Fruits and... More Fruits!

 

And this is only part of our peach harvest! Bob informed me today that he's picked 150 (!!!!!!) peaches from our tree. Thank you, my friend Laurie for having given us this tree when we moved in, knowing how much I love peaches. I know we're going to be busy eating peach pie and freezing a slew of them for enjoying mid winter.

And did someone say blueberries? We have so many blueberries... we've had blueberry pancakes, blueberry pie, blueberry upside down cake, blueberry muffins, not to mention simply cramming blueberries into our mouths, straight of the bush and...

even blueberry crisp. That was quite good! The freezer is packed with frozen blueberries. We certainly can't complain about a meager crop. These bushes are amazing; several "Jersey" bushes and three stellar "Elliots".

And fruits of another kind. Lots of tomatoes finally; they were a bit slow to ripen but are now going great guns. I'm looking forward to yet another Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwich. My favorite! And look at those eggplants; they really like the hot weather. At least we won't go hungry. I am actually thinking the opposite is true: I think I'm putting on weight, trying to keep up with everything our garden is producing. Too bad the summer seems to be winding down!

Unexpected Things Underfoot

 

Hey! We've got "Lawn Vaginas"! Actually, I stand corrected. As a friend pointed out, technically this is a "Lawn Vulva". This must be a very female part of our property because we have at least three in this area!

Every time I mow the lawn, or stroll by, I think, "Wouldja look at that?' So today, I finally got the camera out and documented.

My feet are here shown to give a sense of scale. 

And here's another one:

I'll bet you'll never look at your lawn the same way... there's all kinds of things out there! (*1)

(*1) And I am smart enough to know NOT to put "labels" on this post as all kinds of weirdo grass fetishists will be driving by...

Horse Hosin'

 

After remarking that I bath my horse Neko after riding her in hot weather, my sister Beatrice suggested as how this would be an interesting blog post. I realized that this was probably true as not many of my blog followers have horses or experience the pleasure of hosing down a large animal. I kept forgetting to bring my camera or phone along with me but finally, today, I was prepared.!

Following a vigorous episode of "torturing" my poor pony by demanding that she perform all kinds of arcane movements, like stopping and turning left or right, she can be sweaty. 

Typically this occurs under the girth and beneath the saddle pad. You can just spot wash it off but when it's really hot and humid- like today- they LOVE to get wet!

I always start by hosing the feet and legs first, as their hooves can be hot and need cooling first. I've been told this by several experienced horsey people so that's what I do! So after all four feet and legs have been wet down, the rest of the horse is fair game.

You will notice, Neko's eyes are actually closing; she's like, "Oh boy! This feels GOOD!". 

You will also take notice that I don't even have a halter on her as she enjoys this so much that she simply stands there. In fact, Maggie often crowds in, wanting to get hosed, too.

There's Maggie in the background, enjoying some of the over spray. I am only hosing Neko today; I don't use shampoo or soap often as that can dry their coats. Plain old water is better. It's like going swimming.

And here comes on of those funky details that you probably wouldn't have guessed at. A mare (a female horse) has her mammary glands (read: horse boobs) between her hind legs. They can get a nasty, waxy build up soooooooo we gently hose up there and then reach in and remove any crud.

You knew that was coming!! Yuck! Removing this must feel really nice as they often spread their legs a bit wider and accommodate my efforts. Oh, the pleasures of horse ownership! 

I then finish up by squeegeeing off excess water. Neko is looking at me as if to say, "What!? All done? Do it again!" And of course, a horse loves being squeaky clean and shiny and experiencing our standards of grooming and hygiene... WRONG!

The next thing that Neko does is lay down and roll, the better to adorn herself with dirt and dust:

You can only imagine the self-satisfied grunts that accompany this. Heaven.

And lastly, here's Neko, doing what Neko likes best- eating, delightfully encrusted in a patina of dirt, but cooled off!