Howdy folks! And wow, how did I let so much time get by without checking in here? Really, I have no excuse and I can’t really tell you one thing exactly that has been hogging my focus. It’s a shame we don’t have any hogs, or I could have made a really clever farm joke there. Bummer.
But seriously, winter is a busy time of year. Normal tasks take more time simply because it is cold. We move slower, the ground is harder and everything is stiff and more difficult to maneuver. But no matter. With the right clothing, it is still really very pleasant. The experience is still worth having. The winter air is fresh in an entirely different way than any other season, and although it is cold and biting, it would be a shame to miss out on it.
We do have a few updates. No new calf has arrived yet. We successfully left town for a week and made it back before the arrival, so that is good. We do have four horses now… Well, three that we own and one that is boarded, so four present on the farm altogether. You might ask how two horses turned into four. Well, I ask myself the same question. It was less than two years ago that I was dreaming of of getting my very own first horse ever. And then, BAM! We have three. Turns out, when you have property, horses have a way of multiplying. The second horse, was a rescue that showed up on our radar by way of some friends. She was sweet as pie and we both fell in love with her. We figured at some point, the boarded mare would return to her owner’s home and at that point, our gelding would need a new herd-mate anyway. So we brought home Ruth. And then a few weeks later, we heard about Toby. It seemed he had tried a couple homes before ours, but wasn’t quite the right fit in either, so third one’s a charm, right? So far he is doing really well. Definitely low man on the totem pole, but he is the newest and youngest, so that is to be expected. They are all figuring out their place.
The new additions have added some changes to my general list of tasks, though. Originally, Smokey and Holly had a pretty good routine. They new when they came up to the barn in the morning, I would give them feed. And Smokey is VERY food motivated, so I could pretty much guarantee he would make his way up every morning, and Holly would follow. Not so now. Something has changed ever since we added the new additions. They are all perfectly content to stay all the way out at the very edge of the property. Especially, in the places I can’t see them without walking all the way out. I even walked halfway out until I saw Smokey tracking me with his gaze. I shook a bucket of feed at them and that goofball, Smokey, shook his head and turned and galloped the opposite direction with all three other horses following! Seriously? I haven’t decided what I think the mentality is behind this. I mean there is so much grass still they aren’t hungry I know, but that has never stopped any horse I know from getting excited about feed. So, I can’t decide if they are just having such a great time together they have no interest in coming in, or if Smokey thinks he is a wild horse now and I have just presented him with his very own herd to run. I’ll be interested to see how their behaviors continue to shift. But for the time being, I go on my daily “horse hunt” to check on them all up close and catch them for some riding.
The journeys out to find the horses are also great opportunities to check out critter activity too. Especially, when there is some snow. Today, for example, I found myself examining a line of prints that I couldn’t quite figure out. There were a number of them overlapping each other and making them hard to isolate. As I was studying them and following the trail, I looked up at the tree they seemed to be leading to and there was a raccoon! Hey, not exactly a rare find, I know, but somehow it is the little things like that, that amuse me the most.
In other news, two of our fifteen outdoor cats have found new homes! The beautiful Siamese, who we named Alfred, wandered up to me last week with a terrible facial wound. While that may initially seem depressing, it proved to be the perfect opportunity for me to capture him and work with a local organization to get him all fixed up and officially placed in a wonderful foster home. Score! The other cat, was an aging gray tabby with an old eye wound that rendered him blind on that side. He also got a new indoor home, which coincidentally, also happens to be our home….. I know, I know! But I am only so strong. He is older, one eyed, clearly not fit for life on the streets. What could I do? Really, though. It has been pitiful. Since November, he has followed me around everywhere, wanting to be held. He got under the horses feet a number of times, even followed me all the way out to the back 40, which I feared would eventually end badly. And every time I opened a door in the house, he tried to cram himself through it. Since we officially let him in, he basically just sleeps. Completely uninterested in our other cats. He wants to be held and sleep. What’s one more cat anyway?
Okay, friends. I should probably go haul in another load of wood to keep this stove going. I hope January has been treating you all kindly, and I’ll do my best not to be so silent in February.
Happy Friday!