First Snows of Winter

Started snowing Sunday morning and has basically been snowing since then. Not a whole lot but enough to turn everything white.

Edda in the snow around 1pm on Sunday. Snow is still kind'a new to her. Can you believe is a little over 12.3 hands now!

The Icelandic's are loving this weather... they spend a lot of time running and playing. Is a joy to watch.

A little more snow on the ground.

Right now it is Monday evening... and along with the snow and hail every now and then, we are having fairly high winds. Just hope the power doesn't go out.

Have a good snow shovel, plenty of wood, food for us and the animals...

We should be all set for awhile.

An November Evening

Yesterday evening it was so nice, I thought I would stay out after feeding the horses their evening meal.

After being fed and well groomed, there is nothing better than a relax rolling in the Evening sunshine... LOL Stjarna is really enjoying it.

Next up we have wee Maggie... and her cute, adorable teddy bear like winter ears.

Think the will be the last time I will Roach her mane, as I won't be driving this winter. But she really doesn't seem to mind having no super thick Mane to lug around.

When I looked up into the sky from taking photos of the horses and foliage I see a Rainbow cloud. Of course I had to try to take a photo of it... camera wasn't happy about it, had a hard time trying to focus but it came out fairly well.

The Evening sun in Nov looking toward the night pasture, hay field and our woods beyond. This is such a beautiful place.

A little Fall color.

Everyone is doing well, staying busy to say the least. DH is enjoying his job, DS is trying to find work and practicing with his Longbow and me.. I am handspinning more yarn and working on my online shops.

British Longbow arrived

Will take more photos in the next couple of days but even stringed, the bow is taller than DS. Is a Traditional Red Oak Huntsmen's Longbow design from the Middle Ages.

He is also going to have to build some muscle because this is one powerful bow.

Can see one of his new cool looking Noggle Stone arrows in flight, too.

Archery

What a beautiful morning for a little Archery practice. Can see our lopsided straw bale targets. LOL

Getting ready...

DS is using his small Martin Bow until his Red Oak British Longbow comes in.

Can you find the blue arrow in flight?

DS is doing quite well.

Me... I am a little more rusty. But it is the first time since the accident I have been able to shoot my Horsebow and not get a headache.

Forgot how much fun Archery is.

Cool Leaf Moth, DS and Nari, Stjarna taking an morning nap.

Stjarna happily sunning herself after her breakfast.

DS, getting some help on how to move a bale of hay from Nari. LOL

This cool looking Moth that ended up right by the back door. Looks a lot like a Autumn Leaf, have never seen this kind before.

Lush Green pastures and working on fencing

Finally put up the last line of heavy duty hot wire. We have had a bear trying its darnest to get into the the horse pasture, over the camel backs.. even bent one of those 8' tall heavy duty T posts. Sigh ~~ So beefing up things even more. Have a predator rated charger too, so it has some bite to it.

If the Bear keeps being a problem, will have to call Fish and Game... that is if they will do anything about it. There is nothing to entice the Bear at all...other than the horses.

Beautiful slightly foggy morning yesterday. The sun did come up a little later. The weather has been perfect for doing things outside.

Can see how lush and green the miniature horse pasture, as we call it, is. And the main hay pasture is growing quite well now. Much better than last spring. Which means, the horse's haven't been able to run in that pasture during the day as the green grass is too rich.

Normally this time of year most everything is brown, but not this year.

Am going to have to put some horse's back in this pasture for a few days, so they can eat it down.

This is such a beautiful place!

Homemade Rice Milk ~

Allergic to cow dairy or just do not want to use dairy products but need some kind of milk to cook with. Here is a good recipe that will allow you to do just that.

BASIC HOMEMADE RICE MILK - Adjusted

yield 6-8 cups

You can use all kinds of brown rice - basmati, jasmine, short grain, long grain, even sweet brown - to make this milk. While they all work, I like the overall effect of short grain best. But the choice is up to you, feel free to experiment.

1/2 cup short grain brown rice

8 cups water

optional: stevia or other natural sweetener to taste, Maple syrup, or 1-3 pitted soaked dates

2 TBP sunflower oil to make it creamier.

Rinse rice and soak for for 6-8 hours. Rinse then place in a large pot with 6-8 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover and cook until rice is totally soft and starts to dissolve and get very mushy, about 45 minutes to an hour.

You can also do this in a crockpot and cook it on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

Once your rice is super soft, transfer rice and water to a blender,, fill your blender halfway with the rice mixture and halfway with water and blend until totally smooth, working in batches as necessary. If using, add sweetener to taste and blend until combined. If you are not using a Vitamix or other high-powered blender, you may want to pour through a fine sieve, straining out any small chunks. Pour into jars, cool, and cover, then store in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Shake well before consuming. Milk will thicken slightly as it cools; dilute as necessary when ready to use.

A look at the label of Rice Dream Rice Milk reveals that it contains oil. Oil does make things creamier, and can add about 2 Tablespoons of organic sunflower oil to your batch of milk.

You can also add about 4 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup to our batch of milk,instead of sugar, as most are still used to the slightly sweeter taste of the Rice Dream product than what you get from homemade. It’s not a big difference…just a little one.

You may have to experiment to get the milk the consistency you want. Have fun!