Happiness

This is a post I've been meaning to write for some time. It's been kicking around in my head all that while, and this seems as good as time as any.

I will be confessing some things on this blog you may not have known. I don't want you to take these things and judge me, but merely have a bit more understanding in why I am the way I am.

I've not led an easy life. Some of my younger years were amazing and I was able to experience things out of this world. And other times were in stark contrast, horrible times that I try not to think on too much, if I can help it.



All of that has left me an interesting person, with the ability to look on and appreciate both sides of the spectrum. Of course, it has also affected me in a physical, emotional, and mental way.

Some of you may already know that I have very poor eyesight. I see well enough to do just about everything, but I lack depth perception that has at times made me very nervous and prevents me from driving. I am partially deaf in one ear. I do have a marvelous sense of smell and taste though!

I suffer from a blood disorder that has me perpetually tired and pale. I have a digestive disorder that prevents me from absorbing nutrients properly, keeping my weight hovering at dangerous levels. I have a few problems with my emotional state that will swing me from one extreme to another. At times I will have trouble seeing anything in a positive light.

I live my life in pain. It's a rare day I don't have some kind of pain.

But for all of that . . .

I am happy.

Imagine that. So I have problems. My life has problems. My house is far from perfect, the "normal" troubles of life plague me from day to day, on top of what I deal with, but it doesn't matter. I choose to be happy.

Sure, I could wake up and lay in bed and cry about everything I have to deal with. I could refuse to get up and struggle through another day. I could sell everything that forces me to get out of bed and slog around in the heat and cold, so that literally all I would need to do is lay in bed. I could give up. I could back down in my strong opinions and avoid conflict with other people.

I could do all of these things.

But I refuse. I REFUSE to allow myself to give up and be unhappy because it's EASIER.

NO. I *will* get out of bed, I *will* take the time to care for everything around me, even if it isn't perfect. I will *choose* to be in a good mood and enjoy my day to the best of my abilities.

It is absolutely a choice. I know that many feel that they can't help it if someone else ruins their day, or something bad happens and puts them in a bad mood.

But you CAN help it. No, you can't stop something from breaking or someone from being an asshole. But you CAN help how it affects YOU.

Take a moment. Close your eyes, take a deep breath. Tell yourself, you're not going to allow this to affect you negatively. You're going to handle it, and move on. You're going to CHOOSE to keep your good mood, or CHOOSE to be in a good mood instead.

Try it next time. It isn't easy (what is?) but you can certainly do it, if I can.

Welcome Secret

Is it bad that I'm cringing a little with a sheepish grin while writing this? I have a friend, a dear, beloved, wonderful friend, who is going to heave a huge sigh, roll her eyes, call me a bleeding heart, and whap me over the head with a newspaper once she finds out. You know who you are...

Though I honestly have no idea if she actually reads my blog. I imagine she does. Guess I'll find out now, won't I?

Without further adieu . . .

Welcome to K-n-S Farm, Secret.


Yup, I took in a rescue. *Hides from said friend.*

"Secret" (hehheh) is a 7-8 month old Welsh filly. She was run through an auction and went for pennies. A friend who pulls nice looking QH-esque horses from the auction, handles them, and resells as a small hobby, saw her right before leaving and managed to fit her in the trailer.

Knowing my affection for ponies and my patience for youngsters, she recommended I take in the little filly. And how could I say no? I'm a bleeding heart, remember?

We kept it quiet, partly because I didn't feel like getting beat over the head with a newspaper (quite yet), and partly because I love to tease my husband. He has no idea about this. Some of us are taking bets on how long until he notices her. Seeing as she's now standing right outside my back door, I can't imagine it will be too long.

For those wondering . . . no, my husband will not be angry or upset. He might pretend to be, for a space of ten minutes, before he's out there petting the new baby. The farm and livestock are my responsibility and he fully supports whatever I choose to do with it. So don't fret! It's all in good fun.

Anyhow. Secret is here. She's thin and a little frightened and confused, but she has a gentle eye and did not fuss too much about anything I did to her. She loaded and unloaded my friend's trailer without ordeal. I've settled her in with some hay and water and she seems alright.

Apple is ignoring her, although the goats are, of course, terribly curious.

The plan is to fix her up, put work into her, and perhaps when she's been started under saddle in a few years, resell as a good riding pony. It appears she's going to be a decent sized pony, larger than I had first anticipated when agreeing to take her.

What's one more mouth to feed around here, right? ;)

Epona's Super Secret Turkey

Yes, it's another recipe post! Enjoy.

This is a completely original recipe I created on my own, using knowledge and my own sense of taste. It turned out wonderfully for me the first year I tried it, so I did it again this year. It was like turkey heaven.

Ingredients:

Turkey - whole or whole breast (I've done both)
Orange Juice - 1 - 2 gallons depending on the size of your bird
Honey
Butter
Herbs that suit your taste (Rosemary, thyme, basil, etc)
1 Apple
1 Orange
1 Onion
Garlic cloves
Butter marinade - Store bought or homemade
Bacon
Potatoes (Optional)

Soak your turkey or turkey breast in orange juice, fully submerged if possible, for at LEAST 24 hours before cooking. The citric acid in orange juice saturates the meat, helping break down fibrous and tough tissue, and adds a pleasant subtle flavor.

Prep for cooking: Pull the skin up and pipe in a mixture of butter, honey, herbs under the skin and smush all around over the meat. Inject meat with butter marinade of your choice. Put a sliced apple, orange (rind left on), garlic cloves, and onion (remove outer peel) in the cavity. Rub honey, butter, herbs over the bird and place in the cooking pan. Put potatoes around the bird to soak in delicious cooking juices. Place fatty bacon over the breast, cover.

Cook until nearly done, NEVER overcook your bird. Check online for best times/temps for your bird's weight. (Here is an excellent page with a chart and information on cooking your turkey: Turkey Roasting Times Chart.)



At the end, uncover, pour over a melted butter and honey mixture, brown slightly. REST BEFORE CARVING. This is so important. Never just hack into your bird. The meat, right out of the oven, is very taunt from being cooked. If you slice into it, all of the juices will run out, leaving you with a dry bird. If you let it rest, the meat relaxes and retains all that wonderful moisture when sliced.

Eat the most delicious turkey you've ever eaten.

Cooking with Nothing

So this blog topic came to me today while I was cooking.

You see, there comes plenty of times on our little farm where the fridge is empty, the freezer bare, the cupboards dusty with misuse. These are times where I must use my imagination to come with with dinner.

So I pulled out some cheap chicken breasts (bone-in, skinned) I bought on sale, a package of instant potatoes, and some queso, because I always have a jar of queso knocking around in my fridge. And before you knew it, I had a delicious moist flavorful chicken breast on my plate, accompanied by a big spoonful of potatoes flavored with a large dollop of queso. Yum!

So that got me to thinking. Why are Americans so damned lazy in the kitchen these days? What ever happened to using your imagination and cooking on a budget.

So often have I heard, "Oh, there's nothing to cook. Let's order out." and I would look at their kitchen full of wonderful food and be absolutely puzzled. Why is it so hard to put together a decent dinner?

And then a mother, (no offense to Parents-not-Breeders out there) tried to say, "Oh, we stay-at-home moms are the best at cooking on a budget" and I just feel like saying, "Bitch, please. I just made a delicious dinner with three cheap-ass ingredients. And no foodstamp card either."

But then again, I'm not a very nice person.

If you want the truth of the matter, the people who are best at buying food, making food last, and making dinner out of nothing are those of us who have been HUNGRY in our lives. I'm not talking about "damn I haven't eaten since breakfast" hungry in the evening. I'm not even talking about "I haven't eaten all day" hungry.

I'm talking about days without food, stomach crampingly painful, can't even get the energy to cry hungry. Thankfully, the majority of people in our country have not had to encounter this. Some have. Including myself. And it really teaches you an absolute respect for food, how to shop to last, and how to make do with nothing.

Skills I am damn grateful for now, because even if I no longer have to fear going hungry, I can budget our grocery bill to get the most with my money, saving that money to buy other things. Like expensive feed for my fat goats.

Check In Post - November

Yup, another boring check in post. Sorry!

I had considered writing another post on BLM mustangs, due to some images and information I came across, but I figured, I only need so many crazy people reading the blog, right? Although . . . crazy people are more fun.

However, I'd rather not do two BLM posts in a row, seeing as this blog is *supposed* to be a bit varied.



So a check in post it is!

The picture above is Pixie! She is a newborn Boer cross doeling from Rancho Volsa Basias. She will be joining the herd here at K-n-S Farm when she is weaned. Isn't she too cute? We really look forward to having her here.

My artwork is keeping me busy. I have several pending orders, several orders in progress, and a few sitting on the drying shelf. Very exciting and I love doing the work. I honestly *should* raise my prices, as my profit margin is pretty small right now, but I do so enjoy doing the models for prices people can afford, I don't know if I'm willing to do that. I suppose time will tell.

I have ordered some Apoxy Sculpt and have begun trying my hand at resculpting manes and other things. Going well so far. Unigoat got himself a little mane. He's going on the painting table here shortly, so keep an eye out for him! Once I have a bit more practice, I will be offering resculpted manes/tails on models, for a small additional fee.

Breeding season is winding to a close here. Blizzard returns home this weekend. I am fairly certain most of the does were covered. Hopefully all goes well and they have all settled. We even have Hope's daughter from her last kidding here; she was bred to Blizzard and I am *very* excited to see the offspring from this cross. It's a real powerhouse lineage. Because her owner is getting married around the time she'll be due to kid, she'll be returning to our farm to give birth. Very exciting.

There have been no more sightings of the dogs that attacked, although some neighbors have shot a few more stray dogs in recent days. Good riddance, I say!

Everything else has been ticking along like normal. But keep an eye out . . . come next week, I should have a little surprise to drop on all of you. What is it, you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait and find out, won't you.

BLM Mustangs

I had been casting about for a good topic to write about, when a good friend on my Facebook had a topic going about the BLM Mustangs, and the little light went off in my head.

I'm so sick and tired of bleeding heart animal rights fundies stomping all over the place spreading misinformation and lies about the BLM.

Said friend works with the BLM quite often and raises orphan foals, so yeah, I think I'm more likely to listen to her first hand experience, than anyone else's.


But constantly you have PETA-esque jackanapes running their mouths. And then people turn around and parrot it. "Oh, the BLM is so cruel. They're selling mustangs for slaughter. Splitting up families. Running the horses to death. Starving them." So forth and so on.

What a load of shit.

The BLM never sells any mustang to slaughter. Never. Which personally, I think is a shame, but you all know my opinion on the matter. I see a nice way to put some meat on plates in these hard economic times AND solve the mustang problem. Oh, oops, was that a Facebook defriend going off again?

As for the splitting up families tripe, are you joking me? Get off the couch, stop watching that absolute inane documentary about Cloud the "rare white mustang" (he's not white, by the way) and learn about true horse behavior. You think they honestly care? No, they don't. It's all instinct, and soon enough, they've forgotten about the other horses.

BLM does not run horses to death. If they did, you'd see a lot more videos of it posted by PETA and those other asshats. How come you only see one or two events, posted over and over? Because it's a RARE occurrence. Accidents happen. Animal rights morons try to make it out to seem like a regular events. Get real.

You know what else I'm sick of? The damned idea that mustangs are "running wild and freeeee!"

Ugh! You know what? Mustangs aren't WILD! They're feral horses. A domesticated animal let loose to roam about and cause destruction of the environment. They do not belong there. But because of some bleeding hearts, they're allowed to remain. Which, fine, okay, but these same bleeding hearts need to realize, if they aren't MANAGED properly, they will destroy the range to the point NO animal can live there, and what becomes of their precious mustangs then?

Open your eyes. And trust me, running "freeeee and wild" ain't a walk in the park.

Yeah, that's what living "wild and freeeee" gets you. Especially somewhere you don't really belong in the first place. Get the butterflies and rainbows out of your head and look at it properly.

You want to do something about mustangs? Go out and adopt one. Go on then, get going. You can even bid and adopt online, and arrange for your mustang to be shipped to your place. Or, go up there and help with the gathers. Propose ways of controlling the mustang population that WORKS. Help fund the corrals and sanctuaries where unadopted mustangs are held. Take in orphan foals and save their lives. So, what's stopping you? Hmm?

Well then. Stop spreading misinformation and parroting the animal rights jackanapes. Get out and do something about it or shut up. Sitting on your couch flapping your jaw never solved anything.

Look, I like mustangs. I'd like to adopt one. I have many friends who have BLM mustangs and love them. When it works well, it's marvelous. I'd like it to continue working well, which is why I support the BLM and their efforts to manage the range.

Holidays

Ah, here it is. The infamous holiday post you've all been waiting for. Right? Right?

Well I can pretend people care, can't I.

Anyhow. Holidays. I thought I'd take a bit and explain how holidays work around here at K-n-S Farm.

We here at the farm don't celebrate the majority of nationally recognized holidays, for a various number of reasons.

We'll start with the big ones that come at the end of the year.

Halloween! I actually rather like Halloween. It's become so commercialized it makes me vaguely sick, but the core of the holiday is good.

Personally I can't stand the idea of people's little munchkins coming to my door to beg for candy, so it's a good thing I live way out in the middle of no where with electric fence and a gate. No brats at my door! We don't normally get to go out and do anything for the holiday anymore as well, so our way of celebrating is is the yearly Pumpkin Toss. You can see a video of that here.

Thanksgiving is a loaded holiday that I'm unsure of currently. I *love* to cook and Thanksgiving is a great chance to show off my skills. Last year I made the most beautiful turkey breast. It was so moist and delicious and marvelous. However, the holiday is based upon so many lies it's kind of hard to put aside those things. Should we REALLY be celebrating the intrusion of people into another people's lands? Meh . . . I don't know. We normally do not go out on Thanksgiving, and Steven works it, but I do cook, and we do take a moment to be thankful for things, but that's also something we do each and every day anyways.

Christmas? Ha! That will get a blog post ALL of its own. I have some strong thoughts on that holiday. So you'll just have to wait to hear about it.

Easter. We don't celebrate it. A holiday that's become a perverted mixture of Christianity and Pagan celebration? Weird. No thanks. I do love the candy that goes on sale afterward though!

Honestly? Those are the only big holidays I bring to mind. Most of the smaller ones we don't celebrate, except perhaps in a nominal way.

No, we have our own holidays; a mixture of holidays we created ourselves through tradition, and recognized smaller holidays. Pumpkin Toss, RenFaire Day, Winter's Solstice, May 4th, World Turtle Day, Summer Solstice....so forth and so on. If we feel it's a good reason to celebrate, we do!

Quick Post

Many of you may have noticed I haven't been very active here lately. The reasons have been kept quiet, but I recently had a friend thump me and tell me that my community of online friends should know why I disappeared.

Like most of you even noticed!

However, I did fall behind on a lot of things, so it's best to explain for a brief moment. I was sick. Kidney infection. See? No big deal. I didn't die, I'm on the mend, and should be back to form and catching up on things here shortly.

I did have to apologize to one person; their finished model did not get shipped when it was supposed to, since I was busy laying in bed being miserable. It will go out as soon as possible however, with my most sincere apologies.

Rest assured, even if I happen to disappear from the interwebs for a while, I'm sure to return, just as grouchy and offensive as ever. I'm too stubborn to do anything else.

Keep an eye out for a post within the next couple of days, I feel a rant about the holidays coming up, and who doesn't love those?