New Years Day

I slept in.....for a while anyway. I got up at 6 and let the dogs out......then went back to sleep with a hot pack on my shoulder. It was pouring rain and by the time I really got up and going there was wind too.
I didn't listen to the radio this morning. I ate toast as I drove. I don't eat much bread and toast is a treat for me......I had it with home made peach jelly.......someone made it for us for Christmas.
I put a hat on and get to work. I survey the farm and think it will take me forever to get chores done. Mud........manure.......discarded hay....a rainy, soggy mess. So I just get to it. I throw hay and then clean Jake's stall. He smells bad still. I mean he smells worse than any horse I have ever smelled. I even lift his blanket up to see if I can understand why he smells so bad. I see nothing.
Then I clean Winston's paddock, then Vinnie's and then Ollie and Max. I am sweaty. They are unappreciative and grope me for treats. The wind is howling and lifting the corners of the metal roofing, making loud noises.
I go back to prepare the "hot" meal of grain. Winston has turned into a monster about grain. He kicks the wall, he bites the wall and lunges against his door and then kicks the wall some more. He scares Jake. I yell at him to stop....but he continues and so YES< I cave in, in order to get some peace and quiet.......I give him his grain first. I am thinking of locking him out of his stall.
I give Jake his grain slop and he begins to eat it with gusto. He did not clean up all of his hay from last night, but then I gave him a lot......maybe he doesn't need to eat as much as I am giving him now....I am not sure. I try to keep hay in front of him 24 hours a day. Usually by the time I get back to the barn, he has eaten most of it....I think I am feeding him four flakes in the morning and three at night....plus whatever volunteers feed him when they check on him....we only carefully control his grain/beetpulp/bran intake.......hay is whatever he can put away. Plus he can have apples, carrots, horse cookies as wanted.
Everyone else gets grain and then I go back to work on paddocks. TarBaby's stall needs stripping.......Beaver's is clean and picked clean of all hay.......the filly has a relatively clean stall.
The rain continues to pour and the water drips off of my hat brim.

I have no big plans today.......clean the house a little......take a nap......some time for myself.

2009 is gone and we have said goodbye to Junah, Simon, Hammie and Bunny. It hurts to think of loving and losing them but we know they are not suffering any longer, nor did they have to make a trip on the slaughter bus. RIP and know you were loved for a little while.

Enjoy your weekend......stay dry.

Pony Up fortune for tomorrow:

Your heart knows the truth.