life in three parts
Aug. 7th, 2006 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kirkcudbrighta. This was the weekend of Trivial Repairs That Took Way Too Long.
a1: The degus destroyed the plastic pan of their cage a few weeks ago, so Francie bought a cheap (where "cheap" is a relative term) rat cage with a metal tray of approximately the right size, and threw out the cage part. But a) that was a kludge, and b> they would soon need more space, so she procured a ferret cage. Well, the bars are about ¾" apart, and the young degus quickly showed that they can slip through that, although mature degus might not (be able or be inclined). (And, truth to tell, I've heard that ferrets can get through such openings as well.) So an emergency trip to the hardware store, 5 minutes before closing time, got us a length of ½" galvanized mesh, which we then had to cut, trim (it still put several holes in Francie's shirt), and attach to the cage. And it ain't never coming off.
a2:The chicken run that we replaced last summer because it collapsed the previous winter, also collapsed this last winter, also under the weight of snow on the non-snow-shedding aviary netting. So we built a third castle, and that one burned, fell over, and sank into the swamp... No, actually I just got some 2x4s and joist hangers, and reinforced the roof every 8'. And if that doesn't hold, then we'll either look for wide-mesh narrow-gauge chicken wire, or just leave the top uncovered, and take our chances. We do have hawks and owls in the woods, but the developers are taking away the woods.
2) In riding news, I've theoretically switched from a 1-day-a-week partial lease to a full half-lease (3 days a week), but I haven't decided which days I'm riding, and I didn't actually get riding at all during the week. But I did ride out Sunday with Laine, the barn owner, who's recovering from having been trampled a couple weeks ago, and recovering very nicely, apparently - we hand-galloped fully a mile from the last turning to the parking lot, and trotted all the way back. Afterwards, back in the ring at the barn, one of the new leasers had set up a row of cones for a pole-bending type of exercise. I took Cheyenne through them once under saddle, and once bareback, and I tell you, he's a natural (or he's had rodeo training) - he picked the absolutely more economical (fastest) line through them.
It's probably been more than a decade since I tried pole-bending, but it turns out what you need to do is not concentrate on the next pole, but the one after that. i.e. You can't think "I need to get around that pole", but rather "I need to get to that pole yonder, going around this pole up here", and you automatically get the best line. I don't ski, let alone ski-race, but I imagine the slalom racers do something similar.
iii: Aikido tonight for the first time in a couple weeks. It's been too beastly hot, and the Orc has been unable to practice, which has been part of our Wednesday night date for 8 years. It's less beastly tonight, but the gym is still not air-conditioned, and our sensei turns the fan off at the beginning of class, so he can be heard (guffaw). At the end of class, I was looking for a dry corner of my gi, to wipe my face with. The sweaty gi is one of those things that's not too bad when you're in it (and everyone else is in their own sweaty gi), but is revolting the instant you take it off. Since it's not going in the laundry immediately, it's hanging up to dry, in the bathroom with the cat box.
a1: The degus destroyed the plastic pan of their cage a few weeks ago, so Francie bought a cheap (where "cheap" is a relative term) rat cage with a metal tray of approximately the right size, and threw out the cage part. But a) that was a kludge, and b> they would soon need more space, so she procured a ferret cage. Well, the bars are about ¾" apart, and the young degus quickly showed that they can slip through that, although mature degus might not (be able or be inclined). (And, truth to tell, I've heard that ferrets can get through such openings as well.) So an emergency trip to the hardware store, 5 minutes before closing time, got us a length of ½" galvanized mesh, which we then had to cut, trim (it still put several holes in Francie's shirt), and attach to the cage. And it ain't never coming off.
a2:The chicken run that we replaced last summer because it collapsed the previous winter, also collapsed this last winter, also under the weight of snow on the non-snow-shedding aviary netting. So we built a third castle, and that one burned, fell over, and sank into the swamp... No, actually I just got some 2x4s and joist hangers, and reinforced the roof every 8'. And if that doesn't hold, then we'll either look for wide-mesh narrow-gauge chicken wire, or just leave the top uncovered, and take our chances. We do have hawks and owls in the woods, but the developers are taking away the woods.
2) In riding news, I've theoretically switched from a 1-day-a-week partial lease to a full half-lease (3 days a week), but I haven't decided which days I'm riding, and I didn't actually get riding at all during the week. But I did ride out Sunday with Laine, the barn owner, who's recovering from having been trampled a couple weeks ago, and recovering very nicely, apparently - we hand-galloped fully a mile from the last turning to the parking lot, and trotted all the way back. Afterwards, back in the ring at the barn, one of the new leasers had set up a row of cones for a pole-bending type of exercise. I took Cheyenne through them once under saddle, and once bareback, and I tell you, he's a natural (or he's had rodeo training) - he picked the absolutely more economical (fastest) line through them.
It's probably been more than a decade since I tried pole-bending, but it turns out what you need to do is not concentrate on the next pole, but the one after that. i.e. You can't think "I need to get around that pole", but rather "I need to get to that pole yonder, going around this pole up here", and you automatically get the best line. I don't ski, let alone ski-race, but I imagine the slalom racers do something similar.
iii: Aikido tonight for the first time in a couple weeks. It's been too beastly hot, and the Orc has been unable to practice, which has been part of our Wednesday night date for 8 years. It's less beastly tonight, but the gym is still not air-conditioned, and our sensei turns the fan off at the beginning of class, so he can be heard (guffaw). At the end of class, I was looking for a dry corner of my gi, to wipe my face with. The sweaty gi is one of those things that's not too bad when you're in it (and everyone else is in their own sweaty gi), but is revolting the instant you take it off. Since it's not going in the laundry immediately, it's hanging up to dry, in the bathroom with the cat box.
