Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Life on the Other Farm

So I mentioned having interviewed for a job, that I haven’t had one in about a year. So I accepted it and promptly turned around and found a different job. A job that paid more. On a horse farm. How cool is that? It only took me 27 years to get back here.

But this week I have two jobs. Which is not very cool. Oh well.

The barn job looks to be a largely non-stop nine or ten hour day -- feeding, bringing in from turn out, watering, turning out, mucking, barn maintenance stuff, field maintenance stuff, more mucking, bringing in, feeding, turning out, topping water, haying for night. If the vet or farrier comes, add that. If it is cold, add blanketing. Lots of different people at this barn, but it’s relaxed and pretty quiet. Of course, I’ll just be two days a week.

Fringe benefit is plenty of manure. There might be more fringes but we’ll have to wait and see on that. A 47 year old girl can still dream. And clean and oil her tack.

But I do have some other thoughts. Like that I am 47 years old and that I can still do that kind of hard day’s work. That’s pretty good testimony for 17 years of a hard working, active farm lifestyle, eating mostly real food, avoiding diagnoses and doctors and the like. And I do so value those 27 years gone by and how it has left me less earnest about the whole horse thing, more joyful. I don’t seem to have lost a great deal of competence, at least nothing that won’t come back. Not that anything I’m being asked to do it actually hard. But you can’t be stupid around big, sometimes high strung and gosh darned expensive animals (we’re talking Friesians and Hanoverians and Thoroughbreds and Quarters and Gypsies here) that don’t belong to you either.

Even around chickens or rabbits, it is best to not be stupid.

Here it is still so dry. So dry. And hot. Freaky hot. We usually have maybe 5 days over 90 degrees and this year all of August and most of September has been over 90 degrees. Our normal would be 70 now, not 90. We’ve opened the field we usually use for January grazing, and are talking to people about hay now although we won’t need it for at least a couple of months. Even the big creek is little more than a trickle. It is just almost scary. Couple that with the plunging dollar, inflation that the fed wants to ignore for the sake of Wall Street, peak oil, and other things and what do you get? A really good time to not have your head in the sand I’d say.

16 comments:

Christy said...

These are the things that make me panic. I can feel it coming, things are going to change big time soon and we need to be prepared. Unfortunately, I'm still stuck in the suburbs waiting for my husband's job to transfer us so we can get out farm. I feel like time is running out and I'm not sure what to do about it.

Madcap said...

It lights a warming fire in me when you talk about your horses. I'm so happy for you!

Cielo said...

How did you get older than me?

Heather Jefferies said...

Well I don't know when you turned 47 but I had 46 in my head, so happy birthday, CG!!!

I love what you write about the animals. It's best not to be stupid around any of them, but the big ones, well that's something else all together.

Um, two jobs, you're still at the other place, aren't you? If I could bake your bread and send it I would. Hang in there and find some equilibrium.

FHB said...

Proud of ya. Us 47 year olds can still pull our weight.

CG said...

ok, ok, I'm 46. For some reason, I always add a year. I guess it makes me feel younger or something. My husband makes wild fun of me because of it, and now you can too.

I just agreed to work next week at the non-farm job because they really are short. So that's two weeks of basically working full time but in a lot of ways, it's good for the family to learn what life is like without me. It is not so good for me when I get home and no one thinks any of my chores were important enough to do, or that I was important enough to do them for. Oh well.

and fathairy, I think not having a whole lot of extra weight to pull is a key.

Cielo said...

Sorry, sorry, sorry....I didn't know, but weirdly enough, I think I understand what you're saying.

(sprinkling fairy dust)

Pouf! You're 47!

clairesgarden said...

nice to have a job that involves horses.

Wendy said...

We're having weird weather, too. Here it is almost October, and I still have tomatoes on the vine. The other stuff concerns me, too - the economy stuff, and even though, like Christy, I'm "stuck in the 'burbs", we're definitely making changes to our lifestyle. I think in ten years it's going to be those people who own their homes who are the only ones who don't feel the big squeeze. You're going to be golden, then - self-sufficient, hardy and healthy!

Ren Allen said...

Pulling my head out of the sand is making me feel a bit overwhelmed. sigh.

I think changes are a comin'.

Woody said...

I know all to well what you mean about getting stupid around large animals. I had an outbreak of dumbassidorkalot this week, and paying dearly for my lapse in judgment.

Omelay said...

free manure, your garden is saying yummy right now.

k-)

CG said...

Well, we've always gotten "free" manure, but this is free from any (extra) transportation costs. And it is regular, you know, I'll be bringing it home every time I go to "work". It is amazing stuff. Leave it in the truck overnight and it is already hot, with fungus growing all through it in white threads. Amazing.

And Woody, ouch.

Joe Tornatore said...

always horsing around.

Heather Jefferies said...

And the joke is definitely on me, it wasn't until I had the photo enlarged all the way that I could see it was you and not the clone! You look fabulous!

CG said...

that's what an out of focus photo will do for you! LOL!