Sigh. Goldie has new lumps around her right shoulder. Dr Amy removed one that wasn’t attached to anything, and got a sample of the others. We will get those results in a week or two.
We knew this was coming, but had hoped for more time with her. As it is, she’s acting cheerful and dealing with her many staples just fine. We just can’t let this wound get infected. At least it’s smaller.
Not thrilled to be demonstrating her latest wound.
She can’t catch a break. Her hair had just finished growing in from the last surgery. As long as she is living a good life, we’ll keep pampering her. Such a good girl; she deserves all the love we can give her.
Meanwhile Harvey got blood tests to check in his liver and it was determined all his lumps are lipomas, which aren’t too bothersome. He also had the classic swollen anal gland, everyone’s favorite dog malady. He was pretty sad when his anesthesia was wearing off, weaving and wobbling around, but soon was his regular self, with shorter toenails (yay).
The wound is smaller than it looks. It has salve on it.
I love the dogs so much, but I warn you to consider veterinary costs if you get giant dogs or have a lot of them. The team that works on the dogs are kind and competent, but not inexpensive. Having the mobile service IS really convenient, though.
Lee is Dog Man
At least the horses are currently ok, though huddling up in the cold appears to have led to some bickering. Apache is a real hoot vacuuming up his medication in the senior feed. Meds time is now his favorite time of day.
I don’t want my healthy food and supplements. I want Dusty’s gourmet senior feed with no molasses. I scoff at Apache. And I will eat his alfalfa, no problem. I just wander around chasing the donkey away from food. Everyone needs a hobby.
Next up? Figuring out if we still get to go camping or not. I’d feel a lot better if someone was home this weekend. of course, bad weather may make the decision for us! I hope it’s not too cold for the farrier tomorrow, too.
Our annual cold spell is here. It’s been windy, too, so you’ve got to be hardy or foolish to do outdoor activities. But that’s me. Both of those things.
Icy!
Yesterday was honestly sort of nice. I enjoyed the weather other than the wind. The chickens would just go inside the hen house where the heat lamp is when they got cold. Connie just hunkers down. She’s so warm around her neck and loves her hugs and petting.
The horses love their shelter, especially Dusty. He’s coping fine with all his fuzz. Apache is fuzzier and seems to love getting his exercise and not sweating. Yesterday he was really perky and cantering around, though today at lessons he was a bit creaky. Still, he’s doing great.
Cold partners.
I managed two horse lessons in the deep chill. I had my thermal shirt, extra warm riding pants and my huge ranch coat. I look like Queen Elizabeth all hunched over in her English riding outfit.
I love this view over Drew’s burs.
Drew did well today, and even let me get three quarters of his made de-burred! He was lots calmer and did very well with Tarrin riding him. We came up with some ideas to help him, and I hope we can.
Channeling the Queen as I longe my horse
Not much else is happening other than work. We are having the vet come check on Goldie and Harvey. Neither seems to be improving. At least they are having as good a life as possible.
I didn’t get a lot accomplished this weekend, but now that I think of it, I got stuff done. I probably got amnesia from inhaling skunk odor from Goldie, who still thinks she’s a mighty hunter despite her cancer and missing leg. At least she didn’t get hit too closely and didn’t try to eat it.
It made me drool extensively.
I did finish the first week of the 2025 temperature blanket and even started a little scarf. I hope I can get it done quickly.
Me and my projects.
I’m sort of glad a huge cold front is here, because I ran out of Caution, the bright yellow that’s 70-75°. I’ve ordered more, and I’m pretty sure the replacements, and a lot more black, will get here before it warms up again. I get a bit over-excited when I get to use green, blue, and maybe purple in my blankets, because it sure hasn’t been cold this year.
The last three days of December (black) and January 1-4. You can tell it was warm yesterday because the high temperature on Wednesday was the low yesterday (lime green).
Today it rained a teeny bit but mostly the cold front brought wind. It was a biting one, too. Still, I’d planned to take Apache over to a horse show friend’s place for a holiday party/riding fun. But the rain made Lee rethink pulling the trailer with no brake controller in bad weather. I resolved to reluctantly stay home.
Wimp!
Then Tarrin texted asking if I was coming and reminded me I could come without a horse. Well, duh. So I jumped in the car and drove over to the nice setup my friend has on her property.
She has an arena and it’s quite comfortable.
They were all waiting for me to get there, so I’m glad I hurried. I sure appreciated being there for the big reveal of the Christmas gift we all chipped in for to give Tarrin. It’s what she always wanted for Christmas but her husband just wouldn’t get her.
She immediately hugged it.
She really did want a hippo and one of our horse show group knew where to get this cute and very heavy statue. It weighs over 500 pounds. One help in finding a hippopotamus in central Texas is to know that the mascot of the town of Hutto is the Hippo, so businesses all over there have statues in front of them.
Yep, she was happy.
We all enjoyed discussing names for it, potential outfits (how to make a hippo hackamore was an unexpected topic), and whether to paint it or not. And of course, Ziggy the dog had to show his hippo love.
I’m a trick terrier!
It was lots of fun to laugh and tell stories together, and Tarrin reading her family’s reactions when she texted them the news was just great.
So glad to have made it to the gathering.
Later on Tarrin told me she could have come and got me and Apache. Why does it never occur to me to ask for help? I’m so intent on getting more self reliant that I forget I’m not alone. I guess I need to work on a balance between not being a burden and not missing out on things from not asking for assistance.
Bonus wild beauty berry I saw.
Oh well. On to a very cold week. I’m glad I have a lot of warm clothing!
Persistence! That’s what I’m practicing these days, and today was a good example of how it helps. Maybe I keep learning the same lessons over and over, but I keep at it!
Another day, more lessons. Lovely sunrise.
My first lesson in persistence was a work thing. There was an issue with my working hours, and I instantly assumed I was at fault. But, I didn’t give up as I once would have, and instead persisted in talking to my contacts, plowing through emails, and believing my own memory. I said I believed there had been an email saying I should work all week except Wednesday, and my contracting contact found it when I couldn’t. They were wrong; I was right. When will I learn to trust myself? At least I keep trying!
That’s supposed to be a picture of a timesheet.
All the patience and persistence I have had to put into my horsemanship journey is another area where I need to learn to trust myself. Today, my faithful partner Apache and I hit another new learning milestone and gained some understanding. We both have needed a lot of encouragement from Tarrin, but we’re making so much progress.
This was my example of him standing better when he stopped. But he rested his leg.
I learned to do some work on his poll (area between his ears, roughly) and to do some stretches for his hind end. He started out disliking it, but ended up so blissed out that we had to wait for him to get out of his trance. It was fascinating to learn how it all works.
This feels good. Ooh.
And our riding partnership is finally where I’d wanted it to be. Riding is fun at last, not frustrating. Persistence! We can do more than just start, stop, walk, and trot. Yay! We CAN do subtle changes and go sideways and all that. We are slow, but we keep at it.
Telling Apache how proud I am of him.
There’s nothing going to stop me from trusting myself to keep going until I succeed at things that matter to me. Other stuff? I’m just letting it fall to the side. That’s going to help with my mental health. Hmm. That sounds suspiciously like a goal. Do I do those? I’m setting my intentions, that’s it!
I was asked how I cook black-eyed peas for the big meal on New Year’s Day. Now, if you’re used to reading monetized blogs, you’re probably ready to have to read a long story, scroll past many repetitive ads, and suffer through much blathering to get to the recipe (or knitting/crochet pattern, etc.).
In 2021 I had added deviled eggs because a relative liked them.
This blog is for me and random people who care about nature, horses, and/or anxiety, so no monetizing will occur. And I just have a brief story about black-eyed peas at New Year’s.
I have mentioned that this is my favorite meal probably every year since 2018 and no doubt I mentioned it in my two earlier blogs as well. I like to blog and eat peas, usually not simultaneously. I love this meal for the flavors, but also because it’s one of the few connections I have with the past few generations of my family. Rural families in the Deep South always must have their peas for good luck and greens for money (the meaning varies).
2018 classic meal
In my family growing up, that meant black-eyed peas cooked with ham hock, rice to put the beans on (not cooked together), collard greens cooked with more ham hock or bacon, cornbread, and green onions sliced up for garnish. You were encouraged to put homemade hot pepper vinegar or something similar on the beans. I thought this was a gourmet meal, not very inexpensive ingredients combined to be delicious. I did realize it was also what Black people ate, since we exchanged dishes with black friends (in the 60s that was my grandmother’s maid and her extended family).
In 2022 I had Cole slaw.
I still make the same meal, carefully passed down from grandmother to mother to older sister to me. Its ingredients vary depending on what’s available, but it’s always good. I do. Now I have to add a pork loin or ham for people who insist on a slab of meat at each meal. Traditions change! It’s all good. Okay, recipes, or guidelines:
Black-eyed Peas as I Make Them
Peas from 2021
Note: ideally start this the night before
Ingredients
1 package dried black-eyed peas
4 cups broth (your choice; we can’t use chicken unless one family member is absent)
1 onion chopped
1 smoked ham hock OR package genuine andouille sausage sliced up OR leftover Christmas ham OR bacon (least favorite option)
Cajun seasoning OR Oh Shit seasoning
Optional bay leaf if your spouse doesn’t hate it
Additional salt and pepper
Night before or early in the morning, rinse the peas and cover with a lot of water. Soak overnight in a large pot or at least four hours. Beans will expand.
Next day drain and rinse the peas and return to the pot. Cover with the broth (this adds flavor; vegetarians can use vegetable broth and skip the meat). You will probably have to add water to keep the peas (really beans) covered. Add onion, meat, and seasonings.
Bring the liquid to a boil. Do not be concerned if there’s scummy froth; just stir it back in. Turn down the heat and let cook until you have the right amount of delicious liquid in with the solids, then cover and simmer a long time.
The key is to cook them to the mushy stage. So I cook at least three hours. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors merge.
Serve over rice and top with green onions and any hot sauce you like. But taste it first. It’s so good.
Bonus: Collard Greens
2 or 3 bunches of collard greens. They have huge dark green leaves. Mustard greens are good, too, but more bitter.
One chopped onion
Broth to cook in )amount varies). I also use Better Than Bouillon sometimes.
Meat for seasoning—the same meat you used with the beans or something different. You don’t need much; add it to taste.
Salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar (my mom said to do this to cut bitterness)
Chop the greens. Important: slice off the thick stems. Fold the leaf over and you can quickly eliminate them, so your chickens can eat them. Greens are more pleasant to eat without stems. But some people like them. Chop them enough that people won’t get huge long strips of them on their forks.
My previous chicken flock with their stems. I didn’t take pictures yesterday.
This will look like a lot of greens. It isn’t. They shrink.
Put them and the onions in a pot big enough to cover them. Add 1-2 cups of liquid and cook covered on high, stirring a couple of times until they are wilted and you see there really aren’t that many.
Add the meat and seasonings. Simmer a ridiculously long time. You can eat them after an hour or so, but the flavors develop during the long cooking time.
Serve along with the peas and rice. Use cornbread to soak up extra cooking liquid (pot likker).
If you are lucky enough to have leftover cornbread and greens, pour warmed up liquid over a slice of cornbread and eat it for breakfast.
I’ve probably mentioned it before, but I love cooking traditional Southern US food at New Year’s. Today I cooked black-eyed peas, rice, collard/mustard greens, cornbread, and a pork loin (because Lee needs his meat).
Not this year’s meal. I forgot to take pictures.
I had my oldest friends and my family over for the meal, and it was just wonderful. I’ve missed our meals since I’ve been so depressed. We have vowed to do better from now on.
Maybe I’ll invite a few newer friends, too. It’s just so overwhelming with all the dogs and the mess around the house from our unpacking and such. Perhaps a potluck?
It was a good day of starting new things, like a new journal, a new temperature blanket (photos tomorrow), and new energy. I’m not sure where it came from. Maybe it’s Connie the turkey, or Apache’s new zippy mode.
I hope you had some good experiences today. Every good day is a treasure.
The Hermits' Rest 