abby « Robin Writes

It’s important to prep for everyone, animals included. Our outdoor/indoor cat, Arthur, has a nice, cozy, straw-filled house on the front porch with an old towel and an old thermal curtain. She does, however, come inside at night when the temps are below freezing. She’s also very fluffy.

Doesn’t need coaxing anymore, either.

Our indoor/outdoor cat, Wilson, is in his element out here. Can’t hardly keep him in, which I prefer to do between sunset and sunrise, at least. He’s a Maine Coon and twenty pounds of muscle (and fluff), so he pretty much calls the shots.

And while the almost-four-year-old puppy loves to go outside, particularly for walkies, she’s pretty picky about going outside to do her business. Weather doesn’t seem to faze her, especially since she’ll just jump in a lap or snuggle in a blankie—or bury herself under the bed pillows—to warm up.

For myself, if the wind isn’t too bad and the sun is out, or mostly out, or even a tiny bit out, I can manage. Particularly since I just got a new Carhartt coat. Holy cow, how did I manage without it? That plus gloves and earmuffs, and I’m set. For windy days, or too much time on the ATV, I have a ski mask.

Also, the greatest socks in the world . . .

The big thing you have to remember is to stay hydrated and warm up every now and then. Even if you’re not sweating, you still need fluids, and while warm drinks are great, be sure to keep up your water intake.

Right now, we’re prepping for our new horses, arriving within the week. I think. I hope. Not entirely sure yet . . .

We’re building a run-in shed, 10X16, with metal siding and roof and of course, a wooden kick panel on the inside. Contrary to the common wisdom of facing south, ours faces east. We seldom get weather from that direction, and our prevailing winds come from the south/southwest. Picked up a couple bales of straw for the flooring, and we’re about ready.

Our weekly town trip included a stop at our local MFA for feed buckets, a mineral block, and a few vet supplies. Might not need those last, but these mustangs are coming from a range in South Dakota under very harsh conditions, and eventually, at the very least, these things are good to have on hand if you have any livestock at all. Cuts and scrapes from fencing, sticks, fighting, and the odd incident—I once had a horse with a pretty deep “butt cut.” Yes, right THERE. Not even sure how that one happened, but it was a good thing Bingo was a very steady mare, because dressing that thing would have made any other horse completely psycho.

And yes, just like for people, water is important. We have inside and outside water for the aforementioned small critters, and a nice, deep tank for the horses. It’s unlikely to completely freeze, but no, we don’t use a heater—we do it the old-fashioned way, with a hammer and a few whacks!

We’re winding down for the winter—thank goodness! While I’ve managed to keep up with my PT and stretches, my range time is way down the last few weeks.

The fence is now livestock-proof, although I’ll feel better when I finish putting the third screw in all the boards; I’m about a third of the way done with that. The gates are up and the latches/chains installed. And yesterday, we had a horsey visitor!

Just for a half hour or so; the neighbors stopped in for a few. The poor thing hadn’t been ridden in over a year, I think, but she sure liked the new grass coming up! She did NOT like the saddle . . . Maybe I’ll have a new client.

We also have the greenhouse up and anchored. I brought my hanging baskets over there, along with the herbs, and I planted some cilantro and oregano. I’ll be bringing in my late pepper plants too, and have some other seeds to start for the winter.

So far, and we’ll see after tomorrow if we get the expected 30 mph winds, it’s a great little greenhouse! Coated steel posts, heavy plastic, and easy to assemble—we kept thinking we were doing something wrong, ‘cause stuff NEVER works out this fast!

The temperature monitoring is going to be the real challenge, though. It’s gotten as high as 115 degrees in there, but nearly as low as the outside temp early in the morning before the sun hits it. I’d been opening the window for an hour in the early afternoon, but I’m going to re-think that. I’ll keep experimenting, and yes, I have a spreadsheet!

What’s left in the project department? Well, the holidays are coming, and we’ll like convince a kid or three to come visit, so now I’m looking at the house again. The plan was to build a sofa table and a coffee table, and those will come in handy in the next month or so . . . and I just realized we never stained the bed steps (for the dog) after my husband built them, um, a few years ago!

And we’re still trail-breaking. The goal is to go around the property, and have a few lead-ins from the house and barn areas. The East Trail is done, to the north, and we’re working on connecting it with the North Trail. But yesterday we went west; we hadn’t done much exploring there except the perimeter, and man, that is some rough land! Very pretty, though: