We went out yesterday to find the perfect Griswold Christmas Tree. As in the movie I took a grumpy child hiking in the woods looking for the perfect tree. Hubby brought his saw and went out in serious pursuit. There was a nice layer of snow on the ground to make it look Christmasy, but there was more water and mud then there was snow. Whereas the boys wore rubber boots, I was only wearing hiking boots since back where we live (which really wasn't that far) we have zero amount of snow. Though the boots got very wet they did a pretty good job of keeping my feet dry but I wasn't about to chance it through some of those huge puddles. The boy, naturally, fell in one and increased his misery of the occassion. In the end we did manage to find a tree (up at the front on the tree lot, haha), and boy even managed to produce a smile for the camera.
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One of the things I hate most about winter, the horses come in from pasture and we are back to mucking out stalls. This winter, however, we will only have the one stall to muck out as we have said goodbye to Cowboy and recently Duke as well. It was harder to sell Duke as we had him since he was 6 months old, but he is older now and it was time for him to move on and leave the room for more goats and sheep. Yes, sheep, we are going to try our hands in sheep farming. But back to the horse stall. Horse stalls need to be mucked out daily if in use. Other than the obvious...they leave one heck of a mess...manure can build up in their hooves and if not cleaned properly or enough, can cause thrush. What is thrush? Thrush is a black and white build up on your horses hooves that smells and can cause serious health issues such as lameness. So be vigilant on cleaning your horses hooves! (Thrush can also be caused by the build up of mud, so if you keep your horses out in pasture 24/7 you also have to keep up on the maintenance of their hooves.) The other main concern about not cleaning a stall properly is the build up of ammonia. Ammonia is created in the breakdown of organic matter in the horses urine and manure...and is very hazardous to a horses respitory system. To avoid this you need to do a complete thorough cleaning of their stall daily. Some barns will even clean their stalls twice a day. This is our routine. First you will need a good pair of cute little mucking boots. A wheelbarrow...I like this one because it is huge and holds all the contents of manure and straw from one stall. Our stalls measure 10x12. A manure fork and that scraping tooly thing in her left hand. Not sure of it's proper name. (If you notice we also like a manure fork with a bucket like scoop as it picks up more and doesn't drop as much.) You will also need a broom and a shovel. Empty all the old straw and manure from the stall. Farm Girl is skimpy and doesn't like to throw out unused straw, whereas I prefer a fresh clean stall. If you choose to go Farm Girl's route, then clear a spot somewhere in the stall and pile the fresh stuff there until ready to spread out. Once all the straw has been removed grab your broom and scrapping tooly thing and start sweeping and scraping until you have a clear floor. (p.s. rubber stall mats would eleminate the need for the scrapping tooly thing). Crack open a window to ventilate. Ventilation is a very important part of horsekeeping and every barn should be well ventilated. Ours, however, is not. So even in the dead of winter, we need to open windows to air the barn out. Next, scare the chicken resting on your straw bale away. Then fill the stall with straw. We like to use a deep bedding method because well, horses have big bladders...nuff said. And there you have it. A clean stall. Don't forget to empty your wheelbarrow outside into the manure pile so as to remove the smell of ammonia from the barn completely. In another post, I'll discuss maintaining a manure pile. How exciting!!
Our hay order came yesterday. We don't grow our own so buy it off a local farmer. He doesn't live very far, about five kilometers down our sideroad, but delivers it to our farm. It's nice not to have to worry about transporting hay and straw. Someday, maybe, we'll grow our own. But for now we buy it from Steve, the hay guy. Steve is the only one in the area that still bales in small squares. We don't have the equipment (or storage) to use the larger bales. We ordered 50 small bales of hay and straw each. But as you can see, he was a little short on the straw. About 20 bales short. Apparently when he went to load them he discovered they had gotten contaminated. Glad to know he wouldn't sell me bad stuff. Even if it was just the straw and not the hay. But since we go through far more straw than hay, I will be on the hunt for more. Meanwhile, we had reorganized the barn to make room for the hay and straw. It is our first year here over winter so had to make arrangments to make room. There is a loft above the barn, but it is used mostly for storage as we do not have a useable basement or attic. Even being short the 20 bales, it was a tight fit. And this doesn't include what we already have. Looks like we'll be stacking upward. The cats, however, love their new playground. While the chickens outside gobble up any goodies left behind.
We've got a mouse that just can't be caught. The other day I found a pile of mouse droppings in one corner of the kitchen, obviously he had been there awhile. We've heard him in the walls for a while now but thought that he was unable to find a way into the house or our cat would have caught him by now. (Believe me this cat is an excellent mouse catcher, he caught 3 of our 8 bats that got into the house over the summer.) Then I saw him in the bathroom which is adjacent to the kitchen shortly after I uncovered the mouse droppings. So up went the mouse trap. That was three days ago. And this is how I find it every morning. Still set but minus the bait. Either we have ourselves a defunct trap...or we're dealing with a very sly mouse.
Have you started yet? Finished? I'm nearly done except for the tree. We are getting a fresh tree this year and hopefully (if we can find a place) cut it down ourselves. We have woods not far from our farm and we were hoping to find a tree in there, but there wasn't a single pine tree to be found. Odd. The previous owners had planted a bunch of douglas fir trees around the one side of the property but they are only babies...and a pain in the butt to mow around, so would only be too happy to cut one down, but they are far from ready. Meanwhile, I gathered a bunch of pine branches from the mature pine trees on the property to hang some swags throughout the house. This year I added some cinammon sticks to give that fresh baked smell along with the scent of pine. But I'm not smelling anything. Anyone know if I'm suppose to do something to the sticks to get that aroma flowing? I love decorating the mantle. And how cozy Christmas lights can make a room look. (My boy keeps reminding me to take down the fall wreath in the back of the room, and as soon as I find something to replace it with I will.) I'm not a fan of old farmhouses...except at Christmas time. Nothing says old-fashion country Christmas than an old farmhouse lit up for the season. And this year, we had a barn to also decorate. All that is missing now is the snow. And our tree.
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