Altivo

...of NaBloPoMo that is. Today is November 30, the last day of the month. I believe I have faithfully made a posting every day this month as required.

Have a picture of the end, featuring Archie and Asher in the sunset. It was up into the 50s (F) today, so no colorful blankets.

The holidays have officially started. Since we are having visitors tomorrow, not only did we tidy up a bit, but we put up the tree and ornaments. Still have a lot of dusting and cobweb removal to do in the morning, though.

The sun was out most of the day, but a brisk breeze from the west made it feel ten degrees colder than the thermometer said it was. I did blanket both boys since they spend their days out in the open unless the weather is really inclement. When I brought them indoors they both seemed to hint that they wanted me to leave the blankets on, but I take them off because I'm afraid of them getting snagged on something in their stall and being stuck there for hours. (Or struggling to get loose and hurting themselves, worse yet.)

Came into the house chilled enough myself that I started up the woodstove. That made it too warm however, and I've let it just about burn out.

Almost all the remaining leaves on the large trees around the barns and house seem to have let go and fallen to the ground over the last 24 hours or so. We are buried knee deep in places. Because today looked to be the last sunny and reasonably temperate day for who knows how long, Gary went up and swept the leaves and debris off the house roof. There was a lot of it. Then I raked as much as I could well away from the house, leaving our front and back wooden decks pretty clear and getting most of the leaves out of the dog run. The wind will bring some back, but not as many as were in those places.

Addendum to yesterday's FedEx rant: Package with Archie's blanket in it, which was promised for delivery first on Friday and did not come, then re-promised for delivery today (Sunday? Right!) again did not come. FedEx tracking again shows that the delivery is "unscheduled." In other words, they don't know what they did with the package. It's too large to accidentally get lost, about 1x1x2 feet in size, sturdy corrugated cardboard. I'm sure it will show up eventually, and equally sure that FedEx will not apologize for their incompetence and dishonesty.

For a nice picture of Archie (Asher's half-brother) who is still waiting for his warm blankie, click here. (Art by friend Kelly James, available from her as a 5x7 in. gichlée print.)

Gray and gloomy all day, 34 - 35°F and not budging. The wind was only 10 mph most of the time but it felt bitter. Horses wanted to be outside, so they were. Asher in his new blanket was probably more comfy than Archie, but I went ahead and ordered the same style blankie for Arch as well. Color for that one is a red plaid. They will look like bed quilts when they stand together, I guess.

Forecast yesterday called for an inch of snow tonight, but that seems to have been rescinded. Still felt cool enough here in the house that I cleared out the space around the wood stove and got it going. We have plenty of wood, but I generally resist using it because it contributes to the carbon dioxide mess. Probably less so than if we had a dozen cows like some neighbors do, but still.

Cold and rainy this morning, so we went ahead and put Asher's blanket on him. I expected him to have some objections, but he did not. Just stood calmly while I dropped it over him and fastened the various buckles. When I opened the door and let him out into the yard he shares with his brother Archie, he just walked out calmly and started eating hay.

Archie, however, did have objections when I let him out. He kept snorting and sniffing and backing away from Asher, who ignored his brother and kept on eating. Eventually they settled it and I looked out a bit later to see them standing shoulder to shoulder and sharing the hay as usual. So much for that worry.

Four hours later, the blanket remains intact and properly in place. It's waterproof, but the rain has stopped and it looks dry on the outside now. No mud yet, though I'm sure at some point Asher will roll in the mud with it as is his usual habit. Perhaps not today though. Just a couple more hours and they go back indoors.

It suddenly dawns on me today, with bright sun and a temperature around 68°F, that this is what we used to call "Indian Summer." Of course, it used to come somewhat earlier, like mid-October or something. I don't remember thinking about it in November before. Forecast calls for similarly balmy weather for most of this week, but the ice hits the fan on the weekend, leading quickly to daytime highs below freezing. Yow!

At the same time, we are seeing birds here that normally show up during severe cold winters in Canada. The red-breasted nuthatch, the evening grosbeak, the tufted titmouse are all appearing on a daily basis at the moment. We saw none of them last year. I'm pretty sure I got a glimpse of a three-toed woodpecker a few days ago. If/when we see these, there's usually already a pile of snow north of the border, which isn't yet the case as far as I know. But sometimes the birds and animals seem to know things about the weather that we don't have an instinct for. Have to wait and see, I guess.

At least I got some weight onto my problem eater before the cold sets in, and we measured him and ordered him a new blanket last week. That might get here before the big chill, or at least not long after.

Archie and Asher back in their yard, though giving occasional skeptical looks at the red portable fence panels. I guess the color is not suited to their highly developed taste. 😋

Well, the tornado-spawning thunderstorms on Thursday seem to have brought spring with them. Blue scylla and white daffodils are opening. I was able to let Tess out into her pasture for the first time yesterday. She only gets about 45 minutes to start with since she has had grass founder in the past and needs to be exposed gradually, but she was excited to go out and behaved well when I made her come back in. The pasture is green now but very wet from the flood of rain earlier in the week. The farrier will approve, as her feet tend to dry out and getting them wet helps.

We have used the charcoal grill a couple of times already, but yesterday we really went in for it big with barbecue slathered chicken breasts, some brats, and fresh asparagus on the grill. Also sweet corn, not the first of the year but probably the best so far.

We had a discussion back at Easter about ketchup. Gary's family always had to have two ketchup bottles, because his dad and one brother liked Brooks and everyone else preferred Heinz. I remembered Brooks ketchup but didn't think I'd seen it anywhere for a while. We went looking and failed to find it at any of the supermarkets we normally visit. Looked for it online and found Amazon selling it for about $8 a bottle. That seemed pretty ridiculous to me. Then yesterday I stopped into Sullivan's, the second supermarket in town and one we usually skip because their prices are on the high side. Sure enough, they had Brooks ketchup for $2.19 a bottle, which isn't outrageous and is only about 25 cents higher than Heinz or Hunts.

Brought one home to surprise Gary, and he was indeed surprised. So, I did a little more research and learned that Brooks started in 1907 with canned chili beans. Ding! Though I remembered seeing the ketchup occasionally, my mom always used Brooks chili beans in her chili. The trademark is the same, and the beans are easier to find. Nearly every grocer around here has them. The ketchup came later in the company's history. According to Wikipedia, the ketchup was manufactured in Collinsville, Illinois, and marketed mostly in the midwest. They have (or had) a water tower there in the shape of a giant ketchup bottle in fact. The Brooks trademark and business has apparently been sold to Birdseye. The factory in Collinsville was shut down, and the ketchup is made in Canada now. However, it still is the same recipe or very close to it. The spicy flavor is unlike the other ketchups even though it now has the dreaded high fructose corn syrup in place of the cane sugar that was once used.

Now I have a craving for chili made with Brooks chili beans too. Also a quest for proper cheddar cheese curds to put into poutine. Anyone know where to get those around Chicago?

Last night as I sat reading by the wood stove, I was sure I smelled a skunk. Smelling one indoors in winter had to mean it was quite close by, so I checked to make sure the dogs were in, and quickly closed their door panel for a while so they couldn't go out. Thought the smell had subsided, so I unlatched the dog door again and Red immediately ran out, letting in another strong whiff.

Fortunately he didn't find the skunk. We looked around near the house and couldn't locate it, nor did we see any tracks on the snow. (The snow on the ground is only about a half inch deep and is fairly hard and crunchy now, so no tracks isn't really proof of much.)

I forgot about it until this morning when I went out to feed horses. Didn't notice anything until I'd given the boys their beet pulp and carried the bucket with Tess' portion over to her stall in the arena. Doors of both barns are closed at night this time of year, of course, to hold in what warmth we can and keep the wind out. When I opened the door to the arena, I was nearly knocked down by the stench of skunk, a mixture of rotten onions and who knows what else. Tess whickered at me and made faces, but she was OK. I felt sorry for her having been shut in all night with that (presumably) and hurried to open both of the large sliding doors. One of those is at the north end and the other at the south, so the air started to clear right away. Fortunately, Tess didn't seem to have lost her appetite either.

It was so powerful I was afraid it would cling to my hair and clothing, but it all blew away before I got back into the house. No obvious tracks in the arena dust either, but the skunk had surely been inside there. I hope it doesn't come back. Or that it goes back to wherever it was hiding and goes back to sleep. I didn't think skunks were supposed to be out and about at this time of year.

Still waiting. Our regular provider of the last couple of seasons still says he will have hay for us, but not yet. As of this morning we had three bales left.

A supplier from Wisconsin, with whom we had some hard words three years ago, did promise at least 120 and perhaps 150 new bales this morning. He called at 10 am saying he had "equipment problems" and wants to reschedule. (The market price here this year is $8 per bale, more than double the price at this time last year.)

Fortunately, we took some action on Sunday anyway. Went to our local feed store and got 40 lbs. of sugar beet pulp (dried shreds) and 40 lbs. of alfalfa cubes. Worked out all the necessary proportions and math to substitute the beet pulp for part of the horses' essential roughage, which reduces our hay requirements by a third. Given that Tess can be on grass as long as the weather is good, the reduction is more than a third.

We can stretch those three bales for nearly a week. We can survive longer than that if we put the boys out on grass, but that has various logistic problems not the least of which is that they haven't been on grass this year and would need a very gradual introduction to it.

The alfalfa cubes can substitute for some hay, but they have a higher calorie content and really shouldn't be substituted one for one. I don't want to reduce the amount of roughage any further lest we have colic issues.

Beet pulp is funny stuff. It's the leftovers from pressing sugar beets to extract and refine the sugar content. That process is very efficient, so there isn't a lot of simple sugar left in the pulp. There are, however, some starches and minerals and a portion of the cellulose is digestible for horses as well. By weight, dry beet pulp is about one third as nutritious as dry oats, which is pretty good. Almost too good when compared to grass hay. So we soak the pulp in water to expand the bulk. A pound of dry pulp, which is pretty woody in texture, becomes seven pounds when soaked in three pints of warm water for 30 minutes or so. This can be substituted for three pounds of hay. Our horses are used to getting their hay moistened, so that's not a big change for them.

I tried a bit of the dry pulp myself. It reminds me of various 100% bran breakfast cereals. Faintly sweet, very chewy, with a bran-like texture. I've never fed it to horses before, and my nutrition books say some will refuse it at first. At least we didn't have that problem.

I offered a handful of moistened pulp to each of the boys. They nibbled at it, and apparently were quite surprised by the texture (which is like partly cooked oatmeal) and both of them reared up and bolted away from me. Then they came back sheepishly and asked for the rest, which they did chew and swallow. Tess was more sanguine about it, and may have had it to eat before. She sniffed it, tried a bite, made funny faces at me, and ate the rest. Then she licked my hand to get any leftovers. All three of them did completely eat last night's portion, and licked out their feed tubs. I guess even faintly sweet is still irresistible.

This morning I put Tess out on the grass, which can replace both hay and the beets for the morning. Made a portion of beets for the boys, who gave me a "What, again?" look when I dumped it into their feed bins, but resigned themselves to eating it once I added the small amount of grain they normally get. Then they went into the yard with their reduced quantity of hay.

With any luck, the hay guy will get his wagon (or whatever) fixed and still bring the load today. Tomorrow would be OK except that Gary has plans to be in Chicago and would have to change them.