Settling In

It finally feels like we are getting settled into life and a routine out at the ranch.  Now that most of the initial start up work is finished, we can start enjoying the property.  There is (and will be) more work to do, several other projects, but nothing pressing, except the 'fix it' jobs.  The horses have settled in, the house is mostly finished, and Wanda (the new barn cat) is becoming less fearful.  There will always be chores - mucking manure, feeding horses, picking up sticks, mowing, and keeping the house clean, along with fixing things that break, but that is the payoff for the joy and fun of ranch life.  

Saturday 10/16 - This is an example of getting settled in.  Sometimes it's the little things.  We cut the laundry room shelf shorter because it came right to the door and I had to duck around it when coming and going to get things off of it.  Then we hung this hook organizer in part of the space where the shelf had been.  I feel much more settled when there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. 

 

You can't really tell, but this is how much cleaner it is under and around the lookout tower in the woods behind our corn crib.  And below is the heap of boards stacked on the burn pile.  It being neat and safe out in the woods now, helps me feel settled.

A cold front had moved in overnight, along with the rain, and it was cold and damp out at the ranch when I arrived at 9am.  I wished I had my hat and gloves while I was cleaning manure from around our horse's loafing shed.  I was glad to see that their 100 gallon water trough that catches run-off from the roof had almost completely filled back up.  And our gravel drainage system had kept most of the area dry. 

Joe had taken the cover off 'his' pool because it had kept collecting water and sinking into the pool.  So now the water is turning green and collecting leaves.  Not sure what can be done for it over the winter.

I spent some time up in the hay loft with Wanda while talking on the phone and catching up with Jan.  I was a little concerned about the wind making it feel a bit breezy up there.  I used some hay bales to make Wanda a better insulated area. 

I came home with the plan to work in the yard, but I was too cold and hungry for lunch.  Well the remainder of the day was mostly a day of rest.  I spent plenty of time here at my computer, but wasn't concerned about having wasted time.  I was relaxing and simultaneously researching the internet for some information.  I also did a load of laundry and ran the dishwasher (twice), after I finished filling it with the china Cheryl had given me and again to finish cleaning all the rest of the china.  Because it has a gold band on it, I decided it would be better to leave it here for special occasions and take my heavy stoneware out to the ranch since people are likely to stick it in the microwave.  So I pulled all of the stoneware out of the china hutch to switch with the china and pack these up for the ranch.  They need a good washing, but that will happen out there. 
  

After chilling out, actually trying to warm up from the ranch, I went to the gym to get in a full workout. I also took my suit and towel thinking the hot tub would be enjoyable.  But when I got to the gym I realized they close at 4:00 on Saturdays so I did a 40 minute work out going as fast as I could, while being careful with lifting, but not taking any breaks.  Then I headed over to the conference center to swim and sit in the hot tub.  The water was too cold so after a few laps, I got in the hot tub where I did some stretching since I didn’t have time to do that at the gym. 

The next problem I encountered was when I went to shower.  I did not have shampoo or conditioner in my gym bag because I left them on the bathroom counter at home to refill them.  So my hair got rinsed well but would have to wait for washing.

I did have another quiet, relaxing evening at home with Joe still gone for the weekend.  Monita on my desk beside my computer keeps me company.  I love that she is reflected in the window and the desk top.

Sunday 10/17 - I was up at 3am after six hours of sleep.  After tea, toast, and computer time, I drove through a patchy but dense fog, in 37° air, arriving at the ranch just after 5am.  Using my car headlights to see, I opened the electric gate so the horses could get to the larger, greener side of the pasture.  Zorro was quick to go through it, but Amiga (seen in this photo) was too scared.  As she ran around for awhile, trying to figure out how to get to Zorro, I was glad I wore hat, gloves and jacket.  I think Amiga had troubles seeing, so I dimmed my car lights, led her to the closed gate, and then opened it for her and out she went. 

I came right back home and took an hour nap. 

I packed up stoneware to take to the ranch, and cooked onions and bacon for my pot of beans.  I loaded food, supplies, and Maggie into the car and 18 minutes later we were at the ranch. 

Seen in this photo, I am in the dog crate with Wanda, who let me pet her while she ate.  She was hungry and starved for attention, but very skittish the whole time.  She kept going into her box for safety, and then would come back out.
I did horse chores and a few other little projects, including planting grass seed around the loafing shed.  Joe and Greg had arrived back from their camping trip and fixed both gate posts and worked on the light above the garage.  Patty also arrived and helped out with different little jobs.

I got dinner started, making a zucchini casserole and heating up some of the brats.  The beans were already giving off a nice smell in the house.  Then guests (Andy, Rita, Micki, Brian, and Joan) arrived.  Joe and Patty took most of them on a ranch tour while Rita and I stayed back at the house to keep and eye on the zucchini dish in the oven.

After the nine of us enjoyed dinner around the large table inside, we headed out to the bonfire.  Seen left to right: Andy, Joan, Brian, and Joe.

It was chilly out, so blankets were used by some.

We got a kick out of Rita (seen in this photo by Andy) who was so cold she wanted Micki's jacket and needed two blankets.

Micki took all of these photos (which I used because my camera does not do a good job in the dark) so she isn't in any of them.

Joe and Greg enjoyed their cigars and Patty is also seen here. 

 






Maggie had been in the pond (again) and was still wet, so curled up on the blanket Micki was using.  She is beside the rock fire pit wall, so not getting much heat from the fire.  


I noticed Amiga asleep, laying on the pile of hay, while Zorro stood guard.  See, my camera doesn't take good night photos. 

Even though conversation was still lively, once we all had had enough to drink, got tired (and cold) at almost 9:00, we headed to our respective homes and bed.

Monday 10/18 - Maggie, Greg, and I were up well before Joe; Maggie begging for attention while Greg and I did our on-line stuff.  Eventually Joe got up, and we all got going to the ranch, each with a list of jobs to do.  Maggie's was to fish and oversee the three of us, so she ran between each.  Joe was at the side pasture (up at the house) taking down the dividing electro-braid so Amiga and Zorro don't need to be let in and out of the larger area.

Greg's first job was to put molding around the tack room door, inside and out.  I helped a little by fetching things he needed.  I also worked at sowing grass seed in Joe's old garden plot out the back side of the barn.  I had to do a lot of raking to begin with.

Below is a view of the outside of the door at the start, and the middle photo once Greg was finished.  And finally, a look at it later in the day as Patty was finishing up painting on a coat of primer.

While Greg was sawing boards with his nice circular saw, I had him cut this old shelf board and I took it up to the house to put under the kitchen bar, where the wine cooler had been built in.  We use this space as the dogs feeding and water station.  It is out of the way so bowls do not get knocked over.  Now I can use the shelf to store Maggie's supplies  on it. 

Greg's next project was electrical.  He did not like my extension cord in the barn going to Yvonne's radio, so was going to wire in an additional outlet. 

He tied into this 'box' which had the other stall's electric box wiring going to and from.  Seen below is where Greg tacked up the wire leading back to the tack room where the new outlet box would be installed on the big barn support pole.

He then installed the outlet box on the pole.  This is so much better (neater and safer) than the extension cord I had. 

Our electrician Simon had asked me several times 'sure you don't want an outlet on the outside of the tack room?'  As usual, I was trying to save money.  Well, having Greg do the job definitely saved money.  He more than earned his board for the previous night.  I highly recommend him if any of you in the Clinton, IL area need a Mr. Fix It man.  



Terry moved her horses from the boarding barn back to their 8½ acres since (per agreement in the sale of their other house) they will be able to live there through March.  So Amiga and Zorro have two more friends they can see and 'talk' to. 






While I heated up left-overs from our party from the night before, Greg installed the new energy efficient LED light fixture above the garage, to replace the broken one.  Greg (and his much needed and appreciated help) left after lunch.

When I was cleaning up after lunch, I noticed Joe in the front pasture sawing two giant limbs off the red maple we had talked about removing so the horses can't nibble on them.  

Well I had to put dishes on hold and go down and help supervise and then haul all the foliage to the burn pile. 

Patty arrived at 3pm and I set her to work mowing (mulching) all the maple leaves while I went up and finished in the kitchen.  

 

I unloaded stoneware from the dishwasher and the two boxes of the ones I had washed at home and brought to the ranch.  They are now settled into this cupboard and await the next party. 

Once back outside, on my way down to the barn, I appreciated the nice job Patty did with mowing around the maple tree.

And then I was pleasantly surprised to see that Patty was painting a first coat on the tack room trim. 

While she finished up with the white paint, I cut the front edge of the little radio shelf down to get it out of the way and then spray painted the whole thing black.

Before leaving for the night, I went up to Amiga and Zorro's pasture to check the work Joe had done with moving the electro-braid.  I also scooped some manure. 

 

Patty had come up to help with the horses, put out hay, and fed Amiga and Zorro.  Now that the electro-braid is down and they have 24/7 use of the whole pasture, including the pond and run-in shed, we only need to care for them once a day.

I got home to a quiet house.  Joe was off playing poker.  I started a load of laundry to wash guest sheets and towels and hit the hay at my usual 9pm. 

Tuesday 10/19 - Oh, here is a photo of Tim, Joe, and Greg on the Virginia Creeper Trail last weekend.  And also these photos of them whitewater rafting.  

 

Tim is in front with Greg behind to the right of Tim and Joe right behind Greg.  Look at their faces!

I answered e-mails, Facebooked for awhile, and worked on this blog.  I also finished up the laundry (drying and folding) and got a few more things gathered to go out to the ranch house.  I had planned to go to the gym, but the morning got away from me and it was already 1pm. 

Joe needed input on covering the hole to the crawl space, so I went out to the ranch to help.  The white pipe drains our gray water into the side pasture, but we didn't know about the black pipe.  It turns out it wasn't connected to anything and may have been an old one for the gray water. 

So Joe removed part of the black pipe to get the board, covering the hole, to fit better.  Maggie inspects the finished project.  I plan to eventually get a better board and paint it, but this will work for now.  

We dug around to see where the white pipe ended and the water came out of it.  (See photo with Maggie looking at pipe.)  It is about a foot from the yard/pasture fence.  Digging around the end, it was a gooey, muddy mess.  And the soggy ground extends into the pasture.  Fixing this is on our list.

The horses have had to repeat the process of settling in, with Terry's two horses just arriving, our two having full use of their pasture, and the two boarded horses recently being let out into the front pasture.  This is Terry's horse Sunny on the left.  With her arrival, she (a former brood mare until Terry rescued her) and Amiga went into heat, and this has all the boys stirred up.  There has been a lot of hollering, (and some aggression) over various fences, by all of them. 

To give you another visual of our property and which pasture is which, here is a photo.  The pink circle is the ranch house, which faces the machine shed and barn at the bottom of the photo.  To the side of the house is the 'side' pasture, #1.  In front of the house is the 'front' pasture, #2. #3 is the 'back' pasture which is to the back of the property.  And the 'paddock' with run-in shelter is #4.

Polly arrived as Joe was finishing up the crawl space cover, and then he left.  I put clean laundry and dishes away and then joined Polly down at the barn, leading Amiga down with me.  She was wound up, neighing, and doing a lot of squirting (to attract the boys).  Oh brother, what a hussy.  I took her on a short ride to get her out of the barn while Maslo and Rio ate.  And then I happened to meet a horse (Luke) and rider (Anita) out on the trail.  She had trailered her horse in.

When done riding, I spent time up at the side pasture, cleaning up manure, feeding Amiga and Zorro, and then removing the ties Jean and I had put up along the barbwire where the electro-braid now is.  

I enjoyed the sunset while finishing up work, and waiting to see if the garage light came on.
It did, and lights up the yard to help see from the garage to the front door.

The nearly full moon was rising beyond Amiga and Zorro's loafing shed as I was backing out to go home. 

After a little salad for a later dinner, I got settled in on the couch and had popcorn while watching Survivor with Joe.

Wednesday 10/20 - We got an early start to the ranch and put together the hall tree Dan had ordered from Wayfair for me.  We had a bit of a struggle at one point, but after loosening all the screws, were able to get the last screw for the seat in.

 




Getting the top put together went quickly, although there were lots of screws to get the eight hooks mounted.  Now there is a place for people to put their dirty boots when they come in, and to dump their purse and hang their coat.  In the future, cat and dog leash, and hat and gloves can also hang here.  It wasn't as massive (and sturdy) of a piece as I had expected, but hopefully will hold up for us.  







The Stepp of Faith tree guys arrived just before Yvonne returned with her horse Maslo, having taken him to the dentist. 
This big oak is dead on the inside (hollow trunk) and needed to come down.  Sad (and expensive) but a must. 

I was down at the machine shed at the time action started up at the house, and got some photos of Yvonne unloading Maslo.  He is such a good boy, calm and listening.  Amazing for a three year old.  

 

I had to hustle up to the house to move our horses out of their side pasture.  Meanwhile, Patty took lots of photos of the tree removal process. 

The fence presented a problem for the workers and they did a very good job of avoiding smashing it, although it did get bent a little bit.

After I had gotten our horses settled, and Yvonne did likewise with Maslo, the two of us went up to help with removal of tree limbs from the yard and pasture.  (To save money on tree removal, Joe had told the tree guys we would do this.)  They cut the branches into manageable pieces and even helped us load them on the trailer. 

We took loads of branches down to the brush pile and piled them around it.   









We kept hauling loads of brush down to the barn yard burn pile, but as more limbs were cut from the tree, we just couldn't stay ahead of the clean up.  

Slowly but surely, the tree was defoliated. 

Maggie wanted to help out, but we had to keep her in the house until a break in the action and when the branch dropping was finally over.

Finally, after four hours of work, the crew was unable to finish because we had too much to remove still, at the bottom of the tree.  Tomorrow is another day (a saying we often end the work day with).  

Joe parked the trailer here in the back yard and headed off to his Wednesday night poker. 

Patty and I brought Amiga and Zorro back up into their side pasture. Patty took these (videos) as I walked Amiga (with Zorro coming along) up through the tall, thick grass.  I was sad to see that Zorro was a bit lame.  We gave him a Prevocox.

Maggie and I inspected what was left of the tree and all the rubble that still needed to be picked up.   

I had noticed Zorro eating along the fence were lots of leaves and sticks were still out in the pasture, so rather than put a load of branches on the trailer where Joe had parked, I went out in the pasture and raked up the tree debris. 

Maggie and I got home at dark; hungry and exhausted as usual.  With Joe gone, it was a quiet night, and I took a pain sleep aid and was out from 9pm until 6pm the following morning.

Thursday 10/21 - I had lots of blogging to do, to catch up and then get all of Wednesday's photos on this post.  Joe left for the ranch at 8am but I didn't make it out there until 10:00.  I had to figure out funeral attire and get a load of laundry started.  I also started packing, which always gets the cats curious and suspicious.  

Joe had started the big burn pile down by the barn, and you can see from all the brush piled around it, we had a lot to get rid of.  He also started the little fire up in the backyard of the house, to finish burning out a stump that Terry and Billy had been working on removing.   




I jumped right in helping Joe.  We had to get all of the brush out and away from the base of the tree before the tree guys were to return to cut it the rest of the way down.  We took multiple loads down to the burn pile and kept unloading brush onto it in addition to working on feeding what was already stacked around it, into the flames.  It was hard, hot work, especially close to the fire,and we had to take several breaks.

After my peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, I indulged in leftover cheese cake and frozen custard for dessert. 

Jean sent this photo of her and Carol, who had just picked her up at the Indianapolis airport.  Thus begins the emerging on Indiana by all my siblings, children, and many nieces and nephews, for Mama's memorial service and burial. 

Joe and I continued to work while Maggie supervised.  She didn't always have a close eye on us, but stayed in the yard as we loaded the trailer, left to unload it, and returned to load it again.  We too had to take several breaks because we just aren't as young as we used to be and can't going non-stop.

Ahhh, the life of a dog.  She has definitely settle in to ranch living.

At some point in the afternoon the tractor repair man came out.  It had been delivered the day before after being fully serviced, but was not running well at all.  Come to find out, it now needed a new fuel pump.  He left to go get one.  The tree guys hadn't arrived yet, but Joe was tired, needed a break, and had to run a few errands, including moving laundry into the drier and then taking his slacks and shirt to Patty's to be ironed (we don't own an iron).

I started work on clearing the branches the tree guys had trimmed along the driveway.  Pulling the utility wagon with the lawn mower, I made several trips to the burn pile, but did not finish by dark.  Tomorrow is another day, except we will be out of town until Monday.  I had stopped once when it started raining, going into the hayloft to feed and talk to Wanda.  I also took a break to feed Amiga and Zorro, and give him another Prevocox. 
 

The storm clouds were quite threatening, but we actually only got a few minutes of light rain. 

The tractor repair man came back and finished and when Joe returned, he started mowing the back pasture.  The tree guys never did make it back out.

Joe stopped mowing and fixed us dinner, cooking hot dogs over the fire in the back yard that was mostly burnt down. 

Here is a photo of the brush fire after I put the last load of the day, from the driveway, on it.  Notice that all the brush from around it had been burned, including raking up all the debris that had been left on the ground.  I thought a beer with dinner or while sitting around the fire would have been enjoyable, and much deserved, but knew it would make me too tired, and I had lots to do when I got home. 


 

I enjoyed my much needed shower, finished laundry, packed my bag, gathered stuff that would be packed into the SUV in the morning, and did evening chores.  

Friday 10/22 - I couldn't get to sleep the night before, anticipating the weekend and all I needed to do before we left.  So, I finally took a sleep aid at 11pm.  And then I was up an at 3am to finish this blog and numerous other tasks before leaving town for three days.