So many changes!

We have had a lot of changes in the past week.
We sold two of our goats; Lacey and P went to a good home in Fort Collins. We still have the two bucks and two doelings, which will probably go to the special breed auction next month. We are trying to decide if we want to keep that small barn for something or take it down and just be done. It is a hard decision since I love my goats. My neck just can't handle the strain of taking care of, breeding and milking. I am trying to adjust to the new me and it is hard.

Dan went to his new home today. It was sad to see him go, but he went to a great home. He was bought by a guy named Kelly Moore that trains stallions and competes in team roping and cutting. Since Dan was bred for those types of activities, he will be in his element. Kelly also has a breeding program, where Dan will be well used.

We spent most of yesterday afternoon/evening trying to take apart the wood splitter. The seals are leaking and need to be replace. It wasn't really a hard two person job but it was fun to hang out together and work together doing something simple! We got stuck a few times and had to phone a friend, but we finally got the part out and ready for me to take to town tomorrow.

We moved a 16x16 barn today with a trailer, ropes and pulleys. It was tough, but R did most of the work. Now the barn/shed is on the other side of the property and is a garden shed for all of our mowers and tools! That took most of the day. With Dan gone and the barn moved it looks a lot different out at our barns. The biggest difference can be seen in our garage, which is darn near empty!

I went to the hay auction on Saturday morning. Let me tell you! The price of hay has doubled in the last 6 months! I'm glad we got some a few months ago and filled the barn. It was ranging from $225-300 per ton, which is ridiculous! I am also glad we have one less horse and 2 fewer goats to feed!

To top off our weekend, we went to see Gunner at the trainer. I go at least 4 times a week, she must think I have separation anxiety, but I can't help it. He is my baby! She had a saddle and bridle on him today and had been working on ground driving! Yay! Progress! He is eating a ton, he is still small and ribby but his hay belly is HUGE! He has two more weeks then he comes home!

I think he looks smarter, don't you?!

So much work...

My goodness! I am totally worn out! We have had so much work to get done before leaving late this Saturday night to pick up Dan.

Yesterday, I started on the trailer lights. I had 6 of the 14 working right from the start. Those are not good odds! Two were quick fixes, another needed a new bulb, the other 5 had me stumped. Granted they are running lights along the top of the sides and are not totally necessary but I don't want to make the drive, half of which will be in the dark with out everything in ship shape order.

As I was working on the lights, I climbed up into the sleeping compartment to find the carpet wet. No, no, no, bad, bad, bad! The roof was leaking at the seams. So I proceeded to finish the 5 lights, which all needed new grounding rivets (I prefer to call them ribbets and make froggy sounds but its not as much fun when working alone!).

I climbed on top of the trailer to remove the old sealant and sand the rust. I repainted and resealed. There are 2 junctions along the top of the living quarters and a skylight. I got both done and did the sky light. By that time, I was exhausted and my knees hurt. R climbed up with me to help finish the skylight and was kind enough to point out that there are not 2 but 4 junctions that needed to be done! ACK! My knees hurt, my neck hurt, by back hurt, my head hurt; I was done! What do you mean I have 2 more to go?! I'd been doing it for 4 hours!!!

Today, after therapy I came home to finish what I had started. However, I had a road block.... My knees are bruised. When I say bruised, I mean BRUISED.

Yeah, and I have a clotting disorder, so I DON'T bruise!!

So stressed after a bad day at therapy, still being sore, having a grumpy friend take his anger out on me, I couldn't do it. I lay down in the back of the truck, cried! I hosed out the trailer and put in fresh bedding. Then pulled the trailer to the house to sand the 2 junctions I forgot and primer them. I need to seal them tomorrow. I cleaned out the living quarters, which is really just where I store EVERYTHING and sleep if need be.

During my cleaning I discovered a few things... I have lost enough weight that my half chaps fit now! Yay! My hoof sealant leaked in my medi bag and now I need a new one. Boo! And finally, we have WAY too many blankets for Max and Bella. Where in the world am I going to store ever more blankets for Gunner and Dan?! By the way, his name won't be Dan, they call him Dancer but he is a 6 year old stallion and Dancer makes sound a little girly... So, he is Dan until we can figure out his name.

Anyhow, we got got everything done and while I was resting, I heard the telltale hiss of a leaking tire. NO!!! So close and yet so far! Stupid tire...

My plan for tomorrow is to get up early, seal the remaining junctions and be at the tire shop by 8. Possibly meet a friend for a soda and much needed mental health check, then come home, prepare all of mystuff (meds, ice pack, food, clothes) and sleep from 11AM until midnight. With my sleeping habits and excitement, I bet I'm awake until midnight!

Since we have 3 dogs and are trying to supervise Dozer and Rex - they play hard and sometimes too hard and one gets hurt - it has been decided that Dozer must come. Yes, spitty, farty bulldog on a 8 our (one way) trip just thrills me... Guess what?! I'm going to do what I have to do to save this horse!

I think I'll be ready, I hope I'll be ready, I'm sure I'll be ready. I pray for a quick safe trip!

Our new addition - Dan

We are rescuing this horse from a friend; he is fed but has been neglected in many other areas. He is a 6 year old registered Quarter Horse stallion with no training. They call him Dancer, but we don't think it fits so we have been calling him Dan; until we can get to know him and figure out what his name should be.

We get to pick Dan up on Sunday. It is a 14 hour drive round trip! I know these photos are bad, but wanted to give you all an idea of what we are looking forward to. As soon as we get him home and settled in, we will post more photos and explain a bit more about his situation.

He is people friendly!

They cut his hair with shears so we could see his eyes....

This photo makes him look grumpy and like he has a HUGE head.
Not the case!

A true red roan with Hancock breeding!!

Snakes...

We've been here on the ranch for a few years now and have been lucky enough to have only had to deal with one rattlesnake and that was 2 years ago! Our experience with rattlers is limited mostly to the kind found in Northern California so we were surprised when Robert found a green rattler near the edge of our lawn and road. Yes, green. As in... GREEN, no brown what-so-ever!! R actually stepped over it on the way to the barn and again on the way back to the house. He didn't notice it, it didn't rattle, until it moved to lunge at his leg!

Since that time we have done some research and spoken to the old timers around here. We have learned that there are two types of rattlesnakes out here in Eastern Colorado. The first is your typical diamond back rattler with the brown and tan coloring. Nasty and mean but generally more scared of us than we are of them. The second kind is a hybrid. CSU has been doing research on this rattler... That my friends is never a good thing.... It appears that the green version of our rattlers are more aggressive and much more poisonous. They will actually chase you and strike without warning.

R found our first snake this year by our mailbox. The grass was taller than we normally let it get and we had been meaning to mow for weeks but were a bit behind in getting things done. He came home and saw it when he pulled over to get the mail. As he chambered a round into his pistol, it slithered into our culvert. Let me tell you about the chaos and silliness that followed. First we got the leaf blower thinking that the cool air would entice it close enough to the edge of the culvert that we could shoot safely. That did not work. Not at all. Then R built a small fire and used the leaf blower to blow the smoke in the culvert. It worked a little bit. A little bit. The snake move to the edge of the culvert but was still about 16 inches in. I climbed into the ditch, about 4 feet back, just to be safe and peered in. Up to that point, R hadn't been able to tell if it was the normal brown snake or its nastier green hybrid cousin. I was able to confirm that it was green, and a bit angry. We had been hanging around the culvert with two trucks, gasoline, a leaf blower and 2 guns for about an hour. Something needed to change!!

We went to get a shepherds hook, unfortunately it was only 4 feet long. So I climbed into the ditch again, armed with the hook and a pistol. R stood on the bank with the shotgun ans assured me that he would shoot it before it bit me. As a side bar - laying down in a ditch eye to eye with an angry green rattler really puts life in perspective. I realized how much I love and trust R, even more than I thought I did. I also realized that even with all of the draw backs of living where we do and how we do (snakes, wind, freezing cold winters, exceptionally hot summers, never ending chores and the lack of anyone willing to place their child in our home) I love my life and wouldn't change a thing! I also realized that I really don't like snakes!! Back to the story - I slid the hook along the top of the culvert to hook the far side of the snake and on my count (since I was the one that had to be ready to move out of the way of the snake and gun), I pulled the snake out. May I just say that they don't look as big curled up in a culvert as they do on the end of a hook...

This one was more brown and green but you can still see some
of the color change of the part hybrid snakes.

To show his size. About 3.5 feet, 7 rattles & a button.

Our neighbor had one a few weeks later near his mailbox. I was driving his car and for once in my life, left my gun in the truck. I had to pin it with the tire, walk to the house for my gun, back the car up and shoot him before he bit me or took off.

This one is a bit more green than the other.

So I figure that 3 snakes in 4 years is not bad, and one wasn't even ours. Yet another reason I always carry a gun. I also think that the rattlers in our area must not like our postal delivery person....