not a bad day, only one thing broke after all. Granted it is kind of important, but I can survive with out the pellet stove.
I thought I had gotten by without much excitement for the day when I couldn’t find Bear. Normally he is constantly underfoot eating hay. Yes, our dogs all eat hay both undigested and digested. Finally I looked out and saw him chewing something across from the barn water main. Ok at least I knew where he was. As I pulled the truck out of the barn, I saw what he had been chewing. He brought his treasure over to the barn by the RV. It was a deer’s head, great. That means that tomorrow I get to go out and find the rest of the Doe’s body, or at least make sure it’s not close to the house. I don’t know what I’ll do with it since I won’t be able to lift it into the truck by myself, but I still have to try to find it. I’m sure Bree is the one who found the carcass, and probably brought it up to the house. She brings all kinds of stuff from I don’t know where, and probably don’t want to know where. That would also explain why Pena wasn’t hungry this morning as she was with mom, and probably had some semi-fresh meat for breakfast.
I throw the head into the truck bed (boy does it stink), and proceed to feed the last of the horses. The pasture horses didn’t finish their breakfast, and the barrel I have over the water pipe is on its side by the trees. I just filled the tank the day before yesterday, and they should not have gone through an entire tank in that amount of time. This means that the deer are helping themselves to our water. It has been a very dry winter so this actually makes sense. I feed the girls, and go back to the barn for the hose. It’s a good thing I put on that extra valve so they couldn’t turn the water on and dry the pump. I look to see if they (Lightning) tried to turn on the water. My other little idea worked. I put a U shaped double threaded clamp through the hole on the handle, locking the line closed. The crazy part is not that it worked, but that it almost didn’t. They had gotten the bolt off one end. Our horses are way too smart. I realize that they have nimble little noses, but this is too much. It’s bad enough that we have stud chains on all the gates, but now even bolts are not enough to keep them out of trouble. I guess I’ll have to check the water every day.
Still and all, it wasn’t that eventful of a day. No one got hurt (except the doe), and there are more disastrous things that could have happened. I can thank God for one more semi-quiet day. The wind has come up again. I can hear it blowing through the trees in heavy gusts. I have closed the garage door so the outside dogs won’t be so cold, and I’m preparing to go to bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer so maybe, just maybe, after I get hay I can ride. That would be a wonderful thing.
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