Tag: horses

August 20th is Fascinating

Posted on by Farmers Blogger

Hello friends!

It’s fall, y’all!

Okay, it’s not, and I’m sorry, but now it’s out of my system. But I’m fully bought in on flannel, coffee, pumpkins, baked goods, and sitting down to write the next great American novel (because that’s what you do all autumn long yes? Along with crocheting cute things and cuddling everything with any body heat at all?). I’m preparing, I’ll be ready for the full autumn experience.

Realistically, it is not quite yet fall, and realistically, I’m very okay with a longer slope into fall that allows me to hold on to my summer times just a little longer, but August 20th has hit, and despite the fact that it catches me off guard every year, I’ve learned that’s the cutoff day.

Do I sound crazy? Let me explain.

When you live in rural areas, you learn very quickly to put little stock in your tv forecast and much stock in your local farmer’s feelings on the subject. Most TV forecasters are lovely humans who are primarily focused on the areas in which their prime viewership lives, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, in fact, it makes sense to share information about where it will do the most good, but it doesn’t always help us that live way out in the boonies. So, often our weather is a little different than they suggest on the tv.

On the other hand, the farmers, ranchers, and random old gentlemen who make a habit of coming into town to have coffee and reminisce? They have it on lock. They can tell you what the forecast will bring, if it needs prepping for, and how much snow you should plan to shovel just by the look of that one tree on the south side of their farm or the way the crickets chortled that morning. One guy will say the arthritis in his knee says rain, and the other will tell you the cattle talk of storms rolling in.

“Mooooom, it’s too early to wooooork, and it’s coooooold! Moooooom, you’re the woooooorst!! ….Can I have cookies and a brush though? I’m awful cute and definitely deserve it” – Nellie, anytime I try to work them before 8 am lately

My family has its own legends on how to tell the weather, there’s a specific mountain peak I wait to clear before I plant my garden, and I learned to listen to the wind’s whistled tone for potential storms coming, as well as watching how the animals act to see if it’ll be a dry or wet storm. When the birds’ nest in, you should too, and if you walk out and the air is just all sorts of wrong, it’s time to secure everything, high wind is on its way. But the biggest and by far the most reliable legend, says that the weather fundamentally changes on August 20th each year, at least here in the valley, and no matter how long the summer lasts, after that day the nights really start getting longer and colder in earnest, the plants make plans to rest, and your sunny warm days are numbered. It’s been right on time every year thus far, and I don’t think it’ll change any time soon.

Ro wants you to know that she was totally justified in trying to steal cookies through the fence, and alsoI’m very mean for not moving the scary tarp that came undone in the wind storm again.

The valley is that orange soft fall wrapped up in warm nostalgia and slightly burned coffee. Absolutely full of fresh harvests, warm drinks, farmer’s markets and hayrides. Fall festivals and bazaars and anything else you can think of. I am very excited about the prospect of peach cobbler. I make it homemade, and not many each year because it’s a lot of work to peel the peaches, but it is my uncle’s favorite thing. Last year I prepped all my peaches, got everything put together, it smelled so good, everything was perfect…… and then I dropped it pulling it from the oven and spilled the whole unset thing on the bottom of the oven. I cried, my house stunk like burning peaches, and I didn’t try again. Luckily the dish itself survived to bake another day. So, this year, everyone is very excited for my peach cobbler since it’s two years waiting, and I’ve had several people offer to put it in and take it out of the oven for me, so I’m all covered there.

I’ve also got several requests for pumpkin bread. That isn’t a specifically fall recipe, but it is a much more common occurrence in the fall. The flavors just make sense during the cooling, blustery months. It’s my mom’s old recipe, I think she probably got it from my grandma, but I am honestly not certain. It’s super easy, I made the mistake of teaching my younger brother to make it and every once in a great while, I come home to a disaster kitchen and loaves upon loaves of bread. At least he’s good at it so it’s tasty.

My brother has a much appreciated habit of sending me animal photos when he knows I’m in a scary or stressful meeting. This was a rare Joe-Scooby cuddle, when they share a bed, you know it’s getting chilly. Photo Credits to Christopher

Well, I’ve thoroughly made myself hungry, so I think I’ll wrap it here. Maybe when I get around to some baking, I’ll also get around to some recipe sharing, and some photos. Life should be slowing down, and I should be out of the sling and more independent again soon, which will hopefully mean taking my actual DSLR out and about again. Such a pleasant thought.

Until we chat again, my friends!

A Little Late Summer Ramble

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Hi friends!

We had the briefest respite in the heat, and I am riding that high for as long as I can. Although it does look like the cooler (think high 80s low 90s) will become the norm more and more. I’m not quite ready to give up on summer, I am a summertime baby and relish my warm lazy summer days, early sunny mornings, and the smell of fresh cut alfalfa. That all being said, I am learning, in my advanced age (I jest), to look forward to the trappings of each season. I think it helps that the seasons are usually really distinct here. I love the PNW, don’t get me wrong, but we had four seasons there: rain, heavy rain, just sunny enough to get your hopes up, and the two warm weeks where literally everything was under construction.

I am excited to decorate for fall, it is by far the coziest season. And late summer has such good veggies at the farmer’s market. Ideal for soups and sides. We are hopefully going to have some of those delicious veggies for ourselves from the garden pretty soon. I love the pumpkins and the warm afternoons but chilly mornings. When the seasons are distinct and have their own flair, about the time you start needing a change, the weather complies.

Jury’s still out on winter. Unless it’s Christmas morning your girl is not snow friendly. I’m trying… but I don’t do cold very well.

Work has been absolutely nuts, and when you combine that with my elbow (and the absolute glacial pace at which it has decided to heal), my poor girls have gotten lots of cuddles, but not a whole ton else. I feel so bad, I did get to hop on sneakily Saturday before my little cousin’s riding lesson, only at a walk, and only for a few minutes because I am trying to follow most of the rules. It made my heart happy, so it was worth it. Ro doted, though, like a worried mother after, which was adorable, but also a little inconvenient for teaching purposes.

Just one of many photos off my phone where I’m plopped in the grass and the girls have decided I’m boring and wandered away

June is doing so good, by the way, and I’m thinking I’m going to need to brainstorm some puzzles and games to play while we learn. She’s got balance, and she pays really good attention. We work for about 20 minutes, I don’t push it much past when she starts rubbing her eyes and yawning, because that’s a lot of thinking for a Saturday morning and we want to always end on a happy note. At least while they are young, and I can control that. Her favorite games right now are red light, green light and round the world. She asks her Uncle Jeff (my dad) and Nellie to come out and be a team for red light, green light too, which is really good for Nel as well. Last lesson her little sister came out and she and my brother were a team as well. Junebug grinned from ear to ear. It’s a family affair.

Been doing some work on the house. I’ve got some friends coming into town (don’t worry we are being covid safe) and I needed to get the guest space in order. It’s amazing what finally getting a light fixture and moving out some clutter can do to a space. Even just adding bedsheets to the bed can totally make a room feel finished. I’m mostly just finishing up cleaning the clutter, picking up some extra towels, and adding some doodads like extra power strips and scent diffusers. They are coming for the weekend over Labor Day, and I literally cannot wait! I haven’t seen these friends in three years, thanks to moving states unexpectedly and then the plague. It’s going to be so good; we always get up to shenanigans and they’ve never been to this part of the world. I am planning a couple rural exclusive activities like meeting a cow and a couple small town exclusives like going to our semi-famous candy shoppe.

I also started a new book… and finished it in one afternoon. It was really good! I haven’t been much of a reader since Highschool (funny how all that homework can kill reading for fun… hmmm) but have been slowly making use of the amazon prime reading books. It was called Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell and it’s the first in a series. I’m now seriously debating purchasing the next book. I saw some complaints that the descriptions are long-winded and the story predictable, but, especially when I read mystery (my fav genre by far) I’m not looking to be wowed by the most elegant writing skills ever, I’m looking for a cozy book with just enough suspense to make me jump if a shutter slams, and that the bad guy gets justice served in the end. This book ticked all those for me and I highly suggest you give it a go. It’s a little less than 300 pages according to Kindle, so not a huge commitment even if it isn’t your jam. It’s a historical piece incorporating some real-life people with fictional characters, really neat stuff, perfect for back porch reading on a Sunday afternoon.

This image has nothing to do with anything except that Joe is ridiculously cute and I needed you all to see how he sat across from me whilst I did a puzzle this weekend. Heavily vignetted because my house is a disaster of in-progress DIYs. Also, accidental photobomb courtesy of Christopher

Time to go ice this elbow again, patience is not my virtue, so I’ve been typing as though it isn’t a banned activity. I miss the good old days when I bounced. Now when I fall, I apparently splat.

Advice for the day? Padding, always err on the side of padding.

Until we chat again, my friends!

Garden Days!

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Hello friends!

Still stuck in the sling and getting progressively more annoyed at it by the moment. It’s my own stupid fault, but that fact isn’t helping me be any less whiny and overdramatic about the whole thing.

Watson is my editor this week, and some good moral support

So, shorter post, but I did take lots of garden photos! I think we are probably a couple weeks out from getting some okra! I have never grown okra, but from what I’ve read and been told, the little pods grow upwards and when they’ve laid over and point towards the ground, that’s when they are ready to pick. If you have them, send me your best okra recipes, because I have never tried to cook them, and had only middling success with eating them. For those who have never experienced an okra, if not prepared correctly, they get slimy…. Very very ick.

Okra!

We also have eggplant growing now! Five healthy plants, no blooms yet but I think they are a later veggie, so I am not too concerned. I love eggplant and cannot wait to enjoy some out of the garden. My mom used to make the yummiest roasted eggplant; I wish I had gotten her recipe. We talk a lot about the foods my mom used to make, and how if any of us had paid attention we’d know what was up. I often threatened to follow my mom around with a pencil, because she was an eyeball-it cook, now I really wish I had.

Eggplant!

Anyways, I think the peas have given their all for the season, and the beans are just starting to bud, so we know summer is in its height. It’s still warm here, but manageable. Still smoky, but also somewhat manageable.

The pumpkins have gone off like gangbusters, all though some are looking a little sadder than others. I really dunno what’s eating at them, since there’s no signs of rot, bugs, or drought. Maybe it’s just a phase, or they hate the heat, or a wild critter I haven’t met yet. Haven’t laid eyes on the opossum in a while, but I know he’s still around, because others on the farm have seen and interacted with him. He’s not subtle about leaving a whole mess. He’s made an unwelcome menace of himself, going so far as to come onto the porch and hiss at us through the windows.

I do wonder if we’ve had some other unwelcome critters eating in the garden, because I’ve seen signs of things hunting around the farm at night, we’ve heard noticeably more coyotes, and the deer have returned unseasonably early. I wonder if there’s a new fire pushing them out of the foothills. Not something I really want to consider.

I got my hands on some buddy stirrups for June and she worked a little off lead on her own this last lesson. Ro was very clearly still listening to me, because June’s legs are just not long enough to do any cues that Ro understands. She will get there in time. Right now, we are all about balance, confidence, and paying attention. Eventually we will be tall enough to learn equitation and all the other fun nonsense that comes with riding. Her smile is my favorite thing on a Saturday morning though, and makes it easier to give up sleeping in.

Although I do really miss sleep.

Until we chat again my friends!

Ehm, Oops

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Hello friends!

So, short post this week, because I did this:

I took a pretty solid fall off Ro, and am not super keen on the slow, one-handed typing that is currently happening. Work has slowed down so much due to my hunt and peck.

I feel the need to point out, the fall was entirely my fault for making a poor choice, Ro did everything she’s trained to, she listened to exactly what I asked, and when I fell, she stopped and checked on me. She did so well that she even refused to move when I asked for some help getting her back in the arena (we were out trail riding) until I walked along with her, she was not going to leave her rider. She was, once again, a dream of a horse and I don’t deserve how amazing she is.

She also gave my little cousin her first ride this weekend. I felt bad, because I was not super prepared to handle a ride, but definitely didn’t want to cancel again, so there was a lot of low-key walking around. Ro and June did so well together though, June was having a blast and Ro took her job so seriously.

June was so brave too! I was worried the height of a horse and the wobbly motion would spook her (it does a lot of little ones) but the only tears she shed were when we told her to say goodbye so she could go home. She wants to ride every day, but her mom’s sanity, and my healing, we are starting with once a week.

I am actually in the process of planning out her next lesson so it’s more organized and sling friendly, and I splurged and bought “buddy stirrups” which are fit over the horn of the saddle and make for tiny tike sized stirrups so she can learn to use her leg aids and sit correctly in the saddle. She’s using her bike helmet for now, but as soon as I pay off my doctor’s visit, she will be getting a safer equestrian helmet. Unsurprisingly, after my oops, I am really harping on safety stuff more than usual. My helmet saved my brain.

Okay, that’s all for me, ice and ibuprofen are calling my name.

Until we chat again my friends!

It’s Getting Hot In Here

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Hello Friends!

How are we today? We survived another week, so that’s cause for celebration in my book. It’s been 100+ degrees for a while now, ranging up to about 109 so I can say with certainty that surviving is a massive accomplishment.

I have garden pictures this week! The beans are taking off like crazy, only to be outshone by the pumpkins! I can’t wait to roast some yummy garden fresh green beans and I really, really can’t wait to see if the pumpkins come in completely. I’ve not been able to get pumpkins to grow in this soil, although I did have some luck when I lived in the PNW. If we get enough pumpkins, we are going to let the little ones in the family come pumpkin picking, which will be super fun. So hopefully they come in plentifully.

The weeds are coming in plentifully, that’s for sure. My poor dad is out every morning weeding the lines, they come back so fast it might be a losing battle. The chickens are helping too, they love weeds, but they also love the veggies so we have to be very watchful.

Chickens never stop moving! Phone cam + hyper subject = blurry photos

Ro and Nellie are slowly getting used to working first thing in the morning. It’s definitely not preferred, neither of my girls are morning critters apparently, judging by the amount of yawning coming from the loafing area this morning. They take after their mom, I am not a morning person at all.

The other morning there was a miscommunication and the girls got to be out in the pasture super early in the morning before exercise. Ro came running in when she saw me, and she was actually super excited to work, which was great! But she also came in ridiculously muddy since the pasture irrigation was on. She was so, so, so proud of herself. I just had to laugh and take some pictures. We had a spa day Monday, so the girls were especially clean and nice for that muddy morning run. Can stay clean for too long, you see, it’s a cardinal sin.

Look at this smug pony!

The heat has officially pushed the limits of our air conditioning units these last few weeks. We have what are referred to as “room units” in the front room, living room, and master bedroom, but in general they do a pretty good job at keeping the whole house livable. It’s just not fair to judge them when it’s 108 outside and every room has huge windows. We also have some ceiling fans constantly running (here’s your reminder to switch your ceiling fans so they are spinning the right way for summer, because I forgot) to help move air around. Also, keeping blinds closed where we can and working early in the morning helps. But still, I’m fully over it. I miss my warm but pleasant 80s.

It’s also officially mosquito season, which is officially the worst thing in the history of ever (it’s not, it’s absolutely not, but I’m feeling incredibly dramatic today, so bear with me). The county does spray for them usually, which helps somewhat, but they just hired a new guy and he’s not quite up and running yet. In the meantime I am living in bug spray and trying to figure out how to de-mosquito the barn. Also, I bought these super odd bug traps that I need to put up that I am hoping will help, but I just scrape 5′ tall so I need someone taller or a ladder to put them up.

The bug spray is so drying, my poor skin is suffering. I am not the queen of skincare routines to begin with but it feels like I really need to step up my game this year between the glaring sun, insane heat, and aggressive sprays. I’ll let you know if I find something magical, or not so much. I also have a fantastic farmer’s tan going on, and as it is July I think the chances of my actually getting to wear shorts in public are rapidly plummeting. I know I could theoretically sit out in the sun to even the tan, but I burn and I’m way too busy to just sit and not feel guilty. Unless I have a good book. If you all have book recommendations, I love murder mysteries, so anything Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes is a big ole win for me.

Otherwise, it’s still kinda slow, the heat really slows things down. They did pull the bales out of the alfalfa field across the canal, and did so in a wind storm, as luck would have it. They only lost two bales which is about average I think, if you are rushing to pick up bales in a windstorm. Major bummer though because obviously split bales are hard to sell, if you can find someone who wants them at all. But he didn’t really have a choice because we have had a ton of wind lately, so things can’t just stop and wait forever. In any case, it’s tempting the local wildlife, and some of the local livestock too, so I am curious what they will do with those giant broken bales. Did I mention they are big one ton bales?

Anyways, I think I’ll leave this here. I hope you guys are having a wonderful day and are having a great and safe summer!

Until we chat again my friends!

A Week of Prep Work

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HI friends! This week has been busy busy busy. We had lots of shopping to do, so we spent a lot of time in town, and I had a super fun event to prep for!
My little cousin is going to come out and try her hand out horseback riding! She’s been asking for a while, and I kept saying that she had to wait until she was five years old. I wanted to wait because at five years old, children are usually old enough to be able to articulate when they are excited or scared, what’s concerning them, they understand that they need to be kind to others, and very importantly, they are becoming much more coordinated and balanced.
As soon as she turned five she let me know she was old enough to try lessons. To be honest, I think I’m just as excited as she is. I used to help with lessons as a high schooler, and a little in college, and I have been hoping to have an opportunity to share my love of horses with my extended family more. I would never force it, if she ends up not liking it, that’s totally fine. But, I have a unique opportunity to share something, and if I have little ones around who like it, I can help make cowgirl dreams a reality.

My beautiful girls (and yours truly)! I have sweaty gross hair here, because I am hugely pro-helmet, and I practice what I preach, however when my Dad was snapping photos, he let me know you literally could not see my face under the sun shade.

My farm insurance is a little less jazzed about the idea of my putting a small child on a large horse, so I have spent some time this week researching and writing up a waiver and contract for lessons. I think it is good for all parties involved to have the paperwork in front of them.
Since I don’t have pony sized critters, until my little cousin grows slightly longer legs we will be working mostly on balance, confidence, and paying attention. As she gets more comfortable and gets stronger she will also learn the less fun stuff, how to clean a stall, how to keep tack neat and organized, and the nitty gritty stuff, like how a vet call works, and she will meet the farrier. My goal is to raise up a little well rounded horsewoman, it’s her job to decide where she wants to take her horse journey. Although, if she wants to head straight for the Olympics, more power to her, she’s going to need a better trainer. Your girl’s equitation has gotten… a little rough over time.

Another Dad capture! The girls made rounds running through the pasture sprinklers and rolling in the arena dirt…. it took me an hour to get them looking somewhat clean.

We are gearing up for a parade around here. The National Oldtime Fiddler’s Assoc. Festival and Competition is back this year and we are all really, really excited about it. Usually there’s a little float competition since we all build our own floats out of whatever is available in the local shops, and the float I work on, for our local Love INC, has won it’s share of awards. We are going a little lower key this year, since we didn’t know the state of the parade until about a month ago, and didn’t know the theme until about a week ago. This year our goal is just to beat the local department store. We have an unofficial rivalry with their float team because my uncle works there, but builds on our float. It’s all in good fun, they send spies, we send spies, all in the name of playful banter and getting the town all amped up for the festival.
We were honestly really concerned that we were going to lose the festival last year. It’s been harder and harder for the aging town to keep it going, but the old guard won’t pass on the reins just yet. This is understandable, it’s a town steeped in tradition, but a lot of us younger folk would love to carry on those traditions while still growing our events and the town in general. The pandemic really proved to push the situation, as not only could we simply not have the festival, we couldn’t have any of our usual tourist-y things. This is why this year’s is so so so important. It is partially online, or at least that’s the plan, I’m not entirely sure how that will work, BUT if they end up streaming or posting anything I’ll let you all know so you can be involved as well.

Parade Float Bin, everything I’ve been accumulating decorations wise has ended up here. There’s some bigger items we use every year, like the giant fiddles, that I need to pick up still from the Love INC storage space.

In terms of parade float prep, we are going with a Flag based theme, so I raided some of the Memorial Day clearance racks and have been hunting for Fourth of July based items as well. I have added a laundry basket to my trunk specifically for float finds. (Pro-tip, those Amazon boxes you don’t know what to do with? Trunk organizers… pop the flaps inside the box and they are super handy modular storage that can also still be closed. Second Pro Tip? When you have lots of loose things to carry to or from your car (like, say, float décor) grab a laundry basket. They have handles and are literally made for carrying lots of loose items. Things you learn when you park a decent walk from your front door).

We are looking down the barrel of some storms, so I’m going to sign off here and go park the tractor under shelter and batten down the hatches. It’s a shorter update this time, but I doubt you want the nitty gritty of my shopping trip (I had to go to Walmart, love their prices, generally despise actually going to the store). I’d imagine next week you’ll get pages and pages of my gushing about my little cousin’s first lesson, maybe a parade DIY or two, since we gotta make whatever we can’t find, and possibly a storm video if the gopro cooperates.
Until we chat again, my friends!

It’s Too Warm!

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Hi friends!
It’s hot today! It’s actually one of the cooler days this week though. It’s unseasonably warm, today is 98 degrees, usually we are happily sitting mid eighties around late may early June, but this week we hit 106. I wish I was joking.
I’ve had to modify a lot about my schedule this week, which I am super aware that I am lucky enough to work in a job and in an industry that allows for flexible work schedules. It makes farm life much easier when I don’t have to stress as much about scheduling vet visits or farm chores (or repairmen, or more vet visits).
Usually I start work between 5:30 and 6 am in the morning, I know that sounds crazy, but hear me out, I am usually feeling like I put in a good days work around 2:30 or 3 pm in the afternoon and I still have so much day left! This is especially nice when the days are super short in the winter time and the sunlight leaves us at 4 pm. I get just a little more cranky than usual when I don’t get to see the sun. It’s a little easier to get up in the dark when you get a reward.

Dad and his little flock of weed eaters. They take their job very seriously, but are scared of the camera, so I have to sneak pictures.

With it being absolutely melty outside by 2 pm now, I have opted this week to exercise the horses and work on chores before work, which is also pleasant, because I feel super accomplished before even signing in. The downside is, I’m all gross and tired by 7 am. A fair trade off I think.
Ro feels fundamentally very differently than I do. She is not a fan of mornings, and has been pretty vocal about not enjoying 6 am rides. She’s a good sport, she’s been hanging in there and getting our exercise in, but we’ve thrown a few more bucks and kicks, less willing to lead out on rides, and she’s not as easily swayed by cookies. It’s totally fair, we all are a little cranky in the mornings.
I’m not naturally a morning person, so I feel her pain, but I am definitely a “get everything done early so I don’t have to worry about it” kinda person. I love crossing things off that to-do list.
I also can totally see why some people really gravitate toward morning rides, it’s a very fun way to start a morning. I could see it being very peaceful, if your mare isn’t angrily pointing out the sun hasn’t crested the hill yet (it’s light out, I just live next to a large hill, I’m not completely heartless).

Look at how pink and pretty it is in the morning! The sky gets super pink and orange and my phone’s auto setting just didn’t know how to handle it (Also, for some reason wordpress is mangling the quality on upload, not a clue as to why)

Sherlock has recently found out that if he squeezes through the porch rail slats and reaches around, he can sneakily get off the porch and go exploring. This is a big old worry for many reasons. One, Sherlock has literally no equipment or animal smarts, his go-to when frightened is to shrink and hide, especially bad because Ro is not super dog-friendly, she had a bad experience. Two, he’s so tiny that he’s perfect hawk food, which is less than ideal. Finally, I spent a lot of time and research finding a gate solution for that porch to keep him (and his brothers) safe, and I am miffed he’s found a workaround. So, now I am going to weave in some bailing twine to create a soft wall that hopefully he can get around. I’ll run the twine through the gate slats and the offending porch slats just in case.
Speaking of sneaky animals, Nellie has worked out that if she messes at it long enough, she can usually get the arena/corral gate open and closed at her will. Luckily she doesn’t seem interested in playing with exterior gates, but she’s definitely busted the arena/corral gate. I need to figure out how there’s now an inch gap between the gate part and fence part of the latch.
I can’t blame her, Ro and I have been working on opening gates from horseback so we can let Nellie in the arena while cooling out and so we can handle gates on trail rides. I think Nellie just wanted to show off that she’s been paying attention too. It is honestly mind-blowing how smart this horse is when she’s not losing her mind over something spooky.
The beans have started to come up in the garden! They are growing like gangbusters! Well, I think, I don’t really know for certain what that means.

go gangbusters

If something is going gangbusters, it is going strongly and doing very well. If someone comes on like gangbusters, they behave very energetically and sometimes aggressively. [Collins Dictionary]

Peas and okra are maybe starting to come up slowly, and the pumpkins, watermelon, and carrots are now in the ground! Lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers are being started in pots on the porch. All that’s left is the eggplant I think… although I feel like I’m forgetting something. I’ll have to ask Dad. He’s made a bunch of little signs out of the packages, but they aren’t quite ready to go up yet, when they do that will help a lot with identifying veggies.

Happy Little Bean Plant!

We’ve been seeing our hummingbirds lately which is such fun each year. When we don’t have their sugar water up, they come fly between windows until they see a human, and then they tap on the window until you pay them attention.
Public Service Announcement! Red Dye isn’t super great for hummingbirds, so make sure if you are buying hummingbird liquid that you check with your local vet that it is actually hummingbird safe. Boiling certain veggies in your water first will naturally dye it red, I’ve had luck with beets, but I’ve heard cabbage might work too. Bright side is that you also have cooked veggies now, although beets are absolutely the worst so you’ll have to find someone who likes them.
I made homemade spatzle this week! That is the stickiest batter I have ever made, and it turns out that spatzle makers are absolutely not a silly kitchen gadget. I made my spatzle by pressing the better through a colander, and that was a mistake. The spatzle was delicious, I ended up sautéing it in butter, garlic, and rosemary, but I also destroyed every dish in my kitchen. It was super tasty though, so maybe worth it. To be determined.
Homemade gnocchi was a lot easier and cleaner, despite the fact that potato starch gets into everything. It also seems more shelf stable, although I’ve never really had to store any for long. I might make up a batch this weekend, I want to try a new recipe.
Anyways, I’m going to go find the big box fan so I can use my porch again, and I am hoping for cooler weathers moving forward. That pretty much sums up my weekend plans. Hope you had a great week and are looking towards a fun and relaxing weekend.
Until we chat again, my friends!


Meet Nellie and Ro!

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We are wrapping up an exciting and crazy week!

My rare time on the farm has kept me sane this week, among all the craziness that comes the week before a DIY, socially distanced wedding. Don’t get excited, I’m a bridesmaid, trust me, you’d have a lot more details if I were getting married, but for now, there’s no danger of that.

It’s been so warm and beautiful these last few days, I’ve been able to spend some time outside with the girls, riding and working. I think it might be time for formal introductions.

Deer, they were gazing at deer

Oreo is my 7-year-old paint mare, she came to us on October 8th, 2020 after I fell head over heels in love answering a craigslist ad. Funnily enough, she had already been promised to someone else, who backed out due to her medical condition in her front legs. I’m retired from showing and rodeo, so the fact that Ro needed a slower pace of life and a little extra care on her legs didn’t bother me at all. I’m hoping with proper management her legs won’t bother her much at all for many years. She was also born blind in one eye, which doesn’t slow her down at all, but it does mean she has the sassiest little head tilt. We are learning how to be retired from competition together… it’s a little hard sometimes.

Ro is a very patient little mare most of the time, unless you’re holding up dinner, which means she puts up with my hugs after a bad day, my I’m-too-exhausted-to-ride-so-lets-just-goof-off days, and she is always willing to give kisses. I love her to the moon and back.

Oreo!!

This little girl has put up with my nervous rider habits coming back in force after realizing I was in this on my own, has put up with the litany of goofy mistakes I’ve made as I get back to full time riding (college has a bad habit of killing hobbies). Ro has made me a bolder rider, and a more confident horsewoman, because she makes no bones about telling me when I’ve done something wrong or right. I was a little worried, Ro-Ro can be a lot of horse, but I love the team we make, and sometimes it’s all I can do to actually go to work and not hide out in the pasture all day. Her affections can be bought with peppermint cookies and applesauce.

My absolute favorite thing about Ro though is her giant emotions. She wears them all on her face and in her body language. I never have to guess what Ro is feeling or thinking, most of the time it’s happy, bossy, or annoyed… a typical mare. Just yesterday she jammed her leg while having a goof, which ended our fun a little early (she’s fine, just limped a bit, I just don’t push things health-wise when I don’t have to). She was so disappointed the fun was over, and she kept trying to get my attention to check in, “You aren’t sad, are you, Mom?”, with little nibbles and earnest eyes. Lots of cookies and nose pats solved the moping issue, but it simultaneously warmed and broke my heart how much she cared that our “work time” ended early. Such a special little mare, I’m lucky she’s my girl.

Then there is Anela, my 12ish year old mystery mare, who has many names of endearment. Most commonly we call her Nellie, but she’s also referred to as Nels, Nellie Belle, Nella Bella, and Miss Belle. Aaaand if were being entirely honest she gets the lion’s share of “sweetheart”s, “baby-girl”s, and “little one”s. See, Nellie is our resident rescue, and she came to us about two weeks before Ro. She was an accident, and I joke, my craziest impulse buy ever. Here’s how it went down.

I was trying to look up Ro’s Craigslist ad again, by searching “black and white mare”, and Nellie’s picture came up. The ad said she was permanently lame and looking to be someone’s pasture mate. I knew I wanted two horses, as horses are herd animals and I find it cruel to keep them solitary, but the plan had been two riding horses, since i have some little cousins who might grow up to be cowboys and cowgirls (cowfolk? I dunno). So why I responded to the ad is beyond me. But that night I scheduled a midweek visit to the rescue.

I brought a giant bag of treats to donate and walked out into the rescues herd to meet Nellie. I was warned she was shy of everyone, especially males, so I brought my dad along (I wanted to make sure this shyness was something I could feasibly handle). She cuddled right up to me, actually took some cookies from my dad, and the rescue coordinator asked when she could drop her at my place.

I told the coordinator I wanted to think about it, that I didn’t have the adoption fee on me, and I’d call her when I knew. Smash cut to the next day, I get a call from home, while I was at work, asking why there was a horse trailer parked outside my barn. Ten minutes later I was squealing to a stop in my front drive and running down to see what on earth was going on.

Anela!!

Turns out the coordinator had decided Nellie and I were soulmates, and I am to-date the only person the rescue accepted a check from, because I’m not in the habit of carrying adoption fee amounts of cash. Nellie and I spent most of the next few days together, and got pretty close, but she was terrified of everything and cried anytime the train whistle blew from across the valley. Shed hide from my dad and brother. She almost killed the vet. I think the vet held similar feelings in return. I questioned my sanity taking on an abused horse.

See, Nellie had good reason to fear men. Some terribly mean men had decided that she was too feisty and needed to be “cowboy’d” before she could be ridden. They tied her head to a fence and left her for hours, they incorrectly hobbled her and managed to permanently damage her leg, bone and tendon, and when they realized the damage meant she would never be a saddle horse, they abandoned her.
A couple people had tried to rescue her, but she’s a lot of horse, so her placements hadn’t lasted, and she had no reason to trust I would keep her. Were about 2.5 years in and she just now is coming to terms with the fact that she’s found her forever home.

But it has a happy happy ending, this crazy tale.

This girl has grown so much. Today she shouted her good morning at my dad when he threw breakfast and gave him kisses. She came running in to the arena when it was time for exercise and tried to bully me for cookies (she won). She loves her farrier, is curious about the horse trailer, and no longer cries at the train. I’d even venture to say my kind-hearted little mare can get bossy. She uses her thinking brain way more often than her reactive brain now and is such a cute little bean.

And as for that leg? A lot of time and effort later, she runs everywhere, bucks and kicks, dances and plays all day. She’ll never be able to hold the weight of a rider, but there’s so much more value to horses than that. The vet swears I pulled a switch and there’s no way it’s the same horse. It’s a fantastic feeling.

I knew I’d own horses someday; I’ve been riding since I was 13 in some form or another and i swear half if my sanity relies on hearing nickers every so often. But I didn’t realize it would be so soon after starting my official, adult, real life… post college Amanda changed literally every part of her life, some voluntarily, some not-so-much, but I don’t know how I ever made it through my day without horses outside my window. 

Until we chat again, my friends!

Let’s go!