Ok, the peer pressure is getting to me. Colin blogged, therefore I must blog. You should know that I have "From Justin to Kelly" on the TV right now, so if I start typing nonsense it is the fault of HBO. (Speaking of HBO, did you see "Six Feet Under" last night? That was probably the best episode ever!)

So much has happened in the past couple of weeks, but I don't want to bore you to tears. The tractor is the number-one, most fabulous thing that has happened at the farm so far. It is so much fun to drive and work with, despite the dangers (insert picture of various and assorted dangers here). I've been using the tractor to drag the arena, move dirt, dump rocks, scrape manure, and be a general farm-girl-badass. Let's see. I should note the work I've been doing in the arena, because I need acknowledgement of my hard efforts. The first Saturday that we had the tractor, we used the harrow to drag it. That broke up the hard ground, and brought up a lot of rocks (the arena is just dirt right now). I tried to use the bucket to scrape the rocks off the surface, but that didn't work very well. So back I went to my primitive tools - a pitchfork, a rake, and a shovel. Mostly what I am doing is "sifting" the big rocks out (or is that the little rocks and dirt out?) with the pitchfork. I went through a lot of different techniques before I found the one that I thought was best. What I do is push the pitchfork forward, scooping and tossing the big rocks forward a few feet. I do that in a row across the arena (80 feet), then I go back and scoop the rocks into the tractor. It helps best if Colin is in the tractor and follows me, that way I don't end up walking back and forth so much, but he has other things to do, so I mostly walk back and forth too much. After I fill up the bucket, then I drive it over to the edge of the arena and dump the dirt/rocks down the side of the hill. Then I go back and do it all over again. That first Saturday, I probably worked on this for 6 hours. I really wanted an area I could ride in by the end of the weekend, even if I didn't finish the entire arena.

So I've got enough area to ride in and I didn't finish all of the arena yet. But I have enough space for now, and I continue to work on the arena, but now at the rate of one hour or two rows per shift. We're hiring contractors to put in a proper base and footing, and hopefully that will be done in 6 weeks or so, so I'm not going to put TOO much effort into continuing on this sifting spree.

In the meantime, there's plenty of other work to be done with the tractor. I'm working on hand-picking the rocks out of the big pasture (I put them in the bucket, then drive them over to the side of the arena and dump them), and scraping the rocks/dirt/manure out of the small pasture.

I've slowed down the intensity of my work, because I can't go balls-out (especially considering I don't have any) every day for hours and hours a day - especially when it is so hot outside. I generally wake up, feed the dogs, eat breakfast, feed the horses, shovel poo (which now that I've got it under control only takes me 30 minutes or so) and then do farm chores until 10 or 11 a.m. (which, considering I start them by 7:30 is plenty of time). Then I come inside and do other chores (dishes, vacuuming, making calls, running errands) until lunchtime. Then Colin and I eat lunch together, I read for a little bit, we take a nap, and then I do some more stuff, feed the dogs, maybe move more rocks or something, feed the horses, do yoga, ride, take a shower, then we eat. Hmmm, I'm having deja-vu. Did I write this before?

Barley is farting right now. I swear, it isn't me. Peee-ewwwww.

My friend Cynthia came over yesterday with her daughter Sophie. We had a nice visit. It is nice to live near her, and I hope I get to see her frequently. We grew up together and she is a good person and is my oldest friend. I'm sure it is in our favor that we are both Libras - Libras are the best!

Miles and I are starting to get into work again. We work for three days, have a day off (or a trail ride), three days on again, one day off. I had another lesson with my neighbor this morning and it was really good. I thought about some things she brought up in our last lesson, and I've been doing my homework, and we had a better performance today. I'm going to do a cross-country school with her and her students in a few weeks - it will be my first, and I'm so excited!

Barley and the cat still haven't made friends. All Barley needs is one good sniff, but the cat won't have any part of it.

Kenya is still going crazy in the pond. It is the one thing that makes her truly happy, so how can I deny her that? I try to limit her time, though, so she doesn't drive the neighbors nuts.

One of the neighbors came over and introduced herself today - very nice lady. She's retired and she and her husband have been here for a year and a half. I must brag that she asked about Monty (the sellers had asked her if she would take him) and said that he looks really good. I love seeing the transformation in a horse from not engaging with people, and/or having not had the best care (not that I wish that on any horse, mind you), to showing a personality and blossoming in mind and body. Monty is doing really well and is putting on weight and seems very happy, despite his lameness.

Speaking of his lameness, I had the vet out last week to take x-rays and it turns out that Monty has navicular problems. He has lesions and scar tissue between his navicular and his DDFT. He suggested a wedge pad to start, and then we'll take it from there. After he pulled the shoe to take the x-rays, I put an easy-boot on Monty until Scott could come out and put the shoe back on. Stupid me, I put Monty in the big pasture with Miles so that I could work with the tractor in the small pasture. Well, Miles being the brat that he is pushed Monty all over the pasture and ran him around and Monty lost the easy-boot. I spent at least an hour combing the pasture looking for that damn boot, but never found it. Stupid me, I felt so bad for Monty. Ug. I just can't have them together in that big pasture - Miles takes advantage of the situation too much. I bought a new easy-boot and put it on and Scott came to put the new pad and shoe on, so everything is ok now, but that was a stupid mistake on my part. Miles and Monty like to be together, but I can't have them together all the time, so I'm still trying to work that out.

I've got lots of magazine reading to catch up on, so I best be signing off now...

- posted by Susan @ 7:48 PM