Another new horse joins the herd

I woke just after 6:30 and decided there was no point in rolling over again. A little Instagram scrolling with my coffee set the mood for the morning. By the time the “prince” finally woke around 8:30, he made his coffee and happily lounged in bed with his X while I got a jump on marketing and blogging.

We both headed out for a quick hot tub soak before my shower, then got dressed for the day ahead.

By mid-morning, S was off driving the tractor into town for repairs, while I finished tweaking yesterday’s blog post. I headed in to pick him up but passed him on the way, which worked out perfectly — I even squeezed in time to grab fresh bread for BST and scoop up Cooper. I found S at Napa picking up bolts, and by 11:30 we were back at the ranch.

No rest for him — S jumped right into the swather to start cutting the winter pasture, while I uploaded a batch of photos for upcoming blog posts. At some point, I headed out to cut a dark sunflower bouquet (all volunteers this year!) though I might have picked at the wrong time of day… we’ll see how they hold up.

By noon, Donny rolled in with the rake, and after unhooking it the two of them settled on the deck for the obligatory beers (plural) break. I stuck with my blog work until their visit stretched on longer than expected, then gave in to the blazing 26 degree sun to hand water my planters and tomato beds.

Around 1:30, Donny dropped S back at the swather and I rustled up a lunch for him. The dogs and I delivered it to him in the winter pasture, where he was cutting away. While I was there, I opened the house paddock gates so he could mow down the long sour grass. The horses were definitely eyeing the open pasture, but not quite cagey enough to sneak through — lucky me.

By just before 3, S wrapped up cutting the winter pasture and the draw near the gate and swung back in to fuel up. We debated tackling the rest of the pasture but decided instead to post an ad to sell what we had — and sure enough, the inquiries started rolling in almost instantly. With that handled, S headed off with the skid steer to tackle the jungle of weeds on the south side of the pit while I kept plugging away at laundry (solar days mean laundry marathons!). The thermometer climbed to 28°, so the timing was perfect for things to dry in record speed.

weeds be gone

looks much better 

Supper, however, turned into a bit of a fiasco. We threw some bacon on the BBQ — only for S to decide it was the perfect moment to call a bale buyer. He does love to chat when there’s a deal on the line, and before long the bacon was beyond crispy… $7 worth of charred, smoky regret. Thankfully, a frozen backup pack saved the day, though supper was fashionably late. At least the salad and garden-fresh tomatoes and onions were prepped and waiting.

2nd batch much better

Meanwhile, B asked if I could start feeding Bird, so I took care of that. She arrived not long later. I was walking to check the mid pasture water trough just as Dave pulled into the yard — trailer in tow with Jimmy, the new steed. B was over the moon. She’s had her eye on Jimmy since he was two, and now at eleven, he’s finally hers. With his previous home in chaos and needing to downsize, the timing was just right. Big thanks to Dave for hauling him here and staying for a golden-hour visit full of race talk and his plans to move east this fall.

Here's Jimmy AKA Retro's Mystery

check out his lifetime wins!

By around eight thirty, B and Dave headed out. Inside, I cozied up with my book while S scrolled the internet and worked his bale and hauling deals. Hard to believe it’s already dark by nine — feels like summer is slipping away a little too quickly.