What a weekend. A whole lot of stuff happened and I finally got out of my conference coma kind of by Friday (it literally takes me a few days to get my brain and body recovered from being ON for a solid week running around and being customer service the whole week). So by Friday I started feeling a bit better. Read on to see all the updates from our busy as hell weekend.
Fencing 101
We had a busy weekend. First thing we started our electric fence installation. Mark has watched a hundred videos on this shit (I kid you not) and we have the solar charger installed already (of course today is one of the first overcast days we have had since I moved her. Life don’t do me like this (it needs 3 solid days of sun to charge up so we can use it). We have the step in posts where we want them. We got the grounding rod in the ground (after using 3 buckets of water to moisten the ground, we need more rain STAT). We just need to run the tape now which we plan on starting tonight. We are only enclosing part of the big field. First off it it is easier to do in bite size tasks. Second Remus nor Tate need hours on a huge full field. Third let’s see if this works before we shell out even more money on materials. So hopefully by end of the week, the ponies will have some pasture. we are putting it inside the old fence to keep them off the barbed wire as well. Building fences keeps a marriage together HA we may have bickered a little! 🙂
Tate Update
Tate is a good boy. He is a sweet pony but Remus is bullying him a bit. Grhh. Remus caught him in the stall this morning and considering Remus is three times his size I am pissed off at a certain buckskin. Especially CONSIDERING Tate is so polite. I am not going to lie, I threw a bucket at Remus I was so pissed (I missed but he got my point) HA. Tate is also a bit off but the ground is very hard (we need some solid rain) and Tate is barefoot. His trainer/owner says that he can get a bit footsore on hard ground. So I will keep an eye on him. I don’t want to have to put shoes on a pasture pet but will see. Tate also stands in the middle of the field instead of in his cool stall in the middle of the day so I locked him up yesterday during the heat of the day. Make good choices, Tate, not hot ones. Otherwise he is so polite and sweet, I love him.
Wasps 2, Mark and Michele 0
A wasp got me yesterday. I was walking up to the front to talk to Mark and it landed on my wrist and attached itself to my watch band and inserted its stinger under my watch band. IF I could have caught the little shit I would have stomped him to the ground. UGH. We have wasps in the barn who are nice wasps (well at least they don’t come after you from 30 feet away). These wasps by the house we cannot find where they are nesting but they are territorial and aggressive f*ckers. I am ready to burn the house down and chop the tree down to get rid of them there. It is right by our sidewalk as you walk up to the front door. I am thinking they may be in the tree but I can’t find the nest. We have sprayed the shit out of that general area. UGH. HATE WASPS. I wasn’t even that close to that area when I was stung I was out toward the field and he literally zeroed in on my and and hit me so hard the hit hurt almost as much as the sting. The only good wasp is a dead wasp in my book. DONE. We had the pest guy out TWICE and sprayed the shit out of all areas and still have them. UGH still have the ants too which is a whole nother story (but at least they don’t attack us)!
We Bought a Tractor!
I went to John Deere on Friday without Mark and got a quote then Saturday we both went to Kubota. And bought a tractor. LOL Our needs were as followed: I wanted a mid-mount mower. And a front end loader. And I wanted it to not be so big a tractor to be intimidating. Everyone kept telling me to buy bigger but I was like if I have a big job (like a huge tree falls or something) I am sure as shit going to HIRE someone to do that for us. I am not going to attempt to pull tree stumps or do anything crazy. This little tractor will cut our grass (both field and yard), the front end loader can move manure and snow (if we get any). It is is 4WD so we shouldn’t get stuck in the mud or in the field. It does everything we will need to do and more. AND it will fit in one of the garage bays AND was about 4k less than the quote for the same tractor (essentially) in John Deere. We had a John Deere in TX but I was like whatever works will work for me. ALSO they can deliver this week AND most importantly they are only about 20 minutes away and they service and maintain as well. SO tractor is bought. I can’t wait for it to arrive and me to start figuring it out and how to work it all. YAY!
The Snake Went Away
After throwing a bag of snake away into my tack room (that would have been a hilarious GIF of me creeping in with a Kroger bag full of Snake Away and tossing it toward said snake. Then me creeping back in to toss it closer). OMG. He was gone later that day. The stuff does smell but not sure if he left because of that or if his meals dried up. NO CLUE and am sure he is still around but he is at least out of my line of sight. I still tiptoe into that tack room looking like an owl spinning my head all the way around looking on the ground on the walls and the ceiling. UGH
Hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was busy and I am ready for a real weekend now. Wait, I have to go back to work? UGH (Okay my going to work entails me going to my home office but still!). I am off to Delaware next week for work stuff so poor Mark is going to have two horses to contend with. This should be fun! Not 🙂
Fat Buckskin in a Little Suit 
Fancy tractor! Pony ain’t bad either. 😉
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I want the pony to grow a hand or so. LOL I like the pony better than Remus right now 🙂 HA! And yes I am excited about the tractor.
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Pony is adorable. Tractor is awesome. Snake and wasps THE WORST. So fun following along on all your adventures!
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ha glad someone is enjoying the adventures: )
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Poor Tate being all nice and having Remus be an ass to him. Hopefully it settles for them both. If you find the cure for your wasps, please let me know. I have never been stung in 36 years on this planet and have now been stung 3 times in two weeks. I found the next inside one of our gates to the pasture and we will be using insulation foam up there to prevent access, but damn those things hurt.
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like I said when he hit me hurt almost as much as when he stung me. I despise them. I hate to spray but honestly those things need to MOVE ON. Sorry you are like the third person who i know who has been stung to death this year. I am hoping for a cold ass winter just to kill them a bit 🙂 HA!
Yes Remus is all like I LOVE YOU TATE I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU Oooh I hate you get away. Jerk. And when Remus slams a 13 hand pony I get angry. A simple ears back sneer would work nicer Remus. JERK. 🙂
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Lots of good stuff going on for you! Except the snake and the wasps. UM NO. As for the ants, I highly suggest the AMDRO ant bait crystals. They take the crystals to their queen and it kills the queen as well as all the others. We noticed a difference almost overnight, but I’m thinking it probably took about 3 days for them all to be completely gone. We had 3 different ant mounds (I’m actually of the worried opinion that perhaps they were all the same ant colony that is a giant network under our barn but I REALLY don’t like thinking about that for too long) and then found a HUGE ant mound in our hay barn. They’d been viciously eating our fly predators so we REALLY wanted to get rid of them. So far so good! (You just have to be careful with other critters and your pets maybe eating them.)
And I’m afraid to put Amber out with other horses cause she’ll bully them like Remus does lol. Bad Remus! Be nicer to the polite pony! lol
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I am exhausted just reading your posts these days! KUDOS to you and Mark for all your hard work around the “farm”. And OUCH, sucks that you got stung. I’d be so flipping PO’ed! Congrats on the new tractor, how fun!
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I am exhausted too 🙂 LOL
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I think I would the the snake over the wasps. Wasps are psychotic. I hope you figure out how to get rid of them!
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i can take the snake for sure better but am glad he is gone from my feed area. the wasps are evil and must be eliminated. (Yes I am talking like a Dalek now!) ELIMINATE ELIMINATE (if you dont watch Doctor Who no one will get this ):)
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Aw Tate is so freakin cute I love his little smooshy pony face!! Much nicer to think about than those damned wasps ugh….
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he does have a smooshy face and a pretty lame front right. GRHH…..i wish we would get some rain…..
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I’m going to steal the pony.
I am not going to take the wasps though. Ugh, what a nightmare!
Curious to hear how the electric fencing works out. I’ve always avoided it because I am clumsy and don’t want to electrocute myself regularly. But the lovely people who “installed” my fencing did such a terrible job, I may need to do that to keep the horses off it in the back paddock and the walkout. (The ring seems generally sturdy at least.)
Congrats on the tractor, I think you made a good choice. I know everyone loves John Deere (I have a gator!) but to be real, I think Kubota may make a better machine. I guess you’ll know if that’s true soon enough!
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for what we will use it for I am sure any brand would work. But i think the JD name has been pushing prices up for years. That was a huge difference in the price kubota priced us for the same thing HP and etc in John Deere we just couldnt argue with that. And them being local (I.e. next town over) even better I like to support the local businesses! (AND yes you can have my wasps).
that pony may be sent up north if he doesnt get sounder 😉 HA!
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PS i had a melt down yesterday because i couldnt find the off/on button on the charger. BECAUSE YES I electrocute myself often with these…..but since we cant seem to find any FENCE people near by willing to take a look we will try this. I have good pasture going to waste! 😦
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That’s a nice lookin’ tractor. I had to fix electric fencing at a camp I worked at and it was a huge PITA. Not a part of farm ownership I am looking forward to.
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yes i want real fences in the future. However, I cannot find anyone to take my money and repair/replace our fences yet. Seems like a dying act around here 🙂 And I DO hate electric…but i want them to have some pasture time. Disclaimer: they are only going out in the electrified area when I am home during the day (since I work at home this works for me) and then will be back in the stall or paddock at night. And I love my tractor. I want it delivered now! (They told me today or tomorrow i havent heard from them so am hoping TOMORROW)
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I like wood fences with a strip of electric to help them mind their manners, but repairing downed electric was my bane that summer. We also own a horse who walks through electric for funsies.
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Yay for the tractor! It was nice of you to commiserate and get stung and suffer alongside me! I’m still Benadryl-ing every 4 hours and had to buy a new pair of shoes since I couldn’t fit my foot in anything but slippers today. But, I can walk without a walking stick today! Swelling going down too quickly to be a yellow jacket 🐝 so there’s another mystery bug I’m allergic to…
Erik is jealous of your tractor.
Give Tate a kiss and Remus a hug and lecture from me, ok?
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Oh yay a Kubota! They make such nice tractors and I hope you really enjoy yours!! And sorry that you have asshole wasps! Geez can’t believe it attacked you when you weren’t even near its home!!! But at least you have a cute pony to look at and snuggle with 🙂
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I love this orange tractor 🙂
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I need a picture of you on the tractor, STAT. Like, YESTERDAY.
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ha I was on it when Mark got home yesterday mowing grass but I didnt get a photo of me on it 🙂 I love it. It is so cute but yet so bad ass too 🙂 I will get Mark to take a photo! 🙂
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Yes!
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I’m glad I’m not the only one who rage throws strange objects at my horses when they’re misbehaving! I figure I’m boss mare and I don’t have long enough hind legs to toss a good kick their way or a long enough neck to snake out and nip them so throwing things works just fine? lol
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yes i had a feed pan (floor one) that throws like a frisbee (kind of) 🙂 And strangely enough since the throwing of the feed pan (which missed him by a mile) he has been very well behaved with Tate. LOL 🙂 GO FIGURE….
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