My night owl son woke me in the wee hours to inform me that the turkey was leaking. I asked how much, hoping that in fact he was mistaken, and the double-bagged fresh turkey was doing nothing of the kind.
But he said "a lot" and I sighed and got up, knowing that my warm spot in the bed would soon be taken over by whichever cat bodies could make it there first.
Indeed, the turkey was leaking. I spent about a minute fussing at self for not putting the turkey in the roasting pan so at least if it leaked it would be contained. And then the next hour and a half cleaning the entire lower half of the refrigerator, to a degree Martha Stewart and my mother would smile upon.
I woke up expecting sunshine but it's not here yet. Today I'm making the afore-mentioned cheesecake, the cranberry sauce, the mashed potatoes, (which shockingly can be made ahead without losing one bit of goodness) and getting the dinner rolls made up and put in the pan.
And meanwhile, here is the pumpkin dog biscuit recipe just for Dougie Donk, who I believe not only races ex-racing horses and wears kilts, but does a bit of baking on the side:
Cleo's Pumpkin Dog Biscuits:
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin (I'm using freshly made puree)
2 tbsp. dry milk
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 1/2 cups brown rice flour (gives the biscuits crunch and offers better dog digestion than wheat)
1 tsp. dried parsley (optional)
Preheat oven to 350.
In large bowl, whisk together eggs and pumpkin 'til smooth. Stir in dry milk, sea salt, and parsley if using. Add brown rice flour gradually, combining with spatula or hands to form a stiff, dry dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead if still rough, then roll out to desired thickness. (1/4 - 1/2 inch)
Use cookie cutters to punch out shapes, and rework leftover dough until it's gone. Place on baking sheet - no greasing necessary. Bake 20 minutes, remove from oven, turn, and bake 20 more minutes. Let cool completely before serving!
Enjoy feeding these healthy, yummy treats to the resident canines!
And let me know as the day progresses what you're baking and cooking - we can all share in the feasting today!
billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
thanks giving in advance of the day
I meant to take the camera out and get a picture or two, but have been so relieved that I don't actually have to GO anywhere today, tomorrow, or Thursday, I've been sort of floating from one place to the next all day long.
This morning I was thankful to see Salina marching around the barnyard, lining up at the feed room door, and generally being her usual self.
When I took the first wheelbarrow load of muck down the path, Redford wanted to join me, so I let him. He walked beside me until I turned onto the woodland path, at which point the labyrinth path was clear top to bottom, and that wild expanse of freedom was like passing a candle wick through flame.
His little face lit up and down he went, with a donkey buck and gallop, down to the edge of the labyrinth itself. I called out to him and he whirled and raced back up, pausing and then galloping all the way up to the barnyard. He was so excited he wanted them all to know where he was and that he had full access to the back.
He flew back down the path, past me, this time all the way into the labyrinth, where he made a complete circuit and then ran back up to the barnyard gate. He turned around and did it all again.
By this time I had dumped my load of manure and had the wheelbarrow pointed back up the hill, so he ran up ahead of me and when I got to the top, he had lured Rafer Johnson into the arena, where they were having another race.
Mid-morning, Keil Bay asked very nicely (with a quiet tap tap tap of his knee against the stall door) to come into the barnyard with Salina, the donkeys, and me.
I opened his door and he sauntered out, immediately taking over the round bale, which is getting low and had been turned over on its side on top of the two pallets. I rearranged the hay so the pallets were obvious - and proceeded with chores.
A little while later I heard a sound (one of those sounds just loud enough and unusual enough to make you go check it out) and Keil had dragged the pallets out from under the hay and shoved them against the barn.
I'm thankful that he's strong enough to move heavy pallets, and also that he didn't do any damage to himself OR the barn in the process.
This afternoon I have two pumpkin pies in the oven, made with the gorgeous puree I mixed up the other night using the organic pumpkin that came from our hay grower's garden. The pumpkin has been decorating our table for several weeks and now will grace our table in a different way.
I should get two pumpkin pies, a batch of pumpkin dog biscuits, and a caramel pumpkin gingersnap cheesecake out of this one pumpkin. If there is puree left, I'll make a pumpkin cake next week.
It's a grey day, good for baking and listening to music, watching a Corgi nap, monitoring the nap cycles of five felines who move and shift from room to room, new spot to new spot, and heading out to the barn every hour or so to visit and continue the chores out there.
This morning I was thankful to see Salina marching around the barnyard, lining up at the feed room door, and generally being her usual self.
When I took the first wheelbarrow load of muck down the path, Redford wanted to join me, so I let him. He walked beside me until I turned onto the woodland path, at which point the labyrinth path was clear top to bottom, and that wild expanse of freedom was like passing a candle wick through flame.
His little face lit up and down he went, with a donkey buck and gallop, down to the edge of the labyrinth itself. I called out to him and he whirled and raced back up, pausing and then galloping all the way up to the barnyard. He was so excited he wanted them all to know where he was and that he had full access to the back.
He flew back down the path, past me, this time all the way into the labyrinth, where he made a complete circuit and then ran back up to the barnyard gate. He turned around and did it all again.
By this time I had dumped my load of manure and had the wheelbarrow pointed back up the hill, so he ran up ahead of me and when I got to the top, he had lured Rafer Johnson into the arena, where they were having another race.
Mid-morning, Keil Bay asked very nicely (with a quiet tap tap tap of his knee against the stall door) to come into the barnyard with Salina, the donkeys, and me.
I opened his door and he sauntered out, immediately taking over the round bale, which is getting low and had been turned over on its side on top of the two pallets. I rearranged the hay so the pallets were obvious - and proceeded with chores.
A little while later I heard a sound (one of those sounds just loud enough and unusual enough to make you go check it out) and Keil had dragged the pallets out from under the hay and shoved them against the barn.
I'm thankful that he's strong enough to move heavy pallets, and also that he didn't do any damage to himself OR the barn in the process.
This afternoon I have two pumpkin pies in the oven, made with the gorgeous puree I mixed up the other night using the organic pumpkin that came from our hay grower's garden. The pumpkin has been decorating our table for several weeks and now will grace our table in a different way.
I should get two pumpkin pies, a batch of pumpkin dog biscuits, and a caramel pumpkin gingersnap cheesecake out of this one pumpkin. If there is puree left, I'll make a pumpkin cake next week.
It's a grey day, good for baking and listening to music, watching a Corgi nap, monitoring the nap cycles of five felines who move and shift from room to room, new spot to new spot, and heading out to the barn every hour or so to visit and continue the chores out there.
USDF statement on rollkur
Released yesterday:
USDF Executive Board Statement on Animal Welfare
In response to a recent incident at an international competition, the USDF Executive Board has issued the following official statement:
The USDF does not approve of training techniques such as hyperflexion especially when taken to an extreme. While we recognize that we can not control how riders train at home, excessive techniques should not be tolerated at competitions. The USDF feels that it is very important that as a sport we police ourselves and encourage the USEF and FEI to call upon their licensed officials to ensure that cruel and abusive riding does not happen at our competitions.
The USDF agrees with and strongly supports the FEI position as stated in the November 17 press release and in particular the statement: "The FEI acknowledges and welcomes public opinion and will continue to ensure that the welfare of the horse, which has been central to this debate, will remain its absolute priority."
USDF Executive Board Statement on Animal Welfare
In response to a recent incident at an international competition, the USDF Executive Board has issued the following official statement:
The USDF does not approve of training techniques such as hyperflexion especially when taken to an extreme. While we recognize that we can not control how riders train at home, excessive techniques should not be tolerated at competitions. The USDF feels that it is very important that as a sport we police ourselves and encourage the USEF and FEI to call upon their licensed officials to ensure that cruel and abusive riding does not happen at our competitions.
The USDF agrees with and strongly supports the FEI position as stated in the November 17 press release and in particular the statement: "The FEI acknowledges and welcomes public opinion and will continue to ensure that the welfare of the horse, which has been central to this debate, will remain its absolute priority."
Sunday, November 22, 2009
two new articles at Epona TV
In THIS ONE, Kittel's history of harm to his horse is clearly documented.
An excerpt:
In Wiesbaden, several people were uncomfortable seeing that Scandic's double bridle was fitted with a very low noseband. The judge as well as the chief steward opted to intervene. Friedrich Otto-Erley, head of the German FN's elite sports division said to St. Georg: "The noseband was fitted where a drop noseband would normally sit. The horse couldn't breathe, and was blowing like a locomotive. Where the noseband should have been, there was a sore."
Patrik Kittel was ordered to fix the noseband, and Watermill Scandic placed last in the freestyle, having performed the test with his tongue hanging out. It is not mentioned whether on this occasion, the FEI found it necessary to investigate.
As far as I'm concerned, this is exactly what we should be seeing in every competition arena in the world. Stewards and judges should manage this on the FRONT LINES. If the FEI doesn't see fit to investigate, that sort of blows a hole in their statement that the welfare of horses comes first, but at least the horses are being protected in the moment when they're competing.
And in THIS ONE, Denmark seems to be taking a stand as a country in addressing these abusive practices.
The below excerpt takes the cake for most absurd statement of the day.
LPS also spoke with Danish dressage team veterinarian, Dr. Hans Christian Matthiesen, who was at the time an aspiring international dressage judge, but Mathiessen denied that there are general welfare problems associated with the way horses are trained for elite level sport. "If you're not used to seeing this kind of training, it can appear violent," he said, but stressed that no statistical evidence exists to show that such training is bad for the horse. In his blog on a Danish horse portal, Dr. Mathiessen now laments the "loss of respect" for dressage and claims that the blue tongue clip of Patrik Kittel on YouTube has been taken completely out of context, and claims that there are horses from the Third World pulling heavy loads through Europe with old tires nailed to their feet instead of real horseshoes, which is much worse.
I'm glad to report that Epona TV reporters continue their efforts on this issue.
If the FEI is putting all the power in the hands of ring stewards, perhaps we should all go do what we need to do to stand ringside with our yellow cards and very loud voices.
An excerpt:
In Wiesbaden, several people were uncomfortable seeing that Scandic's double bridle was fitted with a very low noseband. The judge as well as the chief steward opted to intervene. Friedrich Otto-Erley, head of the German FN's elite sports division said to St. Georg: "The noseband was fitted where a drop noseband would normally sit. The horse couldn't breathe, and was blowing like a locomotive. Where the noseband should have been, there was a sore."
Patrik Kittel was ordered to fix the noseband, and Watermill Scandic placed last in the freestyle, having performed the test with his tongue hanging out. It is not mentioned whether on this occasion, the FEI found it necessary to investigate.
As far as I'm concerned, this is exactly what we should be seeing in every competition arena in the world. Stewards and judges should manage this on the FRONT LINES. If the FEI doesn't see fit to investigate, that sort of blows a hole in their statement that the welfare of horses comes first, but at least the horses are being protected in the moment when they're competing.
And in THIS ONE, Denmark seems to be taking a stand as a country in addressing these abusive practices.
The below excerpt takes the cake for most absurd statement of the day.
LPS also spoke with Danish dressage team veterinarian, Dr. Hans Christian Matthiesen, who was at the time an aspiring international dressage judge, but Mathiessen denied that there are general welfare problems associated with the way horses are trained for elite level sport. "If you're not used to seeing this kind of training, it can appear violent," he said, but stressed that no statistical evidence exists to show that such training is bad for the horse. In his blog on a Danish horse portal, Dr. Mathiessen now laments the "loss of respect" for dressage and claims that the blue tongue clip of Patrik Kittel on YouTube has been taken completely out of context, and claims that there are horses from the Third World pulling heavy loads through Europe with old tires nailed to their feet instead of real horseshoes, which is much worse.
I'm glad to report that Epona TV reporters continue their efforts on this issue.
If the FEI is putting all the power in the hands of ring stewards, perhaps we should all go do what we need to do to stand ringside with our yellow cards and very loud voices.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
we have an abscess (and we're happy about it)
About two weeks ago Salina made a mad gallop in the front field with the boys, and my daughter pointed out to me that she was just a bit off behind that evening. We gave her some Bute and kept an eye on her. She had a series of off again, on again days in which we kept her in the barnyard with her donkeys to give things a chance to get right.
By then it was seeming to me that it was her right front that was off. That knee is the most severely affected by arthritis. It got a little worse, it got a little better.
Throughout all this her appetite was the usual Hanoverian "give me my food NOW."
I used two homeopathic remedies. One was arnica and it seemed to help. I did another course of Bute, which didn't seem to help.
Yesterday things seemed worse. I called my husband home from work and prepared to call the vet, knowing that we might need to be ready to make a bigger decision. And then for some reason I went back out to Salina, who had positioned herself in the back door of her stall, half in and half out, right front hoof extended out onto the ramp of shavings that leads to the grass paddock. She was pushing the hoof down onto the shavings, and using her nose to push at the coronet band.
Now I had looked at her all over, every day for the past two weeks. No sign of anything. No swelling. When I first went out yesterday morning I'd noted that she had rolled during the night, and some part of me wondered how that could be if her knee was so bad. And I had the thought that maybe she had fallen but managed to get up. But the stunning thing was how GOOD she looks right now. Her weight is good, and her coat is shiny and dappled. It just didn't make sense to me that she could look so good and yet things seemed so bad with her knee.
As usual with Salina, when the humans around her seem hopelessly confused, she comes through with a big fat clue.
That right front foot.
She had positioned herself so that when I came back through the gate to the barn, I couldn't miss it. It was literally sticking out at me. And if that weren't enough, she was touching it with her nose.
So I took the hint and made another inspection.
There was a small bulging softness right at the coronet band. When I pushed on it, she bobbed her head. And there were the flies, who seem to be attracted to infection when it's just ready to surface.
Hallelujah! An abscess!
I immediately dashed back in and prepared a warm vinegar rinse, applied it to her hoof, and gave her a dose of homeopathic hepar sulph.
By the time my husband got home, she was already more chipper. She spent her day moving slowly, but using that hoof with a new intent. She knew it was time for that thing to blow.
She got another dose of hepar sulph before bedtime last night and this morning the abscess had blown. She's so much better.
In hindsight, I wonder if adding an antioxidant mix to her feed a few weeks ago has triggered this. Maybe there was something small inside the hoof capsule that needed to find its way out. In some weird way, I wonder if it's connected to the knee, and maybe this abscess blowing will clear things up some for her entire leg.
(those who read here regularly may recall that she has one abscess a year in the LEFT front hoof, and for whatever reason, that process has gotten a month or two later each year, and easier each time)
In any case, while hoof abscesses used to terrify me, when you have a 26-year old mare with arthritic knees and it turns out to be an abscess, it's a huge relief.
In this case, cause for celebration. I'm thinking of it as a clearing process. Blowing out all the yucky bad stuff before winter sets in.
By then it was seeming to me that it was her right front that was off. That knee is the most severely affected by arthritis. It got a little worse, it got a little better.
Throughout all this her appetite was the usual Hanoverian "give me my food NOW."
I used two homeopathic remedies. One was arnica and it seemed to help. I did another course of Bute, which didn't seem to help.
Yesterday things seemed worse. I called my husband home from work and prepared to call the vet, knowing that we might need to be ready to make a bigger decision. And then for some reason I went back out to Salina, who had positioned herself in the back door of her stall, half in and half out, right front hoof extended out onto the ramp of shavings that leads to the grass paddock. She was pushing the hoof down onto the shavings, and using her nose to push at the coronet band.
Now I had looked at her all over, every day for the past two weeks. No sign of anything. No swelling. When I first went out yesterday morning I'd noted that she had rolled during the night, and some part of me wondered how that could be if her knee was so bad. And I had the thought that maybe she had fallen but managed to get up. But the stunning thing was how GOOD she looks right now. Her weight is good, and her coat is shiny and dappled. It just didn't make sense to me that she could look so good and yet things seemed so bad with her knee.
As usual with Salina, when the humans around her seem hopelessly confused, she comes through with a big fat clue.
That right front foot.
She had positioned herself so that when I came back through the gate to the barn, I couldn't miss it. It was literally sticking out at me. And if that weren't enough, she was touching it with her nose.
So I took the hint and made another inspection.
There was a small bulging softness right at the coronet band. When I pushed on it, she bobbed her head. And there were the flies, who seem to be attracted to infection when it's just ready to surface.
Hallelujah! An abscess!
I immediately dashed back in and prepared a warm vinegar rinse, applied it to her hoof, and gave her a dose of homeopathic hepar sulph.
By the time my husband got home, she was already more chipper. She spent her day moving slowly, but using that hoof with a new intent. She knew it was time for that thing to blow.
She got another dose of hepar sulph before bedtime last night and this morning the abscess had blown. She's so much better.
In hindsight, I wonder if adding an antioxidant mix to her feed a few weeks ago has triggered this. Maybe there was something small inside the hoof capsule that needed to find its way out. In some weird way, I wonder if it's connected to the knee, and maybe this abscess blowing will clear things up some for her entire leg.
(those who read here regularly may recall that she has one abscess a year in the LEFT front hoof, and for whatever reason, that process has gotten a month or two later each year, and easier each time)
In any case, while hoof abscesses used to terrify me, when you have a 26-year old mare with arthritic knees and it turns out to be an abscess, it's a huge relief.
In this case, cause for celebration. I'm thinking of it as a clearing process. Blowing out all the yucky bad stuff before winter sets in.
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