The race to beat the snow continues, so we are working outside every minute that the weather will allow. It’s exhausting, but we might be, sort of, maybe making some progress. There is supposed to be freezing rain and snow tomorrow, and we knew it was coming, so we’ve been non-stop on shelter for the horses for the last few days.
The horse house has been a disaster for months now. We (stupidly) tried to build something too big for us to manage. 12 foot by 12 foot by 24 foot was just too big. We also weren’t putting in a floor, thinking that would be better for manure and urine. But we had a big windy storm a couple of weeks ago, and it went crashing to the ground. No one was injured as the horses were out in the paddock so we could work on it, but still. They were then without any shelter at all during a really windy and wet three days, which was horrible for them.
So we started over, and at least all the wood was already milled. This time we are going for a simple 12 foot by 12 foot by 8 foot structure. That we can handle. But still, because the snow and freezing rain is coming, and I can’t stand the thought of them being out in it exposed, we have just been working non-stop. It’s exhausting! We worked outside tonight until it was dark, but at least it’s to the point where they have a roof and sort of three sides.
We still have one more sheep shelter to build, and a place for the pigs, which we have decided is going to be the Pig Palace, to match the Horse House. We’d hoped to have the sheep breeding already, so that we’d have lambs a couple of weeks earlier, but we just aren’t ready yet, sadly. We then have to do all of the getting ready for winter stuff that we always had to do before we had critters, like firewood. Oy.
This farming stuff is hard work!