Day 9

I am happy that we didn't have to do much clean up from the storms Saturday. I am also happy Cooper got adopted. It seems he found his forever home. My mission yesterday was laundry. And I got around 6 loads done. I only had 2 left in the laundry room before I quit for the day. There will be 3 more made today, but I might get it all done. This is rush week to finish horse show preparations. I am excited, nervous, tired thinking about it, and wondering how much Advil it will be wise to take. I am very grateful Katharine increased Mike's hours for the week. No photos from yesterday, I didn't take any.

Knitting with baling twine

I got the idea to make scrubbies out of baling twine. A 13 knitting needle was too small. I went to a 19 and it was much eaiser to knit. I knitted it in garter stitch with 1 strand of cotton yarn. I had to be careful not to make it too big, the first one was too heavy. I made the 1st one 10 rows of 10 stitches. The 2nd one was 5 rows of 10 stitches. I believe the best size will be 5 rows of 6 stitches. When I finished the scrubby side, I did a row of tunsian crochet to switch the knitting to crochet and croched double croched all the way around 3 times, decreasing every stitch on the 2 short sides and then joined the long sides with slip stitch. Unfortunately Tank thought the 2nd one I made was a toy. He was only able to pull 1 strand out, so I think I can fix it. I will edit this post with photos later.

To seal the ends of the baling twine melt them in a candle. If you don't it will fray.

Day 8

A new volunteer came out yesterday. I believe he is a really good guy, stable, likes horses and kids, and will be an asset to our program. He built the new polebending poles we needed and reinforced the car wash poles. Only a couple kids rode, but they had a good ride. Then we painted, and the paint was dry before the storms hit. No damage from the storms, after they guys tied the tractor canopy to the tractor because it tipped over. (the canopy, not the tractor). I was able to pig out on BBQ from the BBQ festival, eat a salad from local vegitables, and made brownies at 9:30pm because I couldn't get them out of my head. It is almost light now. The farm is looking good for the show Saturday. And I am looking forward to the day.

Day 7

Yesterday flew by as usual. A friend paid for a hair cut for me. First time in years I have had the nerve to let someone cut my hair. And it looks pretty good. Now I look kind of civilized. I got to do errands and refill the kitchen. I ran out of room in the freezer and refrigerator though. I bought stuff I needed to cook ahead for July. We will be having lots of company. It will be fun, but I want to cook lots ahead. The chute is finished for the obstacle challange. And I once again got to share horses with kids. The only sad thing is we lost the goat kid who was sick. I think she had a bad liver, but she was unable to wait for the vet to find out for sure. Alice had her feet trimmed, so did Copper and Sabor. All were very good.

Tank had his cushion taken away. I need to recover it.

Sauteed chicken and vegs

Leftover chicken, deboned.
1 yellow squash, precooked
1 small onion
2 carrots
1/2 green pepper
2 celery stalks

Chop up vegitables. I had cooked the squash the day before to mash it but I didn't know I was supposed to peel it first. Sautee in butter and cocoanut oil. Add 1/2 cup terryaki sauce, 1 T chopped garlic, 1 t powdered ginger. Cook until vegatables are tender. Serve over cooked brown rice with a salad.

Day 6

Yesterday had many happy moments, as my days often do. A friend took me to get organic produce. I got some portabella mushrooms. I have never used them before, will find out what to do with them. The highlight (and most expensive) was the organic strawberries. As soon as I got back I whipped up some heavy cream, cleaned the strawberries, got out the end of the homemade chocolate icecream and gingerbread and made lunch...strawberries, chocolate icecream, whipped cream sweetened with maple syrup, and a side of gingerbread.

The animals are all doing fine. The sick goat kid is still with us, I hope the vet can figure out her problem on Monday. She eats, doesn't have poop problems or fever or discharge, but is bloated and weak. (Been dewormed with 2 dewormers, don't think worms are her problem) Most likely liver issues. I hope she can get over it and thrive. She was the one I though would not make it when she was born (the tiny white one). But is still trying to grow up and be a goat.

The kids came for their lesson with Lisa today. I am learning a lot from having 2 excellent riding teachers come to teach my more experienced riders. They are both well educated teachers and teach the same skills using different words and exercises. They also notice different things because they look at the world with different eyes.

Cooper wants breakfast. He is still looking for his own home. I feel bad we can't take all who need a safe place, but I have problems giving those we have the individual attention they need.

Daphane waiting for her mom.

A few riding lesson photos. Both cantering. 

Strong kids, And helpful.

I can't wait to see what today brings....

100 days of happy 5

I think the best news is I got health insurance! Unfortunately it went through faster than I expected and my bank account will be overdrawn for about 3 days. They said it would take 3-4 weeks for approval and would charge my account after approval. Instead I was approved in less than a day. I haven't had health insurance for over 20 years.

On a daily note, my new rider was off lead her 2nd lesson and Mara was listening well to her. The flowers are blooming. I got to give some new kids a tour of the farm. Alice got to go out of her stall today. It looks like she will bond with Alijah. She did at a distance. I had to bribe her back in with dinner. She didn't want me to touch her while she was out.

Lyka may be a squirrel chaser, but when she cornered this rat she couldn't kill it. She let it get away.

Vegi/tofu skillet

1 zuccini, 1 yellow squash, 1 onion, 2 celery, 2 carrots, 1 box firm tofu

cut up vegitables and tofu. sautee in coconut oil or olive oil.

add 1 T garlic, 1/4 c soy sauce, 1/8 c worchester sauce, 1/4 c tomato paste, pepper

cook until vegatables are tender and liquid reduces. Serve with homemade rye bread with carrot marmalade

#100daysof happy 4

One of the does had touble delivering a kid. Fortunately she had trouble while Christa was cleaning the goat pens, Christa noticed, and was able to get her to the vet immediately. The vet was able to put off a surgery and see her immediately. The kid was born dead, but the mama goat will be fine. I am so happy she didn't get in trouble overnight, or even when the vet was closed. I finished a scrubby washcloth. And it works great. I made the scrubby side from baling twine. It was a bit difficult to knit, but I think it was worth it. I will find out when I try to wash it today. Alice (new horse) has no worms, so she can get out of her stall today!
Kids came to ride, The 6 yr old came off leadline for the first time, and his big sister completed her green ribbon tasks. I am proud of both of them. It constantly amazes me how kids can decide they want to do something and are able to conquor fears to do it. The 6 yr old was bitten by a horse last year when he was feeding a treat by hand. Shortly after, they left for the summer so he didn't revisit the horses after he got bit. When he came back this fall, he was afraid of the horses. He would hardly get out of the car to see them. Now he leads them, grooms them, and rides them quite comfortably. Yesterday, he even petted the horse who bit him! He is awesome!

I forgot to make my bed. I did after I caught Tank looking so comfy in it.

#100 daysofhappy 3

Yesterday flew by. We got the basic chores done and 2 teenagers came by to help with goat shots. They did that, cleaned Alice's stall while I did some more dog chores, and they got to ride bareback. Somehow We didn't ride til 3. Talked to a possible volunteer who used to work with PAL. He wants to groom and give baths, but is also excited about working with kids with mental/emotional challanges. I have been praying for someone to help with this, I really want the farm to be a place of refuge to those who need it most. (It is, even for the paid employees). We have a great group of riders and horses here. One of the teens who rode a couple times stopped by to see if she could ride today. This week is booked, so I had to put her off til Saturday. There is a young hawk hanging out here. Reigner colicked, but he was ok by dinnertime. I will try to share a video. It is of Copper "waiting" for breakfast. Never mind. It won't load. I need to figure that out. Here are some pictures instead...

#100 happy days 2

Yesterday was house straightening. Spending time with the dogs. Cooking some good food. The dogs were barking all day. I took them for a walk after dark, but only 3 were brave enough to follow me. I really didn't realize that mastiffs were afraid of the dark. Both Tank and Cooper are. I got some really great info on the new horse Allie (Alice). I will put that in her main album. Cooper likes to play with the hose, but no photos of that. I will get some though, that is a daily occurance. Arthur got stuck behiend the tv. He was just waiting for me to move it so I could get him out. I am knitting a scrubby with baleing twine and cotton yarn. and I made ice cream. Since I used up my milk on the icecream, I made a float with homemade Ice cream and seltzer water.  Here are photos...

Mushrooms and onions

The organic vegatable people had cremini mushrooms this week. I cooked them all up today and this is what I came up with...

heat large skillet with 3 T butter and 3 T olive oil
add 1 pound chopped onions. Sautee until onions are soft and starting to go translucent
add 1 pound sliced mushrooms, 2 T minced garlic, 1 T seasoned salt (or seasonings of your choice)
sautee until mushrooms begin to cook
add 2 c. vegatable broth
bring to simmer
mix 1 heaping T corn startch and 1/4 c water and add to skillet
cook on medium heat about 20 min. stirring frequently.

Serve over cooked brown rice (already prepared with the frozen vegatables, just have to steam in bag)
Top with cherry tomatos sliced in half, or chopped tomatos.

#100 days of happy day 1

I decided to start a challange called 100 happy days and I decided to start yesterday, but I couldn't pick a photo for yesterday, so much was happy. With help from lots of people, we were able to save this girls life, riders came to ride and I got to share the horses and farm with them, plenty of work got done and the farm is looking good, 4 bags of poisonous weeds were pulled, I avoided confrontation, finished work early, and got to go on a motorcycle ride and eat awesome shrimp for dinner with good friends. I don't think I will post on facebook every day. As I said, it will be hard to pick one photo and I just don't get the # stuff. So I will bring my blog back to life. Later...now chore time And the sky is lovely. Better get out my camera.