Horses Horses Everywhere

Tomorrow is the 4-H Horse Expo in Madera, and our local chapter Golden Oak 4-H Horse Group is in charge of running the snack booth and pocketing all the profits to add to their kitty. While Jen and the boys headed down to Fresno to shop for the hot dog and nacho supplies, KL and I started last night and finished up today over forty sugar cookies in the shape of . . . what else . . . a horse! It was a lot of work but a fun time with my granddaughter, just another one of those memories I'll cherish forever.

Now the fun starts. After baking all morning we get to sit down and make them adorable!

Four hours of work, we were please with our efforts.

KL created this one . . . a "Paint"

I'm not sure what this breed is but it was fun to create.

KL puts the finishing touches on the last of the over forty cookies.

Ken and I came home to make these "photo buttons" for all the Golden Oak 4-H kids and parents to wear at the Expo.

I neglected to get pictures, but while KL and I were decorating the cookies, Ken decided to make popcorn balls to sell at the Expo . . . when they sell, they will add even more money to the kitty.

Life is good!

Happy Halloween!

Fall . . . Apples . . . Just having fun!

Jen has a friend who invited her over yesterday to make apple pie filling to fill the freezer with apples she collected from a neighbor's tree—for free. The neighbor never picks his apples and just lets them fall to the ground. She called me this morning to tell me about her day and mentioned this "gadget" that peels, cores, and slices the apples. When I told her that I've had one of these handy tools for nearly 15 years and have never used it, she invited us over to help her finish her apple pie filling from a huge box of apples she brought home. So we brought over the apple gadget, which will now stay in Jen's pantry where it will get used more often. We went over early today to help her and by the end of the day we had enough apple pie filling to fill four large apple pies. We baked one for dinner for us all to enjoy, plus we got to bring a bag of apple pie filling for our freezer. Come see how easy this gadget works!

The boys were eager to help out, since they were involved with yesterday's project at their friend's house. And they were excited that I had the very same tool they used.

It took me a couple tries before I figured out how simple it really was.

It spiral-cuts the apple so that all you have to do is cut the apple in half and you have lots of uniform slices.

JD pitched in and did his share of the work.

Many hands make light work. Jen soaks the slices in water treated with absorbic acid to keep the apples from turning brown.

Of course we had to take a break, and what better way than to go out with the animals. The chickens and the goats and the horse all enjoyed the cores and peelings of the apples.

KL has had her horse, Angie, for a week now, and absolutely loves her!

Jen is getting to feel quite comfortable riding Angie, too.

The apples get simmered for ten minutes, drained and sprinkled with a bit of sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg . . . then they are put into zip-lock bags and stored in the freezer until ready to use.

A slice of this pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream was the perfect way to end a fun and productive day.

Life is good!

Hobo Stew

"Hobo Stew!" was the answer given by a house-guest at the farm when Jen asked "What is your favorite dinner?" And it was sure fun to watch the two boys create their own feast.

After spraying the foil with Pam they started with a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, then a layer of thinly sliced carrots, and a handful of corn kernels.

Of course the fun park was to break up the hamburger meat into small pieces and distributed over the pile of vegetables.

Then another layer of vegetables . . . look at his gleeful smile in anticipation of enjoying his creation at the dinner table.

It looks like a generous portion, but there was nothing left after dinner.

Jen had made an extra Hobo Stew to share with the rest of us to sample (for we had Pesto Pasta with grilled shrimp for our dinner) and it was quite tasty!

I am sorry that my camera battery had run out of juice by the time the these were cooked and served. But let me tell you, there were two very proud and happy boys at the dinner table. And they enjoyed every morsel of their Hobo Stew!

Life is good!

Meanwhile, back on the farm . . .

While we were in Oregon we heard that KL was only $70 from completing her end of the agreement with her dad. The agreement was that if she could save up enough money to feed and care for a horse for six months, her mom and dad would buy her a horse. (Of course our first thought was to send her a check, but her mom said "No way, she's doing chores for me and I want to "milk this all I can!")

Now, mind you, this child has loved horses since she was seven years old. She has read every book there is on the subject of caring for a horse, can identify every breed of horse, knows what it costs to care for a horse, has taken horseback riding lessons on and off for seven years. It has been her dream to own her own horse.

Two years ago the family moved up to the "country" and their new home came with a barn, coral, and lots of room for animals, and she realized that perhaps— just maybe— that dream actually had a possibility of coming true.

Over these last two years the family has slowly acquired a barnyard full of animals: three dairy goats (Destiny, Cover Girl, and Joey), twenty laying hens (too many names to mention), two prize-winning bunnies (Elwood and Miss Lillian), a "barn cat" (KeeKee) that really doesn't like being outside at all, three bantam chickens (two of them turned out to be roosters . . . whoops!), plus a yellow lab (Murray) who came with them from the city . . . but no horse is in the mix. However, KL has been a good sport and has somewhat patiently waited for that day to come when she would acquire the most important animal of all—a horse, working hard at taking care of the animals, feeling the responsibility of getting up early to let the animals out, feeding them morning and night, collecting the eggs, milking the goats, then returning them to the barn at night, and actively participating in 4-H showing the goats and chickens. All the while in the back of her mind (or most likely the front) thinking that someday she will, indeed, be able to have a horse.

TODAY was that day! Angie, a beautiful quarter horse was delivered to Simply Country Farm at 10 o'clock this morning. I've never seen KL smile so much all the day long. And her dream has come true. Angie, eleven years old, is not only a beautiful animal, but she is mild-mannered, trained, and seems to feel right at home in her new domain with the chickens and the goats sharing the barn and barnyard.

Here she is bringing Angie over to the fence for us to meet her, and give her a carrot.

That's the grin on her face that lasted the whole day!

She is such a sweet horse.

Beautiful chestnut color (horse people call that color "sorrel") with tiny spots of white, almost like powdered sugar was sprinkled on her.

Here KL shows us how she lunges Angie. KL had full control of the lead line (I'm sure that's not the appropriate term but I think you know what I mean) and Angie responded to KL's verbal commands. It was amazing for us to watch because it seemed like the two of them had been doing this together forever, not just for the last few minutes.

It was wonderful to see that after just a couple of hours together the two of them seemed to bond beautifully.

One more thing about KL— besides being such a responsible kid, she is bright, is outstanding in school, and has good Christian values—plus she is a beautiful person both inside and out. We couldn't be more happy for her. She has worked hard and deserves this dream come true. We feel so blessed to have her as our granddaughter.

Life is good!

Making Baba Ghanousch with Jackie

I'm sure you know how much I love to cook when I come to Healdsburg. Actually, my "baby" sister Jackie and I both love to cook and we have such fun working together in her kitchen. I am also a fan of Pioneer Woman Cooks who happen to make Baba Ghanousch the other day, something I had never heard of and thought looked like it could be really yummy (plus it's fun to say). Here we are making our first batch of Baba Ghanousch.

First we pricked the eggplants with a fork, so they wouldn't explode and make a mess.

You can grill them but we decided to roast them in the oven for nearly 45 minutes.

Roast until they're nice and dark and soft.

Split them open . . .

...and scoop the insides of the eggplant into a bowl.

Mash up until smooth . . . add the garlic, olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, salt, and parsley.

Serve it with a sliced baguette . . .

Delicious!

Life is Good!

Last days of summer . . .

Our summer stay in Oregon is nearly over. The leaves are starting to change, the weather is getting pretty nippy at night, the humming birds have flown south . . . the lawn furniture and smoker and barbecue and boat are all tucked away crammed into the shop for the winter . . . it's time to head south ourselves! Just wanted you see the beautiful view we see from our deck and will look forward to coming back next spring.

We love looking into the woods with no civilization in sight. . .

watching the robins, blue jays, hummers, and wood peckers, and listening to all critter sounds.

Life is good!