Snow, Beautiful Snow!

Saturday - Same Thing: Snow

Deja Vu' all over again, I opened the door and the steps and patio were covered with snow, again Ground Hog Day or something like that. The difference was that it was cloudy, not clear like the day before. Later it started snowing again, but stopped and turning into a sunny, clear day. The wind picked up and the snow on the ground really started blowing, sparkling in the sunshine.

Friday - and Snow

A dusting of snow, really. When I went out at 6:15 it was still dark - all my weekday horse chores are done in the dark! - there was a dusting of snow but the stars were out, no clouds. 'Downtown' Laystonsville got more snow than we did, so it was localized snow bands as predicted.

Continues to be cold, I had the heated buckets on last night, the ground is still hard as a rock and the manure is frozen solid. It will have to warm up to effectively drag the field.

Last night Tom spread the manure; these guys can really process grain and hay! We keep the tractor, with the manure spreader attached, parked in the barn aisle. I can fork waste right into it from the stalls and it keeps it from freezing. The chain mechanism should not be frozen if it will be used. The chain drive is no match for frozen manure. I now know where the term 'hay-burner' comes from. They are machines - munch, munch, munch.

Thursday Again

Continues to be cold, the buckets were frozen this morning. Tom has finished the dedicated outlet installation in the wash stall. He has an industrial dust cover on it and a night light is plugged in. We keep the radio on 24/7.

There is a chance of snow or snow showers tomorrow, and I'm hoping it amounts to nothing. I want to make another quick trip to Gettysburg on Saturday morning. We also need to work on the old house, but every time I make a list of things to do we end up doing something completely different.

Also, the long-range plan is to host Easter dinner. Easter is late this year, April 24. We already have the menu selected. Fifteen weeks will fly by, they all do. Day-light savings will have started, the forsythias will be blooming, trees leafing out, warmer weather, longer days. Only fifteen weeks! Fifteen weekends.

First Tuesday in January

Today is our anniversary! We've been married twenty-three years, and the decades, years, seasons, months, days and minutes have flown by and it is actually scary looking back because it is hard to believe I could be old enough to have this much history, personally.

We've come a long way, we're on dog number six, we've got four horses, two houses and property in four places. Some would think we are over extended; we do have lots of balls in motion. We're keeping it together. This life is not for sissies.

First Sunday in January

We are sleeping in the living room because the bedroom down here still has the wall out and not ready for occupation and the two bedrooms upstairs continue to be compromised in some way or other.

The 'cowboy bedroom' upstairs is furnished but has no heat-A/C. Today Tom decided to figure out how the duct runs and what is the problem. Other ducts have been clogged with obstructions so he decided this was as good as any time to see what's up.

What can I say? The vent apparently was used as a trash can. A pair of flip-flops, box of crayons, math flash cards, a wallet with $$ money, FIOS remote control that still had good batteries, paper cups, juice boxes, a plastic Easter egg, plastic hanger, paper towels, used debris mask, DVD, miscellaneous other items and a used diaper. Also in the pile was the vent cover, too small to have held it's ground. Good grief!!

When re-doing the downstairs bathroom we were trying to get heat/A/C into that room, which had never, ever been vented before. We tapped into the duct that goes to the upstairs bathroom. If you remember that duct was clogged with socks and a towel. Same thing only different.

You think it is odd that our bed is in the living room? Really? What would you do? When I said this place had cooties, I was not exaggerating!

Happy New Year!

It has been great being home during this holiday; the weather has been delightful! considering how horrible it has been plus being the end of December. Today is almost balmy!

Yesterday I started my day early, getting my horse-keeping chores wrapped up and hit the road for Gettysburg. While I was there I stopped in to see friends, then on to Southern States Cooperative AND Tractor Supply to buy grain and hay stretcher. All the kids are set for another month or so.

Last night we started the bonfire. We've had debris from trees that we'd cut down (cherry, Tree of Heaven, etc.,) in early October. Didn't find the time or the weather/wind didn't cooperate. Last night it was still, finally, and we lit it up!

I drove over to a friend's party and met some new 'horse' people. I am looking forward to getting my old life back and riding more. That should be a good resolution for this new year. I was home and in bed before midnight.

The fire was still hot at 6:45 a.m., so I started piling more sticks and logs in it. I burned bank statements, old checks, and other personal financial papers that normally would hit the shredder. I also picked up sticks around the lawn and anywhere else I could think that anything combustible would be hanging around.

I let the boys out as soon as they finished their cereal and Skip alerted to something in the adjoining cornfield. I could see a guy in blaze orange on a four wheeler, but as he got closer I could tell it was actually a Cadet riding lawn mower. It took him a while to travel down the field and out of sight, puttering along.

While we were dragging debris and leaves to the pit we could hear sirens. Out here we don't hear much of that. From the barn or paddock we can see the roadway, seeing ambulance, fire truck and the police. They didn't seem to pass our intersection, so Tom jumped in the car to see what was going on. He came back within minutes. He saw someone wearing blaze orange being pulled out of the corn field on a gurney. Later, when we left to go riding, the police were still there.

It's been about a month since we rode and KC was pretty good, but he did a couple things that I didn't like. We rode at the Woodstock Equestrian Park in Beallsville. The way to get there is so convoluted it seemed to take forever, but is still in the county. Ample parking for trailers, the signage is a little confusing at the parking lot, but eventually we found the path that we needed to take.

The park has a field with jumps set up and there were no 'wet' crossings. The trails are mainly in open crop fields, on the perimeter and looping around the farm land. There is probably about 500 feet in total that are in woods. This would not be a good destination if it were hot and sunny, as there is no shade. A good choice if you need to trot or canter for extended periods, as there are no obstructions, sight-lines are excellent. KC crossed the 'dry' crossings with confidence, but was unsure about the mounting blocks that were placed before and after the bridges. A couple of these blocks were chewed badly by Beavers.

Tom continues to pull wire, sometimes this is not easy, but there are several ways to skin a cat, so eventually he was successful. He's now running wire in the side of the barn that faces the house and parking lot. These new lamps will eliminate the shadows on that side.

Still warm, but a cold front is promised for tomorrow afternoon. We'll see what the new year brings.