Saturday I overslept, (a slight derail) not getting up until 7am, probably because Charlie woke me up several times during the night. He likes to
sleep on my head and purrs very loudly.
I quickly did morning
chores and then went to the Replex (without my morning tea). I walked
15 minutes and then did a 30 minute Zumba class. I kept it low impact
and got along fairly well. Once home I lingered over tea and breakfast,
immensely enjoying the muffin, tasty tea and caffeine. (I think,
along the road, we need to stop in at the candy store and enjoy
ourselves.)It ended up being kind of a lazy day. Joe went to a poker game so I was home alone as usual... well, I did have the pets to keep me company.
I did some "on line" job hunting, but
really didn't know where to start. It
would be so nice to be able to work from home part-time. If I could have my
dream job, I would ride horses to exercise them and give them some light training. I would
love to work with them to keep them in good condition for their owners. What a great job that would be... but, I don't even know if there is a need for this type of work. Also, one problem is that I don't have the experience or physical
ability to really be able to do this.
When I walked out to get the mail, I picked up two shopping bags full of
trash along 150. Later I found a nest of three of Tiny's eggs in the
corn crib when doing chores. I brought in two, but decided to leave one
and see if more appeared. I am not sure what happens to the quality of
an egg when it has sat in 18 degree temperatures for a day or two.
Saturday evening Dan came to get Charlie and we chatted for a shot
while. Then I watched TV, flipping between two channels, watching some
reality show on house hunting and another on buying abandoned storage
units. People were wanting to move to larger houses so they had more
room for their junk... while others leave their junk in a storage unit that
they can no longer afford to pay for. One man's junk is another man's
treasure... but I still say, get rid of it all. I saw (and like) this
New Year's resolution: Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful
or joyful. The problem is,
some things that bring joy, like our
pets, can also be a financial burden, cause a mess, bring stress, and
result in hardship. I also think people hang on to stuff because they
like it and think it may someday come in handy. Beautiful things are no
longer pretty though, when they end up neglected or heaped in a big
pile. Saturday night's moon was big, bright and full.In the nursery Sunday, I had the joy and privilege of holding a four month old that fell asleep with her warm head nestled in my neck, and remained so for 30 minutes. Joe joined me for Church, then he got water at Courtney's and I went shopping. A freezing rain started as I drove between Menards and Wall-Mart. It continued the rest of the day.
I felt sorry for the horses so went out to put them in the barn early.
They started racing around the side pasture at a full gallop going all
over the place. Amiga slipped and caught herself once, and I cringed at
the thought of any of them hurting themselves. They didn't look
scared, I think they were cold and wet and just trying to warm up. They
probably kept it up for close to 15 minutes, finally settling down and
coming into the barn. Brother had been missing for over a day, but
showed up in the morning and was still hanging around, probably because
it was too nasty to go on one of his long hunting excursions. I baked a
tasty chicken dish and whipped up a veggie rice medley. After dinner I went out and brushed the water and mud off the horses. Then it was early to bed to read a book Britney had lent
me. It is called
"The Language Of God" and is by Francis Collins, a
distinguished scientist who headed the Human Genome Project. The book discusses how religious faith can be reconciled with scientific
knowledge. I listened to the wind shake the windows and
whip through the tree branches as I processed ideas from the book.It was considerably warmer
Monday morning and I only wore a
wind-breaker to Water Lilies. Before lunch I took Kaysha into Downs,
parking at Daniel's house, and going on a 45 minute walk with her. I really
enjoy, and miss, looking at houses and landscaping while walking. I
picked up Charlie to bring him home while Daniel and Valencia are in
Florida. Here he is being my co-pilot.
With the temperature up to 57 degrees, I opened up all of the barn doors. The chickens and turkey were really enjoying foraging around the yard. 
Abbey even thought it was nice enough to go outside. Here she is ready to come back in, and of course, Charlie wants to go out. I kept busy with several different household chores throughout the day. I also "caught" Charlie playing at various times. 
This next series of photos is of Abbey and him playing hide-and-seek in the packing paper... as much fun as boxes.
I overheated doing chores because it was so warm and humid out. A fog rolled in mid-afternoon. I didn't bring the horses in until after getting home from Growth Group, around 9:30pm.
It rained through the night with a storm (and dog) waking me up early Tuesday morning. With more storms on the way I decided to medicate Kaysha right away. The day reached a high of 63 and a low of 52, so it
was balmy even before sunrise and
after sunset. The barn was wet all
over inside, with the 100% humidity condensing everywhere. Abbey wondering about the box.
Is it a "Jack" in the box? Nope, it's a cat.
I did several loads of laundry including sheets, towels and shower curtain, while also working here at my desk with Charlie's "help."
Between rain showers, I walked around the yard and picked up sticks. I
stripped the stalls of all wet bedding and then when Joe got home, we
put in half the trailer load of new wood shavings. We also fixed a bent
fence pole and replaced a few others since the ground was thawed enough
to push them down into it. The poles are 
four foot long plastic with 8" of metal at the bottom. When the electric rope is attached, the animals stay away. The metal at the bottom of one pole had been bent 90 degrees. A cow must have plopped against it when laying down too close to it. It was probably a shocking experience for the cow.
Sometimes Charlie and I get distracted. Like kids in study hall, we feed off each other... he is always the instigator though.
Below, all nine hens seen with Hercules.
Before
dinner, Joe and I went to the Replex. I did the aerobics class while he worked out. We got hit with a down-pour before getting home and because it was to rain all evening, I
brought the horses in early. I made sloppy Joe's for
dinner, using a can of Manwich. I was not too thrilled with it. So
popcorn with TV completed my evening of eating.
We got 1.7 inches of rain Tuesday and more before dawn Wednesday. With
the sub-soil still being frozen, the water could not soak in, so had no where to go but our waterway.I enjoyed Water Lilies as usual and a 30 minute walk on the indoor track.
It had stopped raining, but the aftermath was messy. Getting the manure barrel through the deep, gooey mud in the paddock was a challenge. I almost lost a boot several times. The barn floor was still very wet so I set up fans to circulate the air and help dry the floor.
It was going to get cold by nightfall and I didn't want the wet floor to freeze and get slippery. Tiny's egg that I left in the corn crib had broken, but I discovered two in the barn nest box, along with these others. (One is a golf ball.)
Once Joe was home we did more work out in the barn. I had organized the
stored hay in the calf pen and corn crib and cleaned up all the loose
stuff earlier in the day. Then Joe dropped down 12 more bales that we
stacked for daily feeding. The ground was still too muddy to drive the
tractor load of hay to the corn crib, so we put that on hold. Joe also
helped put up the covers over the bare light bulbs in the barn to better protect
them. We were getting freezing rain by the time we returned to the
house. It didn't last long, but the wind really picked up, and the
temperature dropped.
I went back out after dinner to brush all three
horses. They were caked in dry mud. With the ground freezing, I knew they would
not get muddy again until the next thaw. They would also need "fluffy"
hair for insulation against the coming cold. 
The winds shook the house and rattled the windows all night long, which woke me more times than Charlie did. The wind slowed to 20 mph before dawn Thursday, and then it started to snow. We didn't get much, but it was pretty.
The paddock was frozen, and the horse hoof craters were difficult to walk on. You can't really see them to the left because they are full of snow. I hoped they wouldn't be too treacherous for the horses, who walked very carefully as they left the barn.
I was also concerned about the waterway which now had snow on top of ice. That too could be hazardous, if the horses tried walking across it, or worse yet, hit it at a full gallop.
They say in Illinois, if you don't like the weather, wait until tomorrow. What a difference a day can make. I should have been happy with Wednesday's rain and high of 50, verses Thursday's snow and a high of 21.
Here are two photos taken 24 hours apart.
With the wind and drop in temperature, the house seemed cold and I was wanting to go back into hibernation. I had to make myself go out to clean stalls. I had opened up the chicken coop, but did not see any of them venture out all day. Even the barn cats stayed put in the insulated
tack room that had been warmed by the sun. I did lots of Blog work in the
morning and then cleaned house and
got Britney's room ready for over night guests. Once Joe was home, we moved five bales of hay out into the corn crib for me to feed during
the week he would be gone. Ralph and his brother Kirt arrived after we
got home from the Replex. They treated us to pizza from LeRoni's and I
tossed together a salad. Friday I was glad to see January come to a close. With February here, spring seems just around the corner. Although, with the recent cold and predicted snow, we aren't done with winter yet.
The men were up early and we chatted over breakfast. Then Joe left
for work and shortly after, the Leininger brothers left for Ohio. I
neatened up the house, started more laundry, and messed here at the computer. I can really relate to this cartoon. Click on it to enlarge it so you can read it. I don't stay up too late, but I waste a lot of daylight hours
on the computer. Some of it is constructive, some entertaining, but some serves little purpose and really is a waste of time. 
I noticed the snail out, and on the move so took some photos. I think he looks pretty cool.
I got moving by doing 90 minutes of farm chores. The stalls were extra dirty because the horses had been in extra long. The horse water tub heater malfunctioned so I had to fix it. I must not have completely drained the hose to the stock tank so it had water frozen in it and wouldn't work. I had to carry buckets of water to it like I do the horse water tub. I was beginning to think I should have gone to Florida with Joe, who left with a friend at noon, and were driving down non-stop. After a rest, I went into the Replex and walked for 45 minutes. I feel like I have really improved with my exercise and I am doing better about not eating so many sweets. I still need to work on my spiritual growth by
reading my Bible
more. And I would like to find a part-time job. And I really need to do more sorting and organizing around here as I attempt to get rid of the clutter.
Funny cartoon. Yep, I will lie down and then think of something I was going to look up on the internet and get back up!
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