Wordless Wednesday

Dashing through the......

snow, and off to work I go! Yup. Our first real snowfall is here, started as rain this morning, then snow, now it's back to rain again. The horses are hunkered down in their shelters,

wondering why that silly woman is wandering around in the muck with her camera when they have enough sense to stay inside!

The peach tree in the front yard is valiantly holding on to it's last leaves,

and my flower border that I've been working on will have to wait until the next sunny day- tomorrow, according to the forecast.

Catch you later, I really do have to get off to work now.

Sunday Stills- landscapes

While pumpkins are not exactly fall foliage, they are still part of the landscape!

This massive cottonwood tree is just starting to turn color, but the field has been turned ready for fall planting.

Along the shores of Kootenay Lake there is a little fall color, and snow topped mountains give the air that crisp fall feel.

If I can find my camera this morning, I will add a couple more that I took on our trip to Nelson yesterday; the fall foliage was spectacular there- and I'll put another comment on Sunday Stills website if I do.

Okay, I found my camera so here we go! First, this is what we found at the summit of the Skyway; appropriately enough, Summit Lake.

Looks more like winter foliage! Then we dropped down off the mountain and saw beautiful tamaracks lighting up the mountainside with their golden glow.

When we got to Nelson, I had to keep stopping to take photos because it was so beautiful! Like this maple tree.....

and this one.....

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

A thank you, and play time

It's here! The calender I won over at Fern Valley Appaloosas! My favorite photos are January and April. Thanks very much, Sherry, now I don't have to buy my usual horsey calender, and this one will remind me of our friendship.

Foose is home, a little confused, but happy to be home.

Beamer was bored the other day....

So I took pity on him and played with him for a while before I went to work.

We played ball, he tossed it over the fence, then expects me to go get it so he can do it again. I use this opportunity to get him used to things rolling around under his legs, and toss it gently onto different parts of his body. I'd like to get one of those big training balls, we could have a lot of fun with that!

Then I chased him up a little so he'd get some exercise, and I am teaching him to rear on command, with success as you can see:

Now, before you get worried, this is not something I ask him to do under saddle, and he never tries it under saddle, even when he's excited! I think Beamer would be a great horse to do tricks with.

He loves to be photographed and always performs for me when he sees the camera.

Making sure I got his extended trot,

And his lovely profile!

Fearless Foose

The other day I was grooming Beamer, ready to go for a ride, when Foose jumped onto the hitching rail- and onto Beamer's back!

I'm so proud of my Beamer, he gave one tiny little start, and then just stood there while Foose inspected my grooming job. Yes, Foose, I know his hip is still dirty!

Make yerself at home, why dontcha!

Uh, Foose, I'd like to ride sometime today! He stayed there until he decided to use Beamer's withers as a scratching post- Beamer pinned his ears and stepped sideways, and Foose jumped back onto the hitching rail.

Today, Foose gets his boy bits off.

Yes, Foose, those ones! He's 6 months old now, so off to the vet this morning. After a snack on Tess's tail, of course!

Christmas Cake- A Tutorial

If you like dark fruitcake, especially brandied fruitcake, you might want to try this recipe. I've been making it since 1975, and it's in demand in my family. Sometimes I have trouble saving one for myself! This recipe calls for soaking the fruit mixture in brandy overnight, so go buy a bottle of nice brandy.

The first day:

In a large bowl, combine:

2-6 cups of Glace or maraschino cherries (I use 6 cups, I like lots of 'em in my cake!)

2 cups citron peel or mixed peel

2 cups dark raisins

1 cup currants

1 cup chopped dates

2 cups nuts - I vary from year to year; this year I used pecan halves and slivered almonds; you can also use walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamias, etc.

Add 1 cup of brandy, and stir well. Cover and let stand overnight; stir a few times to make sure all the fruit gets a good soaking.

The next day, get out the brandy and do this:

That is all the brandy you are allowed! Because the rest of it is needed! I'm not kidding!

In a separate bowl, combine :

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

(Note:I always measure the spices generously, these are minimum measures given.)

In a large bowl, combine:

6 eggs

1 cup softened butter (NO margarine please!)

2 cups liquid honey.

In a measuring cup, mix together:

3/4 cup molasses

3/4 cup brandy

So this is what you have. I use the sink to hold the big bowl so it is easier to stir everything.

Dredge the fruit mixture with about a half cup of flour. Mix together the flour mix with the egg mix and brandy mix.

So now you are down to 2 bowls! Pour the batter into the fruit and stir thoroughly.

Prepare your loaf pans by cutting brown paper to fit, butter the pan and butter the side of the paper that you will be pouring the batter on:

You will need at least 3 pans; I use 4 because of the amount of cherries I use.

I used butchers paper, with the shiny side down, but cut up paper bags work well too. This is an important step, as it keeps the cakes from drying out and over-browning during baking.

Pour the batter into the pans.

Bake them in a 275 degree oven, from 2 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on your oven.
This batch took 3 hours.

You may need to cover them loosely with tinfoil during the last half hour of baking to prevent the tops from excessive browning.

When they are done, cool them on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before you lift them out of their pans, and leave the paper on until they have cooled to about lukewarm before you try to take the paper off.

After you remove the paper and they are all cooled off, get out the brandy again- no you may not have another sip, all the rest is needed! So put your thumb over the end of the bottle, and drizzle a little over each cake before you wrap it.

I like to make sure that the brandy goes over the whole top of the cake. Double wrap the cakes in plastic, and store in big zip-locks. I keep mine in a plastic bin to keep the mice away!

So, by my reckoning, there should be about 1/4 bottle of brandy left. No! You still can't have it! Every week, until it's all gone, take the cakes out and drizzle more brandy on them. You should get about 4 times.

If any of you make them, let me know how you like this recipe-(or not!)

Sheep-dog-day

Sunday, Janice and I headed out to work our border collies on sheep with P., the lady who owns Tess's daddy, Quill. Now, my dogs haven't worked sheep since February 2007, and Janice's dog Sage, (a Reba pup from her first litter) has never even seen a sheep. There were a couple of other folks there with some experienced dogs as well as Quill and Moss, P.'s new trials dog. We went to a large meadow, and watched Quill work first.

Quill

Driving the split away from the herd

After that, P. and I worked Tess; she showed me what she wanted and what to look for, and explained what Tess was doing; all in all she was quite pleased with Tess, said she is really soft and controllable, and that she was a great first dog for me to learn with. I don't have pictures of us working, you'll have to visit Janice's blog to see them. We also worked Reba, who has a little more experience than Tess, and I was pleased with the way she worked too. Janice got to introduce Sage to sheep, and she did quite well, showing her natural instinct and lovely obedience. After that, the pro dogs worked.

Sage, Reba and Tess watching and learning

This dog lives with the herd; that is Quill in the background driving the split

We also got to watch Moss, what a beauty he is; most likely I will be breeding Tess or Reba to him as soon as one comes into heat, as I have standing orders for 6 puppies.

Moss

He sat so quietly while the other dogs were working, not like my two who were so excited that they were whining and clacking their teeth! (Poor Janice had to hold one while I worked the other, bet her arms are sore!) They did settle down after a while though; I'm sure that if they did this all the time they would be much quieter.

Moss - a long outrun, and fetch

Look back, Moss!

We had a wonderful afternoon, and P. was trying to convince us that we should get 3 or 4 sheep to work our dogs on. I would love to, but I need to convince Ted! Maybe if he came and saw them work.... and maybe Janice will get some, then I'd have more excuses to visit there!

Trust me, I'm working on it! This is so much fun, and my collies know that this is the reason they exist.

Sunday Stills- the letter C

I had a lot of fun with this one, seems like everything was comin' up C's for me! First, I was making my Christmas Cake; ( stay tuned for a post on making them, Complete with recipe!)

A bowl full of Cherries, on the Counter, in front of the Carnations.......

Then it was time to go out and play Catch with my Collies!

Of course, everyone has to have their Coffee in their favorite Cup, while at their Computer.....

and back outside to check on the ruckus the Cows were making.

Which reminded me of this photo I took earlier in the summer:

Hope you all had as much fun as I did!

Feeding to prevent colds

In the fall, I usually have weanlings, and I've developed a feed program over the years that helps combat the onset of colds due to the weather changes and the stress of weaning. Since the mares get grain while they are lactating, baby has learned to eat grain from an early age, chowing down alongside mama, and at weaning they continue to get grain, and mama doesn't. As soon as the cooler weather hits, I start adding garlic to their feed, as well as dried nettles.

I also top dress with a good mineral mix. The garlic I feed is crushed garlic; this photo shows how much I give them, as well as how much nettles. I call it their gourmet dinner. Nothing like getting horse kisses with garlic breath!

Beamer and Chickory also get this concoction, but they only get about a cup of grain, just enough to mix everything up; they are plenty fat and are loving the hay from this area.

So to those of you who have stinging nettles in your barnyard; don't get rid of them; harvest them! Feed them to your chickens, your horses, your dogs ( the commercial feed I give my dogs has nettles in it) and even yourself!

Are you ready....

For a big dose of cuteness? Errrrrr, make that a little dose of cuteness! Everybody, meet Poco!

He is a 3 week old mini donkey that belongs to the folks who bought Coyote Belle.

Ain't he just 'dorable! Becuase of the damp weather and being born so late in the year, he gets to wear a little dog blanket at night:

And he is about the same size as the dog!

He posed so pretty,

that I could have taken hundreds of photos!

So I have a question for all those of you who raise donkeys; do they need any vaccinations, and are there any special requirements for them, other than hay, grass salt, and water?