Hooves, Hay, and Life

The first couple of days of this week were crazy busy. I mucked right through it because I have to take care of business.

Below is a photo [cell phone] shot of our yearly hay supply. I am so thankful for our hay guy saying he has no problem delivering and stacking our hay for us. 

The skid steer is on the right side of the picture. 

This was our old round pen inside the large shed.

I have a father son team who like to come out together to do our mules. This is Danny working with  Sundance. 

The farriers took time to come up to the porch and visit with Rich for a while. We've worked with these guys for quite a few years. Danny has assisted his dad ever since he could hold a hoof rasp.

Both guys do custom blacksmith work and farrier at the same time. Often our veterinarian refers hoof and leg problems to these guys because they are so knowledgeable.
 

I am behind on removing burrs from the mules' tails this year. Sunshine sports a burr tail. I'll get to it sooner than later. Show Sheen and Hair conditioner work really quite well. It takes a lot of time though.

My new hat. This is safer than a Harris/Walz hat to wear in my area. It takes a moment or few to figure out what it says. 

I think I finally turned a corner. I spoke to a nurse and she recommended taking probiotics and avoiding acidic foods for a while. I had probiotics and I made bland food for myself for supper.

This morning was the first time since September 1st that I didn't wake up with nausea and a splitting headache. I am crossing my fingers on this and hope it continues.

One day at a time.

Enough now ...and good people

 

I think I am tired of not feeling well. I'm SO over it. 

It probably isn't a good idea to survive on jello and crackers either. But if I was trying to lose weight, I suppose it may work.

I've been either in bed or on the couch reading. How is it that just sipping a cuppa coffee makes me grimace and set it down? 

On Sunday my son asked if I tested for Covid. I said no because I just figured it was a simple sore throat and a fever that broke in 24 hours. But the headaches, nausea, and fatigue has been a bit overwhelming. Hubby hasn't shown any signs of getting whatever I have which is a huge relief.

Yesterday I had our yearly hay delivery. Generally Rich unloads and puts the hay away. We discovered one more disturbing thing. He can't get in and out of the skid steer safely and the effort of driving left him  short of breath even with his little portable concentrator.

I called the hay guy and asked him if he could help out. He agreed to unload and put the bales in the shed for me. I asked him if I could pay him extra and he said NO. When I handed him the cash he looked me in the eye and asked if I'd snuck in any extra money. 

"No," I replied, "Rich said you'd be offended if I put it in the envelope anyway."

His answer? "I would!" I couldn't ask for a more kind person!

Not only did the hay guy unload and stack with our skid steer he also re-graded the driveway where he tore up the gravel.

The bales, if you are wondering are 3' X 3' X 8'. Their average weight is approximately 900 or so pounds. 

Anyway. I feel better one day and then rotten the next. The appetite has gone by the wayside along with my energy levels.

The events of the past week has had me rethinking our situation of living so remotely. If I got really sick, there is no real good long term solution. That is a sobering thought.

Today is another day. So far, so good.

Just Hot

When this icon comes up on my NOAA page I know they mean Hot Hot as in nasty hot. Humid miserable hot.

When the weather service starts to add in that Heat Index, I usually swoon and melt. I don't like the humid heat. Who does? I mean I can only take off so many clothes. Even nekked, its uncomfortable.

Going Nekked might just get arrested. And where would I pocket my keys anyway???

However, that said, we are able to appreciate the mini split right now. I set it to dehumidify and it has kept the house cold! That said, our house sits on top of a sandstone formation which keeps the concrete slab cold. 

Any....way...

That said, I do love misty mornings. I took off for a walk through the woods this morning so I would end up at the mailbox and retrieve Saturday's mail. The air was thick.

Thankfully, Saturday, our hay arrived. This should last all winter and perhaps leave me a bale to start out next fall with.

Darryl brings it on a flatbed and then hubby unloads it and puts it away. Last year I ordered more but I had two more mouths to feed over winter. This year it will be less.

I discovered that I can take both girls out a once and let them graze in the yard for a little while.

They don't try to go anywhere and seem to enjoy getting a little extra attention. 

Now I am just getting the critters moved to areas where everyone can get into shade and take any advantage of any breezes. I'll freshen their stock tanks and cross my fingers.

The air temp on Wednesday and Thursday are set to be 100 to 102 degrees. The 'heat index' is supposed to be much warmer, but who counts that after 100?

Here is hoping everyone has a place to stay cool and safe.

The weather service just posted the Excessive Heat Warning. It shows up as a banner across the top of my cell phone.

Wow what a day!

 Here is my Foodie Photo / Foto.

I never 'present a dish' but I am not knocking those who do because...well, I AM jealous because you folks that cook and make beautiful dishes are awesome. 

I decided to decorate Fred's morning meal. Fred is a pony mule who is 37 years old. He is retired and now gets special grain mixed with alfalfa pellets that are softened. I bring it in and let it soak. I had some cut flowers that I was going to toss out. 
Instead, I decorated his meal.

Yeah. Hubby rolled his eyes and shook his head. Why not though? Fred was/is probably the only reason we met each other so many years ago. I admired the little mule and recalled the man telling me his name was Fred.

I didn't recall the cowboy dude's name for most of the week we rode together. But I recalled the awesome little tough mule he rode.

Fred was at our wedding. He was best mule.

The farrier was to show up at noon and I got Rich up from his nap so he could visit with them while I got out ol' Fred and cleaned him up.

The father son farrier team has been with us since 2017. They always make the appointment with us so that they can spend extra time visiting with Rich. They also come out once in a great while during the months they aren't so busy to sit and chew that fat with Rich.

I couldn't catch Rich's old mule Mica later on, so I left a pen open and got our little pony for a trim. Rich walked out and told me he'd go catch her. He was annoyed that I didn't run around the pasture to chase her down.

As I predicted, the old mule walked right into the catch pen as soon as I was busy with something else and she waited until Rich walked in and haltered her. He was quick to point out that HE caught her.

We all watched with our mouths wide open in amazement. 

I murmured something to the affect that I thought all the exercise he was doing during his PT appointments were obviously paying off well. Chalk one up for exercise!

I took over for him after the Danny finished her first hoof so he could sit down on a stool they'd put in the truck just for Rich. [What thoughtful people they are!]

The guys finished up and then stayed to visit. 

I got a text from Daryl the hay guy who said he would be by in the late afternoon with our winter hay. Daryl is a kind soul. Rich used to go get the hay from Daryl, but since his stroke, he doesn't drive and we never have to wonder too much where we will get hay from. Yes, it costs more to have it delivered, however, it gives me peace of mind to know I can depend on him as a source each year.

Daryl and Rich visited. Rich complained about the price of hay. Daryl reminded him of how much he loved watching his mules and was that worth the price? 

There was a discussion about brush hogging the pasture. Daryl pointed out that he could probably have the pasture brush hogged twice a year for about 15 years for the price of the one he'd pay for his skid steer.

Rich moved the bales into the shed, never missing a beat and had them all stacked up neatly for me to feed out this coming year.

Charlie and I took down a temporary fence that we'd put up for the summer near all the old 'stuff' parked in the weeds.

With all that done, Rich said he was exhausted.

He had to be! All day he had to be sociable!

It was amazing, he laughed, he told jokes, he caught a mule. He wrangled the skid steer and 20 huge square bales. 

All in a day's work.