September Has Arrived

Been incommunicado for a while. I always thought that was a clever term, incommunicado. Actually, I think it's just called l-a-z-y where I'm concerned.

Hubby has been trying to squeeze in vacation days before the company he works for transitions the workforce to another company at the end of September. We're still in twilight zone over that move, or at least that's how it feels. When he's on vacation, so am I. Just works that way. My daily routine gets all out of whack.

Most of the time we've spent working on projects around our little farm. Last week we picked up a supply of hay. We had to drive an hour, two counties away. I never realized hay could be such a deep dark secret in our county, but apparently that's the case. I made numerous inquiries. Ended up getting fed up and decided we'd just make the drive to a farm supply operation we knew had hay for sale. We also ordered in forty ton of sand mix, which was an easier proposition because it was delivered to us. The sand mix is for the horse corral area. I'm done with being patient about the mud and this year was the last straw. After asking a few horse owners, and reading online articles, I finally came to what I hope is an economical, and hopefully, good solution to my mud problem. A local horse breeder/trainer told me where he bought his sand mix for his arena and training areas. Turned out, the stuff was what I was looking for. It's not as fine as masons sand, but not as rocky as bank run or pea sized stone. So far we've put about 1/2 a ton down and I'm pleased to say, after the last rains from Tropical Storm Lee passed through this week, no mud. This stuff might just work out!

We did manage to get in one afternoon motorcycle ride last week, before it got way too hot and then rains came into our area from Lee. Can't really complain, it's been dreary, but nothing like what many other places had to face from Hurricane Irene and remnants of Lee. We were spared flooding this time around.

Neighbor dog has returned. Rufus, the black lab, stopped in Monday evening and has been here ever since. I don't know exactly what the problem is with his real home up the road. Obviously, he prefers to escape to our home instead of staying at his own. He doesn't act like he's abused. I can't very well feed our dogs and not feed him so he gets fed a bowl of dog food when we feed Maggie and Lucy. Hubby believes Rufus isn't fed enough. He thinks, even for an active a year old pup, the dog is too skinny. I think the neighbors just don't pay enough attention to Rufus and when he gets loose, he's off for freedom,which is our place because he's free. 

Around here Rufus seems happy just to be around people, lay near the house, on our back deck and tries to get our dogs to play. Hubby and I have tried to ignore Rufus, but I'm a sucker for an adorable face, so it's harder for me. Plus, Rufus has been fairly well mannered and hasn't bothered the horses. 

I called his people, yet one more time, today. Left a message. Told them I thought someone would have missed the dog by now and sent someone down to get him. They have to go by our house. We live on a dead end road. They know where Rufus hangs out. Makes me wonder if they really care about the dog. OH, looks like someone must have gotten my message. Rufus just took off running up the road following behind a blue pick-up truck that I know to belong to one of his people. Good! I'd rather Rufus be at his home, where he belongs. He has two kids there who hopefully adore him. He is an adorable pup, I have to admit. Maybe he'll outgrow his need to visit here, eventually. I don't mind if he drops by and then goes home, but he was here for two nights and had become like one of those guests who outstays their welcome, according to looks on our dogs' faces.

For now, I'm trying to get myself into some kind of routine. I've been really lax. I've learned something about myself this summer, I'm the kind of person who NEEDS routine and planning. When left to my own devices, I get NOTHING accomplished. If I have a plan, a routine, or lists, I'm much more productive. Some people can be productive without really knowing where they're going or where they'll end up. I'm not one of those and I finally realized that this summer when trying to be one of the other kinds of people. Hubby is kind of like the "others", but my reality is deadlines,lists and a plan to follow. Sometimes it takes a little while to figure things like that out. Looks like it took me the last 30 years!

Relaxing for the moment...

The horses are taken care of for a while. They've been vetted, trimmed and de-wormed. They got the works this month.

Spirit had his teeth floated a couple of weeks ago. He was definitely in need. The vet showed me the points on Spirit's teeth. It's so weird watching the vet do his power dentistry inside my horse's wide open mouth, held that way by a very odd looking mechanism of a halter. The poor horse slightly swayed under the fog of a sedative and Hubby held the rope keeping Spirit's head steady through the procedure. The results, Spirit is eating much calmer now and appears to be enjoying his grain much better than before.


Looks like the unsightly slobbers are over. The fungus, brought on by this summer's high humidity and extended rains, no longer growing on the leaves of the white clover in our field. I'd never experienced the slobbers with my horses in the 6 years I've had them here. The vet said he's seen it all over the county this year. I'm thankful it only lasted with my horses for a few weeks.

My farrier came yesterday and trimmed up their feet. Always glad to hear my farrier tell me how good their feet are, he rarely has to do anything but trim. They've got good strong feet and for that I am uber thankful!


Our cat, Buddy, continues to work through his asthma. It still seems almost comical to talk about my asthmatic cat. I'd just never heard of it before his problem started. He gets a depo injection once a month, sometimes an antibiotic. I decided a while back to try to keep him as comfortable as possible and as long as he still seems content with his life, that's how we'll leave it. Sooner or later the condition will worsen, as it has already but not enough to where he doesn't want to eat or drink his water or head outside to sit on the deck. He'll tell me when he's tired of it all. Considering we found him abandoned in a box with four other kittens, no bigger than the palm of a hand, eyes closed, and hand fed for weeks until he could eat on his own, helping him as much as I can through the end of his life is my goal. He's a wonderful cat and has had a good nine years with us. Nine years he probably wouldn't have had otherwise.


So, right now, my biggest goal is to try to get in some hay when Hubby is on vacation in a few weeks. Hay supplies are low around here from what I'm hearing. Just peachy! I honestly, and I've said this before, never thought about hay being among the problems a horse owner faces because I always thought hay was one of those things you could always find, easily. Live and learn! In the meantime I've been getting them used to Lucerne's Hi Fiber forage which they do seem to like. Not that I want to feed it to them as a complete forage because that would be very expensive, but as a supplement, it's a definite maybe. I was scared off of hay cubes after Spirit's choke incident, unless I soak them. I decided I don't want to spend time each day soaking the hay cubes if I have other alternatives.


Right now I feel I can relax for a bit. The corral is finally free of mud! The horses are up on all their appointments. The cat had his vet visit the other day. The dogs are doing fine. Hubby seems good too after a bout with numerous seed ticks on his legs, which is a topic for another post some time. The mowing is caught up for at least a week. Today I have the feeling of....ahhhhhhh.  Enjoy the day!