The Food - Omlette in a Mug

Omlette in a Mug

This is my every morning breakfast, no matter how much of a hurry I am in.

1 egg
2 egg whites
1 tbs. of top milk (half and half)
salt
fresh or frozen spinach
a bit of chopped onion if it's handy
2 tbs. of grated Italian cheese blend

Warm or cook a mug full of raw spinach (and onion) in the microwave for 1 minute on high
   It will wilt and shrink.  Push it to the bottom of the mug when done
Beat the eggs, salt, egg whites and top milk in a bowl
Pour  this mixture into the mug over the spinach
Sprinkle the Italian cheese on top
Microwave on high for 1 minute
Remove and stir
Microwave for 1 more minute on high

You have an omlette in a mug!

You can take it in the car if you hve to and  eat it on the fly.

When I don't have fresh spinach I have used salsa or leftover skillet vegetables from the night before.  Sometimes we add leftover sausage or other meats too. 

I got this idea from my Aunt and just fiddled with it a bit. 

It's convenient and good.

The Riding/Training - All Shoes pulled 11/30

All Shoes Pulled 11/30

Except for Elvis

The Farrier came on Friday and pulled all shoes for the winter, except for Elvis who is going to wear shoes and snow pads on his back feet this winter.  We are doing this because his feet grew so crooked and funny last winter - all splayed out to the outside.  I don't have any pictures but it made him  pretty cow hocked.

It was fun because the farrier also did a demonstration of horse shoeing for a first/second grade class of gifted school children from a small private school in Denver.  They are studying fire and he showed them how fire and heat played a role in shoeing a horse.

If I get photos from the school, I'll post them.       

The Buildings - Sauna Progress

Sauna Progress

 

The Riding/Training - 11/25 Prima and PJ

11/25 - Prima and PJ

 

I worked with PJ first.  She has been getting a bit pushy and demanding when we are working with the other horses, so I decided she needed some attention and maybe a little discipline.   I caught her, tied her and let her stand for a bit.  Then I brushed her.  She really loves being brushed.  Then I put her in the cross ties  in the barn by herself and left her there for a bit.  She was good. Then I got out the stick to measure her.  The last time I did this it took a long time because she was very warey of the stick.  Not this time!  She was not the slightest bit afraid of it.  She showed some healthy curiosity when I first approached with it, but then I just telescoped it out and she looked as if she remembered it and we were done.  She is officially 14'2"hh. at almost exactly 18 months of age.  I don't know what that means for her ultimate size, but I am thinking around 16'2"hh.  She was good and got a handful of cookies and back  out she went.  She really didn't want to go back out and I maybe should have hand walked her, but I wanted to get to Prima and maybe Elvis this day.

 

 

She has a nasty chip out of her left front foot.  She isn't lame and the farrier is coming Friday, so we decided to leave it.  

 

I worked Prima next.   I worked her in the English cross country tack with a rubber pelham bridle.  I lunged her in side reins first and then we went on a long, fast marching walk around the farm.  I checked fence as we went and found a few places that needed untangling, stretching and re-attatching to the insulators.  It has been windy on and off.  She had a very wet blanket when we were done, but she showed a great attitude.  I felt bad having to put her muzzle back on.  She has lost enough weight that I might be able to stop using the girth extender soon - or switch to a shorter girth.   Good girl!  

 

We were trying to get out to do some Christmas shopping, so I didn't try to ride Elvis.  He will get done Tuesday.  The weather will be nasty tomorrow.     

The Food - Turkey Stew

Turkey Stew

 

 

We boiled the carcass for a whole day, then covered it and let it cool over night.  The next morning we removed the bones, skin and scrappy bits.  Into the pot went the meat, yellow, red and purple potatoes, scallions and carrots and salt.  (I just realized that everything in this stew was produced here on the farm, except the salt.)  After bringing it to a rolling boil again it went on the back burner with the lid off to simmer. 

 

 

 

After some of the liquid had reduced, we thicked the broth and added the gravy we had made the day we roasted the turkey.  We will have this tonight with whole wheat biscuits and freeze the rest for fast winter suppers to come. 

 

 

 

We were able to freeze 4 gallons, mostly in 1/2 gallon bottles.  But we did a couple of quarts as well.  Good old Tom!

 





 

The Grass/Land - Perhaps a Mystery Solved

Perhaps a Mystery Solved

But Another Mystery Presents Itself

This past summer we had a spate of leg injuries to the horses that we just couldn't explain.  There were new horses introduced across our fence lines on all sides so we were concentrating our search for booby traps along the fence lines.  We could find none.   Below are photos of some of the injuries. 

 

 

 

 

Today, we noticed that some young pines in the middle of the chicken pasture had some bark damage that looked like it was done by deer.  We rode closer to inspect and found that right in the middle of this stand of young trees there was a place where the sod was worn away and there were two exposed holes in the ground bordered by old timbers and jagged stones.  These holes opened to standing water that was up to about four inches below grade.  This "thing", whatever it is, is man made and pretty old at first glance.  My husband went back after our ride and determined that it is over 3 feet deep and the water is quite fetted: not like an artesian well or a place where our well has been pumping fresh water unbeknownst to us.  It is above the level of the house and in the opposite end of the pasture from our septic tanks and leeching fields, so it is unlikely to be tied to those.  We don't know how deep it is or what it is and we need to investigate further, but I am pretty sure that falling into these holes is what caused the leg injuries this summer.  We didn't find the holes because we weren't looking in the middle of the pastures for the problem.  The deer are drawn to this place, I am sure, because of the water.  It has been  so dry there is no standing water anywhere else.  But the question remains: since it has been so dry, where is this water coming from? 

 

 

 

 

 

I will take photos of the site tomorrow.  We are lucky we didn't have a broken leg!

 

 

 

 

I put my foot in this last one to show scale.  Anyone out there have any ideas about what this might be or who we could call to find out?

 

 

11/27 Update

I have called the county commissioner's office and they told me to call the county health department if I think it is an old septic tank or to call the state water board if I think it might be an old well or old cistern for fresh water.  I opted to call the state water board because I do not think it is an old septic tank because it is uphill from the house, and no one with any sense would put their septic tank uphill from the house.   Also, we know where our waste water goes and it  is not there.  I talked to someone at the state water board and she said it sounded like it might be an old well or even artesian well!  She said that no one at the water board is really qualified to evaluate something like this and she suggested we call a well drilling company and have them come out and look at it.  She said they would have experience with old water wells in the area and they  have underwater cameras on cables that they can lower down into places that are not accessible to see what's going on.  So I called a local well driller and left a message. 

 

As an aside, my great grandfather, Asa B. Conklin of La Salle County, Illinois, had a creamery that he built on a piece of land that had an artesian well.  I guess in the nineteenth century they could pipe the cold water from an artesian well into a "cold house" (usually a winowless stone building) where they could age cheese and keep cream and butter cool before refrigeration.  This old farm was originally a dairy and if it had an artesian well it would have been very handy for them.  What a nice feature it would be to find here!   

 

 

11/28 Update

I talked to the well guy today.  He has drilled wells in this part of Colorado and maintained them and updated them for people for decades.  He says that we have an artesian well!  It was used to supply the house with water as late as twenty years ago, when he added a pressure pump for the then owners.  He is coming out next week to look at it and advise us how best to reactivate it's use.  We are extremely excited about this!   It makes perfect sense for a dairy, as I said above, but in this dry place, in this dryest of times, it seemed too much to hope for.   Maybe a little pond?  Maybe a drip water system to keep the garden moist?  Maybe an aesthetic water feature?  Maybe a spring fed endless lap pool between the spring and the garden?   Maybe spring water for the sauna?  What luck!



The Riding/Training - Elvis and Gus Do Some Hill Work

Elvis nd Gus Do Some Hill Work

I rode Elvis and my husband rode Gus.  We did trotting hill work.  We rode in the English cross-country tack.  I had Elvis in a rubber pelham.  He went very nicely in it.  There was a little diving and curling up behind the bit, but I took the trainer's advice and asked him not to do those things when they happened.  And he was doing it less and less frequently. 

After the hill work we went to the arena.  My husband and Gus did canter laps and worked on rein back.  Elvis was not used to working in the arena with another horse cantering, so we worked on not paying attention to the other horse and paying attention to me.   We did a lot on the center line: walking straight, bending left and right, leg yields left and right, turns on the forhand, turns on the haunches.  Then we did an exercise I had not tried with him for over a year and back then he couldn't do it.  We did bending on the circle - counter bending on another circle - bending on that circle - and so on.  He got it and it made him very soft and round.  He found a "happy place" as one clinician once put it.  So we stopped there, with both a wet blanket and a tired brain for Elvis.  But also with a sense of success.

I am ashamed to admit that I was still sore from my lessons on Wednesday...

 

 

PJ has a big chip out of her left front hoof.  She doesn't seem to be lame. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure if we need to do anything about this.  The farrier is coming on Friday.