OUCH! That's going to leave a mark!

Why does getting ready for winter have to be so expensive? Our house is heated with propane and I have been playing the 'waiting game' to fill up the tank for the winter. Waiting, because the price was really high over the summer...which is normally not the case, and the price has actually been making it's way down from the really, really horrendous level, to the only slightly less painful level. I am not sure why I called it a game, because games, by nature, are fun, and this is by no means fun. Not even a little bit. Anyway, we finally bit the bullet and filled up the tank on Friday. OUCH!!! For you non-country folk, here's the thing, we have a giant 1000 gallon tank sitting in our back yard that holds the liquid propane to heat the house and the water heater....1000 gallons of propane...for the bargain price of $1.95 a gallon.....plus tax.......you do the math...I can't...it hurts too much. Oops, I mean it was $1.95 9/10ths.....what's up with that anyway? Just say it's $1.96, who are they kidding anyway? More expensive things to buy~

I have more hay coming this week. I am lucky enough to have neighbors that grow nice alfalfa and keep it very reasonably priced, however, I am still going to need a lot of hay. A lot. Once I take all of the critters are off the pasture for the winter, I go through about 2 1/2 bales a day, plus grain. I have about 100 bales in the barn right now, and I will be feeding hay from now until...oh...April probably. I need a lot of hay. Anyone who has livestock will probably understand this, others, not so much, but I get such a feeling of contentment when I have a barn full of hay and I know that I won't have to worry about feeding everyone for the winter. Hmmm, I guess that carries over into the rest of my life too...perhaps you saw my post about canning...I froze 5 dozen ears of corn today, by the way....sorry, I digress....just thought you should know.


I have also discovered that some of my stock tank deicers are not functional and will have to be replaced. They are not hugely expensive, but still, am I the only one that has to replace these dumb things every year? I don't know what happens to them, but they never seem to last more than one or two winters.


I am done complaining now. In keeping with my attention deficit condition, I am on to something else now. Yesterday was a beautiful day at Farmers' Market, and being that it is held right along the riverfront, I was able to watch the pelicans flying in formation in the brilliant fall sunlight. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the lens that I want for my camera to get better distance shots, but you get the general idea. They are some of my favorite birds to watch in flight. So graceful.

Oh yea, other expensive stuff ( I told you I was attention deficit).

I need to go and get a new contact lens (yes, just one). I lost one of mine about 3 weeks ago and have been running around like a cyclops. What headaches?

While I was out riding one of my horses yesterday, I realised that my cell phone had fallen out of my pocket somewhere along the way. I had a pretty good idea where...somewhere out in my neighbor's bean field....in about a three mile radius. I looked and looked, came home, switched horses 'cause it was going to be getting dark, and I needed a faster horse...still couldn't find it. I headed out this morning with my husband's cell phone so that I could call my number and hopefully hear my lost phone ringing....somewhere out there. I only got about a mile down the road when I heard something....no, not my phone, it was a crack of thunder. Then I saw a flash of lightening.....yea, I want to be riding a wet horse in the middle of an empty field during a thunderstorm...good thing I had the fast horse, forget the phone! After it stopped raining I was determined to go out and find that flippin' phone. I got Jasmine (the fast horse) saddled, climbed up, rode to the end of the drive, looked down....huh, imagine that, phone was sitting at the end of our driveway the whole time, although now it is soaked with rain. Yup, I need a new phone now too.