Study or work outside

Its not that warm out yet this morning but predicted to go into the mid 50's and there is no wind so far. I have a test Friday and should get at least one more done in another class that I'm on a "self guided study" system but with so much to do outside it was tempting to just go outside awhile even though it was a bit bitter out.

I did get the rest of the old icky wire off the fence line and stood and looked over that pen a few minutes contemplating the next step. Its a long way from having permanent wood horse fence installed but Its not too far from shoring up with some good temporary panels and such to get it usable until I get back around to that area to work on putting in the permanent fence line, I really need to get it ready so I can move the Buddy, Ronnie and Summer there and perhaps Sugar can go in that area as well, its fairly roomy, has trees and overall a nice lot. That will get me down to Tuffy and Classic together in the barn and I can get him in a separate pen so he can loose weight and then Classic will have the barn and that lot to her self for foaling in about 2 to 3 weeks.

There are no dogs in the kennel now, save for Ebony who still has to spend most of her time confined but we had a great crossroads last night as this morning I found Clyde the peacock roosting in the rafters!!! This was the first time he has done this since the incident January 1st which caused him to be missing for 3 days and get severe frost bite on both feet, and eventually cost us one of the two hens who also was injured some day and never came around. But the fact that Clyde finally was able to go to roost at night up high like he should was really encouraging that all the extra time and care and taking water to him and food to make sure he was eating and drinking through the balance of winter may pay off with saving him and getting him back to some semi normal behavior.

I could go into the kennel area now though and remove most of the chain link panels/gates and move them into temporary pens for horses, a project for later on today or tomorrow afternoon when I don't work at the clinic. Time to think about gardening too. Now I just have to force myself to sit and study and get this semester wrapped up.

Rising Prices

This morning I drove through town and noted diesel fuel had gone up 5 cents per gallon overnight to $3.99. Two hours later I drove by again on my way home and it had gone up again..to $4.09. Then another two hours went by and this time it was $4.11. Unleaded holds at $3.28 for now. The rich continue raking in obscene profits while the rest of us continue to suffer in the mess this country has become in the last 7 to 8 years. They say to expect $4.00 or more gas this summer. Yet the oil companies are making all time record profits...what is wrong with this picture?

The weather continues to gyrate wildly. High winds and heavy rain today, snow forecast tomorrow. Are we past the tipping point for climate change already where there is no return? There seem to be endless piles of money for killing people in wars but never money for education or health care in our own country. 47 million people have no insurance and no access to health care (and don't give me the "go to an emergency room" line, no money, no treatment there either, unless you are in immediate danger they don't have to accept people without money and DON'T, I've seen people turned away.) 18,000 people die in our country each year because of inadequate access to health care. Each year that is 6 times the number of people that died in 9/11. Since 2001 then about 126,000 deaths have occurred because of lack of health access...think about it.....

A little sun at last

Today certainly started out cranky for me. I looked out the window when I got up, it was snowing to beat the band again, the ground covered with a blanket of white. Yuck. Cloudy, dreary. So I drudged through another wintery morning of chores, then headed out for the 30 mile drive to my 8am class, and of course found the temp was sitting right at 31 degrees, enough to make the road with "scattered slippery spots". Made it through class, then two hours at the student success center, then at 11 am I decided I needed to head back home and get a few things done and as I stepped out the door I found the snow had already melted, and the sun was trying to peek out.

What started out as a rather awful day, turned into a semi nice one this afternoon. Sunshine, mid 40's so I actually got some clean out done in the garage, before I had to go to work at 3pm. And in the evening after work I was able to spend a few minutes working in the yard starting to clean up some areas of leaves, tree suckers and overgrown weeds from last summer.

And the forecast is looking up to so finally will be able to get to that fencing, urgently needed is some fence repair so Tuffy and Sugar can move out of the barn and leave Classic alone as she is hopefully due to foal the first part of May!