Monday was a busy day at the ranch, we had several volunteers show up which was awesome. I did chores while Karen did waters. Lea got to work in the garage building saddle stands and lead rope hangers. Karen carried all the garbage out of the garage and put it in the horse trailer. We got a donation of almost 300 square bales from Jasmine Blatz and her Dad Tim, for which we are very grateful! Jasmine, Tim, Jake, Leah, Clem, Ellie, Tamsen, Sean and I unloaded and stacked all the bales, which was awesome with so many helpers. Jasmine and Jake went for a little ride during which Jasmine fell hard for our boy Ben, right there and then Jasmine took Ben to his forever home. Jake, Clem and Ellie did some pony training to see how great our Purdita is with kids and of course she is amazing. Clem and Ellie arranged all the different brushes and got them ready to get put away. Lea, Clem and Ellie sorted out all the horse blankets and arranged them by size and weight. We had some lovely folks come and look at Whisper and Chester, they sure seemed to like them both so not sure what’s going to happen there. Then Jake and I dragged all the saddles, saddle pad and blankets back into the garage to make sure they don’t get rained on.
Tuesday I woke up to Alana filling waters. We finished the chores together and then got started working on the garage. We made a ton of progress and actually might be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We got a call from a lady who would like to donate a park bench to us in honour of her brother in law. We are going to put a plaque on it and have it sitting here overlooking the horses in his honour. Miraculously, it turns out that I actually knew the man and he used to race chuckwagons and chariots with my father, so amazing! We also had a family come out and spend some time with the animals in the petting zoo. I cleaned all the water sources in the petting zoo and the little call ducks were so happy, I wish I had gotten a video of them zooming back and forth across their pond and flapping their wings.
Wednesday did chores, had a couple visitors. A family had a bunch of crab apples to feed the animals and wanted to visit with the animals as well. A mom and daughter who have a horse they wish to surrender came to meet us and see the place. My friends the Jehovah witnesses stopped in to try to convert me. Did a lot of cleanup on the garage again. Sara built an awesome double decker saddle stand which is perfect.
Thursday got up late in a panic thinking it was Friday, picked up Jake and got the chores done. Jake gave a lesson on Q to a lady named Lori who fell in love with her and decided to adopt her. We spent the rest of the day working on the garage and unfortunately, we were out of time before the event so all the horse stuff is organized but the tools and everything else still needs to be sorted. Shoved it all back in the garage and still have some to get in there before the event. Thinking we might need to have a garage sale fundraiser within the next few weeks.
Friday we spent the entire day in the city picking up our loop resource for the animals and then we headed to Peavey Mart to pick up feed. Then we made several stops in the city picking up four park benches to set up for our event on Sunday, in case we have anyone that’s mobility challenged and needs a seat. We also picked up some awesome donations from Kathi Wintink. Then we headed home to get the evening chores done.
Saturday we spent the day cleaning up and getting stuff put away for our event on Sunday. Sean, Stacy and Kirstin stopped by to give us a hand with a garage door that had fallen apart and pick up the meat from our loop resource for their dogs. We got the majority of clean up done and made a couple trips to the dump. Just when we were totally exhausted and didn’t think we could to anymore, in popped two little spitfires, Victoria and Orin. “I’m here to Volunteer!” Orin excitedly exclaimed as she got out of the car. They had a blast making slop for the pigs and promised they would back tomorrow for the event.
Sunday was our last open house of the year! 237 people came through our doors today to see our animals and spend some time with us. It was a great day that stayed sunny and beautiful with light clouds and no rain. We had many awesome volunteers that came to help us out. The pony rides, horse rides and petting zoo where a hit as always. Thanks to the generous donations of our guests, we brought in $2,437 today. If you subtract expenses that is just under $2,000, almost enough to pay off our vet bill for the month. Thank you to all those who showed up to make today so awesome!
