The Horses Next Door

"I can't think of nothing better than riding a fine horse into a new country." - Capt. Augustus McCrae

About 100 yards to the east of our home, is a beautiful pasture bordered with a white fence, filled with green grass, yellow flowers, with red barns as a backdrop.  There's also four beautiful horses that call that place Home.  They aren't our horses (unfortunately).  Our five acres is just not big enough for a horse, although we've always wanted one.

Now that the days are getting longer and the weather is still quite nice, we've been walking every afternoon along the road that runs east.  Rice fields and crawfish ponds border the road.  Ducks fly over the road as we walk and splash down in a pond with cypress trees growing on the edges.  It is a truly peaceful time.

The horses are curious with our presence and come to greet us.  They are big and strong and they gallop up to the fence.  We pet their soft noses and smell their "horse" smells.  

We had our dog, Belle, with us and they were very interested in her.  She's always been the biggest animal around.  I think she was intimidated by their size and didn't want to come near them.

For a very long time we watched the show, "Heartland" on TV.  It's about a girl up in Canada named Amy Fleming who had a gift with horses.  She had a keen ability to connect with them and train them. 

Of the four, the one with the white stripe was the most friendly.  Seems like the buckskin took a particular liking to Tricia.

The sun was setting so we needed to get home.  We promised them that tomorrow we'd bring some carrot tops for them to eat from some carrots that we need to harvest.  Maybe one day if we could get just a little more land, we could get a horse of our own.  Who knows?

Fall Back...

Although the new time change gave us an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night, the shortened days have resulted in two downsides for us.  First thing is, by the time I get home from my "real job", it is already dark.  I have to take care of most of my chores by the light of a lantern, but some chores just get left undone until the weekend as it is just not practical to hold a lantern and work.  On weekends we like to get a late start and begin the farm chores at our own pace - a leisurely one.  Now, all the work that didn't get done during the week has piled up and must get done on the weekend.  First thing on Saturday morning it is staring me in the face urging me to get busy (sort of like Daisy's moo-ing to be milked).

The shorter days prohibit me from taking any pictures during the week.  This blog is sort of like a photo essay and it really helps me to slow down and think about what I'm doing and relish the each day and the lessons and experiences that each new day brings.  Below is a view from the our barn looking South as we were milking the cows.  It was a foggy morning and the neighbor's horses were walking underneath the live oak trees.


Foggy Horses

The second thing that I don't like about the shorter days is the effect that the reduction of daylight has on our hen's egg production.  This time of year egg production always drops off significantly due to the shorter days.  According to what I've learned, a hen requires at least 14 hours of daylight to stimulate their ovaries to release an egg.  It takes longer to accumulate the 14 hours during the fall and winter months.   Therefore, our "egg money" from customers who purchase our delicious eggs drops off directly proportional to the waning daylight.  Oh well, they need a rest too, I guess.  Here are the girls eating some rice while we milk.


Breakfast for the girls and roosters, too

I like to plant things in the garden so that the colors pop in the rows.  A feast for the eyes as well as the stomach, you might say.  Below you can see the lime green of Shangai Greens (bok choi) in the top row, bright green Black Seeded Simpson lettuce in the middle row and the deep red leaves of the Bull's Blood Beets in the near row.

Just ignore the weeds, please.  I'll get to those this weekend!

When heading back indoors, I heard the sound of loud French music being played.  I looked up to see a whole bunch of people on horseback, covered wagons, and horse-drawn buggies trotting in front of the house.  It was a trail ride!  They looked like they were having a good time.  The line of horses went on and on and they were led by a Sheriff's Deputy escort car.  The "caboose" was a flat-bed trailer with two Port-a-Potties on it, being pulled by a truck.  They were well prepared for all contingencies!


Ride 'em Cowboy!

Nice day for a trail ride!



Great weather for a trail ride

At the end of the day I wanted to show you some satsumas on one of our citrus trees that are ripening and should be ready for harvest.  These are a type of citrus that are also called tangerine or mandarin orange.  It is named after the Satsuma province in Japan, where they were first imported from.  We really like them as they are sweet. I've read that their sweetness intensifies after cold weather and a frost, so we might wait a while.

Ripening satsumas

I wish you could smell the blossoms on these trees in the Spring.  I don't know if there is a better fragrance on God's green earth.