A New Era

      Being retired marks the beginning of a new era for me.  I was never really caught up in the rat race depicted here.  Money never drove me to work harder, if it did, I wouldn't have gone into teaching. I just work hard because that's how I was raised.  And I don't generally buy a lot of things, however, owning two horses is no cheap endeavor.  It is by far the most expensive luxury I have indulged in.
     It is quite liberating to realize I am
not tied down to a job with it's work hours and days.  I now feel I have more options as I continue down the road of life.  I can pick to go in any direction as I come to new forks in the road.  I have no constraints.  However, I do realize I have obligations and limitations.  I do need to eventually start earning some additional income to pay back the cost of the early retirement penalty I incurred.  And I do have certain luxuries (primarily my horses) I want to continue to enjoy.  I also have live stock that require daily
                                                     care.  And there are my children and
maybe someday grandchildren I want to be able to spend time with and help if needed.  I am retired from teaching, but not from working and doing things.  I still want to have an impact on this earth and the people and life on it.

     Tuesday, mid morning, I enjoyed a ride on Roni.  We went around our farm and then over to Becks.  There were four guys out looking at the fields and I asked them about rain.  Apparently, last night's storm was mostly thunder and lightening.  They said there wasn't even a measurable amount of rain.
(0.01 inches according to my weather
channel.)  Once finished with Roni, I saddled up Amiga for the first time in over a year.  I couldn't get her to walk while lunging on a line, so I gave that up and put on her bridle and rode her instead.  I only rode for ten minutes, but she did unbelievably well.  She did want to gait, but I wouldn't let her.  We did some stops and goes, figure eights and round pen circles, all at a walk. Amiga in her stall with Missy in the "window."

     Back in here, I spent the heat of the day working on clearing out my school e-mail files.  I could trash all of the deleted ones in one foul swoop, with a click on the "trash" button.  But the over 300 pages of sent had to be deleted one page at a time.  I also copied and pasted everyone's address one at a time.  I sorted everyone into three different "circles" as G-mail calls the groups.  But I couldn't get my Blog to mail to a group, so again entered each of you in the "To" box, one at a time.  Needless to say, my whole day was spent at the computer.

     The yellow barn cat continues to appear occasionally.  One day he was bolder than usual, as seen here.  We started setting the live trap in hopes to catch and "send him down the road" because he scares the ducks.

      Lisa called at 5:45 and I managed to meet her (and son Derrek) out at Moraine View by 6:20.  The weather was perfect.  It had started cooling off and there was a nice breeze.  The trails were dry and all the downed trees from this winter had finally been removed.  So we had a great ride.  I took Roni around an extra loop to check in at the riding stables to see about a possible interview, but they were closed.  

     Right after lunch Wednesday I met Angie (my house sitter) out at Moraine View and we had a great ride together.  We went the long loop around the lake and explored a few side branches as well.  Her horse (Haley) is part Appaloosa part Thoroughbred. So she has a lot of get up and go.  She and Roni were a perfect match for each other.  Both spirited and fast moving.  But we walked a fair amount of the time too, riding for over two hours.

     Roni rubbing his head on Angie once we were back. 

     Joe and I met Courtney at Marj's and cleaned stalls.  Joe headed out early so he could get back here to mow the back pasture.  We two girls then helped Nan get the horses in for the night.  I love this job.  It is so cool to see them come up from the pasture and into the barn.  I had already forgotten the identity of a few of the horses and needed Courtney's help getting them in the correct stalls.  Nan was driving them in from behind, and shutting gates as they came in.

     I decided to start my day Thursday with a two mile walk before sitting down with my tea and computer.  I hope to make a new habit of doing this.  Kaysha got to eat first while I started my tea brewing... and I let the chickens out of the coop and opened the back pasture for the horses.  Once back here, enjoying tea and cookies, (a habit I can't break) I checked E-mails, Facebook and the weather. 

     As predicted, we finally got some much needed rain.  I was out cleaning stalls at the time it started.  I let the horses in and was neatening up the barn when our vet and her assistant arrived.  I called Courtney who then left work to come hold Zorro for his vet care.  Emily first looked at the barn cats and gave them their shots.  Then she started in on Amiga. 

     We had all three horses' teeth floated so they first got a shot to sedate them.  These photos are of Zorro getting his teeth done.  His head was suspended, at the proper height and angle, and his mouth held open by this sling thing.  A look inside his mouth shows 42 teeth, the normal amount.



    
     While they were in lala land, they got their blood drawn for the Coggin's test and all their shots.  We also had the boy's sheaths cleaned.  The horses did okay with everything...

except Roni did not like having his sheath cleaned... at all.  He did have a "bean" (collection of excretions and dirt that have hardened) stuck in there, which may have caused pain, so I am glad I had that done.



      Emily found two little ulcers (one on each side) of the inside of Roni's cheek.  She said it looks like the bit is causing the gum to get caught on his first back molars, and that has caused the sores.


      My poor baby.  So... now I need to figure out what to do about that... adjust the bit length, try to give him more rein, or try a different bit.  Or maybe I should go bit-less.  We'd be like a train out of control, gathering speed down a hill.  Watch out!

     It was cold, windy and rainy all day.  Dan and I were both content to stay inside and "waste" time.  He with video games and me on Facebook, reading my novel, and napping.

     It was 48 degrees when I got up Friday morning.  I resumed where I had left off on Facebook word games the night before.  I also decided to wait till it warmed up to take my walk.  So much for starting a good routine.  I scared off the yellow, feral cat who had the audacity to take up residence in the tack room.  Because of his boldness,Missy
was napping in the rafters once again and Brother was sleeping just outside Amiga's stall.  Twice the food in the trap has been eaten but the trap has not sprung.  This time the trap had sprung and all the food was gone... but nothing was trapped within.  So I was thinking maybe we have rats also.  ugh!







     I discovered after morning feeding that Zorro was really sick.  He had a major case of diarrhea and was lethargic and very stiff when walking. 

     I reported this to Courtney who gave me instructions of what to do and look for.  So every few hours I went out and checked on Zorro. 

     By mid-afternoon, the sun was out and beckoning me to emerge from my dwelling.  It was still partly cloudy, in the 60's, and windy.  Perfect weather for working around the farm. 

     Once Joe was home, we moved part of the pile of old round bale / manure and used it to mulch around the willow tree.  I had to redo the ties anyway, because the hoses had been slipping.  So Joe used the tractor to  dumped muck and I raked it into all the corners.  Then I re-secured the ties better and will keep an eye on how they hold up.  You can see new growth here, so I think this little tree is happy.
     When Courtney got off work, she
and Mike came out to check on Zorro.  He did not have a fever, his feet were not hot or cold, his gums looked good, but he was very swollen at the site of one shot.  He may have had a reaction to his shots from the day before and possibly from something he ate. He was getting better, but I still needed to keep an eye on him.


     Dan went home with Courtney and Mike, and Joe headed off to a poker game, so I took Kaysha for a walk.  I briefly chatted with Brain who was out mowing.



     Then I watched his three calves and the rest of the herd.  They were much more leery of the dog and I than Kit Kat who came right out to greet us.

     I started off a little slow Saturday morning, needing tea right off the bat.  It was still windy and cold so I decided to wait on the walk.  Zorro was acting much better, and his poops looked more normal, so I let him out with Amiga and Roni.  The ducks always love a bath, even in rainy weather.

      After a mid-morning three mile walk, I rewarded myself with lunch on a lounge chair and reading my novel.  Joe was off golfing so I wasn't very motivated to start in on farm work.  It wasn't long before the wind picked up and it started to sprinkle.  So I moved inside, switched from ice tea to hot tea and read my novel while lounging (and napping) on the couch. 

     Once Joe was home, we went out together to do some work.  Tree planting was at the top of my list.   We had to take a rain delay midway into planting this Honey Locust, but it cleared off and we were able to get the job done. 








     Zorro was acting odd again at feeding time.  He seemed unsteady on his feet and lethargic once more.  I turned him out with the others, but he wouldn't go.  So I led him around for awhile, then released him by Amiga.

     Courtney soon came out to check on him.  He followed her back into the barn, with the other two close behind.


     Missy got caught in the trap intended for the feral cat.  At least I knew it was working.  Both barn cats continue to be cautious about going into the barn.  They know the wild yellow cat is lurking somewhere. Here, Bro watched Missy take a tongue bath and then a dust bath.  She was at it for several minutes which completely mesmerized him.

     We have to keep re-piling the manure pile, but it keeps getting knocked back down.  Between Frankie and all the chickens, it is a loosing battle.  Joe, (and I somewhat) worked on weed control, hacking down the monster weeds in the garden and paddock around the River Birch. 



     It was a pretty sunrise Sunday, with a fog that burnt off rather quickly.


       Zorro appeared to be feeling better, so I let him out on the back pasture with the others.  Here he is with Amiga.


     The yellow cat was finally trapped over night.  He was mean and mad, so when Joe left to play golf, he took the cat for a Sunday drive in the country.  I hope the boy is able to find a
new "home" elsewhere. 





   

     Babe and Frankie joined the horses for Breakfast.



      Roni enjoying some good eats as well, but tends to keep a cautious distance when Zorro is out.  Little did he know, that Zorro was not his normal ornery self.



     I went to the 9:45 service and then grocery shopping.  Then I stopped in at Courtney's to fill water jugs, since I can't do that at school anymore.

     Getting groceries unloaded, I then waited around for Luke to come to spray the fields.  Finally, just as Joe got home, Luke and his friend arrived.






     They started out front with "Graze - On" to zap the weeds and then they sprayed some fertilizer.  Joe ran to Farm and Fleet to get 2-4-D for the back pasture because I wanted to be sure to kill the alfalfa out there.  He then helped the young men with the math and measurement conversion to get the right percent of fertilizer, weed killer, and water.  We are hoping they didn't mess up with the mixture for the front pasture.

     Zorro had a new bout of diarrhea earlier, so I had confined him back in his stall.  But I put the other two out in the paddock with the cows.  They will have to stay off the back pasture for 21 days at least. 




     The spraying got done about the time a light shower came, and just after I had started the fire pit to burn all the sticks and branches. 


     It wasn't enough to put out the fire or help work the fertilizer/weed killer into the roots.  But it got me off the bench by the fire pit and into the house.

     After my 5am trip to the barn today, I was feeling very discouraged.  Zorro was still quite sick.  Bad diarrhea and kind of just shuffling his feet as he moved around the stall.  He barely ate any hay overnight and only drank 1/3 of his water.  I put Roni and Amiga out into the paddock and cleaned all three stalls, moving Zorro to Amiga's so he could look out at the others in the
paddock.  Now that the back pasture
is off limits, the cows and horses are "stuck" in the paddock together with very little grass to eat.  We are trying to feed out the alfalfa hay stored in the corn crib that we had put rock salt on.  It won't hurt the cows at all, but I am not sure about the horses.  I need to do some research.

     We got a much needed rain early this morning so I brought Amiga and Roni back in.  They were content to hang out in the barn with Zorro.  It continued to sprinkle off and on all morning.  The rain was perfect for the fields and it also encouraged me to stay in and get some much needed house work done... 4 loads of laundry, new clean sheets on three of the beds, some dusting and picking up, etc.  I also spent plenty of time here on the front porch, messing around on my computer... Facebook mostly.  Every couple of hours I ran out to the barn, through the drizzle, to check on Zorro.

     Joe got home about the same time the rain stopped, the skies cleared and the sun's rays warmed our farm yard.  I was still messing with laundry, so went out periodically to clean stalls and tend to other chores.  Joe moved all the hay to one side of the corn crib to clear a cattle chute. Then Lisa called and I put everything on hold and went to Moraine View to ride with her and her two sons.  It was perfect weather for riding.  Roni was really revved up, and I had my hands full at first.  But he eventually relaxed and was manageable and fun.  Retirement off to a great start. (Well except for sick Zorro.)