That Dang Mouse and His Cookie!

I'm a teacher, so books and stories are frequently on my mind, especially Laura Numeroff's series about the mouse who gets a cookie and then wants a glass of milk to go with it. When children's literature or even adult literature comes up as a topic on Jeopardy, my husband just looks to me for the answers. Books are kind of my jam. Anyway, in the story, giving the mouse his glass of milk leads to another request and another and another. You get the idea.

​Summer has arrived here, so I can't spend quite so much time in the saddle. I guess it's less can't and more don't want to. I still like being at the ranch though, so even though it was a bazillion degrees a week or so ago, I decided to clean some tack. After I did that, I hosed out a bucket. And then it was on!

If you give a girl a hose, she's going to ask for a bucket.

With cool water to splash on my face and a tank top to get a little sun on my shoulders, I started looking for other things to clean. The next thing I knew, I had drug out a bleach bottle and every grooming tool in my arsenal. Everything went into the bucket. Several times actually.

Because gross ...

The more things I scrubbed, the more things I found to scrub. I scrubbed things that have never been cleaned before and others that should have been cleaned long ago. Before long, I had quite a pile of wet and drippy things drying in the million degree heat.

There are 4 hoof picks drying, and there are plenty more stashed around that didn't make it into the bucket. How many does a girl need?

And then I washed three pairs of gloves and a couple of extra buckets. While I was searching for even more things to hose off, I realized that the feed room/tack room was now a mess. Somehow, stuff that should have been shelved neatly had found a new home on the floor.

Give a girl a place to dry things, and she'll ask for stuff to clean!

Most of the junk on the floor was a result of consolidating my grooming tools into one portable bucket. That was a great idea, but I am not 6 years old. Things can't live on the floor. There is no before photo because I am lame, but here's what happened after my hurricane of a cleaning frenzy whipped through the room.

Overwhelming, I know, but everything has a place.

I know it looks as though it needs to be organized, but trust me, there is a system to the madness.

• The bottom shelf holds all of my leaky, drippy jars and bottles along with my braiding box.
• The next shelf holds a jug of candies, my boots, three grooming buckets, helmet and gloves, and old leg boots.
• The shelf above that is for saddle pad storage and my "medicine chest."
• The shelf above that one holds one of those old style caddies full of less frequently used medicines and goops. There is also a tub of old leg boots, polos, and bell boots. The other two smaller tubs hold bits and small metal things.
• The top shelf holds empty buckets that I can't stand to part with.
• And of course, hanging anywhere that there is room, I have halters and bridles and my daily calendar.

By the time I had swept out the room, I was dirty, sweaty, and ready for a cookie myself. Nothing makes a horse girl happier than having a clean horse and neatly organized crap. And if she's dirtier than any of it is, the job was well done.