This week at the Rescue

I'd like to start by wishing you all a reverent Remembrance Day.  Let us all take a moment today to be thankful for the sacrifices of our many service men and women who have bravely put themselves in situations that we can't even begin to understand, all in the name of freedom for all.

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This was the first week of many this winter that I volunteered in the dark. As such, there are fewer pictures. Here's how this week's evening went:

I got to the rescue just as Nicola was coming back from a lesson. I fed the pigs (all 5 of them!), then fed Bingo 3 flakes of his special fine hay (due to his heaves, which is almost like asthma for horses, and his dental problems, he gets special hay), and I fed Holli a flake of the regular hay. I led Delta, who is one of the regular lesson horses, back to her pen, and then led Jack, who is new-ish but also one of Nicola's horses, to the pen as well. I fed Gracie, the second most skittish horse a treat, and when Amy (the Queen of Skittishness) came up to the barn entrance, she took a treat from me too. Amy wasn't handled at all until she came to the rescue this summer, and Nicola spends time with her every day to get her used to people. I also mixed up the next morning's food for Darcy, Dallas and Fin. I really spent more time talking to Nicola than I did working this week, but that's okay :) It was nice to catch up with her, as she's been busy the last few weeks while I've been there so we haven't had the chance to chat. We scheduled a ride for the week after next (every so often, she takes us volunteers for a ride to show how much she appreciates us).

Three of the four barn cats, keeping warm in the feed room. From left to right: Alvin, Blitz and Pickle.  Just as I took this picture, Bailey (one of the llamas) poked her head up to the window, but she moved as the camera was processing the image so I just barely missed her!

This week at the Rescue

(I apologize - this was actually my afternoon at the rescue last week.  Usually I can post these on Saturday, but this past weekend was too busy to hop online.)

This week, I got a little variety in my day.  I started by mixing the food for the three horses that are on special diets right now: Finigan, Darcy and Dallas.  Nicola has a special recipe for each of them, and they're getting fed three times a day in this cold weather as they try to put on some weight.  I mixed up two meals' worth, then took one meal out to them, which they happily devoured.

Finigan

Dallas

And my favourite, Darcy

Then I got to pick a horse to groom.  I attempted to catch another horse, Jewels, but she wanted nothing to do with me so as I trudged through the snow back to the barn (after chasing Jewels around her pen for ten minutes), I saw Bingo looking at me over his fence, and decided that Bingo was my next choice.  He's a very sweet and gentle 22-year-old, and if we were currently in the market for a horse, I would take him.

Bingo

Lookin' good!

This week at the Rescue

It was another super quick day at the rescue this week.  I cleaned Evan's stall again, and then hung out with him for a bit.  I even got him to eat right from my hand!  He's getting more used to humans, slowly but surely.  I then swept the aisle of the barn, which needs to be done regularly, especially when there are animals in the stalls (as that means that hay and/or straw is being hauled in to the stalls, and you can't help but lose some of it in the aisle on the way there).  I didn't mind having a quick day this week, as I had some other running around to do in town before heading home to see Jordan before he left for work.

Fall at Lone Pine Farm

We are now well in to fall; I can't deny it any longer.  The leaves are changing colour and falling off the trees, the sun is feeling weaker, and we are expecting that the highest temperature next week will be around +5 C.

The chicken coops and a grain building

Our silver poplar

As the weather gets cooler, I start thinking about soup more often.  I made another big pot of Butternut Squash and Sausage Soup, and this time I tossed in half a green pepper we had in the fridge.  It was tasty :)

With a cheese breadstick from the store

Mmmmm sausage and green peppers

Our neighbour has three Black Angus cows, who will likely be going for slaughter soon.  Zim doesn't usually notice them, but this past Wednesday, they came right up to this side of their field, and Zim went NUTS.  I had to stop him from crawling under the fence twice!  There's a field between the road and the cows, and the cow field is kind of hilly, so often they are out of sight, or can't be seen from Zim's eye level.

"What are those?!??"

One night last week, Jordan was outside with Zim and I heard a quiet "pop" then small, hard objects hitting the logs on the side of the house.  Jordan came in and said that the lightbulb we had outside exploded.  Luckily, he wasn't standing near it at the time!  So last weekend, we picked up two motion sensor lights.  We ran in to some problems trying to install this one, so I talked to my friend and coworker (who is also an electrician), and she gave me some very helpful hints for installing it.  So Wednesday, I put it up :)

Shedding some light on the situation

The furnace/fireplace is coming on more and more often, and the heavy cast iron top holds the heat for a good while after it's turned off.  The cats have taken to hanging out on top of the fireplace, where they enjoy the residual heat.

Even the cats know it's fall; they're spending more time on the fireplace

This past weekend, Jordan and I worked together to install a soffit to increase the air flow in the roof to try and prevent ice dams from forming this winter.  Between the existing soffits, this new one, and the vents Dad and I installed, we're hoping we won't run in to any problems.

Soffit

Zim and Doodle were also on an extended, 5-day playdate last weekend, and I'll have some photos in the next post.