Yesterday is what I would call windy, 30 – 40 mph winds with
gusts up to 60+ mph. Monday, and Tuesday were beautiful, warm (not hot), and a
breeze now, and then to keep things cool. Actually Tuesday was perhaps a little
breezier, but still nice. It took two days for me to get all that wood cut. I
still have a lot of small stuff to cut, but I’ll do that with the miter saw
later. A lot of the wood was light, and eaten, and one log was infested with
black ants. I don’t mind black ants as they’re not as aggressive as the red
ones, but I don’t know how they’ll fare in a different location at a different
altitude. Besides we don’t have any big hills around the house, and I’d rather
keep it that way. I don’t need ants in the house.
I had to re-arrange some things to accommodate the new wood
pile especially since I’m going to try to get a whole winter’s worth cut this
summer. With all the work I did the last two days, I may only have a months
worth of wood cut. I plan to get some pallets from the mercantile to keep the
wood off the ground. It will keep the wood dry, and hopefully free from pests.
My biggest problem is still getting enough medium sized logs. Seems everything
is either big or small. I’ll check over at the state land to see what I can
find there. Ranchers clear land, and then dump the cuttings on state land.
They’re not supposed to, but there’s tons of wood stacked for who knows how
many years all around us. It’s a fire hazard so I don’t think anyone will mind
my clearing some of it out, not that anyone ever checks anyway. There’s a
goodly stack just the other side of our property I can get wood from. The rest
is too far away, and I don’t think our gator can get up the hills to get to
them. Anyway that’s the plan, get enough wood this summer so I don’t have to be
running around in the freezing cold all winter long looking for wood. Of course
I could buy wood (that’s what we did in CA), but I have to stretch money as far
as I can, and it seems a sin to buy wood, when with a little work I can have
all the wood I want. Besides it’s good exercise, and I get a nice feeling of
satisfaction when I see it all neatly piled, knowing I did that all by myself. 
It’s cold out, but sunny with only a slight breeze (so far).
I had to bring in all my plants last night (that I just put out on the porch)
as it got down to 30 again this morning.
I know in a couple of months I will be complaining about it being too
hot, but just now I’m really tired of all this cold weather. It wouldn’t be so
bad if we hadn’t had temps in the 70’s just a couple of days ago I’m sure, but
jeeze louise I had to start the fireplace again. I just started my next year’s
stash of wood, and already I’m having to use it. Give me a break.
Today is stall cleaning day (maybe). At least that should warm
me up. I cleaned out the barn (which was a mess again) this morning when I fed.
The girl’s waterers are full of dirt (thank you Spirit Wind) so they all have
to be emptied, cleaned, and Sere’s stall has to be cleaned. Since taking her
out of the pasture Sadie, and Star are much happier. Already Star is putting on
weight, and Sadie is starting to act like her old self. A few years ago we had
Sadie, and Sere in the arena, and Sere kicked the living daylights out of
Sadie. None of our mares ever really fought like that before, and Sadie hasn’t
been the same since. Star’s her baby so there’s no friction there, and Sadie is
much happier. At feeding time they have both been running, and jumping, and
kicking up their heels just for the sheer joy of it. With Sere in the pasture
Sadie is always off by herself, and both her and Star cautiously walk over to
be fed, big difference. This causes a problem since both Sadie, and Sere really
need to be in pasture. When Sadie is in a stall all she does is stand around.
In pasture she at least moves, and kicks up her heels once in a while. That
keeps her hooves trimmed nicely, and her muscles toned up. At 24 she needs the
exercise, and since I can’t work her anymore (stress colic) the pasture is a
good solution.
Sere needs to be in pasture because of her navicular. In
pasture she moves more, and the hoof gets more circulation (at least that’s the
theory). In any event she’s not nearly as lame when she’s in pasture. I know
some day we’ll have to have the nerve frozen (and teach her how to walk again)
because of the pain, but until then I want to keep her as pain free as possible
without drugs. She’s not there yet. When she’s in pasture you can hardly tell
she has a problem. It’s only when she starts trotting for more than five minutes
or so that she starts limping. When she’s in a stall, and we only let her out
for some exercise she’s lame most of the time. That’s why I put her in pasture
in the first place. Unfortunately we only have one pasture. It will take some
time before Sere’s hoof grows out so I won’t have to worry about it for a
while. Who knows what will happen
between now, and then, something good I hope (hint, hint).
Well it’s about noon now, and it hasn’t really warmed
up. The wind has picked up so I guess I’ll wait to get the stalls cleaned. Of
course that means that I’ll just have to work on the house instead, yuck. It
really needs it. Maybe I can start on my little projects, like the wood gate
for the living room, and now I have some planters I want to make. Rudy sent me
a picture of a cool planter, that I can make without a lot of trouble, and that
gave me an idea of what I can do around the porch to hide the falling down,
ugly rock planter box we inherited. See there’s always a way to get out of
doing housework. Now if I could only manage to find someone to do it for me I’d
really be happy!
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