altivo

Really cool preliminary sketch by Lightstep here.

She's making him into a tag badge that can be worn on a chain or a collar. ;D

Thursday night it rained. A lot. We think we got three inches all in a brief gully washer. This is weird for February here.

I went out to feed the horses and turn them out, and Asher was standing in two inches of icy water in his stall. He's such a sweetheart, he never complains. I didn't even notice until after I'd given him his carrot and grain. Seems the water had overflowed the sills and concrete footings of the barn and run into his stall. I must say his hooves were really clean. ;p

Anyway, I ended up taking the day off from work so I could get the water out of there. Gary had classes in Dekalb and was already gone. The outside temperature had dropped to 21F and everything outside was frozen hard. The barn was at 31F but would certainly cool off during the day, so it had to be drained right now to keep it from freezing in place.

It wouldn't drain the usual way, all the drainage routes were blocked by ice. I had to shovel the water and muck into a wheelbarrow and take it out to dump in the woodlot. Six or seven trips (I lost count) using one of those big grain shovels that has a wide end and a narrow, deeper bowl near the handle. I could pick up about a half gallon with each scoop if I was careful. I must have removed a couple hundred gallons in the end. Anyway, Asher got new dry bedding and I'm really sore today. Fortunately it's going to be a quiet weekend.

REMINDER: Today is the last day for submitting Ursa Major Award nominations.