Not a Fan

 Another cold morning and again the weanling's automatic waterer had frozen during the night. I hauled buckets of water this morning. Mike left for Middle grove but was going to pick something up to fix it once done there.  Meanwhile I put a hair dryer in to defrost it for the day.  Mark was helping put the cover back on and both fillies in that paddock were fascinated with Mark. At one point they started nibbling on his coat.

I finally stepped back and took a short video of them checking him out.

After our walk I went up to the outdoor arena to build a fire pit for the hunters coming in as guests today but the blocks were frozen into the ground. A spade was used to loosen them. These blocks weigh 80 pounds each when they aren't covered with frozen sand and were awful to get moved. I was only able to get 3 of them in position. A load of split logs plus some kindling was also left up by the blocks. It is supposed to get very cold, I can't imagine the hunters will want to sit out by a fire. My next job was to drive to the Aldi in Pekin to pick up the ingredients needed for creamy chicken and wild rice soup. I made it home by 10:30 am, got the vegetables and chicken all chopped up and simmering by 11:15 am. At 12:50 pm the burners were turned off and the soup left to cool while I went to mom's to relieve Rachel. Mom and Aunt Jinnie were working on a book together. Mom was answering questions about her childhood and Aunt Jinnie was writing it down. Below mom was answering a question about a childhood friend.

At 4:30 pm Karin was home and Diane was on her way with supper so I left to heat up the soup for Mark for supper (it was still hot) then put the soup in containers to freeze. I have 10 of these quart containers and 8 of the pint size now in the freezer.

The hunters got a half gallon container to heat up tomorrow for their lunch. They are very pleased with the place and will be back two more times this year and want to book again for next year.  My last job of the day was to clean Valentino's stall and feed and water him for the night. Tomorrow I'll need to haul in another square bale. He is to leave on Saturday. It was snowing the entire time I was up at the barn. The wind has picked up and is buffeting the doors and windows trying to find a way in. I'm not a fan of winter weather