Two Girls and a Hammer

So.  April.  We need to have a discussion.  Freezing rain and sub-zero temperatures are not appropriate.  They are February's game.  You - your responsibility is pretty flowers and bringing the birds home.  Please get on that soon.

Today was...  One of those days.  Turning out was all sorts of exciting with ice covered with a layer of water making for very slick footing and branches crashing from trees making for *very* nervous horses.  And the round bales were covered in ice, which made them terrifying   Not to mention that it was could and pouring rain, making it lots of fun.  Both Steph and I managed to lose a horse, both for valid reasons, but catching excited horses in that sort of weather is way less than fun -- thankfully they weren't lost at the same time!  And at least they were smart enough to stay on the grass where it wasn't slippery.  And then of course once getting to the paddocks was the fight with ice-covered gate latches which is always all sorts of fun.

So cold and wet at my place is usually solved with hot chocolate.  But sadly with the lack of power, hot chocolate wasn't an option.  Booo.

So while I rode my pony (who was remarkably good after yesterday's silliness.  Tired much?  hahaha)  Steph and my dad started tackling stalls.  In the dark.  At least this barn has lots of windows!  While I was untacking, Steph was making up lunch by flashlight and mentioned my mum was coming bringing light.  Ummm, Mum doesn't ride till five?  But sure enough, not two mins later, my mum walked in.  Dad had called for reinforcements :)  She had more flashlights and a lantern!  hahaha it's amazing how big a deal little things can be on a day like this.  That lantern made so much of a difference.

About now I called hydro for the first time.  "We have absolutely no idea when power will be restored.  Call back in a few hours."  The poor woman was polite and trying but just had nothing useful to say.  I imagine she was probably not having the best day.

I needed a bag of feed, so I called the feed store to see if they were operating.  Their power was flickering in and out, but they could take visa or cash regardless.  Yeah for old-school :)

So while chores actually went reasonably fast, Stephy and I were both cold and hungry -- and with no power, there was no microwave, and therefore no lunch!  So we decided to venture into Guelph in search of food -- and passed Ashley in the driveway.

Stopped to chat with her for a bit, giving the heads up on the power situation and the likeliness that horses would be stupid bringing in.  But overall Ash had things well under control.  By the time Steph and I got back from lunch/feed store run she was finishing stalls and ready to feed.

Ashley's bringing in experience was comparably undramatic, *but* she discovered a tree had brought down the fence in one of the paddocks *sigh*.  Ash hasn't been working at the barn as long as some of the others and as a result isn't as used to all the random extra life skills required.  hahaha so I told her where to find a hammer while I put wet gear back on and we trekked out to see the damage.  While it looked very impressive on first glance (a whole tree!) as we got closer, it really wasn't so bad.  Between the two of us we got the branches cleared easily.  Actually hammering the board up was more of a challenge.  The nails were seriously warped, making it harder than normal to straighten them.  But far more of a challenge was the tree kept throwing ice at us!  Seriously - I was afraid we'd rate a mention on 1000 Ways to Die by the end of this.  And then we had the added challenge of tool selection; Ashley (not knowing there were options) had picked the biggest hammer -- while neither she nor I are particularly large.  hahaha I get mocked for my "girl hammer", but I tell ya, I'm way more effective with that then trying to slam this thing around.  But eventually the Two Girls and a Hammer (the title of our soon-to-be reality show) managed to solve the problem.  Sasha helped too -- trying to catch every piece of ice before it hit the ground.  Hahaha the bounding puppy was fairly entertaining to watch.

Anyways the world was good with only a few chores left to do.  Another call to hydro revealed they still had no idea when power might be restored (as of 7, there's still none) so I made the call to cancel classes.  Sad because I know several of the riders were pretty disappointed, but at least they understand.  No lights and no water mean the horses are not going to work!  HUGE thanks to Katrina for doing night check for me, so I didn't have to hang out alone in the dark and the cold waiting to feed the horses their evening hay :)

Made up breakfast as Ashley swept and then we headed out.  Was sort of amused that the one thing I really wanted while driving home was a hot shower.  Combat being wet with a shower -- the logic of that always defies me.  hahaha but we *do* have power at home, and it sounds like both girls do too, so the story has a happy ending.  And I'm forever grateful for such great working students and my awesome Dad.  Because doing today all by myself would've been all-sorts of no fun.  But with them, manageable and even entertaining at times.