Oh deer

I often walk around the barn property. There are snakes and rabbits *everywhere*. Which I'd guess is why it's such a favorite with coyotes. We hear them more than we see them and there are always tracks around.

Coyote track. We have some pretty big coyotes.
We see the occasional fox and of course the property is a birder's paradise.

And then every once in a long while we get a treat like this.

31 August
I'm not sure she's in the best of health. She's looking a little "ribby" for such an abundant season.

Run for it!
Sometimes when you're on a horse you can practically reach out and touch the deer before they run. I love this stuff.

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Today's rider's advice. I always keep a change of clothes in one of my tack boxes. In case I want to say, stop at the supermarket on my way home. After riding bareback. In the summer.

Because this is really hard to explain

If I can do this...

Anyone can do this!

Blueberry Pie
I know. My crimp needs a little work. But I'm showing *some* promise.

I have a lot of favorite things. Gin and tonic in the summertime. Manhattans in the wintertime. Martinis anytime. Hmmm...

Nevermind that pattern. An enduring most favorite thing for as long as I can remember is blueberry pie. I haven't been making blueberry pies for a long time. I finally read the ingredients on supermarket pie dough packages and they all have trans fat. Most puff pastry dough does too.

So last year I made a pie crust. Whole wheat. First pie crust ever! It was actually pretty good. But I made a *huge* mess. Mostly because the top popped off my food processor. You can imagine. So I was discouraged. Being desperate for a pie however made me give it another go.

And I done good.

Nice Flaky Crust
Here's what I used for one crust:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 7 tbs (cold) butter, cut into small cubes
• ice water

I put the dry ingredients in a food processor and whirred them while I dropped in the cold butter cubes. When the butter was broken up and "grainy" I added ice water, a tablespoon at a time until the dough balled around the blade. It took about 4 tablespoons and while it didn't really ball very well I could tell it was done.

I put that in a plastic bag and refrigerated it for about 10 minutes. Then I rolled it out with a wine bottle between a couple of pieces of waxed paper. I think parchment paper would have worked better.

I did a standard berry filling. 32 ounces of frozen wild Maine blueberries with a pinch of cinnamon, a splash of lemon juice, a couple tablespoons of honey and 3 tablespoons of tapioca starch. I dotted some butter around the top of it after I filled the pie.

Put the pie in a 425 °F oven for 10 minutes, reduce the oven to 350 and it's done in 35 to 40 minutes .

I was really thrilled with this pie crust.

Quintessential Summer Afternoon

I was out running early in the evening the other day. I ran past this field. They were out bailing the 2nd cut hay.

Putting up hay. 20 August
It was a warm, dry, breezy day. The hay smelled so good. The light was perfect. I had to go back and get my camera. Just the most perfect summer day.

Awesome Bug

I came home one afternoon to find this on my back door. At first glance I thought it actually was a leaf stuck to the door. But on closer look...it's a moth! If this guy was on a tree branch I'd never in a million years see him. Or her.

Looks like a leaf! 28 July
Well, thanks to the miracle of Google I find it's a Pandorus Sphinx moth. I was amazed. And I got to learn all about the Pandora Sphinx.

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During shedding season I leave all my horse hair outside in piles. Here's why.

I found this nest while I was trimming thorn bushes one afternoon. The silvery lining there? That's tail hair! The birds use all different kinds of horse hair in their nests. The Baltimore Oriole's nest is the most interesting. We have Baltimore Orioles all over the property. The entire nest is often made completely from horse hair. They hang their distinctive pouch nests from tail hair and line the nest with progressively softer hair. Every year we find a couple of nests blown down in the fall.

Back to School

Last Sunday was a beautiful day. Pretty much a perfect 10. We've had several this week.

L and I enjoyed a very nice bareback ride. I killed more deer flies than I could count. They land behind L's ears and she has this "smack that bug will ya" gesture where she lifts her head up and shows me the fly. I'm expected to smack it. And she gets really insistent if I'm a little slow on the uptake. I find it's pretty funny.

While we had a most enjoyable time I was left with the feeling L was a little bored with our lazy trail ride. So when I got back to the barn I brought us in to the ring to do some schooling exercises. I really don't remember the last time we went in the ring. It has be a couple of years at least. I didn't plan anything hard. After I got her to frame up we did a working walk along the rail with circles in the corners. First to the left, then to the right.

L was not the least bit resistant. She was fully engaged, focused and she concentrated on what I asked her to do. I was impressed. Of course I know this isn't unique. But Canadian Horses are especially well known for being smart and willing.

We did some serpentines and transitions. She got a little on the forehand doing concentric circles but she listened to light half halts. We ended with side passes left and right. We weren't in there more than 10 minutes. She worked very hard. Not physically mind you but she was tired. Always end on a positive note.

And she wasn't bored. We'll have to do that more often!

Corn 2014

Corn's in!

The corn is late this year after the cold wet spring. I had an ear of corn Friday from Hadley. I had heard the Hadley corn was pretty good and ..it was ..ok. Not great. Not bad. The corn from Hadley and Deerfield usually comes in a week or so ahead of the nearby corn.

But yesterday I had my very first ear of native (local) corn.

Saturday 19 July
This corn is from Hanson Farm not far from here. It's good but clearly it's early in the season. I love everything about the summertime. Of course I know all about greenheads but nothing says summertime like corn and watermelon. And clams. And lobsters. And sangria. I could go on. And on.

My first (and last) ear of corn are notable days in my year. Since the season started late I wonder if it will end late? I never noticed before. I'll have to notice this year.

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Look what we found yesterday!

Out in the middle of nowhere. A passing bird must have dropped some sunflower seeds. This is a *huge* sunflower ...bush. It's going to have dozens of sunflowers on it. It was a really pleasant find.

A sunflower bush. Out in the middle of nowhere!

Egg Salad?!

For many years I *hated* egg salad. No. *Detested* egg salad. From the time I was a child I'd have to leave the room if someone started in on an egg salad sandwich.

Yes. That's egg salad!
So it struck me rather funny one day last winter when I decided I wanted...an...egg salad sandwich. So I researched recipes on the web (it's *so* easy) and decided I liked this one here at Serious Eats. There really isn't much variation in egg salad recipes. At the time I ended up wrapping my egg salad in lettuce leaves.

I've had it several times since and always enjoy some variation of that recipe.

I start by steaming the eggs. I get a steamer going at a ripping boil and put my cold eggs in for 14 minutes. Serious Eats says 12 minutes. My 12 minute eggs come out underdone. Maybe it's my steamer. I put them in a bowl under cold running water when they're done and leave them for 10 or 15 minutes. This technique was originally the result of trying to find an easier way to peel hard cooked eggs.

Here. Check this out.

Just about the whole egg slips right out
And I get *perfectly* cooked eggs...

Every time

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The recipe:

• Two eggs, cold
• Two tablespoons of finely chopped celery. Be sure to get some leaves.
• 2 teaspoons mayonnaise. I like Hellmann's Light.
• Generous dot of Dijon mustard
• Splash of lemon juice

I mash the eggs with a fork and mix everything together. Sometimes I add some chives. Chives are especially good. Sometimes I include a tablespoon of chopped red onion. Sometimes I add parsley. You get the idea. I need to try a pinch of curry powder some one of these days.

I think it goes especially well forked onto those little Rubschlager rye breads and the radishes are a nice touch. That idea came from Serious Eats. I like my egg salad wrapped in lettuce leaves too. I have to try it on a hamburger bun sometime.

So. Which is it? "?!" or "!?". I looked up the rules. Apparently there is no rule. But people who study this stuff say "?!" is in more common usage. It appears maybe twice as often as "!?".