Barn Pixie

Temp: 6 at 6 am, closer to 16 at 10
windchill: yes rather, the wind was roaring like a freight train
layers: t-shirt, thermal shirt, black fuzzy shirt, red fuzzy shirt, green fleece vest, black liner with fleece, red outer coat, ear warmer WITH silly dragon hat, long underwear... I couldn't bend my elbow to use my cell phone, I had to put it down and talk at it.
Horses loose: 0 - they were turned out all ready
Water Buckets: oh right, I'm not counting buckets
Thoughts at extreme cold: boy do those guys look fluffy, I wish the chemical hand warmers went out the fingers too, I'm grateful to the barn cats for needing patting so I have an excuse to can warm up my hands, yikes it is cold! wow the wind is blowing hard!


I've been trying to make myself more balanced, so I've been working on using the pitchfork on both sides, and carrying and lifting water buckets on both sides. It makes some things go slower, but speed is not really of the essence at the moment, so I figure practice now makes for more even musculature later.

Everything took three times as long, with the cold and unusual mess, so I had a nice hot lunch and nice hot coffee in the nice hot sunny window of one of several fabulous local cafes, and knitted while I thawed out a little.

I have to start riding again, somehow. All my riding instincts are withering. Although the working muscles are getting strong. The footing is snow covered, but with the last couple of dry inches is not so slick as it was. If I'd been willing to address myself to the cold, I could have taken the pony for a stomp in the woods, but it was just too cold today. It simply doesn't pay to try to do things when it is too cold.

temp: 28 F (-2C)
wind chill: yeah, definitely
layers of clothes for the barn: short underwear, long underwear, fleece lined winter jacket
Thoughts at 28 degrees: I'm glad I wore my hat today. My hands are still extremely cold. What are those idiots doing?

I started to put horses out in the usual way - bale of hay tossed about into piles and let out the sensible ones who will stay put (eating hay) with the gate down while I lead in the young and the foolish. Big mistake. I got three in, and let out the agitated appy mare and then four of them decided to go for a romp in the woods. The barn is about a half mile away from the road and this is how I was told to do it, or I would be more careful with halters and lead shanks and the whole nine yards.

After romping down the trail and back, and making several laps around the barn snorting, they deigned to be caught, one at a time, with a lot of mouthfuls of grain involved. Of the two in the paddock, one was frantic and thinking about jumping over the electric fence, the other was placidly enjoying having ALL the hay piles to himself.

Lots of bucket carrying. The pipe to the field is still not working. The pipe to the barn is great, and all the electric water buckets are doing the right thing. I am thinking that the buckets are improving my arm muscles for circus. I tell myself this every barn day.

time in car: < 35 mins

The hamster is named Perpetual Motion, Mo for short. Or perpetual Mo (not intermittent Mo or sporadic Mo)