I was working on a new video yesterday and things were not going smoothly. To top it off Sassy had chased a mouse upstairs and was now chasing it around the room. She would catch it, let it go, bat it once or twice until it ran off, and then chase it. When you live on a farm and you need to concentrate this chase scene can be very annoying. The little field mouse was exhausted. So I scooped up the mouse into a plastic container and released it into the woods.

Our young colt, Apollo, was feeling the urge to be a breeding stallion today. He was hanging out at the gate where he could see the mares and was calling to them. They did not call back so I don't know what triggered this. He was a challenge to bring in this morning but I got him in by keeping my cool and convincing him everything was okay. Patience and calmness are a necessity when handling excited horses. He hasn't done this before so we will have to watch him carefully.

Yesterday I spread the last of the 75 tons of gravel on the road and at the gate for the horses. Then I noticed that the wheel on the bush hog was broken and the front tire on the tractor was flat. I recently replaced that tire so it must be a puncture. What a pain in the butt!

I couldn't help but notice a toad and a wolf spider had taken up residence in the barn aisle. I haven't seen any insects but these fair weather creatures are a pretty good indication that warm weather is here to stay.

I made an emergency analysis and fix to our plumbing and my wife is saying, “You're the man!” She really likes her shower. I won't tell you what she is like when she cannot get her shower.

Our house is actually a combination house and barn. This can be really convenient if taking care of horses is a high priority in your life. It does have its drawbacks though. Around the evening feeding time my wife came upstairs to take a shower and watch Oprah and the news before dinner. Then she started screaming, “There is no hot water!” I was sent off to investigate. The water heater sounded like it was heating and the washing machine was not running. Then I found the culprit. The girls had used the hot water to fill the water buckets for the horses.

We donated another broodmare to Virginia Tech yesterday. We bought her in foal and kept the colt. We need to wean our two young colts and do not have enough stalls. We decided it will be a long time before we breed again. There are just too many young horses on the market and not enough buyers. The drive was beautiful and we made it in record time, a little over 6 hours. We had a nice meal last night and then returned today.

The last time I saw this guy was last winter when our pond was the only water not frozen over. I am not sure why he has returned. If he likes me he has a strange way of showing affection!

A couple of years ago I thought I needed an air compressor but wasn't quite sure why. I bought a paint sprayer that I didn't use. I bought an air nailer and an impact wrench I occasionally use. The most common use of the air compressor is to fill up tires. It seems like all of the tires have a slow leak. In a way I am glad to see all that I have more use for the compressor than I originally thought. The bad news is that by thinking about the air compressor reminds me how much I underestimated the work involved in keeping a farm running.

Isn't she pretty!