J Tallman EquiFoundations

A long and eventful summer has come and gone once again.  Long - hmm, not long and hot, though it seems every opportunity I had to soak up sunshine I did it bent over under a horse and struggled to hold my tongue against complaining about the weather...  Not too many beach days, but somehow I came out well browned in the end.  

I have been incredibly lax in posting as of late.  For those of you who don't know, I am now running a prehistoric, mostly internet free life here on the farm, and am loathe to use precious social time on friends' computers.  Right now, friends are sleeping, so here I am, taking advantage of technology.   I do hope to finish (someday) the Journey to the North postings, but that is such old news that I thought we'd go with something a little more current. 

This summer in all its rainy mosquito infested glory did not see an epic horse back adventure from yours truly, though I came very close to embarking on one such adventure, a day late and a bit of training short (I had spent so much time getting ready to be gone I forgot to get ready to go...)   With a new horse, Mirella (only 3 days with the herd) running Lead Pack and good ol' Chutney at the point, a bit of wind in my sail (the oil skin hat tied around my neck) flapping it all about, my hands full of horse and trying to secure said sail, we ended up coming apart at the seams before we made the main road.  The pack string decidedly returned to the barn, breaking ropes but not tails, left my guitar sitting on the sidewalk by the house and otherwise keeping packs intact.  No one was hurt (not even my pride, somehow!) and I accepted that I was right the first time, when I said, "If I don't leave by Tuesday morning, I am not going anywhere."  So I unpacked everyone but the 2 offenders, who got a 6 mile excursion around the block in the wind and rain.  I decided then that since I had 6 weeks officially "off", I would stay home and pretend I was on a pack trip, camping, working with the horses everyday...  You're right if you said, "Yeah right."  Nice try, but when you're home, you're home, and there's not too much you can do about that.  Except leave.  

I did a fair bit of leaving, music festivals and weddings all soggy summer, playing lots of music, doing lots of socializing, coming home in between to keep up on hoof trimming, car maintenance and dog love.  In the latter department I fell painfully short and as soon as my summer ramblings were over my faithful dog friend - who had been loyally watching the hearth, home, herd and flock of chickens while I roamed - took to roaming.  After 6 weeks of trying to make it up to him he left finally and for good, as far as I can tell.  Cino has left the building and the forty, and has not been seen since the 4th of October.  At least not by anyone who has reported him.  

Despite my lack of epic horseback adventures, I have found myself rediscovering my love of riding, and even riding in circles.  Not that I ever quit loving riding, I just found myself struggling to make it a priority in my life.  The later summer - post festivus - found me in riding-my-own-horses (hallelujah!) mode, and getting bookish.  I have been studying all manner of things from food to feet.  Well, mostly just food and feet, my two great passions.  Wild edibles, mushrooms and plants, chocolate, cheese making, preserving without denaturing (and without excess power consumption), and of course, a certain amount of experimenting and EATING, which I dearly love to do, especially when it is local, wild or homegrown, chem free, low (or no) petroleum consumption food.  Feet I have been studying in the books and in the field, and have had some challenging sets come my way this season.  For the most part, things are going well and I've seen some dramatic changes in some pretty sad cases, though there are those that perplex me and I am digging for answers.  I finally started taking pictures of extreme cases, but with the internet challenge it may be awhile before they are posted.  Hopefully I will have some case studies up before too many more months go by.

Music and poetry have been taking some spotlight in my life as well, and I have been exercising my public delivery (amplified) skills at open stages and the odd house or flower shop show.  I am hoping to cut an album, or at least a demo, this winter, so started busking and put every dollar my guitar earns toward the "music fund", which will help finance that project.

On the homestead, the kitchen got a major facelift, pretty much turned inside out and back again in a whole new way, which was (and continues to be) fun.  I am slowly working toward sale ready and hope to get real about that in the spring.  Some days I think maybe I have too many irons in the fire...  Nah!  

Now I am going to enjoy this sunny fall day, finish the roof on the water shed, maybe go ride some horses, and get ready to steal from the rich and give to the poor as I jump into my Robina from the Hood persona for Halloween fun this evening.