Monday I had a job interview first thing and then went out and did chores. Still dealing with electrical issues for all the trough heaters but I think I got the hoses sorted out at least. Mother nature appears to have completely forgotten to break us into winter slowly and has just hit us with winter, “She came in like a wrecking ball”, you might say. I got done all of that just in time to pick up Jake and go get a donation of 50 beautiful small square bales (YAY!!!). We had to make two trips which is fine but we blew out a tire on the horse trailer. Unfortunately, it is an awkward-sized tire that isn’t really carried anymore, with an awkward rim. I have been trying to find a spare for quite some time. Anyway, we got it done and I am going to have to do some research tomorrow to see if I can find another tire. We are supposed to have some better temperatures later in the week, so I will get back to work on the shed then.
Tuesday was another busy one, the bale guy was here with bales when I woke up so that was a quick burst into the morning. I finished up chores and went to town to pick up feed and some supplies to try and get the tire off of the horse trailer. I got back and tried to jack it up but discovered the spring was broken as well so the horse trailer is completely out of commission now until we get it repaired. I had enough of outside work after that and came in to do paperwork for the rest of the afternoon. I got some site planning done for hopefully 2024 granting. That will cheer a person up for sure, I cannot wait to get a nice, big, beautiful barn to help keep these beautiful babies warm in the wintertime. Also still having trouble with the electrical and keeping all the trough heaters running but I called Interlake Electric and hopefully, they have some solutions for us that won’t cost a fortune.
Wednesday was a bit of a rough day, been feeling pretty down, probably mostly the weather. Spent the day with the animals doing chores and finally got the hoses all sorted out and organized so that’s in good shape. Still have issues with the power situation, but maybe I just give up and direct the horses to the auto-waterer and stop trying to give them both options. Slowly making progress on tasks, one at a time. Jake, Doreen, Lori and Shelley all came out at the end of the day. One for a visit, two for a lesson and Jake and Shelley to lend a hand as always, greatly appreciated.
Thursday I got up a little early and started chores, Karen came out and did waters. Erika got here and helped me put together the mash for all our skinnies. After chores Erika and I went to work on the shed. We actually managed to get the lumber together for the roof and we also got it cleaned out, she is going to come back tomorrow to see how much further we can get on it. Later, Jake came out and rode a couple horses who both did great. We then had some visitors from Saskatchewan who are looking at taking a couple horses home with them. It was a very long busy day, but I feel accomplished.
Friday, first thing in the morning Rosie and Ulysses got picked up to go to their forever home. Afterward, I did chores. Erika and Lori showed up in time to help take the feed out to the skinny horses. After chores Erika and I went back to work on the shed, Tom (the turkey) was super helpful in organizing the screws and taking Erika’s glasses right off her face and all kinds of fun stuff like that. Erika likes to keep me honest and not let me take any shortcuts, so we ripped some more of the shed apart. We worked on it up until dark and managed to get the majority of it all back together. I am hoping to somehow manage to get the roofing done before the snow starts on Sunday. Jake came out after school to ride a few horses and we also had a couple come out to check out the place.
Saturday I was up early to do chores, Joy and Karen joined me and went to work on mash and waters. Jake came just in time for me to pass the baton to him so I could go to my grandbaby’s birthday party. I wasn’t even there yet when I got a call that Amika was down. They called the vet and he came out to put her down. Our poor, lovely Amika! She came in this past summer very underweight, we had her teeth done, but Dr. Neil didn’t think they were bad enough to warrant her being so emaciated. 
He did blood work and she was anemic, she was put on meds for 10 days and she still failed to gain weight. We did two rounds of antibiotics on her and nothing. This poor girl went down a couple weeks ago and ended up getting back up before the vet got here so we moved her into the corral and just pumped her full of feed and I thought we were out of the woods with her, but no, this time she told us she was 100% done. This poor girl, we did everything we could for her. Also while I was away the rabbit cages got cleaned out, some hay got put out and some tidying of our “barn” was done. The volunteers also caught some of the tough horses to catch for our vet visit on Tuesday, including our lovely Llama that is going to be fixed because he thinks he can breed our poor sheep. When we got back from the birthday party we finished the walls of the new shelter and I put the waterproofing on the roof. We also put the window back in. We are now ready for the tin the next time we have a reasonable weather day. A huge thank you to Joy, Karen, Jake, Grace, Tamsen, Lori, Shelly and Dr. Neil for taking care of everything while I was away.
Sunday I was up early again (this is really getting to be a thing for me). Got the chores done and Jake and Shelley came to help get stuff ready for today’s adventure. We headed out to try to catch a beautiful leopard app. This girl was left on the 160-acre property when it was sold, the new owners have no idea what to do with her so they gave us a call. We were able to find her, she was very excited to see the horses and we got her within about 50 feet of the horse trailer before she turned around on us and got the heck out of there. We left some panels there so they can leave oats inside the panels for her. They also put up a trail cam so they can try to track when she comes in for the oats. The idea is to try and establish a routine and then show up there when she is having her oats and close the pen on her. A big thanks to Shelly, Jake, Kiera and Grace for lending a hand today.
