Despite a gloomy weather forecast, the sun shone nearly all day, and actually dried some things out a bit though it has started to rain again now. Tess got to go out to the pasture, I did laundry (always a landmark event, usually when I run out of clothes to wear,) and baked rolls and pizza. The temperature made it to 60F, so I even tried to put Rain-X on my windshield though that may not have succeeded. The container of little wipes with the secret chemical on them seemed rather dryish, though still damp. I cleaned the glass and rubbed it on anyway, and with all the expected rain this week, we'll see soon enough whether it worked.

Gary has been working on his map project for most of the day, so not much has been heard from that quarter. He seems to have learned to turn off his e-mail and facebook to avoid distractions, which is good.

I spun a couple of bobbins full of wool, but didn't start warping the loom as planned. Soon, though. It's a matter of putting other stuff away first, always a chore.

Also got some research in and requested a few books for more study on the subject of werewolves. I'm pretty sure I'm doing something about a werewolf for this year's NaNo, though I intend it to be about as unconventional as I can make it. Turns out that a lot of my ideas have already been tried at least once before, but that won't stop me. There's even a book where a wolf gets bitten by a werewolf, and as a consequence he transforms into a human once a month. ;p I'm more interested in making a werewolf who is a sympathetic character rather than a horrible thing to be feared. Remus Lupin was one of my favorite characters in the Harry Potter stories, for instance.

Tags: # baking, # farm, # nanowrimo, baking, farm, nanowrimo, weather
Current Location: Soggy oak grove
Mood: accomplished

Gary made it back from his long odyssey to Michigan City this morning. None the worse for wear, mostly and thank goodness.

We went out for lunch and did some shopping for animal food and our own food. Rearranged the feed storage in the two barns so that Tess has her special feed in the same place where she lives. Duh. For years her feed has been stored in the other barn. It just happened that way, don't ask me why. This should be much simpler.

I had a scare, too. Since the sun was out this morning, and it wasn't for sure whether it would change to rain again in the afternoon, I put Tess out in her pasture first thing, at 8:30 am. Normally she gets to be out for three hours, no more than four. I'd figured on bringing her in at 11:30 or so. Well, I got distracted, and forgot. This hasn't ever happened before, believe it or not. We got all the way to Woodstock and I looked at the sky and wondered if it was going to rain, then suddenly realized that she was still outside. Not that a little rain would really hurt her, but her grass consumption has to be limited for health reasons. This is new growth, too, because of all the rain we've had. So we drove back home and put her in. She seemed fine. By then it was about 1 pm, so she was out for over four hours. I kept worrying about it because the grass is lush and green again after all that rain this week.

So tonight when I moved her from her pen to the stall, I checked her feet. (The problem she gets from too much fresh grass is called grass founder, and causes swelling and pain in her feet. Not good, since there's no place for the swelling to go inside a hard hoof.) Her hooves felt warm, though no more so than the rest of her. Still, it was worrisome. I went back to the other barn to check the boys, and their feet were warm too, even though they had not been eating grass all morning. Finally it dawned on me that the outdoor temperature was only 57F, which makes a horse's body temperature of 104F seem really, really warm. So I trust she will be OK, though I have to check her carefully in the morning. If she won't get up and walk, it means an expensive emergency visit from the vet.

Gary's making English muffins at the moment, and they smell really good. Earlier this evening he baked bread.

Tags: baking, farm, horses
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: busy

And so long, thaw. Got above freezing on the 31st, first time in a solid month. Likewise today, but now it's dropping again.

Baked kaiser rolls today. First try in quite a while, these turned out decent. I tried adding steam to the oven by putting a cast iron skillet in the bottom and filling it with water. That worked better than any method I've used before.

Tags: baking, weather
Current Location: Frozen oak grove
Mood: cold

Big, fluffy flakes drifting down all afternoon. I don't think any of it lasted on the ground but it was kinda pretty. Woodstove going at a low rate makes it much more comfortable in here.

Finishing bits on the foot paws for Argos are done. They are now wearable, though I could do a little more if I get time. Finishing up his tail now, then I start on the hand paws. Those are simpler than the feet were but require plenty of hand sewing just the same (no pun intended.)

Someone at Gary's church gave him a bag full of pears last week. Turns out they are probably Kiefer, an old variety that has a coarse and gritty texture. Probably good to make perry out of but we don't have enough for that. I made a pie from them, it's in the oven now.

Nano on hiatus for the moment, though I do still intend to finish if I possibly can. Need to do fursuit stuff first.

( Bonus meme under cut )

Tags: baking, fursuiting, meme, weather
Current Location: Frozen oak grove
Mood: busy

Incredibly easy to make, tasty too, and healthier than pizza. Photo also features a handwoven towel made from handspun cottons, and an old-fashioned flour scale that I use for baking.


( Recipe under cut for anyone interested... )

Tags: baking
Mood: hungry

Actually, farriery first. John was here today and did everyone's manicure for us. No problems found, yay! Tess was on her very best behavior, too. I never would have believed that she could be so well behaved and cooperative, but she is now. It seems that our really big mistake was tying her. If I stand and hold her lead, she's a perfect lady. The worst she does is lick and nibble at my shirt pockets. No kicking, no pulling her feet away, no leaning on John. Of course this means she gets done in record time, which even she must appreciate.

A discussion on shadow_stallion's journal got into the topic of fruitcakes. Yes, I know, it's fashionable to hate them, but I happen to really like home made ones. Ultimately I promised to share my mother's and grandmother's recipes, neither of which bears any resemblance to the commercially produced and marketed "sticky bricks" that are so often sold or given as gifts in the US.

( Recipes under cut )

Tags: baking, horses
Mood: amused

Uh, no, the mice aren't going in the pies... yet. Wednesday I saw a mouse in the kitchen, so we got out the live traps. Thursday we had two mice, and took them out behind the barn and dumped them in a brushpile. Friday we had one in the trap, and yesterday two more plus we each saw one that got away. This morning four out of six traps had mice in them. Gary tried drowning the Thursday catch, but the mouse swam and swam and he felt so sorry for it he fished it back out. I'm beginning to think that five hundred feet away with two barns full of hay between them and the house isn't far enough. Two resident cats aren't doing much. One is too old to catch mice I think, and the other is too fat and lazy.

It's apple time again. We went down the road to the nearest orchard this morning and brought back two pecks: Cortlands and Honeycrisp. Because of the heavy rains, the apples are huge and very juicy but the flavor isn't quite as strong as it would be in a more dry year. Anyway, I'm making pie, apples mixed with black raspberries from the freezer. Cortlands are usually very good for pie and applesauce. Honeycrisp is very crunchy and they're nice for eating. Unfortunately, I guess Oprah declared them to be her favorite apple a few years ago, which means they now command a higher price than the others even though orchards have planted them everywhere as a result. Also available this week: Gala, Jonathan, Jonamac, Jonagold, and Senshu. Next week the Empire, another of my favorites, and Al says there aren't a lot of them this year so we should get there on Friday. At the end of the month, Melrose (also called Melreuge,) which is a big red apple with crisp flesh and tart flavor that I love to put in pies and apple crisp. They will also have Golden Delicious and Red Delicious, but neither of those has any appeal for us. Compared to many of the other varieties, they seem quite dull and tasteless.

I wish there was a good cider mill around here, but there really isn't. Since cider sold off premises is required to be pasteurized, we can't get really tasty apple cider here. It's something I really miss from back when I lived in Michigan.

Tags: animals, apples, baking, cooking
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: bouncy