Carrie - Hard at Work

All the nasty weather hasn't been conducive to a clean barn. Each night after work I make sure all the horses have what they need and do some clean up, but it's not enough. I play catch-up over the weekend, but, again, it's not enough.

But now Carrie's starting to feel better.

One day, she was sending me pictures at work of the progress she was making in the boy's lot.

You may not realize how much work is involved, but from personal experience I do. It's a lot. 

With the rain, snow, and general nasty the horses have all been sealed in their dry lots. The girls keep it cleaner around their feeder, but the boys are pigs. They drop hay, pee, poop, and even lay down and roll in it to make a spectacular mush. With effort, it's possible to fix on weekends...., but that's only if there's not rain, snow, and ice (Which we've had a fair share of).

Pro tip from Carrie: "If you see orange, don't breathe too deep. It's concentrated ammonia."

I can't remember how many days it took, but the boys' lot looked like a zen rock garden by the time she'd scooped and dragged it out.

But wait! That's not all! Please, notice the large slabs of frozen poo.

Despite days of trending warmer....

...the permafrost in the ponies' lot remained. Carrie went at it with a mattock to break through the brown, bust the ice, and haul it out together.

All this work happened over the course of a couple of weeks.

Carrie would work herself to her limits while I was at work. Exhaustion, pain, and/or soreness were her signals to quit. Some nights she was asleep before 7 PM. 

Recovery might take a night or a couple of days. I'd help out each night with chores and cleaning stalls the horses fouled while watching her work, plus something like 3-5 hours each weekend. Winter is rough when dealing with animals. 

I wish Carrie learned to pace herself better. Two hours of hard labor every morning and a break before going back out in the afternoon would be less exhausting and painful than a one day hustle of 4-5 hours in a row! However, Carrie's inertia based. If she's out there and working she wants to keep it up while she's got the will to do it ("Because I don't know when I'll have the energy again."). 

I'm glad she's feeling well enough to do what she's doing. Hopefully, spring will come soon! I don't want her to hurt herself again....which is something she can do whether working outside or in. 

Bonus picture: Carrie made beer bread and managed to burn herself popping a loaf onto a cooling rack. It was a fluke of flukes (or a "Critical Fail" in RPG terminology).

 It's probably going to leave a nice scar.