A day off, mostly
Apr. 21st, 2007 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altivoWe fed the critters on their usual schedule and then took off for points west, stopping in Garden Prairie for breakfast at the cafe we like there (homestyle country, not overpriced, not fancy) and continued on all the way to Cedarville for the Stephenson County Fiber Fair. Cedarville, Illinois is the birthplace of Jane Addams, by the way. The Fair seems to get smaller every year, and if this continues soon in will be gone. But several of our favorite vendors were still there. I got some dyed cotton roving and recycled denim fiber for spinning from the Mielke Farm folks, and a book on lace knitting from Susan's Fiber Shop. We enjoyed browsing the raw fleeces and dyed rovings, and looking at books. Of course I ran into a number of people I know there, including my boss who was looking for a better quality, professional drop spindle. I helped her find the kind I think she needs.
Then we headed back east to Pecatonica, where we stopped at Rolling 10 Acres, from whence two of our three horses came to us. John wasn't there because he was doing a double shift at work, but Linda was and we got to see her newly acquired turkey poults (in a box in John's computer room, heh) and the llama and sheep they got last summer. Her three ewes each had twins this spring and all the lambs look healthy and are growing. The ram, alas, was much too aggressive and he is now in the freezer. (Evolution in action...) My favorite Haflinger of all, Accelerator, was his usual sweet self and gave my ears and neck a good nuzzling before spending quite a while with his chin resting on my shoulder. More than most horses I've ever known, he seems to genuinely love humans. We also saw John's quarter horse mare, Misty, that he got last year for riding since he's really too tall for a Haffie. She's a pretty dapple gray thing with a delicate face and sweet disposition, but apparently not a lot of brains. A couple of weeks ago she got in a fight with the alpha mare of the Haffies, who kicked her so hard she started to bleed from a cut on her foreleg. She panicked and ran through three fences, the last of which was barbed wire, and into a yard full of farm equipment where she tangled with a corn picker. In the end, the vet took about two hundred stitches to sew her up, and she was in shock from fear and loss of blood. But, amazingly, she is recovering and seems quite healthy. They've kept her close in the barn, but soon she can go back outside. Her stitches come out next week. :\
By the time we got home, stopping at the grocery on the way, the temperature was near 80 F. Did up the barn chores, and I took Tess out for her 30 minute allotment of grass before bedding her down. Then we disentangled the charcoal grill from the barn where it was stored and had something rare for dinner: steak. With asparagus, ranch potatoes, salad, and Australian red wine. Nummy. Strawberries for dessert shortly. Summer is almost here.
Then we headed back east to Pecatonica, where we stopped at Rolling 10 Acres, from whence two of our three horses came to us. John wasn't there because he was doing a double shift at work, but Linda was and we got to see her newly acquired turkey poults (in a box in John's computer room, heh) and the llama and sheep they got last summer. Her three ewes each had twins this spring and all the lambs look healthy and are growing. The ram, alas, was much too aggressive and he is now in the freezer. (Evolution in action...) My favorite Haflinger of all, Accelerator, was his usual sweet self and gave my ears and neck a good nuzzling before spending quite a while with his chin resting on my shoulder. More than most horses I've ever known, he seems to genuinely love humans. We also saw John's quarter horse mare, Misty, that he got last year for riding since he's really too tall for a Haffie. She's a pretty dapple gray thing with a delicate face and sweet disposition, but apparently not a lot of brains. A couple of weeks ago she got in a fight with the alpha mare of the Haffies, who kicked her so hard she started to bleed from a cut on her foreleg. She panicked and ran through three fences, the last of which was barbed wire, and into a yard full of farm equipment where she tangled with a corn picker. In the end, the vet took about two hundred stitches to sew her up, and she was in shock from fear and loss of blood. But, amazingly, she is recovering and seems quite healthy. They've kept her close in the barn, but soon she can go back outside. Her stitches come out next week. :\
By the time we got home, stopping at the grocery on the way, the temperature was near 80 F. Did up the barn chores, and I took Tess out for her 30 minute allotment of grass before bedding her down. Then we disentangled the charcoal grill from the barn where it was stored and had something rare for dinner: steak. With asparagus, ranch potatoes, salad, and Australian red wine. Nummy. Strawberries for dessert shortly. Summer is almost here.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-22 02:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-22 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-22 03:22 am (UTC)*Note to self* Freezing rams make them less aggressive.
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Date: 2007-04-22 10:38 am (UTC)Note however that freezing does not necessarily tenderize nor make them taste good. I won't eat mutton. Icky.
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Date: 2007-04-23 01:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-23 10:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-23 10:44 pm (UTC)