The To-Do List

Life on the farm is always busy. (Just keep boarding, it’s so much easier.) But it’s amazing how much I can get done when I just dedicate a few hours here and there to it.

“And when the morning work is done, our farm friends will have so much fun.” – From a board book I’ve read the baby about 50 million times. I think I can quote most of her books from memory at this point. 

I’ve been working nearly every night to get things done, temporarily suspending working with any of the horses. Right now, it seems more important to get these done, and then I can ride/train horses way more effectively. 

Starting with…

Fencing in the Arena

I’ve been riding in the arena for years now without a fence, but the side that has a steep edge was always a little uncomfortable. Now, combined with trying to control Stu in what is basically an open field, I think it’s time to put a fence around the arena. 

I feel my mortality a little more since I had the baby, and I don’t like the idea of riding towards a cliff. I will feel safer once it’s enclosed. Stu will be a little bit easier to guide with a fence to work against. There’s no downside to this!

 – Except how time consuming and expensive it is. I’ve put in three posts so far. Fingers crossed I black out so I don’t have to go through the painful process of putting in 60? 80? 100? more! Then the fun task of nailing in boards. Ugh.

Fertilizing the Field

My field is growing in, but there are areas where very little grass is coming in. After noticing that some areas, like where I had dropped round bales, were coming in really nicely, I had a plan. I’m going to spread the compost I created from my muck pile on those areas. I think I’m in the wrong season for it, technically, but I’d rather just do it now instead of having an entire growing season of bare dirt. If nothing else, it’s an experiment to see if it works. 

This isn’t a hard task, but it’s annoyingly time consuming to drive the tractor back and forth from the muck pile to different spots in the field, spread it as best I can, and then follow up with a rake for lumps.

More Clearing

After having such fun clearing two/three years ago, why would I stop at that? There’s way more trees and brush to clear way! Who doesn’t love the incredible dangerous and thrilling task of cutting down trees and getting completely covered in sawdust, dirt and sweat?!

Haha, that was a joke! Because it’s a terrible task!

It’s such a terrible task that I got an estimate of how much it would cost for someone else to clear it – An eye watering $30k.

Guess I will be doing it myself. I really need more pasture space, and I want to create a winter sacrifice paddock. I might have to wait until I can get a babysitter, as this task is best done over a full day, not just the two hours I usually get at night. 

There’s going to be more, but those are the main tasks. I can’t wait until they are all done before trying to work the horses – I wouldn’t be able to ride if I wait to finish, My marker will be about half, or close to half, of the arena fencing. That way I’ll have three sides to work Stu against. 

I really miss riding, and I even found someone who is going to show me the local trails. I need to get back into it, for my mental sanity. And I love trail riding – I can’t even remember the last time I went on a trail ride. I would love it if I could just hop on Berry and go trail riding, but I do not trust her not to act like an idiot. (Old me would have just gone on the trail ride with no prep, but … I’m old and frail now. I need to ride her in the arena first.)

Ugh… hopefully very soon! Just need to keep plugging away!