Room With a View

Winters are always wet here in the Pacific Northwest, but the storms the past two days have been exceptional. Everything is wet. As I was eating lunch I heard "go away" barking. Looking out the window I saw Millie laying on the hay I'd obviously placed there as a dry bed for her. She was warning the silly pony, who wanted to eat this bedding, that this pile was taken.

The previous day, I felt someone was watching me as I walked past the window. I glanced out to look into the bright, dark eyes of my favorite Pyr, keeping an eye on all she protects.

It was raining so hard I could hardly hear myself think. Looking out the window I saw Zander, keeping an eye on the geese and the road beyond. He sat there in a downpour for at least an hour. He hardly notices the rain, but sits on a platform to keep his butt dry.

Friends

These three really like hanging out together.

The Large and the Small

We're all friends here.

Foggy Morn with Raven

It's going to be a sunny day. This time of year sunny days are often preceded by foggy mornings. There is something special about fog - it dampens sound as well as air and sight, adds mystery to the surroundings. 

There are always ravens around, but they are very camera shy. Perhaps the fog dampened this one's awareness of the lens pointed at him as he preened his feathers and announced his presence.

Goat Genes?

Bear, a Missouri Fox Trotter, walked into the woods on a sheep path and emerged behind a patch of blackberries. The other horses were content to stand on the road side of the patch, but they all ate the leaves lustfully. Who says horses don't browse?  

May you live in interesting times.

Today has been an interesting and exciting day, in all senses of the words.

My keyboard has been dying one key at at time for a while, and recently I lost use of the bottom two rows. Obviously a new keyboard was in order. The Mac Store carries a very interesting one - The Virtually Indestructible Keyboard. They had to ship one from Redmond to Olympia (the closest place for Apple supplies - about 1 hour away). Today I drove up to get it.

This keyboard is very cool, but will take some getting used to. It's silicone based, flexible, and according to the tech at the store even acid spills won't harm it (he used one in a chemistry lab). No more dog hair and dust working their way under the keys.

The second exciting thing is that people in Olympia had East Indies ducklings for sale. These ducks are tiny, black,  and when they get feathers, iridescent. They are hard to get, as hatcheries won't ship ducklings due to their small size. I now have five ducklings! Adorable.

When I got home I was greeted by my Border Collie, loose. The good news was there she was waiting for me, the bad news - well, besides the need for better containment, I wasn't sure what the bad news was.

As I unloaded the groceries I bought at Costco (no trip to Olympia is complete without a Costco run), I noticed that some horses were in the wrong pasture. Exploring further, I found a gate had been opened by the hinge side. 

And then I saw the Arab stallion sitting down. Now that's just wrong, horses don't normally sit. Slipping and sliding down to him (it has rained continuously the past 3 days) I realized he was seriously stuck in the fence. I got the wire cutters and managed to cut him out. He's such a sweet guy, he just stays calm and trusts me to help him. He's a bit scratched up, but otherwise seems fine.

So now I have a gate that needs rehanging and a fence section that needs replacing. But my horses are OK, if unintentionally relocated.

I'm now back inside getting used to this new keyboard and resting up.

Enjoying the Sun

Berry Time

The blackberries have had another great growing year, and I've spent plenty of time trying to re-establish a boundary - basically taking clippers out and hunting for my fencing.

I was just about to cut off one vine when I noticed it was inhabited.

This lovely Orb Weaver was patiently waiting for me to go away. A quick google search told me these spiders are most active at night, when they eat lots and lots of mosquitos. Welcome to my farm.

Marjay came by to help me by picking the ripe berries I was uncovering. Well, the ones I didn't get to first. That's the bright side of berry control.

Who...What...Are You?

I moved Polly into one of the dog yards so she can do her mowing magic on it. Zander wants to get up close and personal. He doesn't quite understand what this new creature is, but he thinks he likes her.

Polly couldn't care less.

Fright and Flight

My horses just had a mini-stampede, frightened from their food by a flock of 2 ducks and their 5 ducklings moving in tight formation. The ducks were (reasonably) worried about being stepped on by huge 4-legged beings, so started avoidance maneuvers, which further upset  the horses.

I managed to herd the ducks into their shelter before the horses came back down the hill. The horses all stopped on their way back to let me know I shouldn't allow such dangerous beasts in their field while they are eating. Never mind that the ducks have been here a week now.

Scary creatures, those ducks.

Charlie and his Horse

Dolly spends her days clearing the side of my lane, and her nights being protected by Charlie. He loves having someone to watch over at night. Charlie is a retired working livestock guardian, but stays current on barking techniques. He is now the first line of defense against predators, even if he is in a yard, rather than the pastures.

Stocking Up

Dolly in front of the garage with half my alfalfa. I'm storing 200 bales this year.

I got a great deal on local alfalfa (half the going price), and today friends came with two loads of 100 bales. It's a lot of work getting them in, but it feels like I have my own personal feed store :). I feed mostly grass hay, but it's nice to have a large stock of alfalfa in for cold weather, mares with foals, or individuals not keeping enough weight on.

I'll probably sell some of this through the winter. I got a good enough deal that I can make some money on any I sell. From what I'm hearing, alfalfa is going to be in short supply for a couple years. During harvest it is selling for $18/19 a bale in feed stores. I can't afford to feed it at that price! This is the price we pay for the hot, dry weather most of the country has been experiencing.

So I'm excited that I have my winter supply safely stored in the garage.

Pretty Pony

The geldings check out a new arrival. Dolly is a very small Shetland pony. Very self-contained, she ignores the regard of the large boys.

New Friends?

A young raven was avidly pulling at something on the top of a tall stump. Pheroah, the Arab stallion grazing nearby, noticed this and came to investigate. He put his nose right up to the raven, who stopped pulling and turned towards the horse. It looked like they touched nose to beak. They held that pose for a moment, then both returned to their important work. Perhaps they introduced themselves and had a quick chat.

Decisions and Consequences

Waiting to take my shower until after moving the round bale to the lower field is the best decision I've made today. That gives you an idea of how the rest of my plans have panned out.

Continuing with my desire to be self-sufficient, I didn't ask for help in moving the bale. I've done it before on my own, and while not easy it worked. This bale had no flattened side, so was relatively easy to move, and after all it's all down hill. Indeed.

I got it positioned perfectly. It should roll straight down the east slope, and not run into the south fence. It did. It rolled very well, gathered lots of speed, and hit the east fence hard enough to break the supporting rail off and most of the top welds of the wire. "Ah. Well. I can fix that. Later."

The broken fence. Definitely fixable.

I was also able to push the bale back up away from the fence and turn it to face the south gate. This was not easy, even these small rounds are mighty heavy. I was actually very pleased with myself at this point. I shooed the horses away from both sides of the fence and gate, and was able to get the bale through without any critters changing sides.

That was when the plan went awry.

The bale hovered right where I wanted it. I watched as it inched beyond that, gained speed, and took off down the hill. My thoughts went something like this (as sheep scattered below):

"Oh, this isn't good.
Well, at least it's headed straight for the big stump. The stump will stop it.
Ah, how did it miss the stump? Maybe it will stop at the edge of the pond.
Well, that was a stupid thought.
There's the neighbor's truck firing up, and heading down the lane.
You wanted to be independent. Here you go."

The intended final destination

Really, wouldn't you think one of those stumps would stop the bale?

I closed and latched the gate before walking down the hill to see the damage.

The bale lodged in an inlet, so was mostly out of the water. I gingerly stepped into the pond to see if I could push it out. Yes, I did know better. I have trouble pushing these bales over bumps on flat ground. I did discover that one foot from the edge the pond is deeper than my boots are tall. I stepped back to assess the situation and come up with a solution. I tried pushing it again.

Finally convinced that adding futility to stupidity wasn't clever, I cut the mesh holding the bale together and started peeling off layers, walking them up to high ground. Through the bog.

Lodged neatly in the inlet.

The horses were standing watching me curiously. The sheep had disappeared. Anyone directing round missiles at them, no matter what said missiles are made of, is not to be trusted. And people think sheep are dumb.

I kept trying to push the bale out, seemingly deluded into thinking I would get stronger as I went along. Finally I was able to turn the bale around and then tip it over so it was out of the pond. At least the bulk of it. The remaining layers came out with difficulty, hay being very heavy when it's wet.

On it's way out.

Somewhere along the line I lost the enthusiasm to haul the hay beyond the bog. It is at least mostly out of the water, and the sheep will eat it from there. Maybe later I'll get back to it.

Onto solid, if boggy, ground.

Just this morning I was thinking I needed more aerobic exercise. Having those thoughts is rather like saying "May you live in interesting times."

May we help you?

Snow Regeneration

There is a strange snow regeneration project going on here. It snows, it warms up, the snow melts down some. Then overnight it renews, and by morning doubles in depth. The dogs didn't quite know what to do with themselves this morning when confronted with a bank of snow to wade through.

The Snow Continues...

The quad doubles as a portable feeder. Note the chickens taking shelter under the shelf. Everyone loves hay.

The first surprise - a tree came down across the road. Fortunately there is just enough room between the trees for the quad to sneak through - even with a load of hay.

A small tree down across the electric fence. Other trees down in the background.

And yet more trees overwhelmed by the heavy snow. We've had an accumulation of 6-10 inches, and it is now above freezing (but still snowing). The snow sticks to everything and weighs a ton.

One of the Alpaca expressing his displeasure.

The Crew

On a farm one takes any assistance offered.

New Year Musings

What a wonderful day. It's pretty warm, mostly sunny, and very, very windy. Refreshingly windy, and that strong wind has dried out ground that's been wet since the first rains. I was sitting on the quad at back of the muddy filly field (feeding the sheep in the next field), just listening to the wind and trees and birds - the stories they tell! Jessie, 3 yr old filly, came up to see if I had better food than I gave them. She checked everything out, and then reached out and snuffled my face, hung with me for a moment, and then went back to her food. Kissed by a pony.

Ah winter. I need to spend more time riding the ponies. It was too lovely today, so I decided to take Trojan (17 yr old Morgan gelding) out for a spin. It was a challenge from the start, he didn't want to leave the hay and his friends, wasn't so sure about the wind, the bridle, the saddle...didn't want to stand, yada yada yada. It was an interesting ride. Nothing like a petulant pony to keep you on your toes while staying grounded. I'm practicing using energy to keep us both calm, centered, and on track, and it's an exciting ride. We did get into some gaits I haven't experienced before. I can't wait to be better rider and actually ask for these things :).