June 1st….where is the year going ? It wont be long before we are complaining about the incessant and very miserable rain..come to think of it, it wont be much different than it is right now. Below normal temperatures, rain for the foreseeable future and little or no sunshine. DOH ! I remember when we called it blazing June and, back in good old England, possibly the ONLY month we could expect any sun at all.
Good old Lady, loyal, docile, compliant old Lady lump had a “fix my truck” event in her equine brain yesterday and the Semi Truck of the horse world turned into a Lamborghini. Our lovely new WOOFER, Rebecca was on board and sadly and unpredictably the old girl apparently had a tizzy, Rebecca didn’t have any steering, brakes.. parachute or ejector seat. Lady our Shire mare could always be relied on to give confidence to the most apprehensive novice rider…she gave poor Rebecca an INDI 400 ride and we have no explanation for it. On the positive side ( if there is one !) Rebecca did very well, not too graceful and looking a little bumpy but she and Lady were still together as the old girl screeched to a sliding stop in the barn. Fortunately, the tractor stopped her progress and even Lumpy lady at 2,200 Lbs wont argue with a tractor. Once Rebecca had dismounted onto undoubtedly quivering legs I had a couple of belated words of advice.(1) Lady talks English,….STAND..not woah works and (2) don’t worry too much about falling off, it’s actually the hitting the ground that hurts and they (whoever they are) say that you aren’t a rider till you have hit the ground ! ( not sure how much help that advice was. smile). Rebecca apparently likes a challenge and she is prepared to take another flying ( I mean riding) lesson.
Smorres ( why are they called that ?) have been a cultural experience for me. Sticky hot marshmallow, melted Hersheys ( never beat Cadburys !!!) and Graham crackers all cremated together appear to be a holiday institution here and we are not going to fly in the face of tradition….regardless of how un-English it all seems to be. Memorial day, neighbour Jean visited with a bottle of wine in order to toast those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Bottles of wine are a rare treat around here…lately Greg’s home made apple wine (aka “rocket fuel”) has been the beverage in high demand. Sadly stocks have been depleted and at this moment in time we are enthusiastically welcoming a bucket of rhubarb/apple which is currently bubbling and brewing.
Not content with toasting “smorres” over the grill burner ( clearly not quite the aesthetic experience) the team found the real deal the following night. Since the last mega storm our landscape has been blotted by the skeletal root system of a substantial old tree that uprooted. I was fully expecting not one but several fire trucks to respond to the smoke caused by the burning root system, clearly no one considered our potential inferno a serious issue. As the rain fell that night a team vote determined that the smouldering remains of the tree and extensive root system provided the perfect venue for another “smorres” event. So, there we were, in the rain, eating marshmallows which had been cremated on a dirty old twig, in the burning remains of a fallen tree, slapped on a piece of chocolate which in turn was slapped on a Graham Cracker and everyone was happy…as a new American citizen I really have some issues with “tradition”, I guess I’ll adapt !!!!
Well, the sun is back out, a new batch of Brownies has come out of the oven, the team will be happy.. and it’s time I got this entry posted.
Take good care of yourselves, keep safe, M
Good old Lady, loyal, docile, compliant old Lady lump had a “fix my truck” event in her equine brain yesterday and the Semi Truck of the horse world turned into a Lamborghini. Our lovely new WOOFER, Rebecca was on board and sadly and unpredictably the old girl apparently had a tizzy, Rebecca didn’t have any steering, brakes.. parachute or ejector seat. Lady our Shire mare could always be relied on to give confidence to the most apprehensive novice rider…she gave poor Rebecca an INDI 400 ride and we have no explanation for it. On the positive side ( if there is one !) Rebecca did very well, not too graceful and looking a little bumpy but she and Lady were still together as the old girl screeched to a sliding stop in the barn. Fortunately, the tractor stopped her progress and even Lumpy lady at 2,200 Lbs wont argue with a tractor. Once Rebecca had dismounted onto undoubtedly quivering legs I had a couple of belated words of advice.(1) Lady talks English,….STAND..not woah works and (2) don’t worry too much about falling off, it’s actually the hitting the ground that hurts and they (whoever they are) say that you aren’t a rider till you have hit the ground ! ( not sure how much help that advice was. smile). Rebecca apparently likes a challenge and she is prepared to take another flying ( I mean riding) lesson.
Smorres ( why are they called that ?) have been a cultural experience for me. Sticky hot marshmallow, melted Hersheys ( never beat Cadburys !!!) and Graham crackers all cremated together appear to be a holiday institution here and we are not going to fly in the face of tradition….regardless of how un-English it all seems to be. Memorial day, neighbour Jean visited with a bottle of wine in order to toast those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Bottles of wine are a rare treat around here…lately Greg’s home made apple wine (aka “rocket fuel”) has been the beverage in high demand. Sadly stocks have been depleted and at this moment in time we are enthusiastically welcoming a bucket of rhubarb/apple which is currently bubbling and brewing.
Not content with toasting “smorres” over the grill burner ( clearly not quite the aesthetic experience) the team found the real deal the following night. Since the last mega storm our landscape has been blotted by the skeletal root system of a substantial old tree that uprooted. I was fully expecting not one but several fire trucks to respond to the smoke caused by the burning root system, clearly no one considered our potential inferno a serious issue. As the rain fell that night a team vote determined that the smouldering remains of the tree and extensive root system provided the perfect venue for another “smorres” event. So, there we were, in the rain, eating marshmallows which had been cremated on a dirty old twig, in the burning remains of a fallen tree, slapped on a piece of chocolate which in turn was slapped on a Graham Cracker and everyone was happy…as a new American citizen I really have some issues with “tradition”, I guess I’ll adapt !!!!
Well, the sun is back out, a new batch of Brownies has come out of the oven, the team will be happy.. and it’s time I got this entry posted.
Take good care of yourselves, keep safe, M
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