Friday, June 09, 2006

Ozark Update: horses, cabin, garden, and quilts

It's springtime in the Ozarks! Lots of things happening, lots to do, weather warming up, etc., etc., etc.

Randy Brown's horses are getting to be a big problem. There are three mares, the stallion, and a filly. Because there is almost no grass in his pastures, and he doesn't maintain his fences, the horses come through and graze at Lonnie's house and at the Cabin in the Woods. Now, this wouldn't be a big problem if they just ate grass and pooped in the pasture. Unfortunately, they have eaten the first two plantings of corn from the garden and pooped on the Cabin's front porch. They had to climb up four concrete steps to get to the porch, but apparently that's not a challenge to these animals. Randy's not living next door at the moment, partly due to his pending divorce, and partly due to the fact that he's living with his girlfriend while his wife is in jail for hiring a hit man to kill him. We've called the sheriff's office about the horses, but they don't seem very concerned.

The Cabin is about to get pretty paneling in the front bedroom. A former guest took it upon himself to take down the old paneling, so this is sort of a forced project. We'll be glad when it's all done, but as it wasn't on our original summer list, the frustration level is high for now.

The garden looks great, except for the horse depredations on the corn. We have been eating tomatoes and collards and squash and Swiss Chard. The chard has been a very delightful surprise. It's like mild spinach.

I have finished a really ugly experimental wall hanging made from 1960's fabric. Looks like a baaaaaad trip. Cole's quilt top is almost finished, and I just need to put the borders on. I'm struggling with what to do for Nathan and Wendy's project. We have such different tastes! At this point, these are just the tops. The actual quilting part will wait for cold weather in the coming winter.

One delightful surprise this trip has been goat milk. My friend Yarrow has milk goats, and Nubian goat milk is not goaty flavored at all. We got half a gallon, and I have been using it on my breakfast cereal, making yogurt, and making herbed yogurt cheese. If nobody told you, you would never suspect that it's made from goat milk. At Central Market, I have paid $3.75 for a four ounce package of herbed goat cheese that I can make here for practically nothing. Delightful!

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