Shoe Store

This morning Polly and Little Joe got new shoes in preparation for many summer Rocky Mountain rides.


I think Jay was glad to be on the front end of shoeing this time.
 
Most people don’t see the bottom of a horse’s hoof.  I think they’re fascinating. Jasen Fowles was our farrier.  Watching him made me think  about Uncle Donald a lot.  Does anybody remember that his business card had “business is always picking up” on it?
    
Jason wraps his tool handles in ‘vet tape’.  When he asked his little girl to go get some for him she brought  pink. 

Little Joe’s first shoes.  Black hooves are naturally harder than white, and his have never been split or chipped up.  But this summer we’ll be riding him a lot harder than other summers and it will be nice not to worry about rocky rides.

Perfect fit.  That smudge of blood on Little Joe’s hoof is Jason’s. He shrugged it off as a hazard of his trade.  Man, look at those hands.  Those are Man Hands.

Cool Tools.


All done.  Time to ride.

Raspberry Beginnings

They’re starting.  Those dry-looking sticks standing bleak and bare during the winter are starting to come to life again.  It’s one of those events I never tire of.  They’ve been thinned, watered, weeded, ‘ironed’ (chelated iron applied because, while there is plenty of the stuff in our Utah soil, the canes cannot use it.  It’s a chemical thing, and Science Rules, therefore, we apply).  We never had to work this hard for glorious raspberries in British Columbia, did we Mom?  Yet, it is a pleasure, this working and hoping for another bumper crop of the beautiful and delicious gems.

  
And all through the hours I was dreaming of doing this – making some homemade raspberry ice cream.  Diet? What diet?  Diet move aside, there are raspberries and cream to be savored here.

In-A-Bag Ice Cream
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Cup half and half (We used whole milk)
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix together and place in a pint zip lock bag.  Place little bag in a quart size zip lock bag along with 1/2 cup rock salt (table salt will do) and about 5 cups ice. Shake and roll (gently) for 5-10 min.  Rinse the little bag before you open it and eat.  Now you can also add whatever strikes your fancy, or leave it in its pure, delicious vanilla form.  Our flavor of the day – Last years ruby-red treasures still lingering in our freezer.  Come on over!  We’ll make another batch just for you.
 


Happy raspberry canes, happy twins, happy me.

Wishing . . .

is for . . . BEES!

It’s sooo cold.  I don’t mind – We have a cozy fireplace, downy comforters to snuggle under etc.  But outside is a different story.  Outside our critters must endure with what Mother Nature gave them.

Here’s Beth (that’s what I name all of the underlings, or worker gals.  Jay thinks I’m . . . I dunno what he thinks, he keeps it politely to himself).  So here’s Beth last spring working on some of Grandpa’s apple blossoms.  They’ll travel up to 7 miles to get their job done.

 

Here are some of the crew in happier days.  Last summer I snapped this rare sighting of AnnaBeth.  She’s the one almost in the middle with the longer abdomen.  Isn’t she purdy?  This year we are getting another hive and I am going to mark this AnnaBeth with a dot of bright pink nail polish on her back so we can see her more often!

We just checked our hunny-girls.  They are in their tight cluster at the top of their hive.  AnnaBeth (that’s Mom’s name, and the queen bee’s name, ‘cause Mom IS Queen Bee) should be right in the center of all that shivering, golden fuzziness keeping 90 degrees warm.  It’s quite a sight.  But they have a long ways to go before the first pollen of spring.  So, we made them some sugar patty cakes and placed them right among the throng.  Ideally, they are to travel slowly around the hive as a cluster during the winter consuming the honey they have stored.  But when it gets so cold for so long they often won’t break the cluster and will starve to death with honey ‘just around the corner’.  I feel for our gals.  Some years they give us gallons of their amber treasure from their amazing food factory.  We’ll try to help them now with something from our kitchen.

Cheep Entertainment

Kyle and Mark began a summer venture with a 6:30 am phone call from the post office. There was no time for primping, there were baby chicks to be gotten. Several weeks ago, they had looked at the McMurray Catalogue and chose some chickens they would like to have. Now they are here! The post man made it extra fun talking to the twins about their plans for the little peepers, and teasing that maybe he would like to keep them himself. This man knows kid physcology. The thought of someone else taking care of the precious contents instantly instilled a deep maturnal committment and affection for their tiny wards. They could hardly wait to get them home to see them, hold them, feed them, name them . . . have them lay eggs . . . sell the eggs . . . buy lots of cool things . . . The dream was alive!

The mysterious, peeping, scratching box:

The blur of jostling, downy babies.

Twins, meet chicks. Chicks, meet your Mommies.

Cheep entertainment for Neil too.

I love a horse; the smell of its hide, its big soft eyes, velvety nose, pink, round tongue.

Have you ever thought what paisley and horsey noses have in common? Look at Polly's nostril - paisley all the way! This picture has it all, even a chap fringe and temple in the background.

Emily came over for a ride with Neil. Clarification: She rode ON Little Joe WITH Neil.

Neil is spending his remaining pre-mission days doing things with cousins and friends and us. These are happy, golden days.