My adventures with Marie – without Marie! day 2 – written for February 14, 2015

Today arrived at the farm early.  Had to go to Pembroke and friends coming this afternoon.  So I felt rushed.  Arrived to find Mrs. Farmer ready and raring to go!  (remember Marie and Mr. Farmer are away leaving Mrs. Farmer in charge).  She had piles of wood in the house ready to be used.  Horse water-troughs were still half filled fro the night before, when she watered.  All horses happy and not paying attention to the volunteer from the city.  (when they are hungry and they see someone that feeds them, they let you know they are hungry!  Lots of neighing, etc)  Went in to the house and got hot water on the beets that have to soak for 15-20 minutes.  Went to check on the lamb, again. Brought the sheep/goats hot water.  They all had a nice warm drink.  Sure they appreciated it. So very cold out.

Mrs. Farmer offered to feed Kaz, as I had a lot to do, but I just can’t give it up! : – ). So, I fed Kaz, as usual.  He wasn’t his normal self though.  Max (miniature horse) was standing close by and got closer than Kaz liked and Kaz put his ears back and stomped a bit.  This is something for Kaz.  He, usually, backs off and moves away, when another horse moves in on him., but not this time!  Might be because Max is little, but I choose to think that the extra food, etc that Marie is providing is improving his health.   He was also de-wormed last Monday (??)  Makes sense if he’s feeling more normal he would now act more normal.  Still piles of hay that was given to them Friday.  They are covered for a few days.  Had a lot of fun.  Mrs. Farmer is cheerful and always has a funny story about something.  Kids, horses..etc.  I feel very lucky to be a part of all of this.

Weather network says it will be minus 36 here tonight.  Wind to be 20km an hour.  I’ll be so glad to see the end of February.  Hard on the livestock.  Hard on a lot of people around here.  Most people use wood , as the main source of heat.  Most homes are older and probably in need of insulation, etc.  It’s tough on them. Mrs. Farmer said, today, she’s in ‘survival mode’…while everyone is away.  We both laughed, but it’s true.  She is.