More snow this morning. It had melted by noon. All this precipitation has turned the area around the barn into a bog. I have to step carefully so that my boots don’t get sucked off my feet. Smoke and Rags don’t seem to care, but Hap goes through it with a sort of weary disdain.
These are the wettest conditions I can recall for three or four years: not enough to bring the water table up, but should help push back extreme fire hazard for a month or two.
Although it snowed for over a day, there wasn’t much accumulation because it melted due to the warm ground almost as quickly as it fell. The horses were inclined to be grumpy, but they will appreciate the grass later on. I did break down and put a blanket on Smoke: the icicles in the mane get me every time.
The first few years I had Hap, this large soft eye made me think many times: Funny, he doesn’t look like maniac.
One year, I took him to State Fair and put a sign on his stall door with large letters: Do not pet this horse. He bites!
I still found parents holding their children up to pet him. (Mind you: Hap’s biting was the affectionate nibble he would do to another horse, but I don’t think it matters when dealing with an 1100 pound critter.) The fact that so many people thought they were in a petting zoo is one reason I never took Hap back.
This photo of Hap grazing is a very good thing, because Hap was showing signs of colic this morning. I heard a tremendous racket in the barn as I was finishing up feeding the horses, and rushed in to see what was going on. Hap had evidently been down briefly, and hit the sides of his stall as he got up. As I watched, he twisted his head around to look at his side, and then started pawing. I checked his concentrate and it didn’t look as though he had touched it. I took his concentrate away since I didn’t want him eating if he had an impaction.
Continue reading A Good Thing
Late afternoon on the plateau. I don’t usually walk the dogs this late, but enjoy the look of the setting sun.
Muddy River has some “photos”:http://muddyriver.typepad.com/hearth/2004/04/two_more_from_o.html, including some “ocean scenes”:http://muddyriver.typepad.com/hearth/2004/04/ocean_city.html of a recent trip to Ocean City Maryland. This was a favorite family vacation spot when I was a child, though later I started going to Rehobeth Beach, Delaware instead.
Sunset skies, a few days ago. I liked the effect of the horizon screened by the yellow grasses.
Mayang’s Free Textures has a variety of architectural, manmade and natural textures. (via “J-Walk”:http://j-walkblog.com/blog/)
Yesterday, we had family over to eat “chicken vindaloo”:http://www.stardel.com/cao/archives/recipe_chicken_vindaloo.htm and play “Settlers of Catan.”:http://www.universityofcatan.com/soc-games/ckofce.html I was dubious when Jack volunteered me to make Chicken Vindaloo. One, it is a lot of work. Two, I wasn’t sure people would like it, since it is highly seasoned. After a little discussion, Jack volunteered
to make the paste, which is most of the work. After making it Friday night, he mentioned that the recipe should add two hours to the preparation time of 20 minutes. As a nice bonus, I woke up to a clean kitchen. Generally, when Jack cooks, it looks as though he managed to find and use every pot and pan we possess. (I just recently learned the difference between pans and pots. Pans have one handle. Pots have two.)
Continue reading Chicken Vindaloo and Settlers