Freemotion's food journal: Expanding the gardens, pics p 53

[big brown horse]

I meant to add a Thank You for doing this. I wish I could repay you for all of your efforts!

How about this:
If you ever want to explore NW Washington, I'll put (and your DH)you in the guest room! There, will that do? (I have a horse I wish you were here to help me work with...or are you out of the business all together? He has issues.)

Also, I love the name of your goat Ginger Peach! Very southern.

(We had a calico cat named "Peaches La Mew".)

 

[freemotion]

I still have a few horse clients, and most of my clients promise to call me back in when their personal economy changes. They know I was helping keep their horses comfortable, especially the older horses who are still working. I'm also starting to see some barn-switching with some clients, as they search for more affordable accomodations and still have the care they require.

It is tough here....you don't just up and sell your horse, you do whatever you can to keep it and hope for some change in the economy. I only massage horses one day every other week now, just enough to make me sore! I occasionally get another horse or two in here and there, and once in a blue moon I have ten or so to do for a big stable that shows nearby. I love working at the show, I can work fast, I am left alone to work, and the horses are spotless! And I am forced to take breaks while waiting for horses to become available for me to work on, so I go watch the show.

I would love to check out Washington state, it sounds so beautiful there. I picture lots of foggy woods, big trees, and winters that aren't quite as harsh as New England's. Am I close?

I was in HomeGoods yesterday on a rare "retail therapy" trip....I got some glass refrigerator storage containers after that thread on refrigerator boxes.....$10 for a set of four!!! The more expensive ones can go into the microwave, mine can't. More reasons not to nuke. I plan to age moldy chevre in the bigger two in the set.

Anyways, I saw a tin of tea bags called Ginger Peach! I looked at it for a loooong minute, then put it back. I would not like that tea, and the tin was not pretty. If it had been pretty, it would've been VERY hard to put it back, even at $6!

Peaches Le Mew is a cute name!

 

[big brown horse]

Washington state where I am right now is undergoing a drought and pretty high temps for our area. I think it is normal for this time of year. I wish the fog and clouds would come back!

In the "rainy" months (Houston my ex city got way more rain per year btw) Nov-March, there is that slight misty fog all day that I find refreshing. (Still mad at the sun which it seemed just inches from my face my whole life.)

I don't know, there is something wonderful about being nestled between two mountian ranges and the sea at the same time. Cost of living is also way down compared to Houston, and NO State TAX!! Property taxes are almost nil in my area compared to Houston. We are saving tons of money right now compared to our life in Houston! Entertainment for us is free because all we do is hike on the weekends.

So you must try to make a visit someday!

 

[FarmerDenise]

My sister lives in Washington. I haven't visited her since she moved there a few years ago. She is in Kelso.
I keep wanting to visit, but it is hard to get away from the farm.

 

[lorihadams]

I love fried zucchini in beer batter.....could eat it until I puke!

 

[freemotion]

Wow, how did I miss Friday on my own journal??

Friday, July 24, 2009

supplements
warm chocolate, 16 oz
3 eggs, scrambled with butter
A hunk of cheese
A HUGE salad from the garden with fermented dressing!!!
A kosher dog (no bun)
A cheeseburger, grass-fed, on the grill (no bun)
A tentative taste of kefir cheese with salt and pepper (pretty good, actually!)
Popcorn with butter and romano cheese


Saturday, July 25, 2009

Supplements
warm chocolate, 16 oz
Three eggs, scrambled with butter
Two big cukes from the garden
A big, big hunk of cheddar and the crumbs from the tortilla chip bag
A big veggie/fruit shake with kefir
3 chicken thighs on the grill, with the skin....especially the skin!!!
I'm gonna make some popcorn and have a drink with the juice from one lime, three droppers of stevia extract, and some vodka. I deserve it. Written finals today, intense class, the WORST (ETA: by that I mean he gave me a LOT of grief) student who gave me grief all semester came up to me and THANKED me and talked about how nice I was and that he just realized it last week, and he wanted to thank me for pushing him so hard. Wow. It usually takes them longer to come back and tell me that....so this was nice. When he turned in his exam (before this conversation), I leafed through it, and made him go back and do the blank ones he'd left. I re-worded the questions for him, asked him a couple of related questions, and sent him back to his seat. This is a young man who thinks he is not smart, so doesn't try very hard, then bull-carps his way through life. Not with me, he doesn't! It took me three months, but I got through to him.....that is why I teach! Yeah, baby! He has flunked every exam and barely passed every re-take, but I suspect this will be the first exam he passes on the first try, and he will gain needed confidence from it.

Last week I was able to point out to him that I'd asked him where a muscle attachment was, he put his hand right on it and said he didn't know! His mouth just started going on and on, I had to take his two hands in mine and tell him, inches from his face, to be quiet for once and listen to me. I was finally able to get him to realize that he DID know, he just had to learn to shut down all the chatter in his brain that said he was stupid. He had to learn to trust himself that he CAN learn and that he IS smart. His eyes watered and I moved on, so as not to embarrass him too much. Then this week.....this.....and the exam that went well (I HOPE!!!) for the first time.

I love the great, motivated students, and so enjoy teaching them, but these victories are the best!

 

[keljonma]

Wow, how did I miss Friday on my own journal??

I think you were too busy drooling over the turtle brownie recipe - went into sugar shock - and forgot to post!

 

[freemotion]

Oh, yeah, that is definitely it!!!!

 

[Dace]

Great story Free! Poor guy, hopefully he will see the light and turn things around.

 

[freemotion]

If he doesn't, he will not likely make it through school. The science classes will be getting even harder, as will the hands-on stuff. They will be doing a lot of remedial and rehabilitative stuff, and need to know the anatomy backwards and forwards to perform the diagnostic tests. If he barely squeeks through school, he still has to pass the National exam, and then, his clients won't be impressed with bullcarp, just with good work....especially for a guy in this industry. He just won't get return clients, and will either get fired from jobs or just not get enough clients in his own business to pay his bills.

It is up to him now. He has a year of school....he can do it if he buckles down, and doesn't fall immediately into the old patterns with his teachers next semester. Too many teachers make their lives easy by sliding students through. It drives me nuts.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Supplements
a pint of warm chocolate
two burritoes with cheddar, fermented bean paste, and a bunch of re-hydrated dried plum tomatoes from last years garden, in the absence of this year's tomatoes! I used organic whole wheat flour tortillas.
Cukes from the garden and carrot sticks from the store. Darn groundhog!
A double-size veggie and fruit shake with lots of kefir
A grass-fed cheeseburger and a kosher dog

Veggie serving total: 12-ish

I have come to the conclusion that yogurt is mild-mannered Clark Kent, and kefir is Superman!!