The pups went out with me for a very short time and within 10 minutes they were waiting outside the kitchen door so they could go back in the house. Too cold.
Open the D _ _ _ door Mom!
Dream went out to check on the state of affairs as soon as I opened the barn door (Barb, her other blanket was too wet and muddy so I put this one back on her).
I know you are going to be very excited to learn what I do each morning....so pull up a chair and relax.
When it is below freezing outside (in addition to the beet pulp)I take out four gallons of hot water on my little plastic sled. 3 of them go in the water trough (which I plug in around 7:30am)
that has been covered with a piece of plywood overnight.
Then I let Dream out and start preparing the grain. That includes supplements (different for each horse), beet pulp and if they are lucky...carrots or apples.
While they are eating, I grab my big plastic sled....
and load it with hay.
Once that is placed in the paddock, I go back in the feed room and rinse out my feed buckets with warm water (the 4th gallon).
They get stacked up on my work table.
Then, I let the horses out of their stalls and pick them.
Sweep the mats....
Empty the water buckets and remove ice (didn't have any). If needed, I rinse them out with a little of the remaining hot water so they are nice for evening chores.
When all the stalls are done, I start setting up hay for the night feeding. I always seem to start with Winnie's.
The only place I don't set up hay, is Dream's suite, as the horses have access to this space during the day. (Remember....old barn, over 100).
I always put a flake of our softest hay in a bag for Pony...she also gets hay cubes at night.
9:45 and was almost finished.
I don't know about you, but I hate working in a bulky jacket, so I usually take it off.
Just a few more things to wind up.
Measured out Pony's hay cubes....
Got the beet pulp pellets in the right bucket....
Stacked everything up....
Swept out the feed room....
Turned off the radio....
Put everything back on my little blue sled...
And headed back toward the house.
The wind was brutal today.
Not too bad in the morning, but got progressively stronger as the day went on.
At last, made it to the house.
Had lunch, vacuumed and got ready for my class.
Phoebe and Gucci went nuts when Tina arrived and were ready to do tricks for treats.
Kendra stopped in for a few minutes to say hello. It was good to see her.
It was also great to have Donna back in class.
Everyone was busy, busy today.
Colm did 3 drawings of Strawberry and each one was better than the next.
Tina completed her colored pencil drawing....
And did a water color on the card I gave her last week. I asked everyone to do a mini painting for me.
Below is Colm's first attempt with colored pencils. What a quick study!
Dick has just about finished his acrylic painting.
Alice is beginning to work on watercolors and will create a journal of flowers.
Mel is working on his first watercolor pencil drawing.
Donna has started painting a flower on her card.
We sure had some fun discussions today...Missed Sandy, John and Deb!
I was in no mood to go out to do chores....the wind was still nasty.
The ponies were ready to get out of it.
Didn't cook tonight. We went down to 58 Main for a quick supper.
When we were getting ready to leave, my good pal Alberta came in with her son Jeff. In the dark ages, Alberta taught me how to play bridge and she is my favorite partner when we play duplicate. Pretty nice picture, huh Jeff?
If you are still awake, thanks for sticking with this post. I would love to know what your morning routine is at your farm. That's it for now...I'm off to sit by the fire with a cupa tea. Night all.
Oh the white stuff is back here too...I love the stff..But ya I sure hope spring is almost here...Stop by my blog..An award awaits for you...
ReplyDeleteHi Lori. No actual snow her, as yet, but a sharp, white frost here last night. Roll on spring, say I.
ReplyDeleteRegards, Mike.
We've got the cold and wind here too - getting worse tomorrow and Friday - they're saying wind chills of 15 to 20 below Friday morning. The only good thing is it's almost February which means spring is that much closer. Stay warm!
ReplyDeleteHi Lori, I enjoy your blog very much. I have been wishing/thinking of getting some goats and chickens. I am a recent (5 yrs) transplant to the country, and a little on the old side to start a project like this. I appreciate your 1/26/blog to give details of chores. A bit daunting.
ReplyDeleteMy morning routine: Up by 6, sometimes earlier, make coffee, walk to the mail box for D & C, drink coffee till 7, make my oatmeal, then practice piano. I manage this most mornings. Could I fit the goats in here? Do I really want to? hmmmmmmm. Again, thanks.
JM
You do have lots of chores to do there! It's become cold again here too. Just when I was hoping that winter was coming to an end. What a nasty surprise.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're busy and having fun.
I love your barn! If only I had one that beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy horses are on pasture and have free access to hay so we only feed at night. No blankets required since we are not as cold here. Also have live water and that keeps running so no watering.
When the cows are fed in the evening, the horses are fed too.
So chores aren't as hard as they were when I first started with Miniature horses.
I do not know how you do it in those temperatures and conditions.
What a busy day! I love reading about your days:) The cold has returned to our corner of the world, too. But hey, it's winter time, it is supposed to be cold (even if we might not like it). The wind is terrible as well. Have a nice day!
ReplyDeleteHard to imagine it is so cold there and so hot here in Africa ! Your morning routine sounds ... hectic, very busy indeed ! My morning routine on our farm at the moment tends to revolve around the kids/baby....as hubby heads out at first light. Perhaps I should do a post on that sometime, you've given me an idea !
ReplyDeleteThanks Lori. I'm obliged to you.
ReplyDeleteWarm regards, Mike.
We have barely gotten above zero for the past three days with strong wind. Wind chill has been about -25. Yuck. I saw this morning that our last sub-zero temp in 2009 was Mar, 12 @ -4. Mar. 14 it was 51. Minnesota, whadda ya gonna do!
ReplyDeleteMy morning starts with coffee, writing/reading some blogs and email. Out to the barn to feed and water. Back in for 30-40 min. before going out for turnout. Clean the barn and hopefully finish before I need to bring them in. Now that the days are a little longer I have more time. It's a whole day job.
Pretty much the same here. Snow, wind and hungry horses. The only difference is that our house and barn are the same building. Makes lugging the hot water a little easier. Your barn looks wonderful. Nice and roomy. Lucky horses to have such a great care taker!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that (wasn't bored at all!!). Thanks for sharing. I'll think about doing a post like this one. Might be fun.
ReplyDeleteMy morning routine revolves around children, a few dogs and just Daisy. Nothing spectacular. Soon I'll be having my chickens and ??? so I will do a similiar post. I find it interesting that you do so much work and give so much care for animals you rarely ride. They are fortunate to have you.
ReplyDelete