Fantastical vs Calendar+

Fantasical
Month View

Calendar+ by Readdle
Month View

      April was a busy month. We got our new trailer which meant lots of trailer backing lessons. Then there were trailer loading lessons and driving with horses lessons. First solo trailering ride was to take the trailer to the Highway Patrol VIN inspection station so we could get it tagged. That involved using the little yellow magnet extension ball to get the hitch lined up. Since it didn't come with safety chains, I had to get creative with the only safety chains and cables I could find in our little town auto parts store in order to pass inspection.
 
  Trailer squared away, the mares were loaded and taken to Stranger Creek for breeding to our stallion, KA Odysseus. Lots of little ones born there this month including a set of twins. Then the mares got to come home which was another fun trip in the new trailer that included more trailer loading lessons for our new filly, No Alarm aka Crazy Lady! She decided to have issues going through gates and doors. Didn't matter what gate or door, in or out, she just plain decided she wasn't going through them. This is going to be a fun summer  (if it ever gets here-- it's snowing as I write).
    We had our last boarders move to their new ranch mid-April. So happy for them to get to enjoy their horses at home. So with fewer horses to care for, we hope to have more time to train our horses. We implemented Clinton Anderson's program, The Method, with all our horses in training. Hope to have them all trained up in the fundamentals and ready to show by mid-June.
    McGraw came out and fertilized the hay field. I think with all this rain and snow we are going to have a bumper crop of hay. Brome hay loves this cool weather! The pastures are coming around and the herd will be out on the Back 40 this weekend. The ponds haven't come back yet but they are getting there. We cleaned up the retreat and did a walk through of the Back 40 in preparation for turning the herd out. When the weather dries out a bit, we will be spraying for broadleaf weeds, fertilizing, and seeding the pastures. Not to mention we are already behind on mowing because it's been wet more than it's been dry (we are not complaining and very grateful to be out of the drought).
    We have bidders coming out to give us estimates on the new barn. This is going to be a fun summer project. In addition the barn project, the front pasture is being re-fenced with Racehorse coated wire fencing. Both projects are going to add a lot of value to our property.
    With everything going on at the ranch this time of year and our ambitious goals, not to mention show season upon us, we need some way to keep track of all the appointments. We have to make sure we know who is suppose to be  where and when and what tasks need to be done. In ranching and farming, there are things that if not done in the right season, won't get done. If you the broadleaf weeds don't get sprayed before they go to seed, don't bother. Of course you can't spray if it's going to rain that day either. So things have to be done in due time but you have to be flexible.
   Even though we live in the country with the slowest internet since dial up, we are able to get 4G on our iphone. So the perfect solution to our busy schedule is an iphone app calendar that syncs with our google calendar on the internet. There are two that we like Fantastical and Calendars+ by Readdle. The pluses for Fantastical is that it syncs with Facebook and Meetup, adding those events directly into your calendar when you have them selected. So you can automatically see upcoming birthdays of all your facebook friends. Having your meetup group events automatically logged into your account can be handy as well. It's got a lot of our favorite features from Readdle's app and in addition we really love the pull down features that switch between full calendar and the week calendar with events listed in full text just below. You can also scroll through the list and see past or upcoming events.

Calendars+ by Readdle
List View

Fantastical
Week View w/List

     Calendars+ by Readdle will pull in all your google calendars. So whatever you follow on your google calendar will also be included on your iPhone calendar after you sync up. The additional feature that makes Calendars+ by Readdle our number one choice for our iPhone calendar app is the tasks list. You can keep your to-do list on your Google Calendar and sync it to your iPhone using this calendar app's sync function. You can also update your to-do list on your phone or computer as well as check off tasks as you complete them. This is a great feature for the ranch where our tasks need to be scheduled and completed in a specific season.  We can create a Spring list as well as a separate list for Summer, Fall, and Winter.

Calendars+ by Readdle
Task list

    Calendars+ by Readdle's $6.99 app price is well worth the extra two dollars over Fantastical's $4.99 price. The task list is something we've come to rely on at the ranch. In addition, the color coded display helps us differentiate between types of events, a feature not available on Fantastical. You get a scrolling list available on both as well as a day, week, and month look.

Calendars+ by Readdle
Week View

Calendars+ by Readdle
Day View

    There are a lot of calendar apps to choose from and some days, I'll be honest, I just miss my Franklin Day Planner! But the nice thing is with an iPhone app I can enter and view my data anywhere, update my calendar from my phone or computer or a computer anywhere that has internet access, and I can sync events between the two. I can also print out my google calendar and hang it in the Family Communications Center where a calendar has kept my family on track for over thirty years! I could even print out a 8x5 copy of my task lists and put them in my Franklin Day planner!