A Few Hitches

To give you a quick lesson on "nice and pleasant" vs "not so nice and pleasant"  Look at the two horses below.  The black one has his ears back, nostrils flaring and an arrogant look to him.  Now look at the other horse, head down, ears forward and looking quite docile.  I'm a smart woman to ride Gracie.

Smokey, for the experienced brave at heart.

Gracie, for the not so brave heart and a sweet one to ride.

 We all know the day can start out without a hitch or there can be one or more surprises.  Not the fun kind.  This morning coffee with morning discussion on what is on the docket for the day, (docket is what Dick always says when he wants to know if I have plans for him) animals fed and our breakfast over.  Dick is replacing a faucet part in the bathroom and I am cleaning up the kitchen.  This is where the "oh crap"  moment starts.  Putting the dish soap back in the cabinet below the sink...........wet!  I really did not want to say anything but ya gotta do what ya gotta do!  I yelled we have a leak under the sink.  I didn't want to visually see his reaction.  Just what I figured his comments would be, I'll NOT pass them on.  No sense dwelling on the past ;)

With the bathroom and kitchen being worked on I did hear Dick say, I'm hiring a blankety blank plumber.  Which he won't do, I think it makes him feel better to think he has an option.  We don't hire if we can do it ourselves and are pretty lucky that most times we can.  It may take  a "bit" of frustration and a few disagreements with the complaining but it eventually gets done.  I am NOT mechanically inclined which is good, no telling him how to do it.

  We know for sure spring is here when the horse gets lame.  Smokey has very tender hooves and stepping on uneven frozen ground is the main reason he gets hoof abscesses it bruises his pads.   During the day the sun warms the ground enough to thaw, they sink in and at night the ground freezes   Sometimes the farrier has to drain it but usually it will drain on its own.  We give him bute for the pain and which helps him walk.  They usually take 1-2 weeks to heal.  The upside...........it slows him down and he mostly stands which means I dare to brush him and get his tail and mane untangled.  I do love him but I do fear his quickness and respect his authority.  Dick tells me, "he's just playing".  Oh I don't think so!  A couple times Smokey has escaped when Dick was working.  This was a circus event for me and my niece.  She handles horses much better than me but unfortunately she feared the big boy too.  I have seen a few well seasoned horsemen have fear in their eyes with Smokey.  One young man that does not fear Smoke is Heath Evingham, this guy is straight from the wild west.  Heath and Dick have a special relationship to Smokey and make riding him look pleasurable.  Almost.....

Once he gets the frisky out of him he's a good ride.........I am not speaking from my own experience.  

  All this horse talk has made me decide tonight is going to be "Taco Thursday".  Yesterday I bought a just right avocado for fresh guacamole, it is our favorite topping along with chipolte sauce I bottled last August with garden tomatoes and onions.  I am using beef tonight but chicken or pork also makes tasty Mexican dishes.  For dessert it is Mexican Flan which is no more than egg custard, I put maple syrup in the bottom before baking.

Mexican Flan with a Clara Creek twist, this is a half batch and makes three 1 cup servings:   1 1/2 cups milk, 3 beaten eggs (I put the eggs in a blender),  1/4 cup white sugar, 1 tsp vanilla.  Mix together and pour into individual baking cups that have 3 TBSP of maple syrup in the bottom.  Place dishes in a pan of water and bake at 325 for 1 hour.  cool, put in frig to get cold.  Serve by turning upside down on a serving plate.  Delicious, creamy, light and refreshing with a hot cup of JMC ♥

Beef taco, refried beans and Mexican Maple Flan