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Foxtower wrote: "The survey left out horse riders, whose life expectancy seems to be decreasing fast! "Well, I'm not convinced of that personally. I have a photo of my grandfather on *my* horse, the last ranch horse he trained personally, when she was 8 years old and he was 80. My father was still riding and working cattle until he retired in his late 70s. Both my grandfather and my father lived to their late 80s and neither was ever seriously injured by a horse.
I've ridden and worked with horses all my life and my first 'hospitalizable' injury did not occur until I was in my 60s ... I've downsized to ponies now but have gone 'uninjured' now for 12 years.
Most of the horse people I know that have been seriously injured have not been injured by horses, actually. But then again, based on what my grandfather said, you aren't actually hurt if you can get up an walk!
Actually, I haven't even taken anything today, Foxtower. I won't say I don't have some twinges, but I'm getting around just fine. The crick in my back is gone, although I don't think I'd recommend Rascal chiropractic services.;-)
I agree with your grandfather, Sharon. If you can walk away, you're not really hurt. Most of our wrecks were freak things, but usually due to horses getting startled or doing something dumb. When you fiddle with big beasties, a few injuries are to be expected.
We've never subscribed to the idea of 'safety first'. Boring way to live. Take reasonable precautions & then go for it. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but it usually does. Honestly, I'd rather die quickly falling off a horse than lingering in a hospital bed.
Jim wrote: "I agree with your grandfather, Sharon. If you can walk away, you're not really hurt. "
I do still believe in this, but have to say it didn't quite hold true with my first *serious* accident. Got kicked by a stallion in the breeding shed.
Got up, walked down the hill to the house to call the mare owner and tell her I couldn't get the stallion collected and ship semen, which is probably 600 yards. Then back up the hill to tell everyone where to put all the horses. Then back down the hill again. About an hour later a friend of mine came, took one look and insisted I go to the hospital.
Six days ... broken ribs, punctured lung, ruptured spleen.
But I got up and walked!
Erin put away her horse with a ruptured spleen, too. The punctured lung is a bit much, though. Oh well, I never said horse women had any sense.;-)
Well, until I realized I was having trouble breathing (3 hours later) I was convinced I didn't need to go to the hospital.I do have to say that it didn't take them long for them to get me into surgery.
Not currently reading, but just pre-ordered: Mary Roach has not one but 2 new books coming out the beginning of April this year! The author of such classics as Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex & Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is coming out with Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal & My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places. Anyone who remembers her columns for Reader's Digest or has read any of her books knows they'll be wonderful. If anyone is interested in a buddy read of either of these, I'm there.
Got the 17 inches of light snow cleaned up and with the sunshine today the driveway already melted! It shouldn't last long....The poor old snowmobile had to plow through, and got stuck a couple times on the hill where it hit reisitance from the snow and then dug down to the ice below. At least being old it's light and eventually I found a spot to get traction.
Though it's highly unlikely the machine will throw me off I wear a helmet. If it was a horse I think I'd need body armor to protect my head and spleen!
Completed the new greenhouse cart today. Rather than heating the whole greenhouse (cloudy and at nite) when I need to start seedlings the cart is basically a box heated by lite bulbs and thermostat controlled, hopefully giving temerature sensitive plants like melons and peppers a good start!
Excellent idea with the cart. We got some flurries today, but further south & east they actually had the ground almost covered. It went down to 19 last night & never got above 30. Really cold for us this time of year.
Great catoon!The cart will save energy, and with limited storage I made it so it folds up from 62"x 27" to 27"x 27"! So many esential farm items are used only briefly in the course of the year, but I couldn't do without them, so storage is always at a premium. The new greenhouse cart will get a couple months use before it's put away.
Sunny and warmish today... perfect maple sugar weather continues and the snow is melting fairly fast.
I know what you mean about needing equipment briefly & then storing it. I need the chain harrow for a few hours a couple of times of a year. It's 8'x8' & can't be left out where the horses can get to it, but it's heavy and a pain. I fold it in half & hang it off a beam in the barn. I take the front end loader off & pick it up with that, then chain it up. Kind of a pain at first, but I've pretty much got it down to a science now.It was nice today, low 40's, sunny, & no wind for a change. Tomorrow it's supposed to get ugly as the day goes on & start with snow, end with rain & ice sometime Sunday or Monday.
Apparently cars aren't the big thing causing climate change. This TED Talk is amazing & really scary for the changes it does show. The solution is simple, but counters the popular view now.
I thought cows passing gas was the cause of Global Warming?Yeah, both the garden plow and the rototiller are used one day a year, but I couldn't do without them! My old tine harrow gets used several times, but when I dragged it out of the woods and restored it I figured if it had survived 70 years outside there was no good reason to store it inside. It sits on blocks where I can just hook up and go!
Partly sunny, warmish, with the snow melting.. and thank goodness the next snow storm will miss us!
We had a gorgeous day yesterday. Today is sucky & we might get a few inches of snow. Just above freezing & raining now, though.
We had a nice ride with Josh & Erin last night. I posted some pictures here:
Wot? No jumping? No Galluping? No lassoing 'dem doggies? What kind of ride is that? I am glad there were no splattered spleens!
Partly cloudy and warmish continues... a few more days of this and we'll be back where we were two weeks ago and I can play in the woods some more!
Snow all day today, but it was above freezing, barely. It's going down to freezing now, though. Yuck.It was a quiet ride since Erin was on Marg's green pony & Josh was riding with us. He's only just learned to ride in the past few years while visiting us & sniffing around my daughter. Topaz will take care of him so long as he balances on him correctly. If he starts hitting him in the mouth or bouncing on him, Topaz will dump him, so we're careful not to go too fast. Chip & I did some tearing around while the others trudged about, though.
We had a yucky day today, drizzly with snow showers, but most of the last 17 inches has melted! I went galloping once... or rather the horse went galloping while I bounced around hanging on for dear life!
But on the bright side if you decise Josh isn't the "one" for Erin just put him on Rascal!
LOL! No, I don't make those sorts of decisions for my kids. Erin told me Josh was planning to ask my permission to marry her. I told her to tell him to do so only if he wanted to insult me. The way I see it, I raised her as best I could into an adult & she has as much right to do what she thinks is right. I did the same with her brothers, even though I thought one was making a mistake. They did get divorced a few years later, but it wasn't & isn't my call. Still, he learned a lot from the experience. You know what they say, wisdom comes from experience & most experience comes from mistakes. Not sure how true that is, though. If so, I'd make Plato look like a dunce by now, I'd guess.
;-)
Yes, I'm in the same boat... lots of mistakes! Last couple days I spent refurbishing an old metal Vornado fan and creating a thermostat circuit for it so I can use it to cool the greenhouse. One of those projects I've been years contemplating and I finally figured what would work without spending a penny!
Of course, I STILL wired the relay wrong the first time.. duh!
Warm today... too warm! The snow in the woods is still too deep and mushy to cut trees.
Another bit of folk wisdom states that if you have ever been ill faltulence is a sign of getting better. That would make me the healthiest person ever!
You've all heard the news? GR has been bought out by Amazon. I'd guess that this is the dream Otis & Elizabeth have been working for & they have my congratulations. It is the pinnacle for most startups, to get bought by one of the big boys; Microsoft, Symantec, or Amazon. It assures their fortune. Unfortunately, I've never seen it do the product much good. I think this is too funny & directly to the point to pass up.
Never heard that being windy was a sign of getting better. Congrats on getting the fan going.We have a really big, very smart coon attacking all our bird feeders. It won't go into a my trap, so I'm making one out of a 55 gallon drum. I filled it 1/4 way with water & hung a dog biscuit in it for tonight. It may be smart enough to get that or not. The main thing is to let it get used to the barrel. I'm going to hang a platform of light sheet metal off a flimsy stick & put a biscuit on it. Hopefully it will hop down on it & fall in. We'll see.
Two days of real Spring weather here! Large patches of snow are gone and I finished cutting up the last of the damaged trees in the woods and started on the Spring pruning. I'm sure you have trees there like the red maples and birches here, that once cut, comeback with multiple shoots. It takes three to five years of cutting them back in the Spring before they're finally gone (too much work to dig up the roots!), and of course saplings once chiipped make great compost!
My solution to the coon problem would be to build a coon feeder!
Of course, in more practical terms either leave the dog out at night or spend a evening outside with Mr. Shotgun....
Amazon take over of GR... that doesn't bode well for free speech does it?
I don't want the coon around since they tend to tear up the dogs. Pretty hard to shoot at when horses could be in the way. I'll keep thinking... We had a nice day this afternoon after a drippy morning. Got a lot done. Even mowed the back yard some. Just the high spots & along the edge where I weeded gardens. Got the fish pond pump in, too. It's supposed to cool down next week, but I think we're over the hump thankfully.
Marg is back home & Mom did break her foot. She has to use a walker now. Oh, that's going to drive her nuts.
Yes, we do have trees like that. I've found if I cut them & then paint on Roundup mixed 50/50 with motor oil, they quit & rot pretty quickly.
Ugh...chemicals! I'd rather have the saplings for compost than dump on the poor environment. Cold and rainy day here, but the rain is helping melt the snow fast. Thank goodness I don't have to think about mowing for weeks yet.
What? Whose mother broke your wifes foot? Just how violent are those Tennessians?
Chemicals are great, if used correctly. They just get a bad rap because too many don't. They save a ton of work, though.Mom had a horse shy the other day & land on her foot. Broke it. Bad time of year, not that there's a good one, but spring is really bad. Too much to do.
Busy today with phone company issues though it was sunny and cold and perfect working weather. It seems it wasn't just me that had an extra $70 added to my phone bill this month. The fact that I kept a copy of the Lifeline Recertification Form ($7 local phone service for the poor, elderly and disabled) from last October doesn't matter to the phone company. No proof is acceptable to them.. if it's not on their often innacurate computer I owe them $90 because I wasn't "qualified " for the past five months.
But then while out and about this morning on the bus I met two other people, one elderly and one with downs syndrome, who also owe the phone company $90 because the phone company computer didn't have the form they remember sending. The elderly person at least had a very angry daughter get her excess charges refunded but I must not have gotten angry enuf.
What to do? Raise a ruckus! A lot of emails to assorted papers, politicians and government agencies.
If it was just me I could solve it.. but if everyone I meet on a random bus ride also has the same problem its an issue much bigger than just me and maybe all this "social networking" can accomplish something worthwhile.
I'm sorry to hear you had such great customer service. I hate that sort of attitude with a passion. Just makes me crazy. I'd definitely send your message out to the local politicians & paper/TV/radio. One of them might get the notion to look into it & even the phone company hates that kind of attention. Good luck.
Marg called me at work today. She was going to do the weekly grocery shopping & then pick me up from the Chevy dealership (My car needs work.). Then we were going to go to the John Deere place & Tractor Supply, but she said shopping was cancelled. She was riding Rascal in the south field when Lily came out of the woods & scared him. She came off & her foot got caught briefly in the stirrup. It was just enough to pull his saddle to the side. It went under him & he took off. He wound up going through the electric fence around the ponies' paddock, then jumped a 3' log jump & went tearing around the north field. Curtis, our 89 year old neighbor to the north, saw him & came by to find Marg still on the ground, although she was struggling up at that point.
Nothing broken, but she landed hard on her rump - the right cheek - & is somewhat bruised & battered. As she says, she's too fat & old to be taking headers off horses. I haven't noticed her slowing down on the riding, though.
So now I have 2 girls on the battered list! If they keep this up, someone might get the idea that horses aren't safe.
;-)
We had an interesting wake up call last night just before 2am. The coon that's been raiding our bird feeders got a little too cocky & the dogs got it. Amber, Pixie, & Lily were really doing him in before I got out there. I'm very proud of the girls. I don't think any even got a cut & he was pretty big. I was dressed in the height of fashion for the 30 degree weather - a bathrobe & boots. I put an end to the fight, although it was tough getting into the fray. They were all whipping around quite fast most of the time. Pixie was horrified & ran to Marg. Lily stood off a bit, but Amber just worried him a bit more to make sure he was dead. Now we can go back to our regularly scheduled bird feeding program. Yay!
See, you knew you were feeding those doggies for something! Now they've earned their keep.I don't think horses are dangerous... I think horse owners are crazy!
As per the phone thing: I'm good at causing trouble from the governors office to the FCC! Easiest solution, though more expensive, is to go to the cable TV company for phone and internet and to heck with the phone company (though I'm sure the cable company is just as bad service wise, but at least they haven't called me too incompetent to send in a stupid form on time!) (yet)
I caught part of Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows the other day. Downey said he didn't like horses because they were "dangerous at both ends & crafty in the middle." I can't disagree with him, but it does keep life interesting.;-)
It was definitely one of THOSE days, today. Missed sleep due to the coon, had an upgrade this morning that was a mess & spent the rest of the day not able to get anything accomplished.
Bad news on the car, but it was supposed to be ready at 4pm, so I came home, drove 30 min back to get it & found it wasn't ready & wouldn't be until tomorrow! Finally got home & the Internet service was down until 8pm.
Ugh. I'm going to bed very soon. Tomorrow has to be better!
;-)
Must be a universal phenomenon... While I did get some pruning done up to the snowline, I picked up a book at lunchtime and just couldn't stop!
Sunny but cold, so beyond intense work like pruinng I didn't really want to do the next chore in a cold shed anyway.... maybe I'll be more productive tomorrow too.
Gee, I never saw John Wayne get thrown off his horsy.... must have been off camera.
What book?Today was better, although barely in some ways. Work went better, although I wanted to strangle the production manager. Then I had to deal with insurance. The gal at work was scratching her head over how to handle Erin moving out & getting her own insurance what with an HSA & all. I swear, the government makes up weird rules to justify their paperwork.
I had a nice, quick dinner out with Marg, but I was late to it. It took them over 15 minutes to finish up the paperwork for my car that was supposed to be done 25 hours before. Grrr...
Got home & we fed everyone up. All ready for a great day tomorrow working around the farm with my dog & tractor. Might even get in a ride on my pony. That is always relaxing.
The book was Hominids, the first of the "series" that respects the reader in that it's a complete tale on it's own, though it was good enough to tempt me to buy the next one!I been bad... boy did I cause a lot of trouble with the phone thing! Hee hee hee!
I had a better day too, catching up on paperwork and getting some welding done. Sunny but chilly, so the snow line hasn't moved.
Don't even get started on the senselessness of government paperwork! It's hopeless!
I hope you have a great weekend playing with the tractor and riding the dog!
Busy, hard, but successful & gorgeous day. Got 23 tons of gravel & spread a few tons, got the septic pumped, but the big project was 25 tons of stone dust (I-Sand). I patched up the shed floors & gateways with about 10 tons, spread another few between the back gate & the barn, then piled another 10 tons or so for future use. It got up to 62 & sunny with a good breeze. I finished up the sand about 6pm, then went for a ride with Marg on our ponies. Actually, she rode Speedy. Rascal lamed himself the other day when he dumped her & galloped over rocks or something. At least we're guessing he has a stone bruise.
Anyway, great day. Lily was with me most of the time helping out. Right now, she's looking at me from under my bed. I think she wants to do something. I wish I had her energy. I'm tuckered.
"Hominids" sounds familiar. I wonder if he wrote a short story in the series, because I definitely haven't read any of the books.What sort of trouble with the phone thing? Congrats!!!
What? It's Monday already? Where does the time go.....For me "tons" become meaningless when spreading gravel as here it's usually sold by the cubic yard, though it is fun to sing "Sixteen Tons" while shoveling away. Sounds like you got ten yards of each...
Good for you... honest work for a change! If computers could be maintained with a shovel they'd be much more worthwhile...(WHACK!)
Phone thing: The phone company is all scared because the FCC is breathing down their neck, while local politicians are giving the high mucky-mucks a hard time. Does that mean myself and hundreds of others who were overcharged will get our money back? Doubtful. The trouble is, the phone company would go bankrupt again! What a mess!
I don't know about short stories around the paralell universe of "hominids"... I've never seen one.
Cold windy weekend... puttered on minor projects and of course reading (that must be why I lost track of time...)!
I haven't bought by the scoop in years, so I'll take your word on the conversion. I buy it by the dump truck load which they fill up as best they can. Considering their fuel charge, that works out best. The hardest conversion for me moving here was in remembering what to call the stuff. Stone dust is I-sand, CR-8 is dense grade. Oy!I agree with the honest work & often feel like maintaining computers with a shovel or possibly a pick.
;-)
Give the phone company hell. I can't stand big companies that just crap on the little guys.
One of those cold raw rainy/snowy Spring days. It should make a big dent in the snow thats left.I have one flat of seedlings ready to come out of the new heated cart and onto a regular cart since lettuce and early crops don't need warm temps. I just added pepper seeds to the heated cart.. the real test! Peppers need 75 degrees to germinate and 70 degrees after that. The heated cart seems to be working good, as today while the greenhouse won't get out of the forties the cart stays nice and warm.
Also pretty much perfected the cooling vent. On the cool days we've had when it''s been sunny it quickly drops the greenhouse temperature down a few degrees and then maintains it at 75. I added a weight to a swing open window on the other side of the greenhouse so when the fan comes on the vacumn pulls it open, and then it closes when the fan stops.
Still requires my attention, but it works great so far!
I overdosed on Star Trek! Halfway through the second season it became more of the same... no wonder it didn't last long as it already has a serious lack of new ideas. Started watching the other versions. The "Enterprise" pilot is much grittier and less sexist.
Though you got to admit, "the Trouble With Tribbles" was a great episode!
I wish we'd get some rain. Hopefully tomorrow night at least.That's awesome that your cart & vent are both working well.
You can OD on Star Trek? naw!
;-)
Foxtower, if you told us how you rigged that vent, I've forgotten. Care to describe?
Busy busy busy... work all day and it doesn't seem like I've accomplished much. I guess the real measure of progress here on the farm isn't what I accomplish in one day but what's done when the snows return.Uh oh! Snows are returning tomorrow! And all it seems I've accomplished was to put away the snow blower and snow caster....
The vent is merely a powerful fan attached to a shelf in front of a window. I do have to open the window and turn on the control if it's going to be sunny.
We got some much needed rain today, but the temp is supposed to drop 30 degrees or more for tomorrow. Sunny again & then the weekend is supposed to be nice.
As promised the snow has arrived... though I can safely ignore it until it melts. It'll just be a couple inches anyway. (if forecasts are to be taken seriously)In order to get enough saplings for the compost I've had to start going farther back into the edge of the woods. In much of what I've done the last seven years the desirable trees are taking over and the saplings are few a far between.
Nice walk with the doggy and kitty back to the property line today with most of the snow gone. I hope someday to enjoy it more as the last seven acres are still a mess and I keep looking at waht needs to be done... oh well.. the critters had fun!
I see the national weather map with marked differences in temp and wonder if you'll once again need all the rain you can get... if you can dodge the tornadoes!
Keep your head down!
No tornadoes here, thankfully. Just 3/4" of rain. It did get into the 50's today, but the wind was cold & it didn't feel very warm. I guess the 70's we've been having kind of spoiled me.Hope you don't get much snow!
Three inches of snow, now quickly melting. Gentle moisture to help green everything up!We haven't made it much out of the 40's yet, which is perfect working weather. Our "last frost date" isn't until memorial day though once the garden dries enough to be workable I can start cold weather drops like peas and radishes.
I much prefer cooler temps later in the Spring... prevents too many 90 degree days later on!
Marg was just saying the same thing about the temperature, Foxtower. We almost hit 60 today, but it was breezy & it was cold. Still, a nice day & everything is popping now.
High 40's and cloudy with occasional showers/hail/sunshine etc. Good day to work inside cleaning the tower and half the garage! No time for arts and craft projects for a while....
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Next time try standing on the horse first before you attempt back flips!
Alas, the snow returns. Possibly 10 to 16 inches tomorrow. At least I got some cleanup done before it all gets buried again!
As to heatlh care: AARP March Bulletin March 2013; Americans are in poorer health and dying sooner than the rest of the industrialized world. Of 17 industrialized countries America ranked last for men (75.6 years) and 16th for women (80.7 years. Yet we spend twice a much as anybody else!
The survey left out horse riders, whose life expectancy seems to be decreasing fast!