I'm trying to pay attention to the small things.
The weather is a big thing.
I am trying to pay very little attention to the weather.
For example, I am trying to make good, healthy things to eat,
even when I don't feel like bothering.
Fresh organic eggs, rice, cheese, gently cooked in butter. Yum.
~~~
Fortunately, I have many daily reminders from the other critters.
Pay attention!
Here is food! Let's eat.
Here is a moment of sunshine!
Quick! Get inside the sunshine.
Then relax.
Enjoy.
The Black Jersey Giant and the Rhode Island Red.
~~~
Also: the treats these days are Really Good Treats.
Remember all those apple slices I put in the freezer in November?
Remember the Macintosh and Winesaps, carefully preserved
for experiments in winter baking?
(Remember "baking"? A moment of silence for my oven, please.)
Well, guess what!
It turns out, a little bowl of apple slices frozen in November
is just about the best snack you can imagine in March!
They even smell like fresh apples. Ahhhhhh!
~~~
And because I know (I do know) that soon the days will be chockablock full of seasonal tasks that Will Not Wait, I am taking this "opportunity" to do a lot of indoor tasks.
Long overdue tasks, most of them.
 |
| This strange view is the space behind the washer and dryer. It is now the cleanest space in the house. This little project took hours. It seemed worth a commemorative photograph. Just this once. |
Cleaning, reorganizing, tossing, donating.
I've started putting a few things on eBay.
Things that I'd rather not donate, for one reason or another.
Long-held-onto things. Nice things. Useful things. Specific-interest things.
Including - at last - the first steps in dispersing my horse-related library.
(There's a discreet link to the shop on the sidebar, if anyone is interested.)
~~~
In barnyard news:
the 2014 cashmere harvest is...
bizarre.
 |
| "Sure, comb me! Take your time! Until I run out of oats..." |
I have no idea what the end result will be, but at the moment I have one goat who is 90% finished shedding, and three goats who have barely started dropping about 5% and who wish very much that I would stop bothering them with a daily check.
The others are hanging onto every fiber, with no indication that they ever intend to shed at all.
Which is okay.
But it's also weird.
And if they all let go of massive amounts of fiber simultaneously,
especially in wet weather, I could be in for a challenging time...
but that is not the kind of thing I am focusing on!
No.
Living in the moment, me!
Look, tulips!
~~~
And now it's evening, and chores are done.
Time for a beverage.
I've recently moved on from hot milk and rum.
This is ginger ale with a splash of Cosmopolitan.
A Gingerpolitan?
Very refreshing. Probably make a nice Summer beverage, but why wait?
At least, that's Acer's approach.
~~~~~
Wonderful philosophy just now! animals are very good at reminding us to stay in the moment. If we can remember to look and take note.
ReplyDeleteYes, Piper sets a very good example, most of the time. When she started getting into the muck pile this morning...not so great! Uck.
DeleteLove the space between your washer and dryer! Would you like to do that in Colorado? :)
ReplyDeleteIt did cross my mind that Acer might have a medical issue, but I know nothing about goats. We had a dog who shedded everything very early one year, and it turned out that she was hypothyroid. I hope that Acer is just an Early-Bird!
Ah, I need to do a clean-out like you're doing, but I'm supposed to rest, rest, rest. Frustrating!
Good question about Acer! I confess it didn't occur to me there might be a problem - even though I just had thyroid and liver bloodwork myself because of hair loss! But I don't think there's a problem with Acer...he did shed gradually which is not uncommon, and no earlier than might be expected. But I'll be keeping an eye on him just in case. Thanks for suggesting that!
DeleteThose frozen apples (what a GREAT idea!!!) would go fabulously with that Gingerpolitan! Live in the moment, for sure - Happy Thursday, Quinn!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd say the frozen apple slice snack system is my first big food-related discovery of 2014! :)
DeleteI can almost feel that soft fluffy hair...
ReplyDeleteI love to invite guests to stick a hand into a bag of raw cashmere. First there's usually a comment about the lightness, but a split second later there's a look of surprise as the incredible warmth starts radiating. "Ooooooooh!!" Love it :)
DeleteThat reminds me: frozen seedless grapes work exactly like candy.
ReplyDeleteI gasped out loud when I read that! Will definitely add grapes to my grocery list. I tried the frozen strawberries also, but they are just too hard and solid for me. The texture of the apples is perfect. I bet the grapes will be excellent! Thanks so much :)
DeleteI may take up your hot milk and rum; another storm here with very low temps, high winds and sleety snow. some said 70 MPH winds which led to double digits below zero wind chill. Hot milk and rum you say...
ReplyDeleteI was going to mention frozen green grapes but Boud beat me to it. I'm not much on raisins but I do like grapes.
All kinds of good things here! I have to agree that what we focus on makes a huge difference. Good food does too. :)
ReplyDelete:) :) :) Ha! You never fail to make me smile. Perhaps the goats are just as confused as the plants with all the back and forth kind of weather. They are holding onto their coats as long as they can. Have a fabulous Friday. Tammy
ReplyDeleteYour rice, egg, cheese mix looks scrummy! I'm hungry now! x
ReplyDelete