Guess what? Ponies.

I've been laying off the ponies for a little while, but I finally made it back out to the barn this weekend. It's been a combination of being busy, and being bummed out. On the one hand I enjoy being around the horses, but on the other it brings up all these conflicting emotions about keeping a horse of my own.

Today the horses were very much interested in soaking up and snoozing in the sun.

Seriously, Gobie. Could you BE any cuter?

Everyone was enjoying their hay as well.





Our main chores were spreading out the hay so everyone could get to a heap without fighting about it, and checking water troughs. Part of the work involved going in where the goats stay. They were feeling pretty cheeky, and I had fun messing with them and deflecting their headbutts.

nerd.

The rest of the gang was working on the fencing to the pasture across the street. They're going to move the geldings over there next weekend. I'm not really looking forward to that.

Dammit Spring

Once again, I'm impatiently waiting for the arrival of Spring. This year I decided I would start trying to grow things INSIDE because it's not yet warm enough to grow them outside yet.

I decided to get started with pet grass, also known as pet grass. Locksley really enjoys nomming on grass, and I hear parakeets are supposed to like it too (although Dorsia hates practically everything novel--so we'll see).

So, I planted a bunch of oat grass in a big pot for Locksley, and a bunch of oat grass in a small container for Dorsia.

Locksley's pot was quiet for several days until BOOM! explosion!

Dorsia's pot grew nothing. I thought maybe they were late bloomers or something. So I waited.

Meanwhile, Locksley's pot continued to grow like crazy mad men.


Dorsia's pot, still nothing. I gave up on it until...


One peasey blade of grass. Growing, smashed into the corner, mocking me. Jerk! I guess I'll give this pot a little longer to produce something substantial.

You might have noticed there's something ELSE in Locksley's pot. A mushroom!



It's not real of course -- I think it's ceramic or something. Anyway, I thought it was adorable. Who doesn't need a friend in a grass forest?

At the same time I planted purple basil and sage. I got these already started from Behnke's, our local garden store. I also decided I would grow some regular old basil in this pot as well. They took forever to sprout (at least in comparison to the grass) and seem to be pretty slow growers. Though it may be because the pot is already pretty active.


I was also inspired by Chris and Sandy to grow an Avocado plant. They have a HUGE avocado plant in their dinning room that they grew from a grocery store avocado pit. They didn't start it in water or anything -- just chucked it in some dirt and watered it. I'm trying that same route, though I'm not expecting to be as successful in this endeavor as they were.


I've got several other seeds to start, but I'm trying to pace myself. This whole process so far is only confirming a sneaking suspicion I've had for a while: I need a backyard.

Jaleo FTW

I didn't even like food before I met Jaleo. That's absolutely true. But one day, after Sam and I had caught the play Titus Andronicus at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC, we were starving and needed some sustenance. Jaleo to the rescue!

Ever since then, Jaleo has come to the rescue a zillion more times. It's been my favorite restaurant ever since that first dinner. We've tried lots of other place of course, but most of the time there's a feeling of "why didn't we just go to Jaleo?"

Some favorites:

Tostada con salmon ahumado y huevo duro. This isn't always available, but it is by far my favorite. In fact, we've tried to duplicate it at home! Some of my favorite things: salmon, goat cheese, egg, and capers.
Endibias con queso de cabra y naranjas. Endives with goat cheese orange and almonds! I usually not a sweet/citrus kind of person but man is this delicious. It taste clean, clean, clean and pleasantly satisfying.

There are more favorites of course (and new things to try) but this is just a taste.

The best sangria OF ALL TIME. I'm serious. This was my first "salad drink" -- where fruit and mint were combined in a beverage -- and all others have paled in comparison. Another Jalo favorite that we've tried to duplicate at home.

Basque Cake. This is basically made of heaven and is my favorite dessert. Creamy in the middle, with cinnamon accents and vanilla ice cream to compliment.

The service is always great. PLUS in the spring and summer they have outdoor seating where dogs are welcome.

Making Christmas, Part 2

I don't mean to brag, but we've gotten a zillion Christmas cards this year. I also SENT some Christmas cards this year -- I think that's the key. This is just a sampling:

We get cards!

Next year maybe I'll have to get one of those Christmas card trees!

This Christmas I've gotten loads of Christmas style decoration cheer. Notably in the ornament department.

Sam's mom got us this one:

Old World Pumpkin.

So appropriate! We were married on Halloween, and I love Autumn, so it's only fitting we have a pumpkin ornament on our tree.

My Aunt Laura gave me two new ornaments:

The Horse.

This to commemorate my enduring love of horses. It was also crafted by Wayan, and a portion of the purchase goes to a nonprofit.

The Cat.

This I feel commemorates my cat-centric job. Plus, I love how this cat is painted -- orange with green circles.

I also stole some ornaments from my mother's collection. Okay, so stealing isn't the right word. I got these passed down to me ;)

Star Trek Starcraft. Don't be jealous of my nerdiness.

The Sleeping Squirrel. My favorite ornament as a child.

The Peppermint Unicorn. Adorable!

I was also super excited to recieve TWO nativity sets this year. I have previously had NO nativity scene to display, so this was a real treat.

This set was given to me by Sam's mom:

Fontanini.

The figures are very realistic in the sense that they look like people and animals. Detailed features, clothes, and so on. I got a stable, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, manager, and two dogs. The dogs are for Locksley :) and the tradition is to keep Jesus hidden and ONLY place him in the manger Christmas Day. Like magic. This set is soft and probably unbreakable! I also hear it has loads of other figures available -- notably, all sorts of animals.

This set was given to me by my mom:

Willow Tree.

It was on my wish list :) They're made of wood, I think, and are far more abstract. It's definitely more arty looking, and even though there aren't any features on these faces they are still very expressive.

I love that both of these nativity scenes are distinct and lovely. I can't wait to display them--and all of my new found Christmas decorations--year after year.

The Best Pony Evar

Photos by Jason Putsche.
More here.

EP and Jason accompanied me to the horse barn last weekend to take some photos of the barn cats for work. They also took some pictures of the ponies, and got to meet Gobie.
When we headed out into the pasture to greet Gobie he recognized me instantly and started walking toward us. It was a veritable love-fest with lots of petting and nosing and such. I had brought my curry comb along with me, so besides the usual petting I took the time to brush him down a little. Some of the other horses came over to say hi, and they were all pretty polite for the most part...
Except one black mare. She came over with her ears pinned and looking cranky. I tried shooing her off, but I wasn't very convincing. Gobie too care of us, though. He protected us quite readily by turning his butt to Magic and pinning his ears back. She moseyed off and we were saved. Gobie is a hero, pretty much.
EP and Jason agreed he was a pretty great pony. We showed the photos to the other volunteers and they loved them, of course. <3

Yule Log

Nothin' better than sitting inside some cold winter's day with the Christmas Tree twinkling, the Yule Log channel a' glowing, and presents wrapped. Cracking and eating mixed nuts for old times sake!

Gingerbreading

Are you ready for some pretty epic Gingerbreading? Thanks to Molly, tonight was filled with the triumphs and hilarious failures of making Gingerbread houses.

The mood was set with a laptop cranking Christmas Music, ready with Gingerbread icing recipes, and Christmas themed movies playing in the background.


There was also the exciting privilege of seeing, in its natural habitat, Molly's Ridiculous Cabinet Handles.

(and creepy knife set)

Step one was making the icing, using our handy recipe. Four egg whites, Four cups of Confectioner's Sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat until firm!

...or beat until it resembles a Jackson Pollock.

Step two was copious amounts of candy. Which we had IN SPADES.


And the Gingerbreading commenced! It was hard work.


Emily's Creation:

Starting out with a solid foundation.

A roof! And a peppermint ribbon chimney.

The roof is amazing! Post modern!

Also, did you know a hippo lives here?

Also living here: a pirate gingerbread man and his friend.

My Creation:

It was super promising... but then..

NooOOoOOo!!!

Maybe it just wanted to be a big cat zoo exhibit?

I salvaged it into a house -- with a Locksley Dog, poopin on the roof.

Molly's Creation:

Solid foundations -- with a cyclops gingerbread man supervising.

The roof -- steady as she goes!

The cyclops, tearing the roof from the house, to access the people inside.
RUN FOR YOUR LiIiIIife!

A near tragedy -- the walls start to slip!

But an epic recovery! The cyclops carnage is complete with the house on "flames"!

As you can probably tell, Gingerbreading was a success.