Woodworking

I haven't been doing much woodworking lately but I've done several pieces in the past.

This prairie dog was done for a friend. First I  burned the design and then colored it in with oil pencil. These are awesome for color control on wood projects.

 

These three are still here at the house. The carousel box in the back is my favorite. It was completely burned and took a long time to make. Then I used the oil pencil for the colors. The small horse head box in the foreground was done by carving the head in first and then wood burning the sides and details. The horse head plaque was done all in carving and then painted to the same colors as my old gelding Hobo. 

I learned some of my skills and got some of my talent from my dad who did the following items.

 He also did things like full duck decoys, lathe turned vases and candle sticks and wooden toys. I'm sure he got his talent from his ancestry because I have this wonderful small wooden box dates as best I can tell around 1849.  I'm not sure if it was made in Norway and brought here to the USA or if it was made here after my ancesters moved from Norway, but the writing what little is left is in Norwegian and I can't read it. 

I hope to get back to doing some more wood crafting in the near future.I just haven't decided what to make yet.

Booger Butt and Baby Girl

Baby Girl (AKA Hobo's Dream Girl) is having fun playing in the arena. And then we added Booger Butt to the mix and he got the place happening! Baby Girl is ready to start her saddle training this year. Booger Butt is my home bred baby and he turns two this year.His registered name Bright Snow Eagle is still pending with ApHC because I've been slow in sending in the registration papers. He needs a good bath, but it's still to cold for that yet with snow still present under the trees and on the north side of buildings.

Jazzy Dog

One year ago in April, this sickly looking, starved and previously injured dog showed up at my house. Her leg had been broken and re-healed without being set causing her to not be able to bend her back leg. She was so hungry she ate a bunch of the green grass around my yard and then promptly threw it all back up.  We let Jazzy hang around and got her fixed and got her vaccinations. As she filled out and got stronger, it was obviously that she could get around very well even with her frozen back leg.  Here is is after just one week here eating good food. 

And almost a year later, she's out running around while we lead Roany.

So when you hear me talk about the Jazzy Dog, this is her, the rescued stray  that may be a Boxer, Pit Bull, Lab cross? That is what she looks like to me. She has the deep chest and wasp waist of a Boxer and she uses her front paws a lot like a Boxer. She loves to retrieve like a lab and she has the head of a pit bull. Anyway she's sweet and smart and amazingly was well trained sometime in her past. It's not a regular occurance in these parts to find a starved and abused stray that was well house trained.

The Odd Couple

I turned Topper and Roany out in the arena for a run while cleaning their pens. They had fun. I didn't have as much fun cleaning pens though. Roany is a very messy pony. She poops EVERYWHERE and I mean it. That whole pen was dirty from one end to the other. Topper on the other hand is the neat freak horse. She poops as close to the same spot as possible all the time. When we had her down at the other stable, the lady had a compost pile going in the corner of her large pen. We kept Topper in that pen for the last two weeks she was there. Not one single time did we have to clean the pen.  There was not one single pile out of place, it was ALL deposited on that compost pile directly by Topper.   Topper's cut is still healing, but is much better. She's got her full coverage combo sport boots on to help protect her from re injuring herself.

I really wish I had these ones in Green here, but we got blah brown. instead. Maybe I'll get a set in green for the Baby Girl,  she'll really look good in green, ( PS If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a total green freak.)

Anyway enjoy the photos. And the challenge is to find the Jabba the Hut Rock Face in the photos!

What to make with Leftover Cabbage

After St. Patrick's Day people often have either some left over potatoes or some left over cabbage.

I found a really good recipe that I just made last night. It was good enough for Keith to go back for seconds and it nearly totally got polished off for dinner. 

It's called Cabbage Colcannon

1 Lb new Potatoes halved ( I only had a couple russet potatoes and one sweet potato) so I did a little substituting. I diced mine up 

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil. ( I used olive oil)

1 small onion thinly sliced

1/2 head green cabbage thinly sliced

Salt and pepper to taste 

3 tablespoons salted Irish Butter divided 

1. boil potatos 20 minutes our until tender then drain well

2. heat oil in large skillet and add the onion and cook 8 minutes or until slightly browned, Add the sliced cabbage and cook 5 minutes or until softened. 

3 Add the potatoes to the skillet and cook until heated through. Slightly mash the potatoes and season with the salt and pepper. Add the butter to each portion just before serving. I substituted here and added one single tablespoon of hearth healthy spread to the full mixture before serving.

I really like this recipe and it will be great to make with the fresh cabbages I plan on growing in the garden this year.

The Heart of the Appaloosa

The title of this post is also the title of a song that I bought on I tunes last night. I first heard the song attached to someones website several years ago and finally bought it. 

Here are the song's lyrics,  try not to cry when you read it, but if you buy the song, you probably will cry when you hear it.  If you want to get the song, it can be found at both I-tunes and Amazon.com

From the land of shooting waters to the peaks of the Coeur d'Alene
Thimbleberries in the forest, elk grazing on the plain
The People of the Coyote made their camp along the streams
Of the green Wallowa Valley when fences had no name.

And they bred a strain of horses, the treasure of the tribe
Who could toe-dance on a ridge or gallop up a mountainside
Who could haul the hunter's burden, turn a buffalo stampede
The horse that wore the spotted coat was born with matchless speed.

CHORUS:
Thunder Rolling in the Mountains
Lead the People across the Great Divide
There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho
But the heart of the Appaloosa never died.

In the winter came the crowned ones near frozen in the cold
Bringing firearms and spyglasses and a book that saves the soul
The people gave them welcome, nursed them till their strenght returned
And studied the talking paper, its mysteries to learn.

In the shadow of the mission sprang up farms and squatter towns
The plain was lined with fences, the plow blade split the ground
In the shallows of the Clearwater gold glittered in the pan
And the word would come from Washington:  remove the Indian.

CHORUS

The chief spoke to the People in his anger and his pain
"I am no more Chief Joseph.  Rolling Thunder is my name.
They condemn us to a wasteland of barren soil and stone
We shall fight them if we must, but we will find another home."

They fled into the Bitterroot, an army at their heels
They fought at White Bird Canyon, they fought at Misery Hill
Till the colonel saw his strategy and sent the order down
To kill the Appaloosa wherever it be found.

CHORUS

Twelve hundred miles retreating, three times over the Divide
The horse their only safety, their only ally
Three thousand Appaloosas perishod with the tribe
The people and the horses dying side by side.

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains said, "my heart is sick and sad.
Our children now are freezing.  The old chiefs are dead.
The hunger take our spirit.  Our wounds are deep and sore.
From where the sun now stands I shal fight no more."

CHORUS

They were sent to Oklahoma, malaria ran rife
But more died of broken hearts far from the land that gave them life
And the man once called Joseph at death was heard to say
"We have given up our horses.  They have gone away."

But sometimes without warning from a dull domestic herd
A spotted horse of spirit wondrous will emerge
Strong it is and fearless and nimble on a hill
Listening for thunder, the Appaloosa's living still.

CHORUS

Christopher's New Saddle

My sister went into the saddle shop to get her saddle fixed in the spots where it was coming un sewn. It was going to cost quite a bit of money, so she figured she would be able to just buy Christopher a new saddle with that amount of money and she was right. The saddle guy had a new cordura kids saddle right there at the shop. He still needs his little dude stirrups for a while until his legs grow long enough to reach in the new saddle.

 

So he had to come try his new saddle and stirrups out on the Roany pony. 

Jazzy dog wore herself out walking and running around alongside and Roany pony really didn't care.

After the ride Christopher petted Roany and thanked her for the ride then he helped pick up the eggs and checked out the ducks and turkeys.

And If you look closely you see that everyone is honoring the Irish with the "Wearin O' the Green" even Roany pony! The Irish love their horses, so what better way to spend St. Patrick's Day afternoon then on a horse?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!