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Laughter is medicine?
Mar. 18th, 2010 08:34 pmAfter spending the morning, actually an hour more than my usual Thursday shift, making temporary arrangements to get the infected machine out of circulation and something in its place, I finally got home and had some lunch. Gary came back early from school and wanted to go shopping for garden seeds (and dog food) which we did so he could plant lettuces now in the hot frame. I went on to do the usual Thursday barn chores while he was digging and planting.
Tess got to go out to the pasture for the first time this year. I put on driving gloves to lead her out there because in the past she has been so eager to go that she would misbehave, rearing and bucking and requiring tight control. It seems she is remembering her lessons from last year. Though she still kept trying to hurry me along, mostly she just pranced about on the lead. Of course, once she was out and released she had to do all the usual things: roll in the dirt, kick up her heels and squeal like a silly foal, and gallop back and forth at full speed several times. I'm always sure she's going to slide into the fence, but she never does. She could only stay out for 40 minutes or so, because the grass is already greening up. I was sure I'd have to walk clear to the back of the pasture to fetch her, but no. She met me at the gate, waiting for her treat (a tiny little biscuit thing about the size of a quarter, and walked back to the barn almost ladylike. I think she's coming into season too, which makes this even more surprising. She usually gets downright cantankerous then.
All this involved several trips to the back fields, and while back there I noticed something that almost had me rolling in the grass myself. The loony Brit neighbor has buckets hanging on his maple trees. Now one or two could be for feeding his wife's horses, but these are too small for that and besides, there are at least six and all are on maples. I think he's trying to collect sap for maple syrup. Now there are two problems with that. The first is that the syrup season here is long over with (comes late January to mid-February.) The second is that like us, he has the wrong kind of maples. Those are not sugar maples, but silver or Norway maples. He might get sap from them but it won't have enough sugar to be worth the bother of processing. Of course, since the trees are in the middle of his horse field, it's just as well that they are NOT sugar maple. The American sugar maple is toxic to horses if they eat the leaves, bark, or twigs. *head shake* I suppose he got advice from someone up in Canada who said "Oh yes, we do that in mid-March.
While walking Tess out over the dead oak leaves I noticed something but couldn't stop with her right then to check. On the way back I looked again and sure enough, there were red oak leaves mixed in with the white and burr oaks on the ground. I have thought ever since we bought the place that there surely should be a few red or black oaks amongst all the whites, but never actually found one. This is the first evidence. The location in which I found the leaves suggests the there must be one or two trees among the grove that forms our woodlot. It's dense enough and has enough poison ivy that I usually only peer in from the edges. I didn't know for several years that there are old apple trees hidden in there, for instance. Now I'm going to have to look for the red oaks.
Since it was over 60F, we also started the charcoal grill for the first time since October. I found some Polish sausages in the freezer, and cut up two fresh zucchini lengthwise and brushed them with Italian dressing. We put those on the hot coals while we had salad, and then had the Polish in rolls, with the grilled zucchini and pasta with raspberry salsa. Boy was that good, especially the zucchini. I love charcoal grilled vegetables. I need to get some eggplant right away.
Things are looking drier than they were last year in the spring. I don't know, maybe we'll have a better garden and avoid the floods and washouts of last year.
Tess got to go out to the pasture for the first time this year. I put on driving gloves to lead her out there because in the past she has been so eager to go that she would misbehave, rearing and bucking and requiring tight control. It seems she is remembering her lessons from last year. Though she still kept trying to hurry me along, mostly she just pranced about on the lead. Of course, once she was out and released she had to do all the usual things: roll in the dirt, kick up her heels and squeal like a silly foal, and gallop back and forth at full speed several times. I'm always sure she's going to slide into the fence, but she never does. She could only stay out for 40 minutes or so, because the grass is already greening up. I was sure I'd have to walk clear to the back of the pasture to fetch her, but no. She met me at the gate, waiting for her treat (a tiny little biscuit thing about the size of a quarter, and walked back to the barn almost ladylike. I think she's coming into season too, which makes this even more surprising. She usually gets downright cantankerous then.
All this involved several trips to the back fields, and while back there I noticed something that almost had me rolling in the grass myself. The loony Brit neighbor has buckets hanging on his maple trees. Now one or two could be for feeding his wife's horses, but these are too small for that and besides, there are at least six and all are on maples. I think he's trying to collect sap for maple syrup. Now there are two problems with that. The first is that the syrup season here is long over with (comes late January to mid-February.) The second is that like us, he has the wrong kind of maples. Those are not sugar maples, but silver or Norway maples. He might get sap from them but it won't have enough sugar to be worth the bother of processing. Of course, since the trees are in the middle of his horse field, it's just as well that they are NOT sugar maple. The American sugar maple is toxic to horses if they eat the leaves, bark, or twigs. *head shake* I suppose he got advice from someone up in Canada who said "Oh yes, we do that in mid-March.
While walking Tess out over the dead oak leaves I noticed something but couldn't stop with her right then to check. On the way back I looked again and sure enough, there were red oak leaves mixed in with the white and burr oaks on the ground. I have thought ever since we bought the place that there surely should be a few red or black oaks amongst all the whites, but never actually found one. This is the first evidence. The location in which I found the leaves suggests the there must be one or two trees among the grove that forms our woodlot. It's dense enough and has enough poison ivy that I usually only peer in from the edges. I didn't know for several years that there are old apple trees hidden in there, for instance. Now I'm going to have to look for the red oaks.
Since it was over 60F, we also started the charcoal grill for the first time since October. I found some Polish sausages in the freezer, and cut up two fresh zucchini lengthwise and brushed them with Italian dressing. We put those on the hot coals while we had salad, and then had the Polish in rolls, with the grilled zucchini and pasta with raspberry salsa. Boy was that good, especially the zucchini. I love charcoal grilled vegetables. I need to get some eggplant right away.
Things are looking drier than they were last year in the spring. I don't know, maybe we'll have a better garden and avoid the floods and washouts of last year.
