Updating

Well, it's been way too long hasn't it? There is much news here and if I wrote it all in one post it would take a while.

Tilley started having seizures last month and we seem to have them under control again. If you have never seen or been with a dog while they are having seizures, consider yourself lucky. It's something I hope that I don't have to deal with again. She started on two pills a day of phenobarbitol, but I have managed to reduce that to half a pill twice a day and she is showing no signs of seizures again. The medicine is making her a little more confused than normal, but other than that, she is back to the same pre-seizure dog.

Yesterday I took the tank de-icer out of the tank and started de-wintering the farm and then I come inside to hear it might SNOW on Tuesday night?!?!? How does that even make sense? The past week has been above 10 almost every day.

We've passed the half point of this six month adventure, with Sarah and David estimating a return date of May 15th. This whirlwind of time on Farcical Farm has gone by sometimes fast and sometimes slow. It has been stressful, frustrating, confusing but overall amazing and I officially love all these animals as if they were my own- Tonka (the horse), Spike, Hazel, and Pipsqueak (Cats), Willow, Tilley and Titan (doggies), Timbit, Morsel and Ronald McNugget (the goats) and even the little fishies in the pond out front.

Titan's Tricks

Titan escaped. Again. The day after he tried to follow us down the road. But never fear, I figured it out.

The second time I knew he was just doing it because he could. I was just walking over to the neighbors to talk and he flew up beside me again. I walked him back and locked him into his doghouse while I went to investigate. He was not going over the fence, he was going UNDER! The horses (Justin) pulled the wire that was wrapped around the tree and other bushes in the corner. Little did I know, the fence that was behind the wire does not reach the ground. Granted, it's not very high off the ground but Titan decided he was going to go under anyways. Keep in mind that Ty is like 120-150 pounds so the fact that he was able to pull himself under the fence through an opening that was maybe 3 or 4 inches off the ground was a little surprising to me.

Tonka got some exercise this weekend when some friends from work came up to visit and ride. He packed them around like a trooper unlike Justin who refused to do anything faster than a walk. Do you think I was surprised though?

Dogs & Ducks

It has been ridiculously sunny and warm here for the past five days. I think the highest we got in the sun was about 13 degrees. The rain is supposed to return tomorrow, but I'm ok with that. I got everything done that I needed to- moved the manure pile back, rode the horse (and finally did some jumping), cleaned the garage and a long list of other things.

I took the inside dogs (Tilly and Willow) for a walk today and Titan jumped the fence to try to follow, although it was just as we were walking past the neighbors ducks and chickens, so there was a little extra incentive to go over. He came back to me almost right away, which I was most thankful for as he chases cars and the cars come speeding through every once in a while. I locked him in his dog house for an hour or two as 'punishment' but he is really not very smart, so I doubt he got anything out of that experience.

The neighbours across the street put sand down as a paddock for their horses but it is wide and long enough to ride in. Yesterday I went over there and rode Justin. He was a lot better than I expected for only being ridden in an arena like 4 times over the past 3 months. I got on their palomino horse after I was done with Justin and it was fun. I love riding western and I use any chance I get to jump on a horse, trained or not, in a western saddle.

Just a heads up, I'm thinking of adding more stuff to the blog as a way of updating more. It will still be based around the farm and the animals and the goings on here at FF, but I will probably post some other things as well.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Trees and stuff

I really have nothing new to report. The weather has been wet but warm, which is a nice break. It's already the middle of January and I have only had to haul water buckets once. These pictures are of the neighbors property- they are more for Sarah and David, but they make an interesting point anyways. The property is close to 20 acres, but was mostly wooded. After they moved in, they hauled most of the trees out to make pasture land. As a good citizen, I want to say my heart breaks watching the habitat of the animals in the forest getting destroyed. As a horse person, I think it's so cool! The pasture land they are getting out of it is incredible and is going to be so useful (not to mention they are giving me some logs for cross country jumps).

This is the best picture out of the bunch. You can see the flat land and the neighbors property, which was impossible before.

Unable To Wake From Nightmares

I'm currently taking advantage of the break from school by reading one or two of my favorite books again (which means that I'm not getting as much other things done as I'd like to. I tend to get lost in my book). I usually read myself to sleep, which means that I sometimes fall asleep on the couch. When I woke up on Wednesday morning last week, I saw this. I can tell you that the first words out of my mouth were not pleasant ones. I keep track of the news so that I can be prepared when it snows. This recent snowfall was a complete surprise. I'm back to school in a week! Yay! I actually love university (maybe I need a life?) and am excited to go back and see everyone again.

Sun, Soreness and Seasons Greetings

Well, I feel pretty dang guilty for not writing for almost two weeks. A little thing called life happened somewhere in there. I finished off the semester with final exams and had an awesome Christmas holiday- I hope you all had the same. My mom, her boyfriend and my brother came over on Christmas Eve for dinner and to hang out. I went into Abbotsford early Christmas morning after the chores were done and everyone was fed. I took Tilley and Willow with me and they enjoyed the trip. I would lay them down somewhere out of the way and Willow would slowly inch closer and closer to the Christmas tree.


Last time I wrote, the farrier had just come by. Justin is still sore from the visit. He has had shoes for as long as I have had him, so I was expecting him to be a little tender. It is just hard to watch your babies hurt and not be able to do anything for them! I'm cleaning out his feet everyday to make sure there are no rocks stuck up in the frog or anything.

Justin tends to cause trouble when he is left for too long. I bought some boots that cover the sole of his feet so that I can take him out while he's feeling a little off. With the boots on, he is perfectly fine and not sore at all, but we just walked up the logging road at the end of the main road with the neighbors. Their horses are old pro's (they belong to Back Country Horsemen) at taking back roads and bushwhacking. Justin is not so great. It must be a funny image watching the other two horses all decked out in their western trail riding gear and Justin bringing up the lead in his dressage stuff and purple boots.

Farrier Visit

It snowed overnight again! It's so pretty around here right now, although it's icey. It also rained overnight so it froze a nice layer on top. You know that sound that happens when you crunch through icey snow? I LOVE it!

Today the farrier made it up the hill and did the horses and the goats. Justin slept while she complimented him on his little feeties. Christina said Justin had good feet, even though they were almost 4 weeks over due (I know- smack on the wrist! I was waiting to see when she was coming to do Tonka so that my farrier didn't have to come up to do just one horse).Even though they were overdue, they looked really, really good. Tonka was all excited to get out on his own. Usually Justin leaves the paddock to go on a ride and Tonka has to stay. He was all giddy like a little kid on Christmas.

The goats were fun to do. The two that are friendly just stood around but Roland, the other goat, took us on a chase until we could corner him inside the van. It made for some good laughs.

After Christina left, I pulled out the tractor (just for fun) to try to clear off the driveway. There wasn't too much snow and the driveway is slanted which makes things harder, but it was fun and boy did I feel powerful!