Back at the ranch…

 

I finished my last post oh say a week ago, and of course my computer went on the blink. Rudy, and I have spent the last week trying to get it up and running again. You know viruses, and the like taking their toll. Well it probably still has issues, but it’s working, (ok where’s some wood to knock on), I hope. Having Rudy home has been wonderful not only because I happen to love having my husband around, but because it really helps having some help. Does that sound weird? My house is still a total wreck, but the ranch is definitely looking better.

 

We now have a total of 16 horses on the property.  Besides our 11 we have Penny who is definitely pregnant (I hope), Patty’s three who are now fat & sassy, and Ghost a TB racehorse. Ghost belongs to Jerry a friend of April’s, who is also disabled. Once on top of the world Jerry was crushed between a horse, and a stall wall. Jerry had another horse at the racetrack, but he was stolen. Ghost a 5-year-old gelding was raced when he was out of shape, and tore the lining of his stomach. Don’t ask me, I’m just repeating what I was told. Needless to say Jerry got him for a song, but was left with no place to keep him when he thought someone at the track was trying to poison him. I have no connection to the racing world no do I particularly want one. I won’t even go into what racing is like here, or at least what little I know of what it’s like. At any rate Jerry asked if he could bring Ghost here, and of course I said yes. He told me about his problems (every horse has his own idiosyncrasies), and warned me about his being a bad boy. A horse is a horse, I don’t care what breed they are. If you feed them right, and treat them right they are wonderful trusting creatures , unlike a lot of two legged creatures I know.

 

April, and George brought Ghost over about 10:30 at night. Evidently you can’t just take a horse from the stables at the racetrack, and load them in your trailer to go wherever. Seems it takes an act of Congress to remove your horse from the premises. When they got here poor Ghost was so hyped just getting him out of the trailer was a feat in itself. I had them put him in the round pen. He would be close to the other horses, but by himself allowing him to settle before putting him in a stall next to other horses. It took a week for him to stop pacing. I had to get all the hot feed out of him first. Once he settled down I had to find a place for him. I moved Stormy out to the pasture, put Ser-Haat between the two stallions, and put Ghost in Ser-Haat’s stall. He really needs a long run like the stallions have, but Ser-Haat is doing so well between the two boys I hate to take him out, and put him back where he was.

 

After a few weeks Jerry came out with his ex to show her Ghost, and was shocked at the change in him. He’s really a very sweet boy, so sweet I would love to take him out, and start riding him, but I can’t really do that. First off he still has two more years of racing he can do, and I can’t re-train him until he’s finished racing. The main reason though is I don’t have a bridle, and bit that will fit him. I’m not sure I even have a girth long enough for him, he’s 16 hands after all. Then there’s the matter of getting on him. I don’t have a step, and there’s no way I can stretch my legs up that high, 30 years ago maybe, but now I have to stretch just to get on Ibn, and he’s only 15 hands.

 

I had a little difficulty keeping weight on him at first. Then when I was in Albuquerque with Rudy he really lost weight. It took me a while to get him eating again, and lots of supplements. You have to understand there were a lot of changes for him not the least of which was a new diet. He’s happy, and healthy now though he does get a bit bored. I started taking him out to the round pen then Rudy went in the hospital, etc., etc. Once I get caught up again (I sound like a broken record), I’ll start working horses. The weather has been wonderful (save for today), and if it continues I hope to start riding again. I have my mowing mostly caught up (thanks to Rudy fixing the mower), and all but two stalls cleaned out. I was working on Espree’s stall when Sere sprained her ankle. Poor thing was walking like a ballerina on her right back foot. A little bit of Bute (which I just found out they aren’t going to make anymore), some liniment, and she was right as rain the next morning. I have kept her in the end stall giving her ankle some extra time to heal. Hopefully Rudy can help me put her back in pasture, and take Star out tomorrow. I have been letting Sadie, Lizzie, and Marina loose around the barn area, and I want to add Star to that list. It was real fun at first with the stallions going crazy, Marina trying to keep the mares away from the stallions, and Lizzie, and Sadie teasing the heck out of the stallions. Now they’ve finally settled down, and there’s only occasional screaming. The main purpose of this exercise is to save some money on feed. As a bonus, the girls get some exercise (ok not a lot, but it’s better than none after all), the boys get lots of exercise, and there’s a whole lot less to clean up in the stalls. I want to bring Star out so once I get all caught up on the stalls I can start training her. When I first let her out I know it’s going to be crazy again until everyone gets used to it, but she will settle down just like the others did.

 

As I mentioned earlier, Rudy has been getting water for me (and fixing the truck, and a number of other things), allowing me to spend a couple of extra hours a day working on the stalls. I want to get it to the point where all I have is a daily amount to pick up, leaving me time to train, and do other things without getting behind on the stalls. I’m bound, and determined to get horses trained so I can possibly sell them. That is why we bred them after all. I also need to start cutting more wood. December is supposed to be warmer than normal, but it’s still cool enough so I need to keep the fire going at night (today of course being the exception). The wind has been howling all day, and we got a smattering of snow last night dropping the temps, and forcing us to keep the home fires burning. I don’t mind the cold, but this wind is for the birds. Rudy just got all the missing shingles repaired on the roof, and I’m sure there will be more missing shingles after this storm. I do so love having Rudy home all the time. If I can just get these last two stalls finished…

 

Last but not least I have to give an update on my lovely chickens, they are after all members of our household. I was beginning to wonder if they would ever start laying, then it turned cold. Now Rudy set up a red heat lamp in the hen house so the girls wouldn’t get too cold during the winter. While I’m sure they would survive just fine without it, with it the hens lay eggs year round. I had the heat lamp on for about a week and finally they started laying. Their eggs are varying shades of green, and blue, with some having more of a tanish hue. I love having fresh eggs again. I still have to finish their run (more so since I took Patty, and George’s last hen). When I took care of their animals the time before last I almost took their last three hens, then this last time two hens were dead so I took the last one home. She’s past her laying years, but I couldn’t leave her to die also. I should have taken the three but they are much bigger than my hens, and I don’t have enough room for my girls as it is. Oh well such is life, Big Mama will at least be able to enjoy her senior years.

 

I’m sure I’ve left out all kinds of things that have happened, but at least I’ve sort of caught up on ranch business. I don’t have the time or the energy to do all the things I want to do (or need to do), but I am making progress. I’m getting manure down around the barn area for the coming spring. The eight barn stalls are looking good, after which I will have to start on the stallion stalls. I got teeth floated, Ser-Haat is looking great getting all kinds of exercise being in-between the two stallions. I’m getting Espree used to being handled by cleaning her stall on a daily basis. Everyone is looking good for that matter. Being on a grass/alfalfa mix this summer fattened everyone up for the winter. Letting Sadie, and Lizzie out has helped with their feet (though they’re still long) along with getting them some much needed exercise. I still have a ton of things to do, but I don’t sweat it. I do what I can, when I can, and leave the rest for tomorrow, of which there is an endless supply. One of these days things will get better, until then I work hard, and enjoy every minute I have with all that God has given me, and refuse to sweat the rest. That’s God’s problem not mine.

 

August is not a lucky month…

 

I started to write this, I can’t remember when, but obviously it was a while ago. I try not to bother with personal trials and tribulations, but that does not give one a true accounting of what it’s like trying to maintain a small horse ranch in a lousy economy, nor does it explain my long absence. At any rate August was the beginning of a very difficult time. The horses are all just fine (thank you Lord for that at least). The difficulties all started with my father who lives with me. His dementia seemed to be gaining ground at a rapid rate. He turned 90 in July, and as everyone who sees him remarks, a very strong 90, still I became increasingly concerned about him. Well the day came when he landed in a ditch on his way home from town. Now you have to understand that we live on top of a ridge on a very bad dirt road. The rains, which we were very happy to receive, have dug a rather deep trench on the side of one of the steeper hills. A neighbor found him, called me, and I raced down the hill. He was fine, but couldn’t get out of the car. My neighbor went, and got another neighbor who called the sheriff, who got an ambulance up our road. Father had some abrasions, and was lying in the back of his jeep. We got him to the hospital who declared him fit for duty. That evening however I noticed weakness on his right side, and his vision seemed to be distorted probably causing the accident in the first place. I called his doctor the next morning, and told them I believed he might have suffered a mild stroke causing him to run off the road.

 

Off we went to the doctors’ office, and then back to the hospital for a CT scan. When the nurse asked to see me I knew something was up, and not in a good way. They showed me the CT scan, which was quite alarming. He had an enormous subdural hematoma covering about half his brain. The pressure against his brain was causing all the symptoms of dementia that had become so pronounced, and the weakness on his right side. He sustained a serious fall in January, ending up with a baseball size hematoma above his left eye. At the time a CT scan showed no subdural bleeding. He is a heart patient, and in addition to BP meds, he took blood thinners. His cardiologist changed his meds stating the obvious, that the chance of his dying of a stroke was less than his dying from a fall. He kept him on aspirin which in turn allowed the then unknown bleeder to slowly build up in his brain.

 

By the time they get everything arranged for him to be medi-vaced for surgery in Albuquerque (he is 90 after all, and finding a surgeon willing to do the surgery was a feat in itself), it was late in the afternoon. I have 16 horses, and various other animals to feed so going with him was out of the question. I got April to stay at the ranch, and I drove to Albuquerque the next morning. Of course when I got there (it’s a 3 hour drive) he’s out of surgery, sitting up, and looking quite pleased with himself. The change was amazing. Overnight I had my father back. He had gotten to the point of barely talking at all, now he was a veritable chatterbox. There were a thousand little things that were signs of a bleeder I had no clue about.

 

I stayed with him in the hospital for a week, and lucky that I did. They were going to release him to a re-hab hospital when he suddenly started talking gibberish. His salt levels bottomed out, and they had to pump him full of salt before releasing him. Finally he went to re-hab, and I went home. I was exhausted, and of course I also caught a bug. If you want to get sick the best place to catch a bug is visiting someone in the hospital. I sent April home, and spent the next two weeks catching up on all the things I didn’t do while in Albuquerque.

 

Now it’s about this time that I tend to forget exactly what happened when. I get father home two weeks later, and there are doctors’ appointments, and physical therapy twice a week. In betwixt, and between I try taking care of the ranch.  Rudy’s truck is breaking down every other week, leaving very little in the way of money to feed everyone. Starting in August he tries getting his health card renewed (told you I couldn’t remember what happened when). He himself is a heart patient (thanks to his father who passed on some not so wonderful genes). Now wonderful DOT has changed the rules, (without notifying anyone of course), and it’s a month later when he finally submits to a stress test (you don’t want to know all he had to go through to get to that point). I send him to Father’s cardiologist, who said he had to have a cath done. He has seven stints at this point in his life, so what’s a few more. We of course don’t have insurance so managing to keep our ranch on a wing, and a prayer, is going to take a lot more prayers. Little did we know how many prayers that was going to turn out to be.

 

Two weeks after I get my father back from the hospital I’m taking my husband up to the hospital in Roswell. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out so good. Adajar did the cath, and then told me he needed to medi-vac Rudy to Albuquerque for by-pass surgery. Isn’t life wonderful? An $18k bill has now escalated to $31K, plus $74K for the helicopter ride to Albuquerque, and he hasn’t even had surgery yet. Adajar showed me 4 or 5 blockages some of which were actually in stints. Once again I have to go home to feed, and drive back to Albuquerque in the morning. At least this time it’s at Presbyterian. I know where that hospital is since I’ve been there so many times both with Rudy, and my father. Once again April stays with the horses, and by the time I get to Albuquerque Rudy’s out of surgery. Unlike my father he is quite out of it. They did a double by-pass, and repaired a hole in his heart. The cool thing was that he was held together with crazy glue. Yeah no stitches! Once again I stay overnight at the hospital. I’m getting real good at this staying at hospitals when there’s nothing wrong with me. This time however I do go home for a bit planning to go back on Saturday. I have way too much to do, and there are appointments I have to take Father to.

 

I’m just about ready to leave for Albuquerque when I get a call from the hospital telling me Rudy is back in surgery. When they sat him up for morning rounds he dumped a ton of blood through one of his chest tubes. Ok maybe not a ton, but way more than he should have. They rushed him into surgery, and that’s all the nurse knew at that time. Needless to say I flew up to Albuquerque without the aid of wings. By the time I got there he was out of surgery, and stable once again. His surgeon was more or less still stunned. In his entire career (he’s no spring chicken either) he had only seen this happen twice before. It was so unusual whenever I would run into another Doctor or nurse, they would comment on it. What happened was one of the chest tubes poked a hole in his heart causing it to bleed profusely. They cracked him open again repaired this second hole, and wired his breastbone together with a plate. They stapled him back together, and added two more chest tubes. This extended his stay in the hospital making his recovery a bit more difficult. He also had a hole in his lung from another chest tube but that was healing on it’s own.

 

Finally I get to bring Rudy home, but before that happens April comes over to the house for a minute. She has been spending a lot of time at her parents because of her mother who still can’t walk from her strokes. She can barely breath, and keeps pressing her chest. She told me she started having difficulty around midnight. I of course yell at her telling her she needs to see a doctor. She tells me she has an appt with Suzanne at the clinic here, but wanted to come over for a bit. I chase her out of the barn, and tell her to go to see Suzanne now. A bit later I get a call from her saying that they want to take her to the hospital because she had a heart attack. We get everything arranged with animals, her mother, etc., and off she goes to Ruidoso, and then to Albuquerque. Turns out some of her meds were interfering with her Asthma stressing her heart to the point of a heart attack.

 

Everyone is now on the mend, and doing well. The first month Rudy was home was the worst, because he couldn’t do anything. He’s still home, but able to do much more now that his six weeks are over. Actually his being home has allowed me to be able to catch up down at the barn. He has been making the trips to town for water freeing me to work on stalls. He also got the truck running better. I replaced my first U-joint with him guiding me. Then he replaced gaskets on the exhaust system, and got rid of one of the broken tail pipes. We still have to replace tie-rod ends but have to get another part to do that properly. Father has finished his physical therapy, and most of his doctor’s appts. Rudy got his health card though he won’t be able to go back to work for another month (insurance carriers say you have to stay home for 90 days even though his doctor has released him for work). April is doing better, but is still having issues. Her mother had another stroke so George is looking for a part time job close to home. Patti can’t walk again, can’t use the phone or the computer, and has difficulty talking, slurring her speech. She had just gotten to the point of being able to walk to the bathroom, and the front door before this last stroke. I do what I can to help, but unfortunately this is just going to keep happening. She’ll get better, then have another stroke, get better, and on, and on, till finally she’ll have one too many strokes, and will die. That was the way my grandmother went. The thing of it is she’s a year younger than I am myself. I complain about the things I can no longer do, and she just wants to be able to go to the bathroom by herself. It makes one appreciate all the things you can do (so stop complaining!).

 

Now you understand why I have been remiss in writing. I still have no idea how we’re going to pay for all this, but I can’t worry about that. I have too much to do just trying to keep the ranch going. I have yet to hear back from Presbyterian after I sent them all kinds of financial information. Oh I almost forgot I had to get our taxes done during this time too. Needless to say I waited till the last minute.

 

Next post I will talk about what has been going on at the ranch all this time. Plenty has been going on which is a good thing or I would probably be fit only for the funny farm. Because of the ranch we have little to no money, and because of the ranch we have a wonderful life. The horses are both our downfall, and our salvation. They make life worth living, bringing both joy, and laughter to our crazy life, and trust me we need lots of laughter!

 

 

As I was saying...

 

As I was saying after three years of drought the monsoons have finally returned. The El Nino pattern isn’t as strong as first predicted, but that may be a good thing. With everything so dry smaller doses of rain is probably a good thing.  The thought is that it will still be strong enough to last through the winter. That’s what we really need, it’s the snowmelt that feeds the underground rivers (like the one feeding my well). We were just getting a trace of rain here, and there, then a quarter inch, then a half, then the big one came, and we got 3 1/2 “ in one night. Since then it’s been smaller showers at night, like now in fact. That suits me just fine as I have too much work to do during the day.

 

I said I would try to catch up on all that’s been happening this summer, so here goes. Periodically the truck breaks down, and George has to rescue me, but somehow it always seems to be on a water run. George says I have a hay truck, not a water truck, and Rudy needs to buy me a water truck (like we can afford to buy any kind of truck). So far there hasn’t been anything major (knock on wood), and it just keeps on going, like the energizer bunny. I have to say I was quite pleased the other day when I had to rescue George. He ran out of gas, and I was quite pleased with myself, George not so much.

 

Don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but April had surgery back a while. She had dozens of polyps removed from her esophagus, and stomach. It has been a slow recovery, and she hasn’t been able to do a lot of the things around the ranch most notably hooves.  Recently she’s been able to do a little more, and we’re beginning to catch up. In the meantime I tried to do what I could, but that is little more than rasp. Because it’s been so dry everyone has overgrown soles causing all kinds of problems. I’ve gone through tons of hoof dressing, and have managed to clean out some of the worst cases. All this rain is making the biggest difference. I can clean out a lot more, of course I don’t have time to get them done the way they need to be done, but that’s besides the point. Next I’ll be treating feet for thrush. You’d think there could be a happy medium where it’s not too dry, and not too wet. Nooo, it’s got to be one or the other.

 

I’ve had to move a lot of horses around for one reason or another. I may be getting another horse in (a paying boarder no less) so I needed to free up a stall. Jetta has been doing very well even though they still haven’t gotten their teeth floated yet. That won’t be for another couple of weeks, so we put her out in the pasture with the other mares. Now Jetta is 15.3 or there abouts. There was no question who the new lead mare was. Sere always lords it over everyone, but she didn’t do anything more than follow Jetta around as she explored her new surroundings. Needless to say Jetta gets her hay first, and of course Sadie is still on the bottom of the pecking list, but I save the best for last. I’m sure Jetta will put on more weight eating a little of everyone else’s hay once she’s finished hers, but that’s ok, I compensate for piggies, and she needs the groceries.

 

I took Jazzy out of the pasture so I could start working her. She has developed quite a hay belly. Then I discovered I can’t work her until I get her off her heels, and more on her toes. Like Sadie (her dam) she grows tons of toe, and even though she was in pasture she didn’t wear them down. Too dry is my guess. April has managed to trim a little toe, but she needs a lot more trimming. Seemingly she has also forgotten a lot of things. She’s jumping at everything, and wouldn’t even come into the inside stall to eat. She’s getting a lot of re-education these days. She used to be great about shots, and medicine, but when she got sick a while back she forgot all about oral meds. She did ok with her shots, but wouldn’t take her antibiotic no matter how sweet it was. I had to get a powder for Espree (she’s terrified of needles) so I got it for Jazzy too. Don’t know what it was, but I had three horses sick one right after the other. It started with LBM, though I didn’t know he had it until later. I went out to feed him one morning, and he hadn’t finished his dinner. I took his temp, and sure enough he had a fever. It was only 103, but that’s still high. I gave him penicillin shots (which he took like a champ I might add), and we (April and I) discovered he had evidently scratched himself when he got overexcited when Sere got loose, and stuck her butt right up to his nose. She was in season, which was actually a good thing since she stopped long enough for me to catch her. Anyway between dried blood, and lots of dry skin he ended up in a lot of pain. April, and I washed him twice a day for three or four days before he was back to normal, and then Espree got sick. Whatever it was the only symptoms were high fever (Espree’s was 105), and loss of appetite. When Jazzy got it too I was afraid it was going to run through the whole herd, but she was the last. They got Banamine for three days (to bring down the fever), and antibiotics for seven days. Thankfully April was here to help. It took two of us to give them their meds, although by the time we were finished they were taking the syringe in the mouth pretty well. I still had to back them into a corner, but Jazzy was real good towards the end, and so was Espree.

 

We got new chickens again, this is the third batch I think. The last batch we believe was killed by our resident bobcat. This time I think we got all hens so I will probably get a few more next spring. I have to have my rooster you know. I've figured out how to reinforce the big run, only it's going to take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I already have the main hen house reinforced (the doors this time). I dare fox, bobcat, or coyote to break in (no I didn't really mean that, knock on wood). I also got a little bunny I'm raising in the exercise room. Isn't that where all bunnies are raised? April raised the first one the dogs found in the barn, so I got to raise the second one. Hopefully mother bunny gets the hint that the barn is not a good place to have babies. The dogs will find them every time.

 

I haven't had time to ride this summer at all, I'm just too busy cleaning stalls, fixing cars, trucks, mowers, and whatever else decides to break down. Then there are the constant water runs. I have managed to get some of the horses work outs. I still have to chase Ser-Haat to get his halter on, but once it's on he does real well. He walks through the barn like a gentleman, and works well in the round pen. He's one beautiful horse. If I can ever get him trained he will be fantastic, I just have to find the time to do it. LBM has had lessons too. He took shots like a champ, but forgot all about fly spray. He has learned that when you get tied no matter what you do you can't get away. He got his front feet cleaned, but the back are a problem. Hey I got him to let me pick them up even if it was only for a second or two. What kills me is that as a baby I picked up his feet regularly. How quickly they forget.

 

That catches you up to August, or at least as much as I can remember about it. Now it’s September (don’t know how that happened), and my next post will tell you a little about how August went.

After three years of drought...

 

 

After three years of drought the monsoons have finally returned. Yes I’m back or at least I hope I am. I usually write at night, but I have been so tired, that I’ve just been falling asleep on my chair. Well I’m going to try again to be faithful about writing. That means that for tonight at least I have a little energy left. Now the last time I tried to write a post was the end of February. That’s what I’m posting tonight, and then I’m going to try to remember all that has happened since then (like I can remember what I did yesterday). It’s a matter of discipline, a trait that I seem to be sorely lacking. I did pretty well for a while, we’ll see if I can get back into the habit. Enjoy…

 

 

It’s my own fault…

 

 

I should know better, if you don’t want to jinx something keep your mouth shut! I’m talking about my water situation. The underground river feeding my well is dry again or at least nearly so. I only had about a week hiatus then it was back to hauling water again. That was the beginning of another two weeks of frustration.

 

Now I’m not sure I have the correct chronological order of everything, but it really doesn’t matter all that much. I’ll start with my father’s jeep. Now it has been making a clunking noise for I don’t know how long.  I hadn’t been driving it, and father assumed the noise was just his license plate holder. I looked underneath, and sure enough I found a broken bracket. I ordered a new one, and of course when I replaced the broken part, the clunk was still there. We took the jeep in, and somehow father managed to crack the cross member in the rear. Now the Compas may be more of a street car, but it’s still a jeep, and according to the salesman quite capable of traversing a rough dirt road. The mechanic insisted that father either had an accident or drove into a ditch. Father’s memory may not be the best, but he would remember driving into a ditch, besides I would have had to rescue him. The long, and short of it was we had to put in a claim to the insurance company. It’s fixed now, and father is happy to have his independence back. That’s what matters most.

 

In the midst of all this the truck started giving me trouble. Now remember I have to haul water daily or run out. I got stuck in Capitan while getting water. George came over and tried to figure out what the problem was. He was certain it was the solenoid, so we changed that to no avail. I was certain it was the starter, and after a few tests we decided that it was the starter after all. We left it there overnight, and the next morning replaced the starter. It started the first time. I’m getting pretty good at this mechanic business. I thought I was home free, but no the truck started acting up again. Once I was on 48, George pushed me to Laughing Horse. The next morning I went over to the truck, and it started right up. This went on for a couple of days. I replaced the airflow valve to no avail, and then I decided it must be the thermostat. I replaced that, and everything was fine for a couple of days. The housing on the thermostat was pretty messed up, messed up enough to blow the gasket. I think I’ve replaced like five gaskets, and ordered a new housing. I’ve also gone through enough antifreeze to float a boat. The last time I changed the gasket I bought four gaskets, and some black gasket goop. That finally did the trick, and I haven’t blown a gasket since. Even though I got the thermostat housing so it doesn’t leak, I’m still loosing antifreeze. I need a new overflow tank. That will have to wait till I can find one. Meanwhile I continued to use a lot of antifreeze always keeping a gallon in the truck. Finally I found just the right level that won’t bounce out of the tank, and will still keep the trucks engine cool. I can make about three trips back, and forth to Capitan for water before I have to add a little more. Don’t you just love it?

 

Since we had no vehicle that was running (father’s jeep was in the shop remember) I had Rudy run through what needed to be done to fix the Z. Actually it was his idea. I replaced the fuel pressure regulator, and did an oil, and oil filter change then when I went to start the car, nothing happened. Well not exactly nothing, once the fuel pump stopped I could hear a click. The battery cables are the same ones that were there when Rudy bought the Z. He was restoring it, but our lives got all messed up, and it’s been sitting there, just like my Fiero, and the Jeep. The Fiero needs a starter, and a new battery, the jeep a new head, and valve job. Back to the Z, the battery cables were such a mess I couldn’t see how it ever ran. I went, and bought new cables installed them, and still nothing but a click. We have no Jeep, no car, and no truck, isn’t life wonderful. The Z is really easy to work on, and Rudy said to look for the wire that connects the Solenoid to the starter. The next day I look, and find a loose wire that clips onto something. I finally figure out where, and vavoom the Z roars into life, and purrs like a kitten. Finally we have a vehicle that works. I even cleaned it all out. I filled the antifreeze tank, and went to fill the tires only I couldn’t get the caps off the stems. Why Lord? I have the truck fixed, I have water (George got my pump working so I was able to almost fill our tank) I have propane (after going a week with no water, I ran out of propane wouldn’t you know), and I have a working car that I can’t use because I can’t get the stem caps off to fill the stupid tires. Next day I try using a socket wrench, and I soak the stems with Liquid Wrench. Finally I get the caps off, and fill the tires. Yea for me, I’m not doing too bad as a mechanic. The Z now has insurance again, and is registered. All I have left to do is to get new mirrors. I start to go to town to get the mirrors, and I think about the gas cap, which is a locking one. Naturally I don’t have a key. I go back home all deflated. I talk to Rudy later, and Rudy never locked it.  He doesn’t even think he has a key. I’ve tried everything, and no go. I can’t get the cap off. It will just have to wait.

 

Now I have my truck, and Father has his jeep. Next George (April’s step-dad) manages to get my water pump started. At first I still couldn’t start it w/o April’s help. With my smaller tank I can now stand on the bed of the truck, and get it started. It may take a while, but hey at least I can start it. It only takes about 15 minutes to empty the water tank so I have been able to actually get the storage tank full (or at least close to it) in a couple of days. Now everything would be good if the village hadn’t decided to fix Dana’s office, and put her desk etc. in the hallway. It’s been two weeks now that she has had to give me water out of the village’s account, and manually track, my water usage. It wouldn’t be a big deal except that they are only there Mon – Thurs. Thursday I get hay, so I have to make sure that I have enough water to get through the weekend, and do all my shopping, then get hay. It’s all good at least I have water, and I can do three loads in one day if need be. It may only take 15 minutes to unload the water tank, but it still takes about an hour to get the water, and bring it back. I’m not complaining. Father has his car, I have my truck, I have water, and all is right with my world for the present (sort of at least).

 

 

 

Houston, we have water…

 

Finally the spring thaw has come, and our underground river has finally reached our pump again. Granted it’s a third of what our previous flow was, but hey I’ll take what I can get. Unfortunately since we didn’t get much snow this year I don’t know if it will last long, but for the time being I get a little break from hauling water. Right now the tank is about ¾ ‘s full, hopefully by tomorrow morning it will be all but full. That means I can actually finish my laundry, you know sheets, blankets, rugs, jackets all the things that don’t get washed on a regular basis, and most of which I can put away till next winter.

 

Today was a really nice day even though it started off kinda dreary, and cold. Ok downright dreary, and cold. I had to go to Capitan to get a bale of alfalfa, and by the time I came back it was still a little chilly, but the sun was out with only a gentle breeze. We decided to move horses today instead of tomorrow since the first wave of storms (meaning wind, and cold) is supposed to start tomorrow. First we put Sere into the pasture, and brought Penny out. I put her in Sere’s stall next to Marina. Next I put Sadie into the pasture, and April brought Star. Star was higher than a kite so she took a little longer to move. After we got them settled, we took LBM, and Lizzie out to the arena so they could play, and we could clean Lizzie’s stall. For the most part she is over her bout of Pigeon Fever (I swear she’s going to ooze forever). We took all the manure, and dumped it far, far away (like that would make a difference). I was actually very proud of LBM. I picked Lizzie because they’ve been stalled next to each other since he was weaned also she’s an old broodmare who has raised many a youngster. It’s been so long since he’s been able to run, and play in the arena he doesn’t quite know what to do. Lizzie got him running, and let him know when he was doing something wrong. He’s got to learn mare manners, and she’s just the one to teach him. She’s also too tall for him yet. I’m not stupid after all (at least most days). If I put him out with one of our smaller mares I would be taking a chance, this way there can be no surprises, and no hurt horses to doctor. I also want to put him out with Stormy, and maybe even Ibn. He gets along great with Ibn, but there is a fence between them. If I ever want to show him he needs to be able to get along with mares, geldings, and stallions too. This is a first step. He’s still young enough for the other horses to treat him like a baby so I’m not that concerned about safety. Once he understands herd behavior training him to play nice when I’m on his back, and there are other horses around won’t be as difficult, or so I keep telling myself.

 

April, and I had almost finished Lizzie’s stall when she left to go get Jetta, and Shazam (her mom & dad’s horses). They want to sell Jetta, but she’s only green broke, and she’s still too thin. Shazam is well trained so long as he’s in the round pen or the arena. He’s way too thin, and too spooky. It’s not that they don’t feed them enough it’s that all three of their horses are in pasture, and Shouda takes her share, and some of Shazam’s, and Jetta’s too. Shouda looks fantastic. She’s an old off the track TB who has had more than her share of health issues. Shazam’s a lowly gelding, and Jetta’s just young. Needless to say Shouda puts every one in their place, and they are stuck with leftovers. They’re also feeding them sweet feed to put weight on them. Naturally Shouda gets the best parts of everyone elses goodies as well as her own. What they manage to scarf down before Shouda barges in is too hot a feed especially for Shazam who’s a hot Arabian. I know I’m no expert so if I sound a little snooty forgive me (or not). I also know all the things I’ve done in the way of trying to keep our horses happy, and healthy. I do what works for us, and our horses.

 

It was getting late by now, but still a little too early to feed, so we took a little break before feeding everyone. For now Jetta, and Shazam are getting one flake of grass, one flake of alfalfa, and one pound of Safe Choice. It’s still 14% protein, but it’s a cool feed. Once I like their weight, I’ll start backing off on the Alfalfa, and then the Safe Choice.  They shouldn’t need the extra calories even when we start working them (at least not till next winter). They won’t be worked that hard. I’ll leave them alone for a week till they get settled, and (Shazam especially) settle down. Poor Shazam was a nervous wreck by the time he got here. Then on top of everything else there was this huge cave. He’s never been in a barn or a barn stall. Rather than stress him out even more I put him in his stall the back way through a gate. I also put his feed right at the door of the barn stall. April said he would nibble a piece of hay then run out side to eat it. I told her once we left he would settle down, and eat. I’ll slowly bring the hay further into the barn. Of course I put his goodies in the feeder so if he wants them he will just have to go into that scary cave. I’m such a mean person. He’ll be fine, he just needs time to learn that he won’t be attacked, and killed. He’s skittish with dogs too. It seems that he was once attacked by two Rotweilers, and you know Arabians they never forget. He’ll get over it. Our dogs are used to horses, and unless I’m chasing them they leave the horses pretty much alone. The only reason they have for even going into the stalls is for horse cookies, or maybe a little hoof leftovers.  We’ll see how everyone is tomorrow morning. What you wanna bet everyone survives just fine.

More Fun…

 

It took me over two weeks to get my last post posted. Why you ask, what can possibly happen in two weeks? My wonderful fantastic 2014 is off to a slow start, the wonderful part that is. Well my truck gave me a good two weeks before it started breaking down again. It was doing fine then all of a sudden it started to die on me. Do you have any idea how scary is to be carrying a load of water (275 - 330 gallons of it), and suddenly be dead in the water? It would be fine then start to loose power then stop. It took a while (once George rescued me, and pushed me from Capitan to our road), but I finally figured out it was the thermostat. Meanwhile I replaced the airflow bypass valve, and screwed up the timing that I just got fixed after Rudy replaced the distributor. Oh did I tell you about the episode with the distributor? I was bringing a load of water from Capitan, and the truck died on Hwy 48 in a very bad place. There was no room to pull completely off the road of course, and it just died. Luckily a sheriff’s car pulled up right after, and stayed behind me till AAA finally sent a tow truck. Why is it that when you tell people not to do something that’s the very thing they do? I told them I was carrying 300 gallons of water, I was in an unsafe place, and not to send the tow truck from Ruidoso, which of course is exactly what they did. When he finally got there he took one look at my truck with it’s load of water, and went right back to Ruidoso. The tow company in Capitan, which is 10 minutes away (as opposed to 45 minutes away), has a heavy duty truck with a flat bed. By this time the Sheriff was getting a bit peeved, but I finally got AAA to send the right tow, and he managed to get me, and my water safely up to the house (after three hours that is). Such fun. Anyway Rudy ended up spending our anniversary replacing the distributor. He was working on the timing when he had to leave. He called Andy’s the next morning, which was freezing cold, and snowing, and had him come up to the house to fix the timing. Needless to say when the truck started dying on me yet again I was very nervous about going to town to get water. It would work then not work, work then not work. We figured out it wasn’t the fuel pumps, and it wasn’t the fuel pressure regulator. Rudy was afraid it was one of the sensors, but said I could replace the thermostat with little trouble, and it would be a cheap fix if that was what was wrong with it. I replaced it, and the truck stopped dying, but he didn’t tell me to put gasket stuff on both sides of the gasket so I had to take it apart again, and the second time I put it back together one bolt didn’t go in right. I was going to Andy’s to find out about the check engine light, and of course it boiled over. I just can’t win for loosing some days. They re-taped the boltholes on the motor side, and fixed a vacuum line that had come loose, and I was good again. I still have to re-adjust the timing (George fixed it after I replaced the by-pass valve but timed it too slow), but the thermostat is working fine now that it is broken in.

 

Lest you think that 2014 isn’t turning out to be so great, there have been some positives. Everyone is healthy again. Marina’s feet are doing fine, Lizzie got over her Pigeon Fever, and it only takes me less than an hour to feed again. Thank you Lord for that! April (God love her) got on the roof for me, and cleaned out the top of the chimney. We now have heat in the main part of the house again. I’ve split a little more than half of the wood I got from Sherry, and spring is definitely here. Patti, and George are going to give me their chickens I just have to fix the chicken run so no more little foxes can dine on their favorite treat. I fixed the barn water pipe (brass can only stand so much cold weather) so we now have water in all the right places. There have been no more run ins with porcupines (don’t know if I told you about that one), and the skunks haven’t started coming out yet. I haven’t taken down my Christmas stuff, but hopefully now that I’m not exhausted all the time, and I actually will have some free time (once I get caught up on laundry that is) I should be able to get that taken care of very soon. Best of all, I made a new friend today, a very good new friend. I was going to get water, and at the dumpster two friends were visiting. They saw me coming, and ended their chitchatting. As I pulled up the man going back home stopped me, and told me he had been trying to catch me (to talk of course). Anyway we talked a bit, and he offered to let me use his 400-gallon water tank. It’s one of the round ones that just slide in the bed of the truck shaped to fit over the wheel wells. Of course I said yes so up to his house we went. We sat, and talked for quite a while, and traded tanks. He only gets water for the horses leaving his well for household use. He said I could just keep it as long as I needed it, and if he needed to get water he would use my tank. He also offered to go with me using my tank, and that way we could fill both tanks, and get my storage tank full (God how I love small towns). His wife loves to ride, but he’s not always able to go. Besides a heart condition (not unlike Rudy’s) he’s been battling hernias, and tumors. He’s beat cancer so far, but he’s not as strong as he used to be. With all he’s been through it’s no wonder. Anyway we exchanged numbers, as he wants to bring his wife over to see our horses. The place is a mess since I haven’t had time to keep up the stalls, but all that will be changing with the fair weather. Who knows I might even get the rest of my house clean. Now that I have water again I can’t wait till I can wash the floors. Then too I need to groom the two little mops that run around the house. You have no idea how wonderful it is not to worry about having enough water.

 

Last but not least, I think the underground river that feeds our well has been growing with the warmer weather. We didn’t get a lot of snow, but we did get some in November, and December. I shouldn’t have as much water as I do considering there were two days this week I couldn’t get water so I’m hoping. It may not last that long, but even a little break from having to get water every day is greatly appreciated.

 

Thus ends my saga. I can’t wait to get things squared away again, and start doing the things I love to do like riding!

I know some people have boring lives…

I know some people have boring lives but I don’t think I’m one of them. The last time I started to write a post was 10-20-2013, it’s now the middle of February. At that time I was commenting on the fact that Joe had finally finished cleaning Lizzie’s stall. Eventually we got Espree, Star, and Lizzie’s stalls done a couple of times (thankfully before the weather got bad). Star contracted Pigeon Fever otherwise known as Dry Land Distemper or even River Rot. Evidently this year for some reason there  was a huge outbreak of it in our area. She had three breakouts all of which broke open, and closed up again even before I could flush out the abscesses, then Lizzie came down with it. She is almost over with it yes I know that was over three months ago. At one point she could barely walk but it just wouldn’t break open. I soaked her with hot Epson salt compresses twice a day till about a week or more ago, and I am on my fourth jar of Ichthammol. I had to trim the fur on her chest to get the Ichthammol down into her skin before the fur fell out. Finally it burst, and has been oozing ever since. Her fur is already growing back even though she still has a little oozing. At one point I had three sick horses in the worst weather. Jeri caught a terrible cold, which thankfully he got over without needing medication. The worst was

Marina. She stopped eating, and was down most of three days. Then she went lame on her back leg. With Sherry’s help we decided she had contracted hooves, so while I was soaking Lizzie’s chest, I was also soaking Marina’s feet in Epson salts. At first (not knowing what of a dozen things might be wrong) I was giving her 20 cc's of penicillin twice a day. Then when we decided is was contracted hooves she got 10 cc’s of Banamine once a day for over a week, and was very grateful once I stopped. She has very hard hooves to begin with, and with it being so dry it was just too much for her feet. She is now getting hoof treatments every few days to keep them from drying out again. This last little snowstorm has helped soften her feet so I could get most of her overgrown frog cut down. I’m sure that contributed to her problem.

 .

 

All this of course is only the tip of the iceberg. Getting water has been an ongoing problem, as our well is now completely dry. Once the cold weather hit the water tank I was using to haul water with kept cracking. It was covered with bondo, which eventually came off so I would have to do it all over again. Finally I got a new used tank (300 gal). The only problem was it was used to transport oil. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get oil out of that large a tank? Taint easy let me tell you. I finally took it to a car wash, filled the bottom with degreaser, and let it sit. Rudy took it back later, and washed it out as best he could. There’s a little crusty stuff on the bottom, but that is never going to come out. Ok now I have a new clean tank so the truck breaks down. After a week of replacing this, and that, taking it down to the mechanic to find out it was something in the carburetor. They of course wore down the battery by taking the key out. I tried charging it, and even used the battery from the Z to get it started to no avail. I replaced the coil, the spark plugs, spark plug wires, and the solenoid. I got a new battery, and it still wouldn’t start. Then Rudy suggested that I look for a short in the wire connecting the solenoid to the starter button he installed. Sure enough I find a burn mark. I cut, and splice the wire, and lo, and behold it starts. Thank you Lord! Between the truck, my tank issues, and busted pipes, we went over a month without running water. Talk about roughing it.

 

December was a month to reckon with. Since 2013 was the worst year of our married life it decided to go out with a bang. There were freezing cold temps, and though we didn’t get a lot of snow ourselves, there was plenty on the mountain in fact we thought we just might work our way out of our three year drought until January came with no moisture at all. Mostly we had freezing temps. I had heat tape, blankets, and plenty of R19 down at the pump house, and I bought some wood to make a box lines with R19 around the bottom of the pump house. I haven’t built it yet, but I did buy the wood. Unfortunately I forgot to turn on the heat lamp. The result was three busted pipes. This happened about the time the truck broke down. I was hoping to fix it myself, but it was beyond me. Between doctoring horses, hauling water, breaking ice, and cutting wood (my wood pile was depleted by now), I had neither the strength nor the energy to attempt it. George (April’s step father) knew of someone who could fix it for me. I felt terrible because a simple job ended up taking most of his Sunday. We finally got it fixed, and the heat lamp has been on every since. The freezing temps also made for heavy ice, like 6 – 8” thick ice. LBM broke the float in his, and Lizzie’s tank so I had to fix that too. You know I used to love winter of course that was when I lived in the city, and in Tucson to boot. Now I can’t wait till spring.

 

A couple of weeks ago I had to clean out our chimney. What a mess that was. I was doing real good until the pipe dropped, and I had soot everywhere. The top portion of the pipe is pellet stove piping which is much narrower so I made a chimney brush out of a long broom handle, and a toilet bowel brush. Hey it worked except for the piping above the roof. My makeshift chimney brush wasn’t quite long enough for the pipe above the roof. I still have to go up on the roof to clean out the rest of it. Now I have no fear of heights, just of ladders. Many years ago I was cleaning my swamp cooler, and one time when I was going down the ladder slipped, and I ended up upside down on a chair that was thankfully under the ladder. If not for that chair I would have cracked my head open on the cement. Getting up on the roof is not going to be fun, but it has to be done. While up there I’m going to clean out the other chimney. Might as well, it hasn’t been cleaned for a number of years. It doesn’t get used that much, and is working just fine right now, but with my luck... One day when April is here (and we have the time), she can help with the ladder. Still I’m not looking forward to it.

 

I have lots of wood now thanks to Sherry. She had some Ponderosas that were dead, and I got two truckloads of wood. Unfortunately they weren’t dead long enough, and still have too much resin in them so I still have to go out get wood, and cut it. Please let Spring come soon.

 

I forgot we also have a new addition to the family. She’s been the bright spot in this otherwise lousy winter. Since April won’t let me have Dominica, I decided I needed to find my own littleler. I went to the Humane Society, and told them I wanted a Chihuahua or Chihuahua mix. They found me Jessie, Jessie James. They had her for 5 days, and managed to get her up to 7 lbs. At that she was skin, and bones. I’ve put 1.8 lbs on her since. They had her down as a Chihuahua/Terrier mix with a docked tail. She’s heavier boned than a purebred, and longer with shorter legs. Actually except for the docked tail she looks like a Chiweenie. She’s very spoiled, and I

have an idea that whoever had her before she got lost really spoiled her. She’s becoming quite the ranch doggie. She goes down to the barn to feed with me, and just about everywhere else. She’s a bit timid around people but I don’t think it was abuse, I think she simply never went anywhere to get exposed to new situations. Down at the barn she’s quite brave, too brave in fact. She goes off with the big dogs into the woods, goes down the road when I’m not looking, and has no fear of the horses. In fact once Marina was feeling better I put her, and Sadie into the arena, and chased them. When my back was turned there Jessie was in the arena running for her life when the horses came back around. I had to yell at her three times to stay out of the arena before she gave in, and stayed out. She’s completely house trained, about three years old, and sleeps under the covers with me at night. I said she was spoiled.

 

Anyway thus ends 2013, and here’s to a fantabulous 2014!

 

 

I know it’s been a while, but…

 

I know it’s been a while, but I have some very good reasons for my absence. In fact I have so many good reasons it’s hard to know where to begin. Lets start with the monsoon season. Now I have lived in the southwest most of my life, so I think I know how the monsoon season is supposed to work in a normal year (meaning no La Nina, and no El Nino). The mornings are beautiful, then is starts getting hot, and muggy. Thunderclouds form where there was only blue sky. There’s wind, lightning, and thunder, and by about 2:00 in the afternoon the temperatures plummet as huge raindrops, and maybe even hail pound the ground for ten minutes or maybe even half an hour. The air is sweet, and clean as the clouds, wind, and rain seem to magically disappear. The deluge is over for now, and the thirsty ground has absorbed the rainwater like a sponge. There is a beautiful sunset, and a star filled sky for a canopy at night. That’s the way it is supposed to work. You’re not supposed to have day after day of rain morning, noon, and night. Towns are not supposed to be underwater, that’s supposed to happen in the Midwest, not the Southwest. Yes we need the rain, but not all at once. You get a little rain, and then you get a little dry spell so the ground can absorb the moisture it so desperately needs. Like I said someone didn’t read the rulebook. The sad thing is with all that rain it still doesn’t make up for the three years of drought. Now we need a good snow season.

 

Of course in spite of the fact that it may be raining that doesn’t mean you stop doing the things that have to be done. Things like feeding, and clearing out stalls that now have pools of water in them. When you do these things of course you get wet (soaked is more like it) because when you started of course it was dry as a bone. Normally this is no big deal, but when two weeks before you were sick it can become a problem. Yes the chills, and fever return, only now you have a chest that hurts so bad you can hardly breathe. This makes doing anything extremely difficult. Two weeks go by, and you can breathe, but please don’t make me laugh. This starts a coughing fit that won’t quit.

 

While you’re still recuperating you have a very hectic week of taking your father to various doctors. This in turn elicits various tests one of which is at the hospital 70 miles away for four days. Your body of course vehemently objects as it refuses to allow you to drive such a distance for even one day. You also discover that you no longer have water. The well has suddenly gone dry again (thank you neighbor for that). Since you were caught unawares, and it had to be on a Friday (when the Village is closed, and you can’t buy water till Monday) you get very upset. Thankfully you have some water on your account. It’s not enough, but it lasts a little while, and you have two tanks of rainwater for the horses, at least they will have enough water to last till Monday. Then begins the daily routine of water runs. My tank is old, and brittle with numerous cracks I have fixed with bondo. It only lasts a little while then I have to remove the bondo, and re-do it. The cracks get larger of course, but it’s all I can do. George (April’s father) is looking for another tank for me, meanwhile I try to make at least two runs a day to keep pace with the demand of thirteen horses. Now if I could only get enough to do laundry that would be really nice!

 

You also have at least two horses that have to be moved since their feet are now mush from all the mud that wouldn’t dry out (we’ve covered that already, the monsoon season that didn’t behave properly). Ok if we move Marina, and Lizzy to the arena their feet will dry out. They have the two wettest stalls. Everyone else gets their feet cleaned, and that’s it. Boy are Marina, and Lizzy in seventh heaven. There is a lot of grass amongst those weeds. Lizzy’s feet are the worst. Not only are they soft, but also way too long, even her soles are overgrown. Things are starting to dry out, and now her feet are cracking etc. The arena is helping, but not enough. April shows up, and manages to get the worst of the overgrowth off Lizzy’s feet, and evens out Marina’s. I move Marina, and Lizzy to

the pasture, and Jazzy, and Penny to the arena. Finally Marina, and Lizzie’s feet start to wear down properly. Once Lizzy gets regular workouts she will do much better. In another week she’ll be ready to ride again. No one’s ridden her since she came here. Joe has a headstall that I think will fit her. What do you want she’s a TB, and all our other horses are Arabians? Her weight is good too. It’s amazing what Pergolid does, she was thin as a rail, and now she’s fit as a fiddle, well ok, maybe a cello.

 

There are three stalls that have to be cleaned asap. I usually get around to it at least twice a year, but things have been a bit difficult these past few years. It’s dry enough now to do some mowing, but when I said the mower didn’t feel right I was correct. The pulley went flying off before I had a chance to do much. I now need to get two spacers, a new pulley, and a new nut. At least I thought that was all I needed. It turns out the spindle that I got was the wrong spindle which is why the pulley was ruined. I finally have all the right parts, and April helps me torque down the nuts, and away I go. Finally after three months my mower is fixed. Of course one of the blades is only half there, and the other blade needs sharpening. The weeds are so dry now it doesn’t really matter so new blades will wait till next year. I start working on one stall in-between water runs (lets not forget that the well is now bone dry), when I notice that Star has some swelling on her belly. The next morning it’s bigger, and the fur is ruffled. I look more closely, and sure enough it’s pigeon fever. She has another pocket that is forming on the right side of her chest. Now I have to get at least one stall cleaned. I choose the one next to Espree since she had pigeon fever when we had an outbreak in CA. I get not quite a quarter of it done, but I move Star anyway. The next day April, and I work on the stall, and get almost half of it done. This is not going well. The pustule on Star’s tummy slowly seeped out (we got her out of the pasture just in time), and healed quickly. Meanwhile her chest pocket now encompasses her chest, and has traveled to her tummy just beyond her front legs. After a couple of days the chest hardens, and bursts. It takes a few days to drain, and she’s good as new.

 

Sunday Joe showed up, and helped us get the worst of Star’s stall done. The next day (while I was running around) April got up to the stall front, and all that’s left is the inside of the stall which might as well have a cement floor it’s packed so hard. We leave it for the time being, and the next two weeks Joe works on Lizzy’s stall. I get both floats on the pasture, and arena tanks replaced. I get all of Father’s doctor’s appointments changed so he can go to Tuba City, and then to his sisters for their annual Christmas party. Don’t ask it’s a long story. We buy him a Jeep since he can’t drive the Fiesta up our road in the snow. He can’t drive it anywhere in the snow, at least not around here. I still have to take him to Roswell shopping, and to various doctor’s to make sure he is ok to travel. There’s also a sleep study on the 23^rd I have to take him to. I have no clue what we’re going to do about his heart monitor. I’ll have to talk to the doctor’s about that.

 

So to sum up, the monsoons made a mess of everything including me (I was sick for three weeks). Marina, and Lizzy are in the arena, and loving it. Star is over her pigeon fever, and no one else came down with it. The mower is finally fixed, and all I have to do now is find the time to get the rest of the property around the barns etc. mowed down. I got the floats on the two big water tanks replaced. I have father’s doctor’s appointments set up so he can travel. Father now has a proper vehicle to tool around in here. My Jeep is finally on its last leg so it’s good that father bought a Jeep. Two stalls are almost cleaned (Star’s needs to be cleaned again but it’s only new stuff). I have to catch up on the other stalls, but hey they’ll be a piece of cake compared to the back stalls. I also have to continue to work on the stalls that Joe started. He can’t have all the fun you know. I have to make at least two water runs a day, three if I want to get my storage tank anywhere near full for I don’t know how long. I finally decided to fatten Sadie up, and put her in the pasture with Lizzy, and Marina. I’ll have to make a feeder stand for her, but it will be perfect since all three of them get supplements. Jazzy, and Penny will go back in the barn stalls. I’ll have to work Jazzy on a regular basis so her feet don’t get too long. I got the water heater blanket, but have yet to put it together. I brought in my plants for the winter, but my woodpile is still pitifully small. All in all things have been seriously hectic, and show no sign of letting up. Isn’t life wonderful?

I guess they’re right…

 

You know how they say after you get over the flu to take it easy because you can relapse? Guess what, they’re right! Not only that but they also say that the relapse is worse than the first time around. Wouldn’t you know, they’re right about that too. When my mower parts came in I had to test the mower after I put it all back together to make sure that it was working properly, and while I was out there it sorta started raining. It wasn’t raining hard, it was just sprinkling, and I got a little soaked. It wasn’t cold out so I didn’t think anything of it. Then later when I fed of course it did the same thing. At least I wore warmer clothing, only it didn’t seem to do any good. By the time I finished with everything got everyone fed etc. I was coughing up a storm. Needless to say I’ve been down all week. The worst part is I can’t seem to breath well. I’ve always been short winded (kept me out of sports as a kid, which I did not appreciate), but this is ridicules. I’d have to stop halfway through feeding to catch my breath.  Today I was able to unload, and stack hay, but after all I only had eight bales of alfalfa, and some feed bags so it was no big deal. Still, and all I was exhausted, but I got it done. After I did the hay Father wanted to go to town for lunch (he doesn’t appreciate my simple one person meals), after which I came home, and proceeded to fall asleep for a couple of hours. Hey that’s the most I’ve done all week.

 

Actually it’s been a good time to be sick (if there is such a thing). All it’s done for the past week is rain. Now we’ve been in a drought situation here in the southwest so naturally we’ve been praying for rain. In our church every Sunday one of the things we pray for specifically is rain, and I am assuming that the same sort of thing goes on in just about every church in NM. Well God took us at our word, and opened the floodgates. Geese Louise He could have let it rain a little bit at a time, but nooo… He lets loose the rain all at once. One Tropical storm is bad enough, but two during monsoon season is a bit much. This is why my husband, and I insist on never living near a river, and never, ever have a house on low ground. I had a friend whose house was a mile away from the Santa Cruz down in Tubac AZ. We had a monsoon season like this. It rained for three days straight, the river changed course, and she had three to four feet of water in her house. That was a bad year. We were stranded for three days while they decided who was going to pay for the road that washed out leaving us (Rio Rico community) isolated. All the roads leading in, and out of Rio Rico were washed away. The bridge going over the Santa Cruz was left standing, but there was no road. The raging water cut out the road behind the bridge, leaving a twenty foot drop about fifteen foot wide. It was really sort of cool watching the power of the river cut away at the road bit by bit. I’ll have to look in my files to see where the newspaper articles are. Anyway this has been that sort of rain here in NM, and CO. We have been inconvenienced, but there are plenty of people in both states that are going through a terrible time. The worst part is that in spite of the fact that the rivers are higher than they have been in a number of years it’s still not enough. The lakes have risen somewhat, but are still no where near what they should be. For the year we are getting closer to normal rainfall but not there yet. We may get there the next few days as it is supposed to rain some more, but that still won’t make up for the past three years. In addition to a good monsoon season we need a good wet winter with a slow snowmelt in the spring. No more flooding (just in case you’re listening Lord).

 

I may be frustrated because I can’t get done what I want to do, but I really feel for the horses. Ok so they are spoiled. Each has a dry spot to stand in so they don’t get soaked, but that’s besides the point. All the runs are sloppy, and some have standing water where there are low spots. I’m going up, and down the fence line trying to find a spot to leave hay for the pasture horses. When it’s raining I take the hay in, and feed them inside the shuffling barn. Everyone seems to have gotten a little thin with that Coastal hay, but Espree, and Sadie are the worst. If tomorrow is as nice as today I think I will put the two of them in the arena. I have water there, and I can feed them extras. I started Espree on Breeders Choice, but I ran out, and forgot that Harvey’s closes at noon on Sat. Then Rudy told me that they are also closed on Monday’s.  Hopefully, with the new store that won’t be the case. I really need that stuff for Jeri if no one else. Jeri has shown real improvement, and I don’t want to have him take a step back. I also need to get Espree, Sadie, and LBM up to weight. They are the worst. Some of the others are down a little in weight, some just need work, big bellies, and no muscle, and then there’s Sere. She looks fantastic.  If I can get the rest to look like her… You can’t sell a horse that looks like crap, so I’d best get to work, and get them in shape.  Of course in order to do that it has to stop raining long enough for me to cut all the weeds, and grass down. I did get the round pen mowed, but it’s so slick with all the rain that if I try to work any one it will be a slip, and slide affair, great for kids, not for horses. Today it only rained a little this morning, and if I’m lucky maybe tomorrow will be dry, then I can get some mowing done. Some is better than none. I also hope that Wal-Mart has gotten in some wood pellets. I need a ton of them, but even a few bags will be better than nothing. It’s a little early for wood pellets, but they have the cheapest in town. I’m not going to pay premium price for something that is going on the ground. It works just as well as dry stall, and is a whole lot cheaper.

 

I also found a cheaper fly spray. It took a while to come up with something that works here, but I think I’ve got it down. Most of it is just plain lemon Pinesol, and water (half, and half). That’s what the recipe called for (www.moniteausaddleclub.com/flyspray_recipes.htm). To that I added my alcohol, and clove mixture, just a little mind you, to convince the mosquitoes that they want to stay clear of the stuff (they don't like the smell of cloves). Add a little bit of eucalyptus oil, shake gently, and spray. It works as well as the fly spray you spend a fortune for that only lasts a day or so. It also makes the barn smell good. Today the flies were horrendous. All that moisture, and then just a little sun was all they needed to come out in force. I’ll make another batch tonight. I bought a big bottle of Pinesol for a whole $3. Much better that the $60 or so for the good stuff. It works, that’s all that matters to me. The horses are happy, so I’m happy, and that’s all that matters. Try it or try one of their other recipes, who knows you may find one you like better.

 

There has been one causality due to the weather. I found another hummingbird on her back this morning. I got some food in her, and I got her warmed up, but it wasn't enough. She had a heart attack and died after about half an hour. I'm sure the weather has caused other deaths in my hummingbird population, hopefully not too many. They are such brave little creatures they deserve a long life.