Ducks 4 in '24

[ducks4you]

She has stabilized and stopped chewing on herself. 2 doses of bute/day will take a toll on her. Although I have kept the north pasture closed for almost one month, I intend to open it up to all 3 of them tonight. She has chewed down all "pasture" in the Inner Sanctum. I keep hay available free choice for her, and I moved the small water tank so that it stays in the shade longer in the morning. She hangs by it.
She can Still beat ME in a foot race!
Thank you for your kindnesses!

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

You’re very welcome. Horse owners have to stick together. We know the drill. They are family.
I am happy to hear the horse is better. A specialized farrier can custom make shoes to take the pressure of the hove area. It really helped for a while. Special shoes might get the hose off of bugs. How old is your horse. Keeping them off green grass helps with sugar intake , swelling and pain. Have you tried beet pulp feed much better for horses?

 

[ducks4you]

She is 26yo. I have owned over 30 horses in 40 years. For awhile we bought and sold bc we needed well broken horses that could handle gunfire, thus the high#.
We have owned her for 16 years and I have been through this before with handful of cherished horses that just got old.
My favorite, "Corporal" (unregistered Arabian), had a stroke, fell into the manger in the shelter and died there hours later. 27yo. That seems to be the magic number.
All of the other horses that we kept until the end took FOREVER to die.
Dogs do that, too. AND, cats. We KNOW that we will outlive them.
I console myself that they all have had a good life and don't suffer in silence in a strange place, but die at home, where they feel safe.

 

[ducks4you]

Back to gardening, less somber...
I finished getting tomatoes in...hoping for fruit in 2024!! Probably September, but, better late than never.
I moved the last 12 ft section of fencing over a couple of days ago to the back of the garage bed. It is a 4 car garage and pretty long. I Will get pictures bc nothing can describe how I corraled in tall asparagus fronds and managed to pound 3 more metal fencing stakes into the ground. The heavy rain the other day helped a LOT.
I extended the fencing with a rolled up piece of chicken wire that I found, nothing pretty, NOT even straight and leveled off, but UP.
I planted 13 more beefsteak tomatoes who had been waiting patiently for...something?!? to happen to them.
The bucket of old horse manure had become manure tea, which I emptied into the bottom of each tomato hole.
I KNOW that others don't dig out the bed with a spade, manipulate the weeds--in this case wild violets-which I threw into the lawn for fertilizer since I knew that they wouldn't spread like bindweed, then use a hand auger to dig holes for their tomatoes.
Here is the payout: all of the other 18 tomatoes in the ground no longer need watering. They have been joined by a sea of volunteer turnips.
Turnips are my new favorite "weed," and I intend to help them spread throughout the property.
Today I have a young guy coming out to chop down burdock. He gets to cut and load and I will unload onto my burn pile in the north pasture. I am hoping that the Inner Sanctum will be clear of burdock by this afternoon.
$cash is King when you want work done.

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

I have to agree with your assessment of aging out for horses 27 yrs. I had one TennWalker til 32 years till laminitis set it. Have had a bit of experience in taking care of our horses. Once they are suffering and all that can be done has been done …I call the backhoe to dig up an area for them, then vet for injection and horse drops right in , then the back hoe covers the area. Sad but a part of life with our beloved horses. Then I plant their favorite trees on their grave sites. It’s always a sad day but it’s more humane than suffering. Memories never fade and they always live in my heart. I miss them so much. I had Arabians , Tenn Walker and quarters. Long gone I aged out too , to old to ride.

Ok I used to make manure tea adding oxygen to the mix. Great fertilizer. Better than aged manure.
I remember one year I didn’t let the compost pile with manure heat up long enough. Looked like black gold ,
it was ready. Well it wasn’t still had tons of weed seeds busting out across the garden after adding several loads. Well I learned my lesson , using a soil temp gage was a more accurate .

I need to call tree trimmers out to check all my trees and thin them out a bit getting them storm-worthy for next winter. That way no surprises next winter or emergency tree clean up.

 

[ducks4you]

This weekend I got all of the 13 remaining beefsteak tomatoes planted in front of the asparagus.
I had a KILLER of a yardwork weekend!!
I hired a guy a know who chopped burdock in the Inner Sanctum, where my mare has been living, for 7 hours. I moved 10 tow wagons full to my burn pile.
Then a neighbor of mine showed up--he had told me that he would--to use my brand new DeWalt chainsaw. He took down the limb that was still hanging in the south yard, and chopped it up before transporting same in his pickup to the wood pile, THEN, he was able to chop down and chop up HALF of the larch that has been laying north of the house for a year.
He plans to come back Friday to finish it off. We offered him some cash, which he took, wasn't much, but he also wanted dried out firewood.
For his dad for camping.

HOW could I reFUSE?!?

 

[Shades-of-Oregon]

@ducks4you sounds like a very pro-duck-tive day. Don’t ya feel good when things that can be overwhelming get
done.

 

[ducks4you]

My sweet mare died on Tuesday evening. Looks like her heart failed and she fell over in the stall.
"Warrens Cindy," (1998-2024, RIP), aka "Moon Eyes"
THEN, no rendering in IL since 2019!!!
I was blessed. Guy I Knew, Contractor, was willing to bring his ginormous backhoe and bury her on Thursday. $200.00 which was unbelievably inexpensive. Job done, BUT, he hit a tile. He promises to be back sometime in the next week to repair. I had already moved the 2 boys to the north pasture, 3 acres uneaten for the last month, so plenty of food. I moved the small water tank there, just about to refill it.
It is WICKED hot today and tomorrow, then high of 77 on Wednesday and nearly a week of that and low 80's.
Guess it's good that I Didn't cut down the trees west of the west fencing. Good shade there.

 

[ducks4you]

21yo who felled the limb came back and took down 1/2 of the Larch on Friday. He also used his weed whacker around the SW and S part of the sidewalk. I have been TRYING to go outside to garden all day, but the heat has driven me inside. Humidity is over 100 degrees F right now.
Usually Eva goes to dinner at DD's house, not AC'd, except for 3 upstairs bedrooms, and I think that tonight I will leave her in the LR where the big AC unit will blow cold air on her.

 

[ducks4you]

Eva's breeder plans to have another GS litter ready around Christmas. I keep Telling Eva that she will have a little sister soon, but she doesn't understand what this Means:
1) somebody to cuddle with
2) somebody to train
3) somebody to play with that she won't hurt, like the cats
I think that when I bring home the puppy, Eva will "get it."