Busy weekend.

We had a busy weekend and the weather was BEAUTIFUL!  There was a lumber and building supplies auction out west by my husband’s hometown that he went to last year with his father. They bought all kinds of great deals last year so we went again this year. Since our property is a fixer upper and needs PLENTY of work we figured that getting supplies for cheap is a good route to take. We woke up early, basically the same time we wake up every morning to go to work. I remember quite vividly that the only time I was ever up at that hour was when I was still up from the night before. But we got on the road and made it to the auction right before it started. The weather was supposed to be nice but it ended up being WAY nicer than I anticipated. It was 71 for most of the day. I forgot to bring sunscreen and ended up looking a bit like a lobster.

There was a little mix of everything. Lumber, cabinets, windows, doors, insulation, siding, etc. it’s basically surplus from building contractors who need to get rid of the extras. All the cabinets were brand new but hadn’t been used for whatever reason. There were lots of good deals! Cabinets were going for cheap. We bought some for a few little projects that I had in mind for the house. We saved a TON by going the route. One of the cabinets we bought for $30 on the way home I looked up how much it would have cost us at the store and we basically got it for less than half price. We had hopes of getting some new windows for the barn, and windows were going for CHEAP, but we didn’t have measurements, and there weren’t enough of the same kind. If we wanted miss matched windows we would have been in luck! But we did buy some doors for the barn. Correction, we bought some FANCY doors for the barn. I am going to have the most elegant barn in the history of barns. Well maybe not, but my tack room is going to be pretty fancy. I had seen a picture of someone’s tack room where they had their saddles behind glass doors, so sure enough, we bought one. We are going to make a saddle locker for a couple of our nicer saddles, with a nice frosted glass door. We were going to buy some cedar, but it ended up going for more than we wanted to pay, and it wasn’t quite exactly what we wanted. But we will track some down! We also got a big heavy, wooden door that we are going to install in my yet-to-be-built tack room. I can’t wait to start that project!

The auction ended and we bought PLENTY of building supplies. My barn is going to be awesome once we start working on it! We were looking for lumber to build some corrals, or a riding arena but they didn’t have much green treat, so we didn’t get any. Plenty of projects to tie us over though!

Yesterday was the final day of the North Dakota winter show about 60 miles from our house. It’s basically a week long agriculture show with horse shows, rodeo, livestock shows, vendors, exhibits etc. It’s usually a pretty good time and worth the drive. The snow has been melting like crazy with our warmer temps. We had to drop my pickup into 4x4 to get through the parking lot! It was a muddy sloppy mess. We had just parked and were making out way to the building when my heart stopped. I saw him, well I thought I saw him. Yellow, my beautiful palomino gelding being ponied around by another girl on her horse. I know it wasn’t him but it still made my stomach hurt. I wanted to run up to the girl leading him around and yank that lead rope out of her hand and take my boy away. But it wasn’t him. He had the same dapples, and the same 3 white stockings, and even the same blaze that came to a point right at the end of his nose. I think deep down inside I am still hoping that he is alive, and that he had been sold to someone else who is loving him and enjoying him. When I was told he died, I couldn’t make myself go and see him. I wanted to but something just wouldn’t let me go out there and see my boy so cold and lifeless, covered by the only thing that ever scared him, a big blue tarp. I still to this day haven’t forgiven myself for not going to see him. I kept looking back at the horse who looked so much like my boy, wishing he was still in my life. But then I sort of chuckled to myself that it couldn’t be my old pal at a rodeo, he hated everything rodeo. We tried him on cattle and he just didn’t have it in him, and he was WAY too slow for barrels. That obviously wasn’t my boy.  He was a western pleasure horse all the way. 
We went inside and had a look around at the vendors. I ended up buying a rhinestone western belt to replace mine that I lost a few years ago, and an English girth extender. I figured that it’s much cheaper than buying myself a whole new girth for big ol fatso Piney.  I’ve owned girth extenders in the past, but they’ve magically disappeared at various boarding stables I’ve been at over the years. Funny how that works right? Good thing I’m a tack hoarder now and my collection only grows and grows!
After we got home from the Winter show yesterday afternoon, we took the dogs for a run behind the fourwheeler. Tucker can run 25mph, while the Cocker Spaniels can run 8mph. They tried to keep up as best they could, but they just aren’t as fast. They had fun in the puddles and melting snow though. I am so very thankful that my house has laminate floors and not carpet. My floors are disgusting and full of muddy paw prints currently but at least I can mop it up and don’t have to spend the day cleaning carpets!  My middle dog is the most disgusting mess right now. She has white furry legs that are now grey and dirty. She needs a bath, but it’s really quite pointless until it dries up, as she LOVES rolling in filth. I am going to buy a set of dog clippers this week and attempt to shave the two cocker spaniels down.  They are much easier to deal with when they don’t have mops on their legs!