I went shopping on the way home from school Tuesday. In addition to buying needed supplies, I got two pictures to hang on the walls. (They were each $13.99 marked down from $70.00) I don't love them....but I like them quite a bit. I would never pay the full price for them though. Here is a picture of them ....
I also bought fabric and foam padding for Grandma’s chairs. I just went with 1 inch thickness on the pad. Hope I don't regret that decision later. I looked at two stores, and spent an hour hunting at the second place through a bunch of remnants. Hummed and hawed over several different fabrics I thought would be okay. Again, I don't love what I bought....but it is
the best I could do. There was one fabric I really liked....but it was short by about 10 inches. Another one...was not for the sale price (I had strayed from the remnants table)....but I was not willing to pay the full price for it. So, all the chair stuff was a total of $22.50. I feel good about that. Now I need some extra time and motivation to get going on cleaning the chairs up so I can finish this project. Projects never seem to get finished as quick as expected.The horses started racing around the pasture and kind of playing king of the manure pile when I went out to give them more hay on Wednesday afternoon. Amiga started it by standing at the top of the manure pile rearing up. Trying
to impress Chuck and Zorro I guess. She then raced down the pile and around the paddock running, kicking, rearing up, and making sharp turns and fast stops. It was actually very cool to watch, although I was worried about her slipping on the icy parts. She impressed me....it seems she was "Wildfire" .....sort of like. (Lyrics by Michael Murphy: “On Wildfire we’re going to ride her. We’re gonna leave sod bustin’ behind. Get these hard times right on out of our minds. Riding Wildfire.”) Anyway, she and Zorro got Chuck going and made me
want to join in on the fun and run and jump and kick up my heels too. But, I remained composed and just watched. I think they were all trying to warm up because with the wind....it was quite chilly out there. But who really knows what they were doing? I accidentally overflowed the stock tank when adding fill water.....worried there would be a nice skating rink around it, I put some stemmy hay on top of it so it wouldn't be as slippery. Then Joe and I headed to Rosies for dinner and ale with the summer golf league. We reminisced of fun in the sun had last summer and dreamed of those days to come. Thursday I had a really good riding lesson, even though it didn't go as planned. Amiga loaded great....but Zorro was not at all happy about being left behind. Courtney was sick so didn’t join me as planned. Once at Marj's, I groomed and tacked Amiga and took her into the arena to walk her around. Before even lunging her, Marj noticed that Amiga was lame on her back right leg. She was not putting all of her weight on it for very long….kind of limping. She must have done something racing around in the paddock with Zorro Wednesday. She had definitely been the more wild of the two.
Friday afternoon (5:30ish) I went out to do my normal routine of chores....but it was not completely normal. First, because Amiga is on "bed rest" she has been in her stall all day, so she was acting quite antsy. I watched as she paced in a circle in her stall, and actually kind of gated around. She doesn't appear to be favoring her right back leg, but it is hard for me to tell. I decided to give her another anti-inflammatory pill just in case it was needed. Once Zorro was in his stall, she calmed down. I fed the barn cats and Chuck and then headed to the chicken coop. Everyone
was roosting so I did my normal head count. Three times I only came up with 8 chickens and a turkey. Upon closer observation (I now had most of them standing up because I was poking my head and flashlight in their space, I realize Flopsie was missing. So, I headed back out to the barn yarn calling for her. I looked everywhere I could think, even in the farrowing shed that the barn cats sometimes get into. I thought maybe she had gone around the other side of the garage shed and into the chicken coop when I had come back out. (She has done this before.) She is usually last in the coop, so I doubled back and headed for the coop. I paused to watch one of the silly barn kitties by the corn crib....when I heard this clucking. My ears led me to look through the slats in the corn crib, and sure enough, there she was. I went back around and in through the little door. I can't figure out how she got in there, except through the holes we have for our home made hay bins. But they were full of hay. Maybe she had gotten in and then Chuck pulled the hay down or she pressed it down and couldn't get back out. It was a relief to find her, and I carried her back to the coop. Silly chicken. We got an inch of wet snow Friday night so everything was blanketed in white Saturday morning. In this picture I am walking on top of a snow drift…it is above the first line of electrobraid fence.
It would seem that with the rope under the snow the electric current would short out and the fence not work....but this is not so as Carol learned the hard way last weekend.
It got very warm and rained some during the day Saturday. So, with the thaw, melting snow, and rain….it was really sloppy out….especially in the paddock. I let Amiga out of her stall, (after 36 hours of rest) because it appears that she has no problem or pain walking. I completely cleaned out both stalls and added fresh wood shavings. The kittens "helped" by chasing the pitch fork through the saw dust. I had the north wood stall door
opened which was nice for the light and fresh air. The barn cats ventured farther from the barn and were having a good time exploring. Baby…. The chicken I taught to walk….was sitting on a nest in the barn for the longest time. I know she was working on laying an egg.
At one point Kaysha startled her and I don’t know what happened…. but she appeared to play dead. She flopped over on her side and her legs went stiff. That or maybe she was having a seizure. I picked her up and her eyes were very dilated and her beak wide open. I pet her, took her to the chicken coop for water, and she then seemed okay. She followed me back to the barn where she resumed the egg laying process. I kept an eye on her while I putts around the barn. Finally, over an hour later, she got up off the nest and there was the egg she had labored at laying. Wonder if chickens can pass out from lack of blood flow to their head while straining to get the egg out. All my observations answer some of the questions I have but they bring up a bunch more new questions because things are not always as they seem.
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