Saturday night, I finished a landscaping job by moonlight, because, by George, I was taking a day off on Sunday. The dog and I had, perhaps, too much fun. He was able to recuperate on Monday while I was back at work.
Shooting: Morning squirrel hunting. Cole treed a few, but I couldn't see the varmints through the foliage to get a good shot. To add insult to injury, Sunday was the first day of Canada Goose season and none were seen around the farm.
The judges gave Cole a 9.1 score, I only got 2.2 .
Next event: Swimming. In the evening, Cole and I jumped in the pond in between laps running around the farm. Cole...5.6 . Jamie...7.2 .
Cross country running: Colemeister and I went trail running in the morning. I ran 10.6 miles, he must have logged, minimum, 25 miles. Judges say Cole gets 9.9. Slow poke only reels in an 8.3.
Equestrianism: I spent some time grooming my horses...
...but chose to ride my steel steed (bicycle) around the pastures. Cole, once again, outdid me on the mileage. Cole: 7.5, Jamie: 6.5.
Fencing: A fence is a barrier, right? This is a bit of a stretch, but humor me. I started building a rock wall around the front of the house delineating the shrub beds. Two purposes, one being esthetics the other is to keep rain run-off from rushing under the house ( is where I keep all my tools).
In progress...it goes 40 feet one each side of the front steps. Jamie: 5.5, didn't get full points because I didn't finish. Cole: 2.4, penalized for tinkling on his opponents rocks.
To add more merriment to the day, I also stained the front deck. Then took Cole for our daily 20 minute canoeing workout.
And I finished my first batch of fig/banana/pear fruit leather. I've had a bounty of pears covering every horizontal surface in my kitchen for two weeks now.
Having the inability to open the freezer has meant that I've been unable to raid my pesto stash...probably a good thing!
The first batch of leather was too thin and it didn't want to roll properly. I used peanut butter as a glue. I know it's hard to believe, but as unappetizing as it looks, the fruit roll ups are one of the best things I've ever tasted. Batch #4 is in the dehydrator today.
I've procrastinated enough this morning, I need to address myself to drawing water up from the well to water the garden so I can get to work.
Who needs to go to the gym when you can draw up 40 lbs of water from a well for an hour?
One last bit of good news. Tommy had been going lame again over the weekend, so I rushed him to the vet school. We've been working so hard at healing their feet that I didn't want to chance any relapse. We caught the bruised soles in time, drained off the pressure and he's walking fine again today.
Once he was up the table, I jumped in to help because they were short staffed. The time limit is 15 minutes for Tommy to be strapped down on his side on the tilt able, so we had to work quickly.
The excessive rain this year has caused the pasture grasses to be too lush and the ground stayed wet, both causative agents in the decaying of all my hooved animals' feet.
Times like these, I miss my old farm.
I miss my 9 stall barn where my horses could go to get out of the elements.
I miss the workshop and trailer garage I built.
I miss the house I built with my own two hands.
Cole missed the doghouse Dad and I built for him with air conditioning and radiant heated floors.
But, I only had 14 acres. Now I live on 100. It's been a trade-off. I don't miss my mortgage! I am working on getting us another spread. This time, when I build my barn, I'm putting in my apartment on top. My heart belongs to my livestock and close to them is where I need to be.
1975...supposed to be getting ready for church, instead I was readying for what I wanted to do for the rest of my life!
