Off Again

It seems like we have been doing an awful lot of traveling lately, and as I indicated in last week's blog post, Friday morning we were off again, this time for Carol's house.  As usual, I felt Joe was driving too fast, but I was in a hurry to get there, be done with the trip, and out of the car.  We made great time, only stopping once for gas and a stretch, and arrived about 6 1/2 hours after we had finally left.

Maggie was with us and never once laid down in her crate while we were moving.  She was as glad to be out of the car as I was and immediately took delight in chicken and sheep watching.
Carol had pork roast in the oven  and dinner preparation under control so we walked the dogs to the T and back.  Then I watched Carol do sheep chores and took some photos and a (video).  

I also got a photo of our old pet Hercules.  His new 'girl friend' can be seen in this (video).  We enjoyed cold drinks on the front porch, chatting, and watching the flock of sheep until dinner was ready.

It was dark by the time we got done with our delicious meal so we just hung out at our computers, until not much later, we were too tired to stay up.  I think lights were out before 9 pm.




Carol and I always get up early but it wasn't too much longer Saturday morning before Joe was up and ready to hit the road.  After yummy cinnamon rolls Carol baked, Joe left at 8 am.  He was headed to a poker game with friends in B/N.

Carol and I lingered longer than normal at our computers because I was trying to finish and post last week's blog.  It was fun watching the dynamics of her three dogs and cat with Maggie.  There was a game of 'take the bone' that lasted until we put the bone away.   Notice above, Rick on the bed guarding the bone.

Seen right, Carol's photo of her two dogs settled on the daybed with her cat.  They all took a morning nap.

Eventually we made our way outside, into a sunny but windy day and got going on the job list.  We didn't get a lot crossed off but worked long and hard most of the day.

Part of the time we had the dogs tied out near where we worked.  They all kept a close watch over chickens, sheep, and us.  Below, when Carol fed the sheep corn, her dogs could hardly contain themselves.  They always want to help.








Carol wanted some trees trimmed so I took to that work while she prepared fencing to be put up.  At one point while sawing down a very large branch from her prairie willow out front, I was standing on the top rung of the ladder, holding onto the tree with my left arm to steady the ladder and get leverage. Well, the limb decided to give way sooner than I expected.  I took a good blow to by biceps with the huge branch.  Whoo doggie did that smart, but at least I didn't get hit in the head or fall off the ladder.  This photo shows the bruise six days later.  The green on my biceps is where the branch hit, the purple is bruising where the blood gravitated down my arm.


Carol's rooster and turkey hen kept getting in a fight.
The turkey, being much larger, usually pinned the rooster, holding his comb and drawing blood.  I broke up a few fights, but the dumb rooster kept coming back, being the aggressive one.  The exhausted turkey would not back down, so we caught her and Carol took her to the pole barn where the rooster was out of sight.  The turkey could now rest and the rooster go back to his hens.

I had finished the tree out front so moved to this big one in back.  I took the selfie to show how high up I was.  It was more stable to stand on tree branches than the ladder.

Maggie my helper, (seen looking up at me) liked to haul off the small branches and chew on them and tear them up.  I had to be sure she was clear when the big branches fell.

I made quite a mess in the back yard, but soon had a fire going out by the drive.  I drug all the foliage out there and used dry dead branches to get the fire going, good and hot.  Then I threw the 'sappy' branches on top.









I alternated between sawing branches, dragging them to the fire, and even sat by it to rest occasionally.  Carol sat nearby working on fencing prep, getting the end wires ready to be twisted on to the fence posts once we got it put up.

We had leftovers for a quick lunch and later we had salad for dinner.  We took breaks to eat and I iced my arm during both meals.  Seen right, somewhere around 7 pm we sat down by the bonfire I had going and could see the nearly full moon as the sun finished setting.




This chicken was trying to find her way to the barn without getting near Maggie who was sitting by the fire with me.  She got up on the roof (seen left with the pretty sunset in the background), but then (seen below) she couldn't figure out how to get back down.

We were pooped out and in bed fairly early. The sleep aid and pain pill did the trick for me.  Eight hours of hard work out in the wind and sun probably helped me sleep well also, as did Carol's memory foam mattress.

Sunday morning we didn't mess around inside and were out measuring, cutting, and preparing more fence for stretching.  I helped Carol with moving two of the large rolls of heavy duty woven wire that weighed almost as much as the two of us combined.  We also drove more t-posts.


The day was warmer, but much cloudier.

When Maggie wasn't watching me, or the sheep and chickens, she napped.

Carol's rooster watching over his 'flock' by day.

I got the fire started back up, which was easy because there were plenty of hot coals from the night before.  But the wind got up to 25 mph, so we let the fire go out, and I planned to finish burning the next day.

We took a lunch break and a snack break.  Seen right, Carol's three border collies getting treats.

I did more tree trimming and picked up branches and dried dead sticks.  I also raked much of Carol's backyard and was ready to continue burning brush the next day.

Carol's back was really hurting so she laid down to rest it.  I walked Maggie without Carol and her dogs.  Maggie's recall is really getting good. 😊  During the day, Carol kept up with sheep chores, dog care, cooking, and dishes.  I will do farm work for food any day.  I loved eating good meals and not having to prepare them.

An evening (well an hour) on the front porch, out of the wind, watching the sun set while sipping a cold beer ended another day.

Seen right, Patch sitting on a towel, keeping watch while I showered after a long day.  Exhaustion hit sooner than the previous night and we went to bed shortly after it got dark.

Joe had decided to play some golf and then in a poker tournament Sunday, so didn't drive back to Carol's until Monday morning.  With rain in the forecast, I got the fire going again right after breakfast and had most of the brush fairly well burnt before Joe arrived.








Once he got to Carol's, we started in on fence stretching, using the SUV to pull it taught.  Well, we ran into problems because the corner posts were not deep enough and started to pull over.

So we had to go to plan B and secure them better with a horizontal brace board and diagonal wiring.  Carol had thought this step could wait till another day.










We had to find the lumber to use for the cross boards and then borrow neighbor Richard's electric circular saw so Joe could cut the boards.  We also had to drive the SUV into the other neighbors field (seen above) to put the metal cable around the leaning fence post and try to pull it vertical and then secure it and the wire fencing.

With a bit of a learning curve, we had to redo a few things and the job went much slower than expected.  Seen left and below, Joe securing the next section of fencing to the back of the SUV in preparation to pull it tight.









We didn't quite finish before a storm blew in, but we had gotten to a good stopping place and Carol was even able to get her sheep moved into the new pen (video) that had more grass and barn access.

Joe napped while we finished up getting tools put away.  It was lightening and thundering as we raced around a few minutes longer and then the rain came.

Look at the dark sky moving in over head
as Carol and Ike directed the sheep into the barn.

I lightened this photo up so you can see Carol, Ike, and the
sheep better.  Also notice the fire that is almost burnt down.

It was already very windy so the heavy rain pelted against the side of Carol's house and windows.  I packed up all our belongings, including the dog and then we uploaded photos onto our computers and shared many of them with each other.

The rain had let up enough to be able to load up the SUV without getting too wet, and we were off again, headed home under rainy skies.  The drive was stressful at times with the very heavy rain and strong wind.  Also, the back roads and one lane highways do not lend themselves to high speed travel, but don't try to tell Joe that.  I did get a bunch (over 100 pages more) of my Dean Koontz novel 'Shadow Fires' read, as I had done on the trip to Carol's.  But I hadn't quite finished the book.

By the time we rolled into our drive at 9:40 pm, the dog and I were done in, but we did go for a quick walk.


Tuesday morning I tried to get this blog started, but was distracted by other things.  Unpacking,  I discovered that Carol slipped a mouse toy into Maggie's travel bag.  Stevie went crazy with it,  but soon lost it.  Well, look what I found under the washer and drier while doing a search.  I hadn't thought to look here in the past.  Unfortunately, the new mouse toy was no where to be found.

I had planned to meet Jan and Jim on the trail, so left for the barn at 9:30.  Zorro was in time out because he had been running the two new mares who just joined the herd.  Amiga took a little longer to catch.  Steve had set up his round pen so I rode bareback in there.  Amiga was slightly off again, but not bad, so I saddled up and hit the trail.  We had a great ride.  Amiga did well and only felt 'off' at the gait.  Walking and cantering she seemed fine.  (video) Getting a drink at the creek crossing.




It was a great day to ride, warm but cloudy, so not too hot.  Seen left, Jim on Zip and Jan on Cash.

After two hours of riding, I let Amiga graze for 15 minutes in the field of winter wheat.  Then I picked up some trash off the trail on the way back to the barn and she didn't mind the plastic bag hung from the saddle.  She is such a good, sweet mare.


Since Zorro seemed a bit lonely and bored, I got him out of the dry lot, brushed him, and then took him out front to have a change in scenery and graze.  They have been trying to fatten up the stable horse seen in the back ground of this photo.

I should have gone to workout when I got home, but my routine is off again.  It seems the longer I deviate from my workout routine and classes at the gym, the harder it is to get back into the swing of things.

I laid on Joe's new lounge chair, in the partial sun, and soaked up the rays while trying to finish my book.  When Joe got home from golf, he was disgruntled to not have his chair available.  When in town to play poker the next night, he bought another lounge chair, which was a good idea.

I cooked some of Carol's farm fresh eggs for dinner for Joe and I, finished up a load of laundry, took Maggie on a walk and then we watched Legacy 24 on TV.  I decided to finish my book before bed, even though it and the TV shows we watch really get my adrenaline going and are not conducive to sleep.  But I slept well.


Wednesday was an open day and I worked here on this blog for a few hours.  I forgot about my Ballroom aerobics until it was too late to get there.  Finally at 10 am, I shut down my computer and went out in the yard to be productive and get some much needed work done.  I cleaned weeds from around shrubs in front and discovered this song sparrow's nest of eggs, so moved on to a different location.  I dug out the two dead arborvitae stumps and trimmed all the dead branches off the decorative bush.  It looks pretty bare, seen later in this post in comparison photo I took Thursday.


I decided to go back to the barn to get Zorro out of 'exile' and took him behind the hay barn to graze.

He got a nice long drink when I returned him to the 'dry lot'.

Selfie of me on Amiga, bareback.

Then, when I went to get Amiga, Sandy came up to see me.

I  rode Amiga bareback for 30 minutes, working on leg cues, changing directions, and speed control.  She did well in the round pen, but when I took her out into the open pasture out front by the road, she went wild.

It was poker night for Joe, so when I went grocery shopping, I also got a salad for dinner.

A redbud at the dip near our house on Lakeview.

Thursday was another beautiful day, except I had to go to the dentist to get two filings replaced.  It was my upper and lower wisdom teeth on the left side.  No fun.  I don't mind the shots or drilling, it's the feeling of gagging while my mouth is pried open larger than a snake swallowing its prey.

Amiga's gentle eye during shoeing.

I ran to Walmart for laundry soap and a few bushes and then hurried home.  I was at the barn by noon to catch Amiga and have her ready for Tom, my farrier, by 12:30.


After finishing with Amiga, I got Zorro, who had been put in with the geldings because he was chasing the mares again.  I saddled him up and rode for about 40 minutes.  He does well, but tends to rush and is nervous some of the time, like me at the dentist.

Once home, I worked at planting my new bushes.  This first photo was from the day before, after I cleaned out all the dead growth from this section of bed.  Notice the remains of the ornamental bush, which now looks so bare.  Seen below, four new bushes in. 








This bed isn't finished yet.  I want to add some red shrubs and annual flowers.

I met Shirley and Judy in town for dinner to celebrate Shirley's birthday.  Once home, Joe and I watched both our taped Survivor shows.

Good Friday morning I worked here on this blog post, and played fetch (video) with Stevie.  Then I went to Jan's to feed her two cats, and to Shirley's on the way home.  I checked out Shirley's new landscaping (she had to replace dead plants also) and bought two extra plants (Dwarf Firepower Nandina) from her.  Next I went to Landscape Solutions to buy two more of the same shrub.






I dropped the four bushes off at home and then went to the barn.  I rode Amiga for 90 minutes over in the winter pastures.  Seen left, just coming out of the woods into one of the four back pastures.





Seen right, a pretty redbud at the edge of the woods, and Amiga with some winter wheat in her mouth.  I periodically let her stop and graze while riding, especially if I am trying to take a photo.

Seen below, the stable horses come trotting over to see us as we come up from the woods and across the small field. 

Zorro was in time out again, because he had been bothering the geldings too much.  He looked bored and lonely, so after riding Amiga, I put her in with Zorro and they started loving on each other right away, scratching each other's back (video).








I met Shirley at church for the Good Friday service, which we both really enjoyed.  I walked Maggie two miles once I got home.  I could not stay awake to work on my blog so hit the hay, while Joe was off again, playing poker.