This 'n That

[tracy1]

It sounds like a great day, and a great re-birth for Elizabeth.

Isn't it gorgeous today? The twigs are all cyrstals, the temperatures so warm, I sat out with the dogs and just drank it in.

I had a class in the Twin Cities yesterday, first of 10 in improvisational comedy, trying to restore the teamwork, fast thinking, brainstorming and creativity that work once provided me, and which miss, achingly, every day. It was a day that reminded me why I don't live in an urban area and hope not to, ever again.

The streets in the Twin Cities have snow piled everywhere, so driving in the lane next to parked cars creates a hazard, since parked cars were halfway out in traffic. Driving in the 'fast' lane meant sitting through three lights at every block because someone up ahead wanted a left turn, and left-turn lanes don't seem to exist in Minnesota . . .

Add the people who walk out in front of oncoming traffic, against the light; one-way streets and the need to wash the windshield at every block to see through the splattered slush . . . wow, it was like an Ice Age version of LA. I got over being homesick real fast, remembering this was a daily thing there (except the snow).

And, of course, I got lost for an hour, since the location's web site said the exit was Hennepin and the highway sign said Lyndale - at least up until you're in the tunnel/heavy traffic/slush all over the windshield phase and can't see the subsequent signs have added Hennepin.

The general discussion of how to get there on the site said coming from the west you could take the Hennepin exit off 394 but - coming from the east it turns out there was no such exit. I went south on 35W looking for Lake Street but either that doesn't exist from that direction or I gave up too soon, went back to St. Paul, and started again.

Once at my destination, Calhoun Square, there's parking meters that don't allow you to stay as long as I needed to, for the class, so I opted for the parking ramp - $6. Wow. I'm remembering why I don't go any place - add the gas and cost of the event then dump another $6 for parking.

Once inside, there's the question of where to go - considering I'm now 20 minutes late instead of the 30 minutes early I planned on . . . the directory said the location was B230 - what's that, the basement? The elevator said "B" - is it a quadant? No map. So I try the basement - no. I try the 3rd floor since 1st and 2nd said Retail, and that didn't fit - but, no - so I stand in line in a store to ask and it turns out it's the second floor, Retail. Go figure. But no where near Elevator B, so if Quadrant B is the right guess, they've got huge quadrants.

Fellow students are talking about going out for lunch after future classes - yikes, as nice as it would be to spend time with the folks (I'm sure I will, at least once), there's another $10 plus longer for the parking meter. I'm just too cheap to 'get' all this going out stuff - I think, I could make this at home for $2 . . . .

Then on to Trader Joe's, my solace, and that looked like the scene of an evacuation, people were jammed in so tight you needed a traffic cop to sort out who could inch his or her cart forward next. Yikes! I headed home as fast as my car could navigate the slush . . .

[SandyG]

Elizabeth is a tad fiesty today! Chasing The Twins a bit and seeming to enjoy the day of tepid weather.

PONY! has already departed from the fence line and has his face buried in the hay. Laddee fell right back into the routine of walking in to get to her feeder.

The only one who was a bit timid and seemed a bit uneasy was the biggest one of them all - Handsome! He seemed a bit uneasy to stand next to PONY! to eat...funny, isn't it? The largest one a bit uneasy from one of the smallest ones.

Glad you survived your episode, Tracy. Nothing comes easy for you, does it?

[Shar]

What a proud mom I was today! I was woken up this morning to first my cellphone ringing, then my home phone ringing, and then my cellphone again... my sister was too excited to call and tell me that 4 of my horses were in the paper. I ran over to a neighbor's to get sunday's leader telegram... and sure enough- there was Valentine (the one placed through Refuge Farms), Gypsy, Princess Jasmine, and Prince Ali! Okay, so maybe they didn't actually DO anything to be in the paper- just happened to be the horses eating out in our corn field and the paper used it to say that with warmer weather, animals will have a bit more to munch on with snow melting (I feed my horses grain and hay everyday- so not really any difference to THEM... ) but still!
I was still the proud mama looking at the picture- I showed it to them and told them how beautiful they all looked, and tried to explain to the other 5 that they must not have been up on the hill eating which was the only reason they were denied the fame... lol =)
And what a beautiful day it was today! I love days when I go out to the barn and instead of rushing around to throw hay, check waters, feed... I can spend it talking to them and watching them enjoying the feeling of warmth (Even though I still wear about 5 layers of clothes...), wisconsin warmth in January. =)

[SandyG]

How cool! I just checked the EC Leader website and didn't see a photo or a lead-in. I'm thinking the photo and comment were a "filler" for them? Do you have an extra you could drop in the mail, Shar? Would love to see that little mare again. Never have actually laid eyes on her, have I? I don't think so....

Congratulations on the exposure! Fun, isn't it, to have your babies pictures publicized? Proud Mama!!!

And yes, I found myself putzing in the barns this morning, afternoon, and again this evening. I was just walking to the barns and talking to the stars - exlaiming that it is the middle of January in Wisconsin and I'm doing nightly chores in a sweatshirt and a vest....go figure!

Good to hear from you, Shar. Take care of yourself!

[SandyG]

I am truly and thoroughly being spoiled by this weather. To do chores in a vest and to be free of the fears of frigid temperatures is wonderful! And then, to add to the bliss, to have a warm house, too! Maybe this is the El Nino that Yuhas was speaking of ?

Another week begins. Today is MLK Day and so a good time to create an enormous pile of end-of-year letters so that I can make Woody smile when I walk into the post office tomorrow!

Enjoy the day, today - and yes, enjoy the weather, too!

P.S. And to the anonymous donor who so graciously gave the new monitor to THE FARM - thank you! I have it connected and it is now so very, very much easier to work on the computer! No more grey creeping spots blocking out the image! Thank you!

[jetmech]

Totally loved both of the Blogs. Of course the tears come!!!! I keep kleenes by the computer now!!! I have a copy of the paper and will save the picture if I did not tear it up taking out something else.

[gary]

Tracy, you are too funny, You're taking a class in improvisational comedy. With your experience trying to just navigate to day 1 of the class, you have the beginning for a stand up comedy routine. Dudley Riggs would be proud of you. You do realize that most of the original Saturday Night Live people came from the ranks of improv don't you? Maybe a new career awaits you. Best of luck in classes 2-10

[SandyG]

I just checked Little Man to make sure he was still breathing!

He was outside with me all day and when we finally came in this evening, he went into his kennel and flopped down. I just fed him and got nothing out of him...not even an opened eyeball.

So I checked for breath and yup, he's breathing. He's just exhausting from all the fresh air and exercise. With every single load, he escorted me from the barn to the manure pile. Opening the way for me to make sure the road was safe.

What a pal! An exhausted pal, but a pal just the same!

[SandyG]

A "Sister in Rescue" works privately to save some of the horses that are classified as being too mean to salvage. She brings them in and lets them be a horse - asking nothing of them as far as handling or human touch. It works and she saves some of the most difficult lives that all others have given up on long ago.

We have been talking via telephone and email these past couple of weeks about 2 horses that she has been monitoring. Horses without water, shelter, with infected wounds, and bad hay, if any hay at all.

She has worked within the law and has done an excellent job. Most of us would have given up long, long ago. But she persisted and she has won.

The owner has agreed to sell the horses and so they are only days away from rescue. Bless your heart, Jeani. Bless you persistent, steady heart.

Refuge Farms will help support the rescue efforts of these two horses. It is our honor. The lives would have been saved without us, for sure, but this way, Jeani will have the heart left to save a few more when the time arrives.

Jeani - I admire you, woman!

[SandyG]

Well, everyone is hooked and munching on supper. They have all spent the afternoon munching on their fresh round bales. Tracy O. and Pam W. came to THE FARM today and, although they had to hang on to each other to keep from getting blown away, helped with gates and unwrapping 18 round bales out in the pastures.

The real challenge was getting through the gates to the Old Barn pasture without the "free roaming herd" (read that as wild!) escaping. Tracy waved that crop with the plastic bags on it and those horses headed for the next county! It wasn't until after everyone left and I was back in the house that they ventured up and checked out the bales. Way to go, Tracy!

Many, many thanks to Tracy O. and Pam W. !!!

Later in the afternoon, I was cleaning and refilling stock tanks when a Friend of THE FARM stopped in. We were standing outside and complaining about the rain and then it dawned on us both simultaneously - it could be 30 below! We could be in a winter wind advisory! We could be in a major blizzard and buried in snow with brutally cold winds!

So let's celebrate the rain! It is 30 above outside! I'll take it!

After all, like Tracy tells us, Spring is just around the corner!

[tracy1]

It rained by you today? Not here! Of course the horses don't poop in the barn here . . . the sun shines all the time . . . it's like Camelot! Or, is that, camel-lot?

[SandyG]

After disconnecting and moving stock tanks yesterday, I'm pleased that everything except one tank heater is working normally. I'm thinking the extension cord on the one that isn't working is bad. I was suspicious yesterday, but trying to save a dime, you know!

You would think we had a tornado around here! The round bales have been rubbed against, scratched upon, and nosed through. Instead of round bales we now have piles - big piles - of hay. Kids. What's a parent to do???

[SandyG]

Other than the fact that it is a smooth, glossy sheet of packed snow outside in the driveway . . . . . . . .

It is a beautiful evening outside. Clear and balmy at about 30 degrees. No breeze and decently moist air. Nice winter's evening.

The kids are calmly eating their supper. Funny. Tonight when I walked into the barn, PONY! was standing at his spot ready for his dinner. Judy was waiting at her spot on the other side of the barn.

Laddee heard me and walked directly into the barn, to her stall, to her feeder and then sniffed. No food yet so she turned to wait. But once the scoop in the feed was heard, she was on full alert and waiting for the sound of her gate chain. What an intelligent girl she is!

Funny - I could swear it was late March outside.....!

[osrose]

Good morning everyone! Rose here standing in for Sandy who is having some minor technical difficulties with the Bulletin Board this morning. I'm sure she will have it resolved soon. Anyhow, she wanted evryone to know that it is pretty icy on the Farm this morning, ice everywhere, even the gates are coated with ice. Hasn't seemed to bother the horses one little bit as they are comfortable with the mild temps and all seem content. The 18 bales of hay she, Tracy and Pam moved out on Wednesday are 50% devoured....must mean cold weather is coming! The weatherpeople seem convinced that we are going to have unseasonably warm temps with rain and freezing rain in the p.m. this weekend, so please, if you have to travel, take every precaution to stay safe!

[SandyG]

So, I started the chores at 6:30 this morning. It is now 10:30 this morning and I'm just in from early chores.

Walking to the barn meant cutting through the yard. Trying to "skate" down the driveway gave me visions of broken arms or wrists and so I opted to wade through the snow. Not bad except for the unpredictable break throughs!!! Fun, actually! Isn't it something when necessity makes us become children again!

Once everyone was fed and unhooked, I sprinkled hay in the barn so those who wanted out of the wind and the rain could be in. It's about half and half - some outside and some inside. It isn't cold out, the wind is just unrelenting.

As I was wading up to the house I saw a pickup pull into the driveway. Uh-oh..... I watched as he pulled in off the highway and promptly turned his wheels, pumped his brakes, and slid face first right into the huge snow piles straight in front of him! No way to get him out with the skidloader so we began to shovel a path.

It was Dave from Countryside Farm, bless his heart. Here to drop off Lanna's feed as he was passing by. Took us an hour or so, but we got him out of the snowbank and down to the big barn. Once we unloaded the feed, he kept one wheel in the snowbank, shifted into 4Low and crept out of the driveway. Until he hit the corner.

Slid right across the driveway and I saw the Exiss right in his path. But the snowbank we had just created from shoveling caught his front wheel and he managed to miss the trailer. Out of the yard he went and I noticed he turned west - back to Baldwin - instead of east to his other delivery. Don't blame him one bit!

So errands for the day, the needed milk, the library books to return, the pet food at Wal-Mart...all that stuff will just need to wait. I am not even thinking of backing The Beast out of the garage only to slide straight back into the old barn!

Be very, very careful out there! Tracy - did you brave the ice and go to Improv today?