May 13, 2021
At the farm, my mission is to try to work smarter, not harder. I had to find an easier way to get around the farm. The truck although being 4WD has a lot of trouble, in the spring, climbing the slippery slopes of the Sanctuary hills. We are now down to feeding the square bales in the barn paddock and it is very wet and squishy. 20 bales are loaded on the truck. It isn’t too bad driving into the field. Coming back is the real chore. With ½ dozen kids in the back for weight, it is still a swinging, swishy, mud flinging ride back to the barn. We really need a vehicle that that will float over the mud. I called my neighbour, Dave Gallant, in Calgary for advice in hunting for an ATV. He told me what to look for, and where to look. He sent me to Toymaster, best reason in the world, his nephew is a mechanic there. I told them Dave’s requirements for the oldie and left it in their hands. A few weeks later we got the call to come and see a machine and check whether it would suit Yogi. My only requirement, was to be able to get on the machine, it has been a while since I could do the splits or any high kicking. You get the picture!!?? The farm is the proud owner of an Artic Cat Alterra 2017. And so goes the farm emergency fund and the pension for last month. I have named it “MEOW”.
I am not technical, I have to read and see pictures to find out how things work. My workshop drawer is full of manuals of “How Toos”. Of course I need the manual for “MEOW”. Online I go. Well I found the website, but it would not accept my passwords, yes!! I tried and I tried. Serves me right, I had some technical help last week. It was discovered that my passwords were very weak and my virus magician had aborted 72 attempts to give me a virus. Not one of them was named Covid-19. So we changed a lot of passwords. Now I cannot remember which goes with what and you only get three tries. I think I will change them all to “1 Damn strong password”, once I get all of this sorted out. In the meantime if anyone has an owners manual for the Alterra please send it my way.
It is chilly on the hill, but spring is here, the daffodils are blooming, and all the mares are having strong heats. Every gelding thinks he still has the equipment to do the job. Hormones, hormones, the ladies are not cleaning out their feed buckets, and all you hear is the mating call of heh,heh,heh between them all. They all have nicks and bite marks from the mating game. You would think that once they hit 20 plus years they would have passed the “Brains in Crotch” syndrome. Not so!! Nature is a grand thing.
Trailblazers finally got to work in the ring May 8th, it was sunny but a cold wind. Our kids are troopers and there was no complaining. We have a big trailer parked in the yard so part of the time was introducing the herd to the hulk in the yard. All went well not one kid or one horse minded something new in the yard. The true test will be when we meet transport on the roads. Life is all about preparation isn’t it?
Pass some kindness along. Love and hugs from Yogi and the herd.