Water... the task of the day!

This morning I took the blankets off both horses and I will go check on them mid day.

As you can see I threw out much more hay than needed but better for them to have too much than not enough to get through that really cold weather.

While I made it through the crazy weather of below zero temperatures and beyond negative wind chill's my task for the day is making sure my horses get water.


Why is water such a big deal in my mind?
Well because the truck is still stuck! thus my back up program/ plan is out of commission.
and I'm worried the water box I created will not be sufficient for the incredible weather we have been experiencing the last few days.   You can see a previous post if you like...The Water Box  scroll down a picture of it is way down the post.


Remember...  I have never had electricity at the barn!
I have never had running water!  So everything I do depends on the basics of gravity, temperatures and the sun.  Archaic ... yes!!!! but it works most of the time and IF it works after these crazy temperatures of late; I doubt I will ever run electricity for them.  maybe solar as I get older but nothing that is going to cost me every month.  (but we shall see if it worked first)


My plan!
I will leave for the barn at 2pm with HOT water for the troft no matter what the outcome for the water.


I will uncover and hook up the hose pipe and leaving it down the hill I will see if I can get the water to run! If I can I shall waste water and clean the troft as quickly as I can with bleach then vinegar then rinsing in again and filling it to the absolute rim! 


Back from my mid day run to the barn.
Life did NOT go as planned, but all is well. 
Once I opened the water box and turned on the valve to see if it would run there was no hope of doing anything else.


The time above freezing today is short but allowed me to evaluate the rest of the system.
There will be no hope for at least a week to have water from the cistern itself.  So I went and got 6 gallons of water I will fill and trek in three times a day. 


BUT in order to speed up my recovery time with the cistern I have several ideas. 


1. I will OPEN the water box as soon as it is above freezing clear out all the insulation putting it in the sun as I did today.  I will then unwrap the extension pipe and put foot warmers from my emergency kit on the bottom of the box and lay the extension pipe back on it.  All the while I shall have the extension pipe open for a drip to indicate any progress. 


2. I the mean time I will be painting the over flow valve with FLAT BLACK PAINT and repaint the gutters going into the water container.  


3.  I also will open the debris trap and research more my hand pump I had on my to do list for summer. ? It is worth a try!


4. Before the heat of the day is over if the foot warmers are not making well enough progress I will put one of those tea light room warmers IN the water box and close it MOST of the way to retain a little heat before I close it for the day/night.  ( again all before the heat of the day is gone)


This is all going to be fun and a great learning experience.


Also this incredible freeze killed off most of the pasture grass so I may be able to allow the horses out for longer periods of time.  This is all a good thing!


OH By The Way... if it matters... the pictures ABOVE this post were from my phone as I was at the barn evaluating this situation.  Take a gander and give an idea if you have one!




My love to the world... AegF