Working with Heather

My oldest daughter ... works hard, plays hard and relaxes hard.

 I am always learning new things when I am  working in the barn with Heather.  I ask a million questions.  Why do this?  Why this way?  How come?  I am sure that I am annoying ... I need to be told sometimes. Please do but be kind, haha.

I am her sounding board and at the same time, she's mine. I learn things during these rants, like,  the bales of hay are to be used from one end to the other, not from the top down! The shavings pile should be used from the outside in, not the middle out! The shavings in the stalls must be raked flat!

Heather went to college for three years to reinforce things she already knew and learn a few new things.  She learned how to drink beer from a funnel... How proud am I? Anyway, she is the expert but Vern and I now have a few ideas of our own.  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Heather went away recently and I swear the minute she was out of the driveway, Vern opened the new paddock up to the geldings.  Heather's plan was to wait until more hay had been eaten, then turn out the mares in that field.  By the time she returned, we had dug and played and slightly disrupted things. She as a thin thread on us!

It's hard trying not to express my opinion about everything.  It's her house, her kitchen, her barn, her life.  I often need to remind myself that nobody interferred with my way when I was her age.  She is grown up, beautiful, extremely competent and yes, I am very proud!

Reluctant Horsewoman aka Resolute Gardener

Young Jennifer and our small garden

Young daughter, Jennifer, would be a "back to the lander" if an opportunity came.  So when the farm came into our lives, Jennifer got excited about reviving the old farm garden.

We had a garden here at our house when the kids were little so they would get idea where their food came from,  get dirty and connect to their grandparents on both sides, all big gardeners. That garden was small and kinda shady.  The kids grew and their various competitions kept us all busy. The gardening lasped and it was all sodded over.

Heather and Vern harvesting potatoes

Jennifer's excitement over another garden was infectious.  Vern and Heather were cleaning out the barn, Jenn loaded up the tractor and hauled all the old cow manure to the garden.  It was then plowed, disked and harrowed, all with farm equipment. Our planting method near the end was less enthustasic.  Jenn and I dropped potatoes in the plow furrows and kicked dirt over them. It worked fine and its the planting method I intend to use this year !

One of our big sucesses that year was zucchini!  I had them lined up on the counter.  As all Zucchini farmers know, they go from small to humousgous, the size of seal pups, over night.  My friends were becoming wary of me.  I shoved them in mail boxes on my way home.  I heard of a clever idea of tossing them in open car windows.  I had almost reached that point.  My family was also becoming wary of supper.  Anything could have been made with zucchini... and it was.  I found a few great recipes though ... chocolate zucchini cake is amazing.

As our enthusiasm grew, so did the garden. The following year, we plowed up a bigger patch.   Jenn left for Alberta.  Weeds grew faster than my seeds.  This year, with Vern's help, we have put down a 3 foot barrier all around the garden to keep the hay field from incroching and to cut down the size a bit.  I want to try watermelon and cantaloupe this year and I find I need the space anyway. I found a market that will buy my organic veggies, so my friends and neighbours are safe from stealth vegetable drops. Now to get a better handle on the weeds...

Mossi Scale 1 to 5

The Mossi scale 

0 - being the days when there is a good blanket of snow and no bugs in sight … and maybe April when the little blighters haven't been hatched yet

1 - There are days, here in the woods when there are only a few skeeters… like in a driving rain.  A one on the scale denotes when the mosquito level is tolerable. A few swats and brushes and you can still sit and drink a beer outside.

2 - Nice day, sun is shining, warm, light breeze, probably if you stayed in the sunshine, you'd be okay

3 - A beautiful summer day and you have to keep moving or black flies, skeeters, deer flies or horse flies will make you uncomfortable. Probably a jumpy night by the fire.  Many new little friends in the bedroom, making sleep difficult ....neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
A good day for repellent, a must for evening.

4 - Dancing Days... Doing the Muskoka Wave.  The days where you are constantly waving your arms, jumping up and down, swattin yerself.  Heavy layer of repellent, enough to damage your future kids, bug hats or the whole dam bug suit, or just forget it and hole yerself up inside and look out,  just like winter.

5 -  Days when black flies, mosquitoes, deer flies AND horse flies are all out together. It happens ,,, get outside, get your shit done!  Get back inside! Keep your mouth closed, long sleeves, socks, lots of bug spray.

Here it is … The Mossi Scale

The Mossi Scale, kinda like the Richter Scale, will rate the degree of horrendousness of the day's bugs.

First of all, we must list the bugs:            

Black flies  This is for Heather and Jenn 
the black flies, the little black flies,
Always the black fly no matter where you go;
I'll die with the black fly a-pickin' my bones,
In North Ontar-i-o-i-o, in North Ontar-i-o.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjLBXb1kgMo

Most black flies gain nourishment by feeding on the blood of mammals, including humans, although the males feed mainly on nectar. Eggs are laid in running water, and the larvae attach themselves to rocks.They will pupate under water and then emerge in a bubble of air as flying adults. Mature adults can disperse tens or hundreds of kilometres from their breeding grounds in fresh flowing water, under their own power and assisted by prevailing winds. Swarming behaviour can make outdoor activities unpleasant or intolerable, even non-biting clouds of black flies, whether composed of males or of species that do not feed on humans or do not require a blood meal before egg laying, can form a nuisance by swarming into orifices. (gak I have eaten a few!) They  tend to zero in on areas of thinner skin, such as the nape of the neck or ears and ankles.

Generally, the black flies start to be aggressive around mid to late may and then die back by mid June or so. However, the skeeters tend to pick up in late may and are pretty numerous through June… Soooo that brings us to 

Skeeters The word mosquito (formed by mosca and diminutive, ito) is from the Spanish  for "little fly" Over 3,500 species of mosquitoes have been described from various parts of the world. Adult mosquitoes usually mate within a few days after emerging from the pupal stage. In most species, the males form large swarms, usually around dusk, and the females fly into the swarms to mate.

Males typically live for about a week, feeding on nectar and other sources of sugar. After obtaining a full blood meal, the female will rest for a few days while the blood is digested and eggs are developed. This process depends on the temperature, but usually takes two to three days. Once the eggs are fully developed, the female lays them and resumes host-seeking.

Mosquitoes are abundant, beginning in mid to late May and last longer than blackflies (usually into July). 

Then we are confronted with Deer flies ... they should be out pretty soon.

Trying to kill them has a low success rate, at least for me. Wearing a hat works for a while, until they decide that hitching a ride on it will not get them fed. That's when they dive down on your back and bite you through the shirt or start making loud, high speed circling runs before landing on the back of your neck.

Deer flies are a genus that belongs to the family commonly called horse-flies, betcha didn't know that. While female deer flies feed on blood, males instead collect pollen (awww ain't that sweet?)

When feeding, females use knife-like mandibles  to make a cross-shaped incision and then lap up the blood. Their bite can be extremely painful, no kidding!  Pain and itch are the most common symptoms (knew that!) 

Deer flies seem to be attracted to moving objects and dark shapes. They attack humans especially around the face and neck areas, four to five deer flies attack at one time (HOLY CRAP).

And that brings us to this frigger

They feed on the blood of cattle, horses, mules, hogs, dogs, deer, other warmblooded animals, and humans. These horse flies cut through the skin with their knife-like mouthparts and suck the blood for several minutes. When they fly away, a drop or two of blood usually exudes from the wound, permitting secondary feeding sites for other nuisance insects. 

Horse flies are considerably larger than deer flies, heavy bodied, with huge heads (large eyes in males) and from 3/4 inch to over an inch long and often have brilliant green eyes. The eyes are sometimes crossed with reddish-gold bands (last year was the first time I'd seen these green eyed monsters).

No satisfactory methods have been developed for control of horse and deer flies. It's impractical in most regions to eliminate the breeding areas, draining marshes and wet meadows where flies develop.  Fortunately, the season for deer flies is rather short, usually four to five weeks in June or July, and three to four weeks in August for horse flies. If the problem lasts six to eight weeks, there may be several species present or that species lasts longer than most. Humans are better able to protect themselves than wild or domestic animals by swatting flies away and by using repellent.

The greatest deer and horse fly activity occurs on warm, sunny days when there is little or no wind. A slight drop in temperature or a sudden breeze reduces biting attacks. 

Not all words here are mine, as a matter of fact, only a few are (the ones in italics, lol) To be continued...

ahhhh Spring ...

what can ya say?  Everybody's got a new mud coat.  There must be something totally delightful about getting right down in the mud and rubbing, and I mean hard... that only horses and three year olds know about.

Barley.  His owner could see his mud coat from the road as she drove in.

The birds are back. The red wing black birds along the creek are perched on last years rushes, telling each other tales of their winter.  The killdears are telling us to move out of the barn yard now now now! Flocks of geese are nibbling up good things in the hay fields.  Startled horses staring at the birds, startled geese staring back.  Soon we will be watching for the nestings.  Geese and turkeys will begin their territorial warfare across the hay field to see who wins the right to stand on the rock.  One day two geese, four turks...next day 10 turks, 40 geese.

Still waiting for the return of the barnswallows.

"The Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario (COSSARO) has added the Barn Swallow to the list of Threatened species to be regulated under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA)." http://www.savanta.ca/index.php/blog/comments/Barn_Swallow_Listed_Threatened_Ontario

Hopefully the sandhill cranes will come back. We had a bit of a todo with them last year.  One got hurt and was very reluctant to let Jenn help.  Very reluclant, Dangerously reluctant.

Jon, feeling all handsome in his mud coat

Jacey, his paddock mate, clean and pretty…
 I wonder if she is impressed with Pig Pen there.
Maybe he did it for Penny?

                                 

nuthin ta say ...

 Can't say it's been a great winter. In fact it's been a very sad winter. My mom decided after 4 months of battling illness that she would shuffle off this mortal coil.  And I've had nuthin to say.

Maybe today I do.  A little rant 'bout cold morning coffee, being cold in general and tight barn clothes.  Winter morning routine … lay in bed; read a book, scratch a cat; roll outta bed; find sweater; make coffee; turn on news; fire up facebook.  New spring routine … get dressed, completely ! Find many sweaters;  make coffee to go for two; try to open the door with two coffees in hand.

River, new horse at the barn, having his breakfast

Its cold out !  And windy! What happened to Spring?  I realize last year was too warm, too fast but it was nice … Fields dried up nicely, played in the garden, lovely.  Every morning its minus 6, bah! I think I will have extra maple syrup on my pancakes because thats the only good thing about it.

So every morning I get out there, reluctantly… but once I'm there I'm happy.  All the horses nicker good morning to me (more like "there you are, 'bout time!" lol) Vern and I have a routine that gets horses fed, cats fed, (surprisingly Vern does that) all blankets on, most days anyway. There have only been a few nice days that the horses have been naked.  It takes an hour but it's an hour that charges me up.

Lily and Vern enjoying the one nice day we had

Heather returns soon.  My mornings will be my own again.  I will luxuriate in sleeping in and reading facebook with my coffee in my pyjamas again :) big smile.  Soon Vern and Heather will be off to work and the alarm will go at 5:30 …BUT hopefully it will be warm! 

As sick as Mom was and as little as she remembered, she always remembered Willy and his antics.  She liked horses very much and told me stories of her mother's horse who was a retired circus horse.  If Norma (my grandmother) was unfortunate to be uptown when a parade went by, her horse joined the parade no matter what. Hilarious!
Memorial for Pat Taylor in Gravenhurst on April 13, 2013

Sounds of the season

First thing in the morning, which is second thing for the horses because Heather has already been there hours before and fed them breakfast, okay ... when I walk in, first thing I hear is quiet nickering.  Some of my four legged friends are saying "hello" or "its about time!"

The next thing I hear is all the stomach rumination of everybody's horse with my head pressed against bellies as I fish around for straps on blankets.  I can hear all sorts of gurgling and grumbling.  Is that normal?  What's going on in there? Does your mom know 'bout this?

Overhead a small army charges by. The sound of sixteen little paws trooping out of their hidey hole, running downstairs from the hay loft, looking for breakfast.  They are very loud, considering how small they are.

Then there is a terrific banging.  Ben or Lily, one of them is getting impatient and is kicking the stall door. "BEN" I bellow.  Champagne rattles her door.

Slurp,  slurp,  Jon is sucking his lips, I think.  I don't exactly know what he is doing but it's annoying.  I bellow at him too.

 Zoom, slide,  bang, stall doors open.  Clump clump, geldings go out.  Tingle tingle, chain on the gate as I open it up to the paddock. Clippity clippy, mares go out.

I watch for a while.  Their morning "hi, how are ya"  to each other is often amusing.  On this day the snow was falling quite heavily.  There was a silence that you could feel in the heaviness of the snow.  A dampening of all noise.

Gotta get moving, there's work to do.

I start mucking stalls. I rarely, I mean never, do all the stalls. I figure I am there to help and anything I do is a help.  There is a slow plop plop sound.  I say slow because it's the sound of poo balls slowly rolling out of a wheel barrow that is too full and back on to the ground.  Too full because I don't want to wheel my barrow out to the manure pile when I have just a bit left to go, plop plop, arrrrrggg









In the evening, when the horses are all back in, there is a slurp slurp, ten times over as all the horses eat their supper.  It is very loud and earnest, like it has been days since their last meal not hours.

Standing in the barn at the end of the day, the last thing to hear is a quiet grind grind grind as the horses eat their hay.  Its a lovely peaceful sound.