Christmas in Ohio

 On Christmas Eve we accidentally got locked out of the Bassman house.  Dad came over in red rider and saved the day, like a regular Cat Woman (or cat burglar... whatever)

We had a very skypey christmas.  "Wait, you're frozen, what did you say?"  "What?"  "I said ........." "what?"

 But really, it's pretty cool being able to see your niece or grand daughter tear open her presents two time zones away!  Think about it, 150 years ago the telegraph was the most convenient form of communication... 20 years ago I had to use pay phones.  It's a brave new world

 This is the awesome breakfast quiche that Veneta made for us this morning!  She also made gouda grits to accompany it.

 This is Sarah being a punk when I point the camera at her... as a punishment for her behavior, I present an example of it here for all the world to see.

 Here she is looking happy and pretty.

 It's really hard to take pictures in the arena, and I know it's blurry, but here's a photo of Veneta and Will working together well.

 Sarah and Will demonstrating his flexion and agility

 AWEsome photo in the barn.  Next life, maybe.

Will made a horse angel in the snow after he was done working.

Sarah and Will look so good.

Keith, Jenn, Sarah, Rambo, Murphy, & Bodie go for a hike

This'll be all outta order as I'm posting from my phone. I'll fix it later. I'm at Erik's right now waiting for the car to cool down so I can change the oil. Jenn's been here for the weekend and we've had a lovely time. Of course we jumped at the opportunity to ride all three horses together.

Ernest Shackleton

Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger... safe return doubtful.... Honour and recognition in case of success.  
~ Ernest Shackleton 

Farriers are badass

Trying my hand at Mental Floss style 1000 +6 words

 Sarah rode Rambo without a saddle.

Horses like to have a routine.

 Saw-whet owls prowl the forest edges.

Keith needs a real work shop.

Keith likes power tools... a lot.

Thanksgiving

We're enjoying a few days off together in the increasingly frozen north. Even as we hike through the woods with the dogs our minds wander and we wonder, will there be snow this year.

Just finished Suttree by Cormac.  It was a long rambling tale, not unlike Confederacy of Dunces, but rather than have New Orleans as a back drop, Suttree battled his way through mid century Knoxville, Tennessee.  To say that it is pointless would be to do it a disservice, it has as much point as any great absurdist or existential comedy...

This is a dinner I had last week.  Sarah's potatoes au gratin made with Parmesan cheese (Ian would be in heaven), an awesome veggie burger with Pat's spicy tomato jam, my apple sauce and some of Erik's home-brewed brown ale.   Look for the recipe soon on our new food blog.

 My applesauce.  I'm really happy with it.  The recipe was super simple and easy, and made a great tasting and textured sauce.

 

A former student of mine came back from Colorado where she is attending a private boarding school and brought me these incredible socks.

Sam and I went deer hunting on Wednesday morning.   Again, it's a good thing my survival didn't depend on the acquisition of said quarry.

 

Sam, stalking not the most dangerous game.

My new end table.  I purchased it from a nice old man at the farmers market for fifty bucks!  I still want to make my own rustic wood block table, but I got tired of having my stuff on the floor by my side of the couch.  This is more than adequate and makes me happy to look at.

A student of mine is all about the jungle this year so I told him I'd take another stab at reading it.  I'm regretting that promise already.  It's just as tedious as I remember it.  Sinclair may have changed the world, but that doesn't make the book any less dense.

This is a photo from the hike that Sarah and I took yesterday.  It was a great hike, couple hours, and a beautiful day, as you can see.

 Jonas dog after the hike.  We took all three of them with us. 

 

It was raptor central yesterday.  We saw a red tail and a coopers on our hike and then a bunch more as we drove around town.

Find the hole in the fence...

and sprint away like a delirious zoo animal!

 Stopped at a billabong for some refreshment.

 Went to the Ornithology Lab for a hike... it's safer there than in the killing fields near home ;-)

 Dude found a giant stone egg.  Normally I don't go for this hippy rock stacking crap.  I tend to think the rocks look better where Darwin placed them, that goes for sticks and leaves, too.  I was mumbling something along that line to Sarah and muttering about Andy Goldsworthy wannabes when I spotted a plaque on the ground.  Seems this one was made by... wait for it... Andy Goldsworthy.  Of course since this is Cornell property, they glued the whole thing together so that it would last forever, whereas Goldsworthy usually uses only natural materials and then leaves them to entropy.   Make of that what you will.

 There were lots of cool fungi.  Nobody installed these, they're just doin their thing.