So much for that idea.

The horses' water bucket heater went bonkers again. This time it not only boiled the water but melted the bucket. I went off to get a new heater and a new bucket at the nearest TSC (Tractor Supply Company) store. Why I did that I dunno. TSC is a good shop if you want to buy something that feels bit country and don't care what it is but, if you want a specific thing, say a gate or a tractor part or a bucket they don't have one, don't know which store does and don't know when they might get it. They make Canadian Tire seem competently run. The only vessel they had suitable for watering horses was a $300 trough and they couldn't find it anyway.


I set off for the Farmer's Supply Co-op thirty miles west wishing I'd gone there in the first place. To get there I had to pass Home Hardware, I wondered if they had a large bucket and walked in. They did have buckets, "Gracious Living" it said on them. "Our horses could live graciously" I thought, naively, and bought the bucket. I went back to TSC for a heater but they didn't have any so I wound up at the Farmer's Co-op where they did have heaters and also buckets though it was too late for me to need one of those. Their buckets looked a lot like the Gracious Living ones but, it being a farm store, they would have been labelled "Rustic Living" or "Tough Living" or similar.



I went home with the bucket and heater. I couldn't immediately take them to the barn but, after clearing this path,










I dropped the heater in the bucket, hairdryed the hose and filled it.

The horses then ate the bucket.