The Castle Rock MARE-TERNITY WARD
Message Boards => General Discussion => Topic started by: Chanda on December 04, 2018, 03:08:49 PM
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Been a little quiet lately. Where is everyone? What are you doing?
Not too much going on here. We planned to ship calves this past weekend, but the weather and roads went to crap, so we have to postpone til next weekend. Sale is on Monday, so the trucker is picking up the calves on Sunday. We preg-checked last Thursday, not too many opens considering we lost a bull mid-season (he broke his leg, unfortunately it can happen with as rough as the bulls can get during breeding season). We weaned the calves, they are doing fine on hay while waiting for their ride on the truck.
We didn't ship calves, so I thought great I can go to my December Quilt Guild meeting and not miss the Christmas Party; wrong... pea soup fog that got worse the further I headed towards town, so I ended up turning around and coming home, as it would have only been worse after dark (after the meeting).
Horses are doing fine, despite the craptastic hay we have due to lingering drought conditions. Ok protein and low sugar/starch, but the calcium phosphorus ratio is way out of balance, very high calcium with almost nonexistent phosphorus, so I'm actually using an alfalfa supplement (vit/min supplement for balancing alfalfa hay) and it still needs extra P, so feeding some wheat bran. They are enjoying their bran mash, had to special order the wheat bran, as it's not stocked locally; the horses are enjoying their mash, I haven't made on in like 20+ years, as beet pulp is the go to mash these days, but it's not suitable with it's high calcium content. Belle, the baby, is my best eater of the bunch, she even eats her icky tasty phosphorus supplement, she needs even more than the adults, as it's more important for a growing baby to have pretty tight Ca:P ratio. Balancing this craptastic hay is a bit more expensive than what I normally spend of feeds and supplements, but they'll come out the other side doing better, so should be worth it. I'm a little behind on hoof trims, I still have two November trims to catch up on, Belle and Sophia, so need to get in gear and get it done; oh, guess I have two others, but one needs Dorm gel, which I didn't order in time, so they'll be behind too.
I've been doing a little bit of quilting, but not quite as much as I'd like. Did do a little Black Friday shopping, and bought a quilt kit, not sure if I'll use it as is or use the fabric for other patterns; plus I also got some pre-cuts. Then, the same shop had a BOGO sale the other day, so I got two more kits and saved about 75% over their retail price, as they were already marked down. So, I have plenty of fabric to last me awhile. :o
House cats have a bit of cabin fever with the snow and cold, so are getting obnoxious.
And, as soon as I'm done here, I have dishes to do.
So, what's up with you?
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Glad you started this Chanda, Ive been checking in daily , but been so quiet here. Just figured everyone's been super busy this times of the year.
I hope the weather holds off for you this weekend so the truck can collect the calves. My "tribe" love a bran mash, especially my biggies. They get a hot bran mash in their dinner during winter mixed with a tiny bit of molasses.
Cant believe its snowing already, Im sure we just talked about it starting to warm up there :) Its crazy to think "How fast" this year has actually gone.
Ive been really busy at home , I finally got the last of my fencing done, 4 new paddocks. Now Ill start saving so I can put loose boxes in the paddocks and plant some trees for shade. Until then, Ill use them when its not too hot. I have ordered my winter hay for arrival at the end of Feb. Our feed prices have just risen here by 20%. I think a bag of lucerne (alfalfa) chaffe is now $34.00 a bag. A bale of it is around $30 each. Plain grass hay is getting close to nearly $23 a bale. I managed to secure mine at $11.00. Its meadow hay, so nice and soft on the pallet for the little ones. Like Montana, we are also in severe drought , shocking fires have already destroyed a lot of Queensland. The next two days are supposed to be around 38 degrees Celsius here. I do like summer but not when its not that warm.
Not sure if I mentioned, but one of the swans was injured a while back and we had to call Wildlife Victoria, as we noticed an injury to its leg. A local rescue came out and took the swan into care. They spend some time in an enclosure so they can be fed and rehabilitated. Once they are better they are moved into a larger area with no roof. If they are feeling well enough, they can fly off or stay until they are fit enough to do so. I called the local rescue to see how the swan was doing and then called a couple of weeks later. The second call they informed me that the swan had flown off that day.
Two days after I called, one of the swans arrived back at home. I woke up the next morning and it was gone. About four days after that , I went to feed the horses and to my surprise they had found each other again. They both left again and had been gone for the last two months. They had been nesting elsewhere. I only found that out as Wildlife VIc called to see if I was happy with the service when they came to rescue the injured one. They also told me , Swans are mates for life and will only breed with the same one.
Both swans , which I have named "Harold and Betty returned two weeks ago and have been building their nest.
Thats about it for me atm, No veggie garden as yet, I got stabbed in the joint on my finger with a needle on a palm branch and it got infected. Ill hopefully get in there in the next few weeks.
Hope everyones doing well :)
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Good to hear you both are doing good.
We've been so busy. Grandkids keep me tied up. River turned 1 today!
Rest of family doing great.
Daisy puppies almost 4 weeks, having to supplement as they are growing so fast
Sassy is big as a house, few months left till foal watch starts.
Pretty sure precious and pepper are both bred too.
I am very excited to see my Storm foals!
Family coming in town this weekend too, I expect things to slow down after jan1, 2019!!
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I'm here of course, but have been really sick with a cold and flu. Babysat little Ryan several times while he was sick, and he was finally diagnosed with the flu. Such a loving little boy wanting to share with his grandma! Apparently I accepted his gift, and am finally in the recovery mode.
Thanksgiving was such a busy, fun time with the whole family here it was like summer vacation again. But now, busy in another way trying to select gifts for 10 grandchildren and my kids. Still trying to get my mom's house ready to sell, and it's still slow progress.
Florida hasn't decided what kind of weather it wants to have. We've had some delightful days in the low 60's and high 50's at night, and staying in the low 70's mostly. So much better than the 80's+.
Stay warm everyone!
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Sorry to hear you have been unwell Diane, I hope your on the mend. Holly that is Crazy River is 1. Where has the year gone !! :)
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Sorry you've been sick Diane!
Yes this year has gone way to fast!
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Thanks Chanda. Working my way to recovery, but it's sure taking a long time. I hate being sick!
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Whats been happening with everyone ?
Been back at work a couple of weeks now. Feels like such a long time since xmas break. :)
Its been crazily hot here over the last month. My FIL has had temps at 44-48 degrees (118F) everyday for the last month. I am a little further down south, so not quite as hot but still over 40 most days. I have failed on the veggie garden this year. I only got things into the ground on Jan 4th, so im about 2 months late planting. Knowing that they are fast growing , I put zucchinis and cucumbers in, but thats as exciting as its gonna get :)
My fruit trees havent done as well as last year either. Blood plum last year gave me so many I could make jam. This year "1" plum. ;D. I have plenty of apples and Nashi pears are starting to grow.
I have four extra mares at home now. All Thoroughbreds. I agreed to two coming to board but now theres 4. One of the mares is due to Foal in Aug so will post some pics shortly.
Whats everyone else been up to ?
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Hey! Been a bit quiet for me cause i could not log on to the forum for a while. Been a bit of a time. I lost my aunt so that was rough. Jed and I moved yards, which has been great. Not much happening with the minis just the usual daily life i guess!
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Sorry to read of the loss of your Aunty Hayley. Its never easy :( ( sending hugs from Oz)
I see you have been riding Jed heaps ( and he looks great) :)
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Yes, we've missed you bunches!!!! So glad you're back, and very sorry about the loss of your Aunt.
So how are all your gems? Will you be showing this year?
So happy you're here again!
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I am booting Chandas thread up again to see how everyone's going? Been a little quiet on here. I hope everyone's doing well. I am getting ready for the warmer months to arrive here, parts of our country are already in the chaos of bushfires ( which I think you call wildfires in the states). Especially where Carly is up north. They are getting in the 40 degrees Celsius temps which is Crazy for so early in the year. Its still really cold here (14 today) but we have been having some great spring days. Winter coats are starting to drop and my pastures are growing :) Its supposed to be a nice weekend and its just about dry enough for me to go for a ride on fitzy :)
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Well, I know Chanda has been busy at her place, and know that she'll come on and fill you in herself.
I've been fine, weather in the 80's with rain most days, which is still to be expected with our rainy season. I'm recovering nicely from my major heart attack in late August, no additional problems, just a bit slower and more choosy in my work load than I used to be. But all is going well for me -- although all my kids are "hovering" as it was so unexpected it threw everyone for a loop! (especially me)
Hoping others see this check-in, as it really has been a bit quiet and I miss all the conversations!!
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Perhaps with winter coming to the northern hemisphere, the board will get busier.
Harvest ground to a halt with fall rain and cool temps, then it snowed yesterday with temp around 24F, pretty much squashed harvest. Don't know if a dry, warm spell will allow harvest to happen.
One good thing about the weather, I have had time to quilt sooner in the fall.
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Oh dear Chanda, you really are having weather problems aren't you - will it affect the supplies you need to put aside for your cows (and of course the minis)? Hope your weather gets warmer soon Ryan but not as hot as elsewhere if possible. We seem to be having nothing but rain and wind over here in the UK - I expect it has also been causing Hayley in Ireland some trouble as well. There has been a lot of flooding in the area but we are lucky here as we are some 800 feet up in the forest so just get 'streams' rushing past us down into the valley below. But being high we do get the wind and it can get pretty violent at times. Due to the weather any outside work that we were hoping to do has been halted and we are back putting finishing touches to the indoors. Got the family arriving on the 18th for the weekend. Granddaughters hubby Chris is a cross-country cyclist in his spare time (raises a lot for charity), but that weekend he is just coming for the pleasure of riding the trails that run through the 50,000 odd acres of the forest we live in. He's bringing two other cyclist friends with him so I expect the tree of them will be off all Saturday and Sunday - regardless of the weather leaving us ladies to supply hot warming food for when they get back! Still it will be good to see them all again. Take care all of you - keep warm - dry - cool - whatever, and Diane you look after yourself. x
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Glad to read everyone is doing well. Wishing all of my friends here "all things good" for the remainder of the year and into next. Might be a little quiet at times here, but I do check in every day just to see how you all are :)
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;)
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Like the wild fires recently in California , we are suffering from some serious fires here. I am ok where I am, but further north there are 70 fires burning across New South Wales and Queensland. We have so far lost 1.5 million hectares. These areas that have been affected by the fires are where most of our Koalas and Kangaroos call home. This time of the year is usually the wet season up north and so far they have had barely any rain at all.
For those that pray, please put "Australia" in your thoughts ;pray
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Those areas affected by the terrible fires have been in my thoughts and prayers for some time now Ryan. The situation is really tragic and to think that a lot of these fires may have been started deliberately! So glad to hear that you are not living in that area but perhaps you have relatives or friends that do?
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Oh, Ryan, you have my prayers for safety and the safety of the native animal populations. How tragic that the fires may have been started on purpose. Here, it's just the idiots in "legislative power" in California not doing the proper forest maintenance like other states do that maintain many forests with no major fires.
Sending lots of prayers! ;pray ;pray
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Thankyou both :)
Yes I do have friends that live up north, everyones ok at the moment, One friend was in the path of one of the fires, very lucky that the wind changed the direction of the fire.
We are a bit the same here too Diane in regards to forest maintenance. Our government is in the process of reducing numbers of wild brumbies in our National Parks and forests here. I dont think they realize 1) these brumbies are part of our heritage 2) they actually help to keep vegetation down and in turn reduce fires.
I live at the bottom of Australia in Victoria , our weather is much cooler in the winter and spring months than the rest of Oz. We do however probably have the hottest summer out of all the states here.
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I heard from Carly yesterday and one of the fires was really close to her house. The smoke is really bad where she is. One of the fires burning out of control in NSW at the moment is bigger than London. We have a "Code Red" warning here today , its going to be 40 (104 f). I've put out extra hay under the trees in the hope the horses may decide its cooler for them.
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Sending LOTS OF PRAYERS for you and Carly. Oh my, please be safe and keep us posted! ;pray ;pray ;pray
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Oh Ryan that doesn't sound good, hope Carly will be ok. Does anyone know exactly where Cassie is living, I just know that it is in NSW somewhere. Must look up her address and see if I can check her area on a map, hope she is ok.
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Thankyou both :)
You're right Anna, Im sure Cassie was from NSW as well. We had a cool change come thru last night but its still terribly hot further north.
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Yes, I miss Cassie, too! Everytime I look at that picture she drew of Spotty, I think of her. Wonder where she is and what's she's doing these days!....
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Does anyone remember her last name ? I could try and look her up and get her to pop into the forum and say hi.
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Checking in from North Carolina
On a personal level....life is a disaster....
Among other things, Spanky was rehomed in January to a family with 4 children. I get updates every now and then. They homeschool, and during the summer they sent pictures of Spanky being "schooled" by one of the girls. Apparently they have class, then Spanky gets homemade pony popsicles because he's such a good boy. O:-)
It's too complicated and hurtful to explain anything else. Suffice it to say my faith is sustaining me. My faith and my faith alone. If you're a Christian, please pray for my husband. He is a truly tormented soul right now..and he doesn't use drugs or alcohol. If you're not, please lift him up in whatever spiritual manner you're comfortable with. Noone should suffer like he is. ;pray ;pray
For the past 2 years I've been struggling to receive disability. We finally went to hearing last week, so in another 60 days I should have a decision. My advocate seemed to think it went well. It was more than a little difficult to hear their Vocational Rehabilitation expert say "there are no jobs for this hypothetical person" though. Pride, stubbornness, self-sufficiency, failing my family financially....it all ran through my mind in that instant....then I went outside, hugged a tree and used my walker to get to my friend's car and go home.
My daughter came to stay with us in April. She's another tortured soul. So far, we've not come even close to building anything resembling an amicable relationship. It's not hateful. It's just...nothing. A mom finds it hard to love their child so much and receive nothing on return. To extend a hand to repair old hurts and still be denied, to offer a hug and be denied, to ask "how are you" and be denied. Yes it's hurtful. I take some comfort in imagining how much it must hurt God, with the millions of us who do that to Him everyday. It puts my own situation in a better perspective. So please lift her up too. She has many demons, of which most of them I can guess at. She's always been very closed-even as a baby-sit I can help in no other way until she comes to me one day.
The micro-farmstead-currently my home-based been kind of fallow this year. The lawn has been mowed. The giant patches of datura (moon flower) and volunteer petunias have been cared for. The volunteer tomatoes were delicious. This year, unlike previous ones, we had hard frost in late October for a week, so the late tomatoes were lost. (The fleas weren't though. >:( )
I'm taking two online courses. The first one is 1000 hours in an herbal medicine immersion course. Herbalism foundations, soil, useful garden weeds, plant propagation, herbscand their uses--for immune systems and digestion, for the nervous and respiratory systems, medicine making and food as medicine....and the list goes on.
The second one is a six week floral workshop provided by Floret Farms in Washington state. This one is very business focused. Yes, there is a lot about the growing...but the business and marketing plan is there too.
My hope is that by focusing on these two beautiful things, I can return to the beautiful person I was before all of the tragedy and sadness started...oh so long ago on 7/11/2017 with the loss of two dogs to the heat.
P.S....please excuse typos...I kept falling asleep while trying to type this. Love you all guys, in a big sisterly Christian kind of way.
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Prayers are coming your way. ;pray ;pray ;pray ;pray
Praying the disability comes through and you can move forward a little towards new beginnings and thankfulness for all that you have. You have life! I almost lost mine to a serious heart attack on August 20th, and know how grateful we should be to the Lord for the abundances He provides. I'm not rich, but I know how to be thankful for the fact that I survived and was able to celebrate another Thanksgiving with my family. Recovery is a bit slower than my personality is happy with, but it is also a good "teaching moment" for my pushing personality. One of mine is going through a hard time now, but we know that Lord has that in control, and whatever and however He moves us forward, we will be happy to see His hand work in our lives.
Glad to see you back here. We're here for you and happy you shared with us. Prayers coming for you and the family. ;pray ;pray