Saturday - up 3 hours early, morning chores done, horse trailer hitched and on the road. Going to pick up our first-ever owned horse. My granddaughter rides but for the last 3 years she has used lesson horses or we have leased a horse for her. Now, my daughter has made the commitment of owning a horse and we were so excited to be travelling to get him. Arrived at the ferry only to discover the tide was out, meaning the water level was so low that the ferry was sitting so low that the ramp was at such a steep angle, we could not load with the trailer attached. So back home for an hour nap and then try again. Finally, five hours later we got this guy.
He is a PMU baby, meaning his mother is kept pregnant all the time so her urine can be used to make a hormone drug. The foals are then discarded, usually going to slaughter houses. http://www.gentlegiantsdrafthorserescue.com/pmuindustry.html
Fortunately for our boy, he was rescued by a wonderful woman who loved and cared for him for nine years. When she could no longer ride, and knowing he needed to be worked regularly, she made the heartbreaking decision to give him up. We are the lucky ones she chose to give him a new forever home and a new purpose.
Sunday - Al spent the day getting our new horse settled in so I decided to work on fencing. Last week we fenced in another section of the yard to give the goats and chickens more room to forage. Naturally, the goats went right to the five new pines trees we had planted and began stripping them. I added a second line of fencing to protect the trees.
School starts in just a couple of weeks and that means my Girl Scout Troop will pick up again after taking the summer off. Spent Sunday evening at my co-leader's house making plans for the coming year. I love working with the girls and teaching them what I consider to be vital skills but society has let fall by the wayside: sewing, cooking, preserving foods, gardening, building, and other basic survival skills. It is a challenge to brush up or learn new skills to keep ahead of the girls. This week I am teaching myself to ferment foods. More on that later.
My granddaughter came to spend a few days and help me out.
Monday - The solar eclipse! We live just outside the path of totality, predicted we would see 94 or 96% coverage so we didn't bother to travel and fight the crowds.
A sliver of sun at the height of the eclipse.
I was very surprised and disappointed that it didn't get dark here. This is a picture of my yard when there was only a sliver of the sun showing, as you can see we still had almost full daylight.
We had NASA approved glasses for viewing, but my granddaughter was earning a patch for Girl Scouts so we tried some other methods. This is the view from a pinhole viewer
This from a cell phone with no filter
And a reflection in the truck mirror, we could see the disk of the moon in the reflection but it does not show up in the reflection.
Tuesday - I did housework. A sad fact in homesteading, you still have to do housework, in fact, I do more now than ever. There is always dirt being tracked in that must be mopped up, dust settles on everything and muddy (poopy) work clothes must be laundered.
Since my airlocks arrived in Monday's mail, I decided to try my hand at making sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) and cortido (spicy fermented coleslaw.)
It will a few weeks before I know if they turn out ok, I will write more on it then.
Another skill I need to brush up on is weapons, as in shooting and archery. So my granddaughter grabbed her bow and I got my crossbow and we set up a target and went a few rounds. I definitely need more practice is all I will say.
Wednesday - Today is the dreaded paperwork day. Online banking trying to juggle the accounts and come up with money for the firewood being delivered this week. Our heater went out 2 years ago so we rely on the woodstove and a couple of space heaters to heat the entire house. Still need about three more cords of wood to get through the winter, but can only afford one this month. Which means I will be paying premium prices to buy in the winter.
Also will be sorting through photos, have about 25000 images stored on my hard drive and need to clear up some space.
I will be working on my cookbook, a compilation of family recipes handed down over 6 generations and anecdotes about food and family celebrations.
And of course the usual emails to respond to, bills to pay, and paperwork to file.
So this is my week so far, how is yours going?
8/23/2017