Where is everybody? Fall Check-in 2020...

[Silver City Heritage Farm]

I'm planning on spending my day bathing dogs and a mini tomorrow.  The dogs have been bathed before....well, Monica has only had 1 bath.  Hopefully, she won't mind too much getting her second one.

Tejano will be getting his first bath.  I've sprayed him down in the paddock a few times on these recent hot days.  He was loose though and could walk away whenever he wanted to.  Tomorrow, he's getting a full scrub down because I have a BRAND NEW HARNESS FROM CHIMACUM to try on him!!  Since it's the first time I've measured for a harness of my own and I did it alone, I want him as clean as possible in case I need to exhange something.  Also, it's a dark harness.  He's a blue roan(?) pinto possibly going grey and I don't want a bunch of white hairs all over it...again, just in case I need to exchange anything.

After 3 years of working on it (while living in a camper)  the house has plumbing in (and has had it for 18 months) as well as the electric roughed-in last weekend.  I'm going to pick up moisture barrier and insulation on Monday.  Lord willing, I can get it put up correctly, have the inspector out, and be able to move in by 1 October.  There will still be plenty to do. But I want to live in it while I finish everything else.

Gardening didn't go as planned this year.  I let what was happening in my marriage keep me from focusing on getting seeds, bulbs and seedlings that I bought into the ground.  I'll keep at it though.  Sprouts I have now will be going into the ground this week, then I'll put hoops over them as it gets colder.  I'll save whatever I can.

I'm moving my dog crates out of the barn/lean-to so that I can get hay in.  I'm trying to decide if I should get 3 round bales, tarp them and fork off what I need, or stick with squares.  The cost difference is significant.  Rounds are $45, and are advertised as weighing 900 lbs.  With just one mini to feed, three bales should be more than enough to last until next May.  Squares run from $8-9 per bale and weigh about 40 lbs.  I'd want 40 bales...which would be about $320, vs. $135 for three round bales.  If I go with rounds I'd have to put them on pallets in the paddock and tarp them.  Squares could go in the barn. I'll make my decision this week.

The dogs' crates are moving to the paddock closest to the house.  I've had trouble with one dog who's had some major skin issues that started when I sold his friend Spanky.  Someone suggested I move them out of the barn because I put down old carpet that I picked up from beside the road.  (My floor is dust, and carpet face down is a great ground cover.)
 They said it might have contributed to the itching.  So I'm setting up a hoop shelter and putting the dogs' crates in there.  Once I'm in the house though, my dogs WILL be coming back in with me.  If other people don't like it....well...they can just stay in the camper.  Monica wakes me up when I quit breathing (I have sleep apnea), so she needs to be with me, not outside.  I got her to be a sevice dog.  She's 13 months old now and I need her to help me.

I purchased another lot a couple of blocks over from the house.  Since it sits on a main road, I'll be using it as my store front next spring.  I'll be selling cut flowers and extra produce in addition to (possibly) a thrift store.

This autumn and winter I plan to stay busy and stop thinking.  Thinking hurts my heart.  Being busy hurts my muscles.  My muscles are recovering, my heart not so much.

I'm focusing on praying, garden prep, training Tejano to harness, and getting moved into the house.  I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving.  I'll decorate for Christmas.  That's about it for this year

I included pictures of Tejano.  One shows how flexible he is.  One shows the goat beard he's growing for winter.  One is him at his dinner bucket before I took the profile picture.  The little frizzled D'Uccle bantam cockerel is his pal C.K.

[dcwolcott]

Pretty boy!!  I had a mare once that looked almost like him.

But I LOVE that chicken in the picture too!!

Sounds like you have a lot going on -- which is sometimes really nice.  You'll have to let us know how the harnessing went!

[Chanda]

Just checking in, again. It got all quiet.
If I remember to get a picture, I'll share what I've been upto the last couple weeks.

We did finish wheat harvest, so now just need to get all the hay hauled in, so I can pick a stack to test and see if it's suitable for the horse, or if I have to pick another stack.
I'll try to do a foal update, but not much going on there, they wear a halter during breakfast, everyday now, but no actual training.  Quigley is more accepting than Rain.

[Chanda]

We have more than enough house cats, so he is NOT staying in the house; but...

During harvest, the barn cats started abandoning their late season litters, as they often do in the fall to make sure they (the mommas) survive the winter.  I found a litter of three that had been moved to the hay stack next to the tack shed; perhaps I shouldn't have moved them, but it was going to be cold that night, so I moved them into the tack shed, well momma never came back to find them.  They were younger than I thought, so one passed that night or maybe the next, after a couple days in the tack shed, I started feeding them KMR.  The weaker of the two passed after a couple days, despite the KMR; but Beans (as in teenie bean) was feisty and kept coming for the KMR (could only feed a couple times a day during harvest).  He was gaining weight and strength, but then got one gooby eye, so put meds in that, then got a second gooby eye and a snotty nose, so...  I brought him to the house two days ago for medicating and hopefully time to gain strength, so he can go back to the barn and be a barn cat.  He will be going back to the house.
And, yes, I've been working on fixing the barn cats, but when the local vet charges nearly $100 per cat for fixing, I can't afford to go to her for barn cats that may not make it.  There is a low cost clinic that comes through once a year that is really cheap; where those that are fixed have gone, but I missed a couple clinics due to timing.   And, now our favored vet that moved, comes back up once a month to do low cost clinics; but the pandemic kind of screwed up those sessions, so haven't made one, yet, but will.  She charges $30/cat for fixing, rabies and I think dewormer.
Anyway, all that to introduce, Beans.

[dcwolcott]

Hello little Beans!!  You're quite the survivor, and I'm sure enjoyed being inside a little.  You look like a cutie!!!

[Chanda]

He'll be in for the next week, then must go back to the barn.  4 house cats and a porch cat, are more than enough to keep us busy.
[Plenty of barn cats too, and a few of them come to the porch.

[Ryan]

Hello everyone , I have missed u all. It?s been quite the year for all of us, one I?m ready to put behind me and jump into 2021. I?ve got one mare due this weekend , she?s still carrying really wide but progressing really well . I?m on my phone so not too sure how to post pics. My two mini mares are not pregnant , even my vet was confused by one mare. I?ve got the little stallion coming back early next month to try again. I had a feeling that I?d have to be ?really lucky? that they would both fall pregnant during there last cycle for the summer .

Hope u are all keeping well 😊

[Ryan]

After such a shit show of a year (like most of us) , I waited patiently for this little colt to arrive. Silver waxed up on Sunday afternoon, so I knew it wouldn't be too much longer. Whilst she was very agitated throughout the night, she was still as wide as a house.  I did my morning feed run a little earlier Monday morning, and Im GLAD I did. She had just delivered as I walked into the paddock. She stood up straight away after delivering( I could not believe how quickly she stood up) . It wasn't until I got a few steps closer that I realized it was a red bag. Along with the help from Silver we got the remainder of the sack off him and he was up nursing in  no time 

[Chanda]

Yeah for perfect timing.  Glad you were there to help.  Can't wait ot see more pics.

[Ryan]

Poor little guy is fighting for his life in hospital. I said to the guy who agists at home and owns the mare and most of the foal ( I only own part of the foal), I just didnt think he was "Up and about" and "Bubbly" as he should be. I hesitated at saying anything but when I went out to feed my own yesterday morning, I could see he was declining fast.

Neonatal Isoerythrolysis is the cause unfortunately , We are that unlucky 1% that it could happen too.

Ill keep you posted when we hear from the hospital this morning   

When is 2020 over ? 

[Chanda]

Hopefully, it was caught in time to give him some colostrum or a plasma transfer from a horse that isn't his dam.  [And, milk the rest of the colostrum out of the mare.]   Maybe he has a shot if it was caught in time.   

[dcwolcott]

Oh, praying hard that he makes it through, and so glad that you were on it from the beginning.   

[Ryan]

Made the heart breaking decision to lay him to rest last night. Unfortunately he just isn't getting any better. He has had 6 transfusions and whilst they were helping to perk up a little, he just goes back downhill.

Sometimes you just have to make decisions that are not always the ones you want to make. 

What a year !!!!

The little stallion pickles arrived again over the weekend, so  for my little ones to be in foal next year   

What have you both been up too ?  Hi Anna if your lurking but not posting

[Chanda]

Dealing with stressful family stuff, that then has election crap heaped on top, and screwy weather putting a wrench in fall.
Did get a weather reprieve, so getting most of the hay hauled; but one field still not good access, so we bought replacement hay from the neighbor, and the unhauled hay can be "insurance" for next year's needs (cow hay, it doesn't have to be perfect, they'll still eat it).
Got one election snafu fixed (they screwed up hubby's information in the system, so we couldn't track on-line, but his ballot made it to the ballot box).
Family stuff is ongoing, so is what it is.
Much go feed the starving hoard, so I can head to town soon for lunch with Mom and a haircut.

[Chanda]

Edited the title, we are now up to Fall 2020, almost winter; so, check-in and let us know all is well with you, or let us know the sh*t hit the fan, if that's how it is; but please check in.

Things are going here.  We sold calves yesterday, we got through it, but that's about as good as it gets this year.   Just glad they are somebody else's responsibility now.   We need to test the cattle hay, since the vet suspected low protein was our issue last winter/spring, that cause calving problems.   I tested two stacks for the horses; one was complete crap with only 5% protein and sky high Fe; the other will work, but will take some skill to balance as once again the Calcium phosphous ratio is very high, but the protein is decent at 10%, it has low sugar/starch, so that's good for these little ones that don't always do well on too high of sugar or starch in their diet.   
I should have time to start doing more sewing, now; I have completed a couple tablerunners and table toppers (I think I put a couple in the sales section), I've finished the top on a twin quilt I started last spring, started a wall hanging or baby quilt (depending on where it goes), sold a quilt through my FB page (at least two people didn't realize much of the quilts I make are available for sale).    Quilt guild is cancelled the rest of the year, as the Senior Center, where we meet, has decided to close it's doors indefinitely.   [Guessing we may need to find a new meeting location, guess I'll find out later.]
Guess that's all for now.
Oh, foals are doing fine.  They are both over 5 months old, so time to start thinking about weaning.  Will probably pull the mares out soon, and move Quigley early, early spring, so there is no hanky panky between him and Rain or any other mare.