A Bright Autumn Morning

Sunday morning, Buffy (Pistol's previous owner) came by to visit Pistol and to get apples over on Apple Hill.  Unfortunately, I had to work (yes, ugh, in the office 14 hours on Sunday) so I didn't get to enjoy apple cider donuts and catching up with good friends.

When Buffy and her husband, George, arrived, the horses were working on breakfast.

Lucy, Jackson and Pistol

The sun must have been blinding...

Little Bear

 In almost all of Buffy's pictures, the animals have their eyes closed.

Lucy

Thistle

Only Whiskey managed to keep his eyes open.

A Cold Snap

After the last rain ended Christmas Eve, the temperatures dropped.  And stayed dropped.  Friday evening I had the privilege (choke) of spending the night in a sleep center.  Brett has woken a few times during the night and been alarmed by the fact that I'm holding my breath.  I mentioned it to my doctor and she sent me to sleep center to see if I'm suffering from sleep apnea.  Brett went with me and watched them glue sensors all over my scalp, my face, my chest and my legs.  He headed back home and just before lights out, they stuck sensors in my nose and over my mouth.  Then I was supposed to sleep.  HAH!  With wires going every which way?  I don't think so.  I did doze but it was cold in the room and I had trouble getting comfortable.  Twice, the tech brought me additional blankets and commented on how cold my room was.  Finally, at 4am I was warm and slept.  At 6am sharp, the tech flipped on the light and had me sit up so he could take off the sensors.  I held a towel over my face while he squirted acetone in my hair to loosen the glue.  At 6:07 I was free to go.  I never get up that fast; I'm a leisurely stretch and come to life morning person.  I need at least fifteen minutes to become oriented to life.  I left, feeling a bit dazed and tired.  It was 32F at the sleep center, in Sacramento, when I left and 23F when I pulled in the driveway at home.  Brett said he hadn't slept at all; he was freezing despite the heavy down duvet on our bed.  We do not have central heat in the house.  We have a wood stove.  Since he was at the sleep center with me in the evening, the house was already cold when he got home.  When I walked in the door in the morning with my overnight bag, it was 49F in the house.  Brrrrr.   I jumped in the shower in an attempt to get the glue and acetone out of my hair.  I'm still finding bits of it stuck here and there.  Ugh.  And, of course, the sleep study showed nothing out of the ordinary.  (For which I'm thankful, of course).

I cranked up the wood stove and we spent the day inside, getting warm.  We were both too tired to do much of anything else.

Last night was another cold one.  We are hitting highs in the mid 40s with the frozen puddles and frost in the shade never thaw.  We did manage to get more than basic chores accomplished today.

I put a layer of fresh straw in the goat area.  The cold weather will continue this coming week and I wanted them to be able to burrow in and stay warm.  Bear checked out the inside of one of the igloos.

And one of the African Pygmy goats checked out the other.  I can't tell from the rear which is Whiskey and which is Cowboy.

Meanwhile, I took Lucy and Pistol out to the grass by the dressage court to graze.

Jackson and the donkeys were not impressed.

And, later, the mares made their way to the gelding pasture and started squealing at Flash and Mufasa.  I put them back in their pasture.  Flash and Mufasa were not pleased.  They both galloped the length of their pasture, with Flash squealing as he went.  I haven't seen him so animated in quite a while.

Brett tossed all the horses extra hay tonight to stay warm.  We'll keep the wood stove cranked.  Winter is definitely here.

Fixing the Flooring

The run-in shed that is shared by the mares on clear days and used by Pistol on rainy ones, had a very uneven dirt floor.  Uneven is an understatement.  The center of the floor had been pawed by previous and current occupants, resulting in a large cavity in the center.  This wasn't a big deal until the last rain.  Rain ran off the shed roof and then into the hole.  Poor Pistol had to stand around the perimeter of the run-in to keep her feet dry.  The center was more than ankle deep in water, pee, hay and floating manure.  Gross.  There is another storm coming in tonight so Brett needed to work out a solution today.

He filled the hole with road base, which will pack down hard but still drain.  Then he put stall mats on top.

What a pain in the neck cutting stall mats to fit.  Between the two of us, we got it done.

Then we summoned the horses over.

Lucy and Little Bear were the first to arrive.

Lucy checked it out thouroughly.

As did Bear.

Pistol took her sweet time coming over.  And then she was more interested in checking Brett's pockets for cookies than in her fancy new flooring.

Sunday Stills: The Color Brown

Little Bear's Hoof (goat)

 

Bella's Busy Day

Wednesday, while Brett was busy building the baby chicks a brooder, Bella was out and about.  The green grass, budding cottonwood branches and the sounds of activity in the barn were more than she could stand.  She jumped the goat fence and trotted down to where Brett was working, snacking on her way.

Winston watched her arrival.

The neighbor's cat likes to hide under the hay shed.

Greeting the rabbits.

Passage was out and about.  They weren't too sure about each other.

She spent some time snacking on the hillside with Winston before heading back to the goat area. 

Her twin brother, Little Bear, was obviously distressed by her absence.

Or not.

Goat Play

Goats are very playful animals.  They love to play king of the mountain, trying to push each other off of boulders or logs.  But their favorite game is "I can push you further than you can push me."

Bear and Bella demonstrate:

And, of course, there has to be some dancing on their hind legs and doing the twist thrown in for good measure.

Their play ground is pretty nice.  I'm thinkin' I would like to be one of the goats and just play all day long.

Tasty shrubs for snack time

 Leaves to eat and boulders to climb.

Add caption

What more is there?

First Frost

Last night was cold and we woke to frost on the roofs.  By the time we braved the cold and went outside to feed at 7:30, it was starting to melt away.

There is something about a nice, crisp morning that brings out an appetite for breakfast.  All the animals were very impatient, including the goats who skipped pets and pats in favor of hay.

After breakfast the dogs took a nap and I gathered apples to make applesauce.

I love this apple peeler/corer/slicer.  It does everything in 10 seconds.  No lie.

In the late afternoon, Brett and I rode.  The sand in the arena had dried enough to be perfectly evenly damp.  Riding heaven.  Bear and Bella were out and about.  They met me at the hen house.

Bella crawled underneath and went exploring.

Down at the barn, Bear checked out Jackson's stall.  Looking for tasty tidbits... good luck, Jackson licks his bowl clean in the morning.

And Bella, as alwasy, was showing off her jumping skills.

We tacked up the horses and headed to the arena.  Jackson took awhile to settle into his work.  He didn't want to bend, he didn't want to lift his back and he didn't want to pay attention.  I was starting to get concerned ... is it pain?... but then he finally started to work.  He offered some wonderful reaching trot and I swear we even floated a few strides.  Yes!  Then we moved on to canter.  Jackson was hysterical.  He took a few strides and then lowered his head, slowed to an almost stop, and tried to crow-hop.  I sent him forward so he threw his head in the air and tried to bolt.  When he slowed and tried to drop down to trot, I kept him going.  We did that business three or four times and then he got with the program.  His canter, once he settled, was forward, fluid and balanced.  I tried some counter canter and he was able to do a shallow serpentine on the right lead.  He tried on the left but just isn't there yet.  That's okay.  All I wanted was try. 

Doesn't he look naughty?  I took this picture AFTER we rode.  I shared an apple with him and gave him a kiss on his velvet nose.  I am so happy he's feeling good that I'll forgive him the antics.  I'd rather have antics than gimpy.  Any day.

It Runs in the Family

The other day, I heard pathetic baaaa-baaaa-ing coming from behind the house.  It didn't sound like Bella's happy "I've escaped!  Let's play!" baa; it sounded unhappy with an edge of panic.  I grabbed my camera and headed outside.

Who escaped now?

Bear, is that you??

Mommmm!  I am so happy to see you!

I jumped out and I can't get back in!

Bella joined us.  She wouldn't jump out to help her brother.  But she wasn't about to let him get all the attention so she jumped when I arrived on the scene.

Bear was VERY happy to get back to the herd.

He recovered quickly and joined the others in chair play.

Once I reclaimed the chair, he jumped in my lap and stayed there until Brett arrived 30 minutes later.  Then he jumped in Brett's lap.  Poor little Bear.