Farm Life…Living the Dream!

Life on the farm is rolling right along as it should be for this time of year.   Busy moving snow, cutting wood (or at least trying), riding when the weather is reasonable (read as not -20) and working on smaller projects inside.

DH and I went to the bush this weekend to cut some much needed fire wood for next season.   We have literally dozens of trees already down that need to be cleaned up and removed…so one would think this task of gathering wood should be a rather simple one.   Well, once again mother nature has humbled me in her quiet way that she uses.  We spent the afternoon trudging through the knee deep snow, trying to remove large sections of fallen trees that were partially frozen to the ground.   We where mildly successful…there are some large logs pulled to the entrance of the bush.  But after a few hours of work and the effort put forth the log pile was pitifully small!

Here I am with my baby chainsaw limbing a fallen tree.

Izzy update - She is schooling beautifully these cold winter days.   Even with less work than her normal 5-6 days per week schedule, the days that she is ridden, she is coming into the arena with a mental attitude that is showing maturity, a willingness to work hard and a desire to try and answer all the questions she is being asked with genuine effort...with trust and enthusiasm.  I could not ask for more from her…as a rinsing 7 year old I am so pleased with her progress and the changes she has made in the 4 short years we have been partners.   Did I ever think that the wild, opinionated 3 year old that bucked me off at the keuring and dumped my in the conservation area would ever be so trustworthy and such an equal partner…never!   She has taught me so much in those 4 short years.   She has brought me to a new point in my horsemanship journey…she has taught me to listen in a new way…one that I have enjoyed more than I could ever express here in words.   Life has a way of answering questions we hand not even known we needed to ask in such a surprising way.   Thank you Disney (Izzy)…you will always be a character (hence the name Disney)…that's part of your individual personality that has captivated me; heart and soul.

Moving hay once a month has become part of the winter routine on the farm.   We have reached the end of the first cut for this winter.    Here it is…the last 50+ bales will get used up this March and then I will have 5 very happy horses until spring eating the decedent grass second cut.   They are already in the transition to 2nd cut now getting a few flakes per meal.   There is normally a few pinned ears and ugly chases until everyone finds their own pile to eat in peace.   Can I blame them tho…my motto is always to eat dessert first too!

During the moving process I uncovered the "3 Blind Mice"…which unfortunately met their demise in this harsh cold with very little fur.

A winter reality is that the manure pile continues to work even in the harshest of cold.   This morning we had a good 2 inches of snow overnight and the thermometer was telling me it was -14C at morning chores.   The steam was wafting and the snow was melting on this pile of fertilizer that will help grow next years veggie garden!

As a last note for this post…I had a welcome little hint of spring arrive home with DH from work on Friday night…he brought me Gerber daisies….just because!   Thanks Honey!