The new year

I have to say that this year feels a lot like last year, only colder. And muddier. The area where the sewer dig occurred has that gluey, straw embedded mud that makes your shoes or boots weigh 20 pounds each as the mud oozes higher and higher. Yuck. We had to clean them with a putty knife.



The farrier came yesterday and trimmed the horses' hooves.


The dogs just love that because they like to chew on the hoof parings after the horses are back in their stalls. Let's forget the other things the dogs like to eat... that's yucky too. This seems to be today's theme. My friend Pixie is always amazed when I recount all the cost of having horses (hay, grain, stall bedding, foot care, etc.), and the amount of work entailed in keeping them at home. I don't think of that much, but of course the horses do tie us down; it's hard to find a horse sitter; a *house* sitter is a snap in comparison. These will be the last horses I have, I think. I've enjoyed them immensely, as I have the dogs, but life would be so much simpler without either. And as for the cats, there are far too many of them in the house, more even than the strays that adopted us at the barn. This is what happens when I go to the pound to get *one* kitten; I come home with three. But their personalities are so different, for example the ones that want lap time and the ones who jump off your lap immediately. I just wish the shedding didn't coat the house and us with hair whenever I skip a thorough vacuum job. Yuck, again. I've worn out four vacuums over the years. In fact, one less-than-thrilling Christmas I got three vacuums for gifts (a small one, a medium and a large, sorta like Goldilocks without the porridge), I ask you? It is funny (or not) how a woman goes from being gifted for herself and becomes an extension of the house? Anyway, I am forcibly reminded of why I prefer autumn to winter.

A photo by my daughter:



Bumper sticker for the day: "What would MOM do?"