A little more like it

A week ago I went out and broke up the ice and spent an hour working a shovel underneath to lift it off the ground in sheets. I was determined to get horses out there if it was the last thing I did!

So after a week of weather steadily in the 40s and 50s we're *finally* getting horses out every day.

Tuesday 27 February. The sun is very nice this time of year!
And I'm pleased beyond words to have the horses out there enjoying the sun. This has been a really challenging winter. For everyone. Now if I can just get myself organized well enough to ride!

Another good sign! The local maple sap is running!

Friday 23 February

Nutrition Labels!

I'm that guy in the supermarket squinting at the nutrition label on every package. And of course I read the ingredients as well. Some things hide in the ingredients. Anything "partially hydrogenated", for example, is trans fat. Be sure to note "hydrogenated" is not trans fat. Partially hydrogenated is trans fat.

I don't eat products with HFCS. HFCS is converted directly into triglycerides bypassing the Krebs cycle and I am of the opinion that's a bad thing. And don't confuse corn syrup with HFCS. Corn syrup and HFCS are two different things. And beware of glucose syrup. Glucose syrup is what they call HFCS in Europe and it often appears in the ingredients lists on imported products.

So. What has me carrying on about nutrition labels?

I stumbled across this nutrition label calculator on the web. You input your recipe in the space provided and it displays a nutrition label for your recipe. It's very cool! I found a couple of issues with it. It doesn't know about kosher salt, for example. It insists on using table salt data. And, after calculating the label, changing an ingredient or a serving size doesn't always work. Either delete the ingredient and add it back or just start over again.

The most interesting thing however is that one can use these labels to compare their homemade food with supermarket products. So, for example:

My homemade 100% whole wheat personal pizza. The serving size is one whole pizza.

My homemade cabbage soup. Serving size is one and a half cups.
I think that's very cool and I find it fun just to satisfy curiosity as I wonder sometimes is homemade really the most nutritious option?

The year in ice

This will long be remembered as the season in ice. The property doesn't drain well. A little rain. It freezes. A lot of snow. More rain. Snow melts. Property floods....and freezes...

11 February
And that's *nothing*. That's after several days in the 40s and 50s and some rain. I really should have taken pictures last week.

The kids were literally playing hockey in the ring I train in
It was a 12 acre ice skating rink.

Of course it just kills me keeping the horses in the barn. I think we've had 3 days outside since before Christmas. And two of those days were strictly in hand. But there's just no way a horse can navigate that. It was much worse this year than last and the only relief will be to find another place to go when the weather permits.

And of course meanwhile...there's work to be done! And every one of us fell down on that ice at least once and by the middle of last week it was just downright dangerous.

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Product Review!

This is a Yaktrax
It's a hard rubber frame with coiled stainless steel wire wound around the framework. Making for "traction cleats". You stretch this rubber frame around the sole of your shoe or boot.

They're marginal in the snow. At least this model which is the one I have. On snow covered ice they clog with snow and you have to stomp your feet a lot and shuffle. If you don't? They're not worth much. But. On ice? On clear ice? They work *really* well on clear ice, no question at all.