THE SAGA OF THE HORSE, PART 2

At 12:30 Tuesday morning, Bess commenced to bark from the confines of her woodshed kennel. Mike went to check. He let her out, and she ran around the house and back to her kennel. He saw nothing. "I hope it was just the deer," he said. (The deer are everywhere -- so often the case just before hunting season opens.)

Tuesday morning I awakened fully refreshed and ready for another day of work. (Not!) Before I slipped out of bed, Mike read me the weather report. A winter weather advisory would be in effect from 8:00 p.m. Tuesday until 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, calling for snow at altitudes. A cold wind had blown through the night and would continue. We agreed we should go back to town after lunch, especially since we were towing the trailer. Now I would have to cram a day's work into half a day, and it just wasn't going to happen.

I slipped out of bed and went to close the window, and that's when I saw Blaze the Horse contentedly munching the grass around the compost bin which sits next to the woodshed. This seems to be one of his favorite spots. Unmentionable words were spoken (not by me, of course) because that meant the horse was now fenced in instead of out.

Blaze appeared nonchalant. He didn't budge as Mike climbed on the 4-wheeler, so he attempted to approach him on foot, and that's when Blaze took off -- behind the woodshed and through the grove to the west field. At least initially, Blaze had the advantage because Mike had to go around the house, but he was able to follow, and sure enough -- he went to that place we repaired, but now he can't get through.

Back at the house, Mike called the outfitter in the canyon, who apologized profusely for not getting back to us on previous calls, but he was skeptical that the horse was his. Nevertheless, he agreed to send an employee tomorrow to check. Ultimately we would have to corral the horse and call the brand inspector, who then locates the owner. Apparently this is a rather lengthy, ineffective procedure.

Getting on with the day's chores, I cooked the remaining elderberries. In the end, I put two quarts of juice into the freezer -- enough for two batches of jelly and three if I stretch with apple juice.



I have discovered that the pears aren't ripe for picking until late September or October, but naturally, by that time, the deer and/or the horse have pulled the fruit from the lower branches. Anyway, just as I was getting ready to go out and pick up the windfalls, I found a doe there with the same idea. We watched her for several minutes as she nosed the pears, apparently testing for doneness. She ran when I opened the back door, and then it was my turn. She had tasted and discarded several pears that apparently weren't ripe enough to suit her. I was surprised that she cared. I thought the deer ate anything. I picked up a pailful.

Next, we went to the attic. Mike closed the window, vacuumed, and sprayed a hornets nest. I gathered the individual boxes that my Campbell's Soup Christmas ornaments came in. Yes, I'm parting with these ornaments after 30 years of collecting them. But -- all I had time to do today was retrieve the boxes from the attic.

Apple tree(s) where the road curves into the lane

And then, I went out to pick apples. I've been in touch with an "apple detective," and I hope that he can identify several old apple trees for me. He instructed me to number the trees, pick the apples into Ziploc bags and number them accordingly, and then refrigerate them until we can arrange a meeting place. Again, with Mike's help, we accomplished this. The apple detective cautioned me that the apples need to be ripe, and I think it could be too soon, so I left the bags in the fridge at the farm and will check the trees again on our next trip. 

A bunch of apples tree

After lunch, we got ready to return to town. I still had a lot to do, so Mike took Bess for a short and fruitless bird hunt, while I switched off the solar lights, made the bed, packed up my sewing machine, and cleaned the kitchen. We were home about 3:30. We unloaded and unpacked and took Bess for her walk. I was glad to find pheasant soup in the freezer. Once again, I was ready for a long nap. KW