A Good Workout

I never created the habit of going to the gym.  At times I have run, walked and swum but none of those included going to the gym and none of them ever became habits over time.  The best thing I have done recently is to stop using the Kawasaki mule to get around our property.  I use it to carry bales of hay out to the pastures and occationally to ferry heavy items to the house or to my car but not as I did when we first moved out here, to work my way around the property feeding the animals every day.  These days, and for the last several years, I walk everywhere.  I walk into and through the barn to feed the goats.  I walk around the goat pens to feed the llamas.  And I walk across the property to feed the pony.  It's exercise with a purpose which is the only kind that seems to keep me interested. My daughter works out regulary doing different things each time - spinning (the type that requires a bicycle rather than a spinning wheel) or lifting weights or using the various other machines at her gym.  If I had made that a habit when I was her age I might very well be thinnner and in better shape than I am now. I'm impressed with how wonderful she looks and feels but it's pretty hard to go back and change history.

Now that I'm not using the mule on a daily basis, I've gone from 1000 or maybe 1500 steps per day up to 6000 to 7000 steps per day according to my Fitbit.  I feel better and I can work longer so it's all good.  I was never very consistant about meeting my 10,000 steps/day goal but I did get there some of the time.

This morning my workout was a mixture of walking, carrying a long and very heavy pry bar and beaking up the thick ice that had formed on the water troughs overnight.  The goats were in the barn last night, not because they wanted to be but because it was easier for me to sleep knowing they were in nice dry stalls with lots of hay to eat rather than outside with the temperature likely to drop well below freezing.

The temperature was a chilly 22 degrees when I got up this morning with the sun shining brightly and a clear blue sky.  It was glorious.  It was also cold.  The ice on the outside water troughs was over an inch thick and even in the barn there was 1/4" of ice on the water tubs.  The llamas and the pony are well equipped to be comfortable in the cold as long as they have shelter from the wind and lots of good hay so I didn't worry about them at all.

We had two water lines break because of the cold.  The one behind my studio was easy to resolve because the line has a cut-off within easy reach.  The break under the sink in the barn was slightly more work.  There is a cut off for the water line that feeds the barn but it's under a plastic panel in the ground and was completely full of dirt when we managed to wrench the top off.  We got the water turned off and it only required I completely change clothes once I was finished.  We will call the plumber first thing Monday morning to repair the breaks but we are good for the weekend.  We have water in the studio and in the house and can carry water from either place as needed to the rest of the property although that shouldn't be necessary.  All the water troughs are full.  

I will be carrying that huge heavy pry bar out to all the water troughs this evening and again tomorrow morning to keep them clear for the livestock.

Note - I went out to take some pictures of the water troughs this afternoon.  It's been above freezing since about noon so much of the ice has melted.  The llamas all came up to see what I was doing and were willing to stand still so I could take their pictures.  The goats are still up at the top of the pasture.  I think they want to stay out of my way so I won't put them back in the barn tonight.  They are much happier out in the pastures