My Tomatoes Runneth Over

I have been out of sorts the past few days. Nothing serious, just a general unwellness.

I did pick tomatoes today and a bunch of herbs. The Roma and yellow plum tomatoes are absolutely full of fruit. I'm going to freeze much of them whole. A friend makes herbed salt and I have decided my life is not whole without that in it, so I have a bunch of herbs dehydrating as I type. I think I may have a new obsession!

These need a little more ripening time so I've set them on the screened porch. The light looked so nice I had to take a photo. What are the odds they will become playthings for Frieda?

I haven't kept up, I hope tomorrow will be better and I'll catch up.

Changing Seasons

Yesterday was a quiet one. I did the minimum and barely that. It was sultry, the dew point was 72 degrees, and that is just wrong. I lolled about, listening to a book for most of the day. Mark was in his office, as he is today, finishing work before a client meeting tomorrow. I am fortunate in him, he pays no mind to what I do with myself and wouldn't be bothered if he did.

I am looking forward to this....

.... and this. I like winter. It's easier to like since I don't have to drive in bad weather, but I like the slow pace, the early darkness, the fire in my cosy room. The braised meats, the sauces.

Isn't the above a lovely photo? I don't know how I managed that. It was taken before the wonderful cell phone cameras existed by my Canon DSLR. Now I forget I have it. Things have changed hugely in a very few years. It's amazing and a little unnerving. At the same time.

I can tell today will be a repeat of yesterday. I have no idea why the quiet seems different, it's always quiet, except during planting and harvest, but it feels different somehow. It feels like a curl-up-with-a-book quiet. Which is what I'm going to do. Keetah will follow me to my throne chair, the ceiling fan will keep us cool and I will finish my book. The library has alerted me the next one is now available. I feel indulged.

Teenage Mutant Tomatoes?

Mutant Tomato

Two tomatoes melded together and decided to have babies. Sorta gives me the creeps.

We had some rain overnight, which precludes me from finishing the mowing. We are supposed to have more this evening. It's going to be a hot and humid weekend, which also keeps me from the lawn mowing. I never have handled heat well and my old self has had the opposite of most people as they age. I handle heat even less. I got about half done yesterday before I got too warm. I'm out in the full sun for most of the mowing and it gets to me.I have plenty and I mean PLENTY to do inside. Maybe I can convince myself it's about time.

I'm not a really early riser anymore, not like when I cared for forty horses, but I am generally up by 7:00. I slept until 8:30 this morning. It was discombobulating. I lost 1.5 hours of my morning.

I had a shoe called oofos recommended to me. I was told to use arch supports and I got good ones, but they bother my feet and back more than without them. The therapist told me to wear athletic shoes, which I have never liked, but I bought a pair, light pink. If I'm going to wear them I'm going to make a statement! I hate them. They feel heavy and cumbersome. I spent twenty-five years in farm work boots but I bet they would bother me now, too. oofos are expensive but they have a slider that was on sale. I ordered a pair and will see how they are. If I like them I will spend the money on shoes. Sliders aren't going to work in Minnesota during winter.  I think back to the decades I spent in high heels!

Because I feel like rambling, I am going to shred more zucchini and some carrot and make fritters for dinner. What else, I don't know. It's been awhile since I have made them. I bought an electric griddle years ago for that particular use. I should use it again. Not to be maudlin, but depression does steal your life. On that happy note, I think I will take my leave! And say, I am doing better.

 

A Good Neighbor

Neighbor Bill came by yesterday mid-morning with a large box of tomatoes. He came back in the afternoon to fix the lawn mower. It was nothing more than debris under the hood that had got around the spark plug, keeping it from sparking properly. He used the air compressor to blow it out and it worked like a charm. To test it out, Bill mowed a small section of the lawn. Win for me!

This is a photo diary of the second half of the day. Roasting the tomatoes and getting a little over four quarts.

Then in the evening using one of many zucchini and some garlic in a sauté, adding in freshly roasted tomatoes and fresh basil.....

Served over pappardelle. It was so fresh.

We think Keetah can hear certain sounds, slightly. Which is cause for much barking. MUCH barking. I have no idea if she will ever regain enough hearing to say she can actually hear. We know she can bark!

The afternoon will be spent mowing what is now long grass and weeds. The rain we had last week brought the green back. There isn't any more in sight right now, not encouraging. We've had wonderfully cool mornings with temperatures in the 50s. I love it! 

I'm not going to love heating this winter, I got the annual letter from the propane supplier with the locked in price on their budget plan and what my averaged use over three years was. My monthly payment will be just under $400/month. It was just under $300 this year. When I started using the budget plan it was $145. This is just propane, no electricity. I have a wood pellet stove we haven't used for a few years. I may be firing it up, although the pellets aren't cheap. Minnesota does not regulate pricing of propane like it does other utilities. I don't know if I'm going to lock in the price this year.

So, that's my story. Lawn, tomatoes, barking and heating costs. I need to settle down into a quiet life, enough of this wild and crazy.

Long, Low and Droopy

Howard B. Hound

He was my spoiled, droopy boy. 

Basset hounds are living, breathing cartoons. You can't stay sad or mad around them.They drool, they smell yeasty, they have health problems. They are worth it. Look at that face. Is it Murphy's fault Howard finished first? 

Murphy was rescued from Basset Buddies Minnesota at 11.5 years old. His owner had died, my last greyhound died a couple of weeks earlier and Howie needed a friend. Murphy was an energizer bunny, unlike the slug, aka, Howie B. Murphy attached to Howard right away and Howard looked at it as a burden he had to bear. Howard looked at everything as a burden he had to bear.

They got along well. Murphy always wanted to be where Howard was. Howard first was diagnosed with Glaucoma. A year later it was congestive heart failure. We spent a lot of time at the vet. Murphy always came along. Howard was on a lot of medication, he also had chronic ear problems needing meds. He was a trooper through all of it. I ended up keeping him alive a year, six months longer than was predicted. I gave him a lot of furosemide, much more than was prescribed. It's what removes the liquid around the heart. The vet didn't think I should, I said, what does he have to lose? He got another happy six months out of it.

The above photo is not Howard whining. This is Howard in full I Want My Biscuits mode. He would start with a low whine and then steadily ramp it up until it looked like this. Howard got what Howard wanted.

Howard let go May of 2017 and Murphy joined him March of 2018. Howard was ten, Murphy sixteen. I was without a dog until my mother died May, 2020. Emma and Keetah came to live with us. Emma died six months later at seventeen, a long life.

I was scrolling through photos and of course I have a lot of Howie. He needed a mention.

Apples to Apple Sauce

It's warm, humid and sunny. I'd be mowing the lawn if the mower was working properly. Instead I made applesauce from the apples Neighbor Bill brought me.

These apples are quite tart and don't hold form when baked, which I learned the hard way by making a pie with them several years ago. Applesauce pie, anyone? My favorite way to eat applesauce is warm over vanilla ice-cream. I could devour copious amounts, but I don't because, well, I'm overweight. But I'd love to.

It's a quiet day, really like most days. It just feels quieter than usual. Mark had been out to lunch with a client, maybe that's what feels different. Whatever the reason, it feels peaceful.

I have a pork roast in the slow-cooker with white wine, onion/garlic, fresh sage and rosemary. I seasoned it with old bay. It's not just for fish. I'll serve it with a zucchini, cucumber and yellow cherry tomato salad. I love having dinner making itself. 

My good friend in Denmark, julochka, showed me how to make herbed salt. That will be tomorrows project. It looks and sounds wonderful. 

I obviously had nothing fit to print, as I have just sort of rambled on. Mark has told me he thinks I should continue blogging, he thinks it's good for me. I think he's right, even when I'm just running on. As I am inclined to do. Take care.

Topper

 This leggy little guy grew up to be....

This guy.

WF Impressive 

1997

Mergers

A marriage between eggplants.

 

This will become some kind of dinner this evening. I took out a freezer bag of pureed tomatoes a couple of days ago and I plan to make sauce. The two will merge in one form or another, as the eggplants did with one another. Mark wants me to make eggplant "meatballs". He loves them and it's been several years since I made them. I used bread crumbs I made from homemade spelt bread and I have told Mark that is what helped make them the way they were. I need to make spelt bread, if I don't he will be disappointed. I'm not making bread until we lose the humidity. Often it's one ingredient that makes all the difference.

That man loves zucchini sautéed with garlic, onion and tomatoes. He raved about last evenings dinner, which was no more than panfried white fish, farro and the all important flavor fest he really likes. So easy to please. He is a food motivated person. He grew up on a dairy farm in SW Minnesota, the middle of ten children. He never went hungry but it seems he didn't feel he ever had enough. He thought I was beautiful, dear man, but what really grabbed him was I could cook! You really could not have found two people more unsuited to one another than the two of us. If not for his stubborn persistence, it wouldn't have worked. Yet here we are, old-ish, one of us infirm and overweight, the other not. Whatever he saw physically is gone, but I still can cook. Proof there has to be more. He's still a nerd!

Just a bit of Fluff

When I was a child I loved to draw and paint. I was told my father had a half-brother who was an artist. I never met him, but it intrigued me. When my mother died and I went through the massive amount of stuff in the house I came across several of my youthful artistic endeavors. I would have been fifteen when I painted this in high school art class. I realized when I took a painting course in college that I was best served by sticking to art history. But, I tried. I brought it home and have it displayed in my snug/sunroom.  My childhood dreams live on in my little painting.

Another form of creativity; growing enormous zucchini. I've told Mark they are sneaky bastards and now he has learned. One must be diligent in watching these green devils, they hide amongst the foliage. The largest of the three beasts was cut open, seeded and shredded. I have three freezer bags waiting for winter use. 

 

Neighbor Bill stopped by yesterday with some apples and more slicing cucumbers. He'd brought me ten earlier in the week. It's a good thing Mark has a near addiction to cucumbers in cream sauce. It's also a good thing I learned from Jacques Pepin how to make the simplest sauce known to humankind. I adore Jacques Pepin and wish he could be immortal.

I got nine quarts of pickles from the last batch of pickling cucumbers Neighbor Bill brought me. There were seven quarts from the prior batch. Sixteen quarts of pickles! He told me yesterday he has more. Nooooo! He told me I'll be getting a lot of tomatoes. I guess I'll be roasting and freezing soon. That sounds like Minnesota weather. We go from roasting to freezing. Fast.

Mark may go to North Minneapolis this coming week to see a client. If he does I'll see if my son with the Vegan Wife, who lives in North Minneapolis,  wants produce. Perhaps some pickles. I have no one to give what Bill has no one but me to give his extras to. An English teacher would have a field day with that sentence.

We miss the big, gangly, high-stepping horse. I'm glad we do. It shows we haven't become inured to grief.

The Denver Mint

1995-2022

 

Solo released his magnificent essence to the universe yesterday.

He was an elegant, gentle soul. A National Champion in halter and several time Champion in Saddleseat. He came to me as a ten-year-old. I had him started under saddle on the farm and then sent him to a longtime friend and trainer. He was already a Champion Stallion in halter, but he had so much action I thought he should give it a shot. So we did.

It's a fact when you have a lot of horses you will experience a lot of grief. Through illness, the dreaded and often deadly colic, injuries that are inevitable when you have numbers. Every time it's the end, it hurts like it's the first time. I suppose that is how we stay human. 

Mr. Solo had Squamous Cell Carcinoma in his sheath. For those who don't know what this means, the sheath covers the penis. I knew he would need to be put down, but he wasn't in pain so we let him have the summer. The tumor had grown quite a bit over a week or so and Solo had become too thin, so we let him go. He's buried in our grave yard at the top of the east pasture. 

He was a social fellow, he loved being a gelding. I cut him in 2010 and he thanked me everyday. He had his posse in the gelding herd, we called them the "Big Boys". 

We will miss the tall, long necked boy a lot.

I finished this book yesterday. It took me all of three days.

Tom Hanks' narration added a lot to my enjoyment of this book. I loved his droll tone and often mildly sarcastic inflection. He was perfect for the part, in my opinion. I also appreciated someone not changing voices, as is commonplace. He would change inflection, pitch slightly, but nothing else. It was like being read to by a famous guy! Oh, the book is good, not just Tom Hanks.

I liked the book enough that I just borrowed another audio book by the author. I am getting lazy, I like someone reading to me. I really do. Maybe I'm fulfilling something I lacked in childhood. Whatever, lazy or an unfilled need, I like being read to.

Yesterday I tried to mow the lawn but the mower was running rough and I didn't want to cause damage. Neighbor Bill will need to look at it. He's not only my supplier of produce, he's also the neighborhood mechanic. We are having nice weather, finally, and tomorrow and Friday we are supposed to get rain. Yippee! The grass (weeds) aren't that long it can't wait. The property isn't visible from the road so I won't be bringing the neighborhood down.

Frieda's Chillin'

My baby girl, Frieda. 

This cat has accomplished what no other of my many cats have. She has taken the place of a dog in my life. I know we have a dog. I like her and she likes me, but she is Mark's dog. The dogs have always been attached to me, Keetah is all about Mark. So is the other cat, I have never been dismissed by anything or body like I have been by her. I am utterly and completely of no consequence.

I like cats, have always had cats, but I was the crazy dog lady. In the first several years we lived here I had seven dogs over sixty pounds. I looked like the pied piper walking along with that pack following behind me. Now, I have Frieda. And she's enough.

I had planned this meal for our anniversary but the combination of a horse problem and our being slightly full from our drive-in adventure put it off until last evening. Mark couldn't get his mushrooms from our local deli, they were out, but I compensated with fresh basil pesto. He thought this was fabulous, I think he was a bit delirious. It was good, no lie, but holy cow, he was raving about the flavor! I must have done something right, I just don't know what.

I should get out to do some mowing this afternoon. We've had some rain and the weeds masquerading as lawn are growing steadily. Tomatoes are ripening, the eggplant is producing and the zucchini is still filling the refrigerator. Life is rolling along.

Forty-one Revolutions

 

Today Mark and I have been married 41 years. Lots of good times, drama, irritability, sadness and contentment intertwined within those 41 years. 41 years, that's how old I was when we moved to this farm.

We went to the oldest drive-in in Minnesota for lunch to celebrate our endurance. Mark was like a little kid, excited to be going and eating what turned out to be excellent burgers. I had a root beer float, I haven't had one of those in decades and it was really good. We were both a couple of ten year old kids!

The weather is beautiful, mild and sunny. I think the universe decided to smile on us. Of course it is all for us. 👫

It was a $50 lunch at a drive-in. Surprised us both. Things are expensive. I guess I'll need to do more food preservation! Ciao. Or should I say Chow?

Thank You, Professor Google

 

Neighbor Bill brought me another large container of pickling cucumbers. He said if I didn't want them he was going to throw them away. I took them. Then thought  "what am I going to do with these"? I don't have room for more in the refrigerator. I don't want to store them in the basement like I have before, and I sure didn't want to can them.

So....like any modern person, I went to Google and asked about freezing pickles. Guess what? Pickles freeze well. Who knew? Not me. A game changer.

I stopped canning several years ago. I freeze instead. Now I can ferment pickles and put them in the freezer. I decided to try something different, putting the cukes in bowls with the accoutrements, cover with brine and let them ferment in the bowls. I have squash we don't like, the flavorless one. I sliced one up and put in in a jar with brine. I'll see if I like it and if I do I'll do that with the rest. I needed to do this right away because, as we know, I am the reigning queen of procrastination.

Bill told me they aren't doing anything with their tomatoes this year. What they don't eat he's bringing to me. I think I will be overflowing with tomatoes. He brought three today. Along with some beans. 

I won't need to buy pickles for probably a year, unless we decide to eat more of them than we normally do. That's a good thing.

Well, that's about the size of it around here. I should put the pickling stuff away, I left everything on the counter to scurry into my office to tell the world, or at least my small portion of it, that I made more pickles!

Pals

My Brat Cat, Frieda

 She absolutely loves her dog.

Keetah thinks Frieda is ok, too. They have very similar coats.

Frieda knocked on that door and walked in almost three years ago. She is a large personality and I wouldn't give her up for anything. I've been told torties are unusual and if she is any indication, yes they are! Keetah has been with us a little over two years. She came with her companion, Emma, who was sixteen at the time. Emma did live with us for six months before she went to the bridge. Frieda has filled the gaping hole Emma left for Keetah.

Keetah is still deaf and I don't think her hearing will return. She has adapted surprisingly well. The problem, which hasn't been too bad, is getting her attention outside. She has never been let out unattended. For the first year she was brought out on a leash, then we started letting her off and she was good. But she does have a chase instinct. She spent her life in a fenced yard. Emma adapted very quickly, but the intensity of a German Shepherd is a different story. 

Mark had to go into town so he is bringing fried chicken home from the deli. No making dinner tonight for me. Yay. 

I took a short break to watch Merrick Garland speak about the search at Mar-a-Largo. Not much he could say. Nothing will quell the noise from the radical right. If we haven't learned that by now, we haven't learned much.

Wear It

It's a right. It's not right.

 

Willfully ignorant. Entirely different from being ignorant. One insists they are not ignorant in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The other isn't informed, so is ignorant of the facts. I don't believe there are any ignorant citizens to be found anymore. Unfortunately there are large numbers of the willful brand. If they have stayed in the camp up to now, they are never leaving it. Or so I believe.

DJT took the 5th today in regard to his shady business shenanigans in NYC. He said in 2018 that only the mob takes the 5th. If the shoe fits, buddy.

I don't know if there will be a reckoning. If there isn't I think we will be rolling up the carpet on these un-united states in the not too distant future.

How to Spend a Day and Not Have Fun

 

A quick check-in. I had my appointment with a PA in Physical Medicine today. She is the FASTEST talker I have ever met! I couldn't keep up. What I got is I need to get a back & neck X-ray and she'll decide later if I need another MRI. She wants me to go to a more intensive physical therapy at least a couple of times to learn more about what I should be doing. I am flexible (HA) and still have strength. She says so anyway. Losing weight would be helpful. I never knew. She thinks I have carpel tunnel. She gave me things I'm supposed to do for that.

I'm to start taking Advil instead of Naproxin and to use a topical pain cream. She says the MRI shows a vertebrae, the second from the bottom, that could be causing trouble. It's not real bad but it's one that could be causing my trouble. So, that's it. A video followup with her in 6-8 weeks.

I must add, I'm feeling a little lighter after seeing the FBI had a warrant to search Mar-a-Lago.  

Basil Here, Basil There

We had rain! Glorious, fabulous, welcome rain. Hallelujah! It started around seven last night and was still going strong and steady when I went to bed at eleven. I felt almost giddy. Everything feels just a little better today. Even the temperature, currently 64 F with low humidity. 

I got two small jars of pesto made yesterday by giving two basil plants a trim. I have two more to snip but I had enough basil scent and taste for the day. I like basil but in large amounts it is overbearing.

*I made the rest of the pesto, got three more small jars, these made with walnuts instead of pignoli.

Tomorrow is my appointment with pain management and rehap. I'm a little nervous as I don't know what to expect. My friend told me I must get better so I can visit her in Denmark. I sure want to. I'm too young to be this old.

Today is Monday which means laundry day, the only schedule I stick to. I try to setup scheduled days for other tasks but they don't stick, for some reason Monday laundry does. It's something, isn't it. I've had the laundry room on the main floor for twenty years and still appreciate it every week. It doesn't feel like a chore.

Before I close out I want to say how glad I am the Dems got the bill through the Senate. It is far from perfect, thanks to a couple of "democrats", but it is still worth a lot. We must deal with the quickly changing climate. We must remain diligent. 

If I Wait......

Will it go away

I just did something ironic and realized I had as I was walking to my office to sit down at the computer to write something here. I had just come upon an article on procrastination, how it impacts depression and techniques to overcome it. I closed my laptop, still on the article, left it on the kitchen table and walked to my office, thinking I'll read that later. 

I have become the queen of procrastinating. I hold reign over it, or rather it holds reign over me. I was never one to put things off, I came into it late in life and decided to excel. Day after day goes by, what I tell myself I'm going to do, I don't. Occasionally I shock myself, like making pickles, but usually it comes down to just the basics. I'm back on medication but it isn't helping me. I think I should read the article.

We had some rain yesterday, probably only one half inch, but we sure needed it. And more. I'm going to make pesto, no procrastination. My basil plants need to be cut back. I'll freeze most of what I make, I still have basil cubes from last year which is what I do at the end of the season when I strip the plants. August already, that went fast.

I planted a squash I'm not familiar with and cannot find the name stick. It is a bland thing, really no flavor with a skin that is eatable when cooked. I stuffed a couple last evening with Italian sausage, farro, tomato and feta. I sprinkled the squash with some smoked paprika. It helped. I have enough for another meal, which was the plan.

I'm off to pick basil, make pesto and then stop procrastinating over reading about procrastination.

Pucker Up

Neighbor Bill stopped by yesterday with a boatload of pickling cucumbers and some fresh dill. 

I've made six quarts of fermented pickles. I have at least one quart worth left and plan to make refrigerator pickles with those.
 

Bill adopted us about a dozen years ago. He had come here for some reason and spent some time talking to me. He later told me the whole neighborhood thought I'm mean. 😎 He told people that I'm not, I'm just "different". Translation; I am direct and sometimes terse. In other words, I am not the typically passive/aggressive Minnesotan. Even though I'm a Minnesotan. From then on Bill decided we needed looking after and took the job upon himself. I stopped growing peppers, green beans and....cucumbers. Except I planted seeds a friend sent me, but they aren't producing yet. Bill came back later in the afternoon with a gallon bag of slicing cucumbers. Mark is so happy! I have nothing I can give him. They don't like eggplant nor basil. I've offered both. I should ask about sage, my plant is large. I did tell him how to stuff a zucchini, he hadn't heard of that, so maybe they will try it.

Back to the pickles. My favorite pickle is the old style kosher dill, a fermented pickle. Put in highly saline water, using kosher salt, they sit out on the counter and ferment. How long depends on how sharp you want your pickles. I have left them in a dark room in the basement all winter and let me tell you, you pucker! Last year I refrigerated them after 7-10 days. I used to do a lot of fermenting. I think I stopped after my damaged brain convinced me I didn't need medication anymore and went off everything that was holding me together. I have realized I shouldn't be totally in charge of myself, but good luck trying to tell me something when my brain is tilted. Mark may say, and any other time, too. I'm back on my regulators for the past few months but I went several years in limbo. What a waste. 

It's a crappy hot day with miserable humidity. I think many of us are repeating the same lament. I wonder what it will be a few years from now. Not good, I'm sure of that. Ok, Debbie Downer strikes again! May the day be a good one for all. 

Ciao Bella Mia.

Yessiree

I had a very good video appointment with my new doctor.

I have had a history of difficulty with doctors. I had a good one for several years but I couldn't stand his partner, which wouldn't have made a difference if the partner hadn't entered politics. He became a state senator and is now running for governor. He's an empty suit with a megalomania complex. An anti-Covid guy to boot. His wife was my vet, I don't know how she fit in with him, she was a lovely person and a good vet. Anyway.....I couldn't go to that small private practice clinic anymore.  This all just came out and I decided to let it!

Back to the new doctor. She listens and is reasonable. That's really all I ask. No condescension, that shouldn't be something I happy dance about, but it is. 

Otherwise, it's a nice day, there may be some audiobook time on the little deck. Wine may be involved. I feel as if a celebration is in order.

Stuff and Such

We had a lollapalooza of a lightening/thunder storm around midnight. Huge boomers and lightening strikes. The power went out and didn't come back on for three hours. We are wired for the generator but it's not one of those that look something like an a/c unit up against the house. It's a regular generator we have to plug into the wired outlet in the garage. There's also some switches that need turning off on the box at the electrical pole, so it's not something you do in the middle of the night in an electrical storm. Yesterday was hot and brutally humid. No power for three hours was miserably hot. Then my Mac wouldn't turn on this morning. I thought oh, no. I lost one to lightning years ago, even though it was plugged into a supposed grounding strip. This one did it's job, the light where it has grounded written is orange. I had to plug into a different strip. I don't know if I can reset it or not. I hope so, it's a good one.

I have my virtual followup dr visit tomorrow. I'm hoping I don't mess it up. I'm grateful for these virtual visits, gas is still expensive. I have some further issues to ask about. I did spiff up my office, dusted book shelves and just generally tidied up. I am inviting the dr into my room after all. She'll see that treadmill behind me and maybe think I actually use it. Mark has an MRI tomorrow morning. We do sound broken. Next week I get to drive two hours round trip for my initial meeting with pain management and rehab. I am clueless as to what to expect. I'd love a miracle!

I finally figured out I have two extra stand fans and that I can actually put one in my office. Duh. One of the questions asked on my check-in for the appointment is if I notice or does anyone else notice cognitive problems. I said no. We won't talk about an entire summer not thinking about bringing a fan into the warm room.

I think I'll leave it at that......

WF Last of Roses

I've been asked to show photos of the horses. It's difficult for me to get photos right now, but I have lots of photos, some fairly recent, others not.

This is baby Zing, WF Last of Roses

Zing was an orphan. His dam, LF Diamond Rose, died after birth from a ruptured uterus. I had to hand raise the boy, which was a lot of work. We made it through it. He is a good natured clown of a horse, he acquired the name "Naughty Pants" from one of his trainers. Hand raising horses can make them pushy and mouthy, he is not so much like that, mostly due to his good temperament, partly due to me being "she who must be obeyed" and partly due to an old no nonsense gelding I had that I was able to put with Zinger when he reached about three months old. The fellow was raised on goat milk, it is much more digestible than cow milk. We've attributed his height to the expensive diet he was on for three months. He is tall for an Arabian, 16hh.

Zing without makeup a couple of years ago.

Zing with makeup at three

Zing had a career in the show ring starting as a yearling in halter. He accumulated several Class A Championship titles, Region X titles and a Canadian National Top Ten Sweepstakes Top 5 and Open Top 10. Very good for a stallion handled by a relatively unknown trainer, owned by someone not a millionaire. Other than racing thoroughbreds the Arabian Show World (caps give it emphasis they are sure is warranted) has the most wealth involved. 

Full body of the super model. 

This was Zing's last trainer, Kristina. She and I had a lot of fun together and she was a perfect match for Naughty Pants, although the first couple of times he met her he tried to mount her. He was serious.  She came back. We found out it was a body lotion she was using, he interpreted it as a mare in heat. He was raised by a human, so maybe he has some species issues. That never happened again. Phew.

He spent five years with Kristina. We were both sad when she had to move on, but other things came up in her life that made it necessary. She was my last young person, out of a list of quite a few, who worked on the farm. It made such a difference having young, enthusiastic women around me. They kept me young. 

He's such a good and handsome fellow. He's now 21, looks three and often acts two. He's the remaining stallion on the farm, he is so easy it doesn't matter if he keeps his parts.