Rain, Rain, Rain

Tom had cleared the gutters, but not the short gutters on the dormers, and at 1:00 AM he let me know that water was coming into the bathroom. Great! The power went out, briefly, around the same time. Irene climbed into bed with us and settled down for the rest of the night under the covers until the alarm went off. Tom installed the exterior stairwell sump pump last night and this morning it was working like a champ - basement is dry, too. We only got one 'run' of cattle carpet down. We have to finish that tonight - the gravel man must be scheduled for a delivery - Friday or Saturday. The barn is going to be delivered on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. And we want the carpet and gravel to be down before the pieces arrive.

Expecting 4-6 inches of rain today, some localized flooding and now there is a tornado warning! Can it get any better? The pasture is wet, and some spots there is standing water. It is good to know the way the water flows from the contours, we've had such a drought that we have never witnessed anything like this. It is a learning experience.

Another Beautiful Evening

Spent the evening off-loading the fence boards and posts from the flat bed. Sixteen-foot Red Oak boards, smell like peaches! And they were covered in Stinkbugs. Some of those bugs got squished, but the boards smelled so good and the breeze was picking up, never smelled a single one. Dozens were killed.

Today Tom is hoping to pick up the roll of cattle carpet from a local supply house. It also would be great if he could pick up hay, but if not we'll make time to do that over the weekend. If we run out our neighbor and good friend will surely lend us a bale or two.

This morning it was 37 degrees! Wow - Fall is upon us. Supposed to rain a little this afternoon, too.

Gravel Man

The gravel guy came over last night - almost dark, too. He proposed a base composite topped with fine gravel. Cattle carpet, the geo-textile fabric that we used in West Virginia, will go under all of it. He can deliver on Wednesday. We need to get the cattle carpet right away, have to unload the fence lumber from the flat bed so that we can pick up the roll of cattle carpet. It's a relay race! The barn will be delivered next Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Penn Dutch will finish the on-site installation. Too much excitement!

Rainy Monday

Misting this morning when I fed the boys. Pasture a little slick with rain soaked into the top. Looking forward to having the barn delivered next week - time flies but this seems to be taking forever! We need to have hay delivered, but would love to hold off until we have a barn to put it in. That's not going to happen, we need hay before that barn is installed. Need a load of gravel, hope that happens sometime this week.

Last Weekend in September

Another month is ending - time is just slipping away. Did not find the time to ride this weekend, but did lots of horse-related stuff. Went to THREE horse-centric stores and still didn't get everything on the list. We're making progress.

Don't want to leave out the update on the ground hogs. Tom blew up three burrows with the bombs. He also drug the pasture, which filled in the holes. Later we let the two little guys out into the field to run around. It was a sight! Kicking and racing around, doing laps. Supposed to rain this week so spent a lot of time putting things away, covering the new fencing materials and like that.

Had a chance to go to the dump, too. That's been on the list for quite a while, glad that is done. Most of that load was from the bathroom project, still not completed, but love what is done so far. Great shower experience, too.

Cut grass at Grandin, mowed some here on the farm, too. Tom got a haircut but I did not. That's been on my list for a while, but I didn't want to wait for the ladies that I prefer to cut my hair, so I didn't. Air is escaping from the rear truck tire. We filled it up with the portable air compressor while at the store Saturday morning. Later at home Tom pulled out a large broken screw and plugged the tire. We do need new tires, but that's not going to happen for a few weeks. I'm sure the plug will hold. The tires are almost seven (7) years old, but have only 30,000 miles on them. The tires need replacing, but we also need roof repairs at Grandin and here on the farm, gravel for the barn installation, and a couple other things. It all costs money and we need everything NOW.

Since Friday after work I've found over 20 golf balls in the pasture. I vacuumed the broken glass there, too. Have collected over a hundred golf balls, yellow and white, since April. Incredible.

My Little Pony x 2

'Super' Harvest Moon this week - so bright, surely helping with the chasing daylight thing, but also using our 'headlamps' to work the little guys around the pasture. Wednesday night I took Lil Fred around four times. Tom took Sprite around after he moved Lil Fred's portable enclosure and it didn't end well.

Lil Fred is an absolute angel; he looks great and acts the same. He's just the best little guy! I can't say the same for Sprite. She took Tom for a 'ride' up the hill, in the ensuing kerfuffle he lost his glasses. I did manage to find them for him, and they were a little bent. She has more horsepower than she looks like she has.

Thursday night I took her for three laps with Tom and Lil Fred. The final lap she was good as gold. She's getting it. She's learning not to drag me around, easier to take it easy then to strong-arm, honestly.

The Barn Footers Are In!!

Tuesday the Amish dude, Steve, and his co-worker, Levi Bieler, came down from Glen Rock to dig and install the concrete footers - Twenty of them! It was a beautiful day, too, couldn't have asked for better weather to do this kind of work. Not a cloud in the sky, low humidity. Also my Aunt Pat came down with Jodi (road trip!!) and visited with all of our animals.

We are eight now - whew! That happened fast. Sprite and Lil Fred are completely settled in, like they've been here forever. Lil Fred and Tom have become the best of friends. Lil Fred follows him around like a little dog! Very sweet.

On top of that, Kevin the farrier came over late in the day to put new shoes on the boys. He stood me up for the Saturday appointment. At least they are done now, next time Kevin comes over, should be in November, the barn will be here.

So much needs to be done in a very short amount of time - we need to ditch from the house to the barn site for electric and water, plus get sand and gravel to level out this area before the barn is delivered. Money is just evaporating from our bank account. Oh well, like we didn't know this was going to happen? Reality will sink in one of these days, but not today. Too much to do.

Weekend Wrap-Up - Once Again

Both minis are now home with us. Sprite we got on Saturday afternoon, Lil Fred Sunday. Whew! Full weekend, had a long list of things to do - got some done, substituted other items, but the weekend evaporated and it will be Monday morning pretty quickly.

Both minis were in need of baths. We washed Lil Fred first. He did not take it well, but he was no match for the two of us. We used the eZall foamer wash system and he is clean and smells great. Sprite was next, we tied her to the fence and she did try to pull herself free. She can't do that, she's too small! She cleaned up really well, so pretty! Great hair! It's like having air fresheners circulating in our field.

The footers go in on Tuesday - CAN'T WAIT!

And then it is SATURDAY!

Another beautiful day! Waking up this morning felt like Christmas! So many things going on today, this weekend, can't wait. Got up, hayed the boys and then cleaned out their run-in while Tom slept in. He says it's going to be a long day. LOL

And the more things change, the more they remain the same. Our 'new' farrier canceled on us - no worries - the boys still have their shoes on. We are going to go for a ride, choosing a place we've never been before, pick up the new mini, then go to the show - seeing RUSH tonight!

Happy Friday!

... and it is going to be one of those memorable weekends, for sure. The boys get new shoes 8:00 a.m. Saturday, then we are off to pick up the new mini paint mare. We have other, action-packed activities for the day, too, but Sunday we drive to York to look at another mini paint! o boy!

Crazy

Call me crazy, we're getting another horse! This is a mini, a 2-year old mare. Picking her up on Saturday. O boy!

Next Tuesday the footers will be poured for the barn. We'll have to wait for the cement to cure before the barn is delivered, but we have time. Still warm, no one is left out in the elements. It's recommended the cure time be at least 10 days. We've got that, right?

Let's Take a Breather

The bid we got last week for the footers for the new barn was off the page. Fortunately it was wrong. I'm feeling lots better now, it is almost half from the original price. It also included the aisle, which we didn't think we would pour just yet. Baby steps. Slow down, Pard'nr.

Anyway, call me crazy but we are looking into buying two more horses. For real. I'm going over Wednesday after work to look at a pinto mare named 'Spirit.' She is two years old and weighs about 200 lbs. The thought of having companion animals is very appealing, but the impact on our pasture because of the high heat and drought this summer makes it almost impossible. Environmentally and financially, it doesn't make sense to have two horses that can't be ridden anyway, might as well get some that weigh what a big dog does and not ride them, either.

We still need to get another, but having trouble getting the lister that has 'Peanut' to email or call me back after numerous inquiries. It is no secret that 'horse people' can be odd.

Heat Lamp!

Rainy, foggy Sunday, the perfect time for Tom to install a HEAT LAMP in the bathroom. and it looks great and works even better. We are certainly getting civilized here, down on the farm.

I made myself busy cleaning up, putting things away, emptied another box, laundry, cleaning out the boy's run-in shed and like that.

Tom spent lots of time applying 'mud' to the green board in the bathroom. When the mud dries, we will sand, then paint. After installing the new cabinets, this room will look fantastic! Can't wait!

Saturday Ride

The weather continues to be absolutely stellar! Crystal clear days, cool nights. On Saturday morning we took the boys to a park near the farm. We had never been there before, only driven past it going to other places to ride. What a great find! And so close to our house, too! The boys were on their best behavior, and we saw lots of birds, deer and a turkey! This one didn't attack us, it ran down the trail ahead of us and ducked into the bushes as we sped past!

Weekend!

There were several things on the agenda for the weekend, but not on the list was to start a fire. I had been told that we had to get a permit as it was not normally done so I didn't even think about it. I look out the kitchen and Tom has started the bonfire on Friday night after dinner. All of the Maple tree debris from the storm/tornado event from a few weeks ago was gone by morning. It was quite the conflagration! I was up until almost 1:00AM taking care of this blaze, while Tom went to bed around 10:00. So lucky! Looks a lot better in the light of day, and it continues to smolder.

First Weekend in September

We had our neighbor, Chris, who is also a contractor, survey our barn site and then he gave us a quote for the 20 footers that need to be set. I'm still having problems dealing with the amount of money this is going to cost! Ouch!

Barn Update!!

Barn should be delivered Sept 16-17-18 ish - comes in two loads on three oversized trucks - first day the two bottom pieces (stalls) then the next day the top piece - (hay loft with a crane). So much needs to be done in the meantime - TWENTY (20) concrete footers have to be poured and the center aisle needs to be poured. This means that the site will have to be bladed off, prepped with sand/gravel base and the footers installed with time for the concrete to cure. Time is flying by.