It's a Bloomin' Success!

My orchid blooming on the bureau in my bedroom.
(That's an authentic Charleston sweetgrass basket it's
in that I've had forever!)

Last summer, my mom gave me an orchid she had bought one day while at Lowe's or the grocery store or somewhere like that. It was nothing fancy, but I love orchids and have several of them I've not killed yet been cultivating for a few years. This one re-bloomed suddenly right after the first of the year and I was so excited! I had previously been cutting the bloom stalk down to about 1-2 inches from the base after the flowers all dropped (in compliance with the recommendation of something I read online). One day last fall, I was looking at some orchid food at Kroger and the florist there asked if I grow orchids. I told her I was great at growing green leaves, but they never seemed to re-bloom. She said the trick to reblooming is leaving the flower stalk intact (just cutting it down a tad bit just below where the lowest bloom had grown) after the last flower expires. Typically, orchids don't grow a new bloom stalk for each blooming.....they simply generate new blooms from the existing stalks. And all this time I was cutting down the stalk that might have been full of awaiting blooms. I think I've got it figured out now, so I'm really hoping to have 3 blooming orchids in 2011!

Another photo of the orchid and it's lovely
reflection in the mirror. (Yes, I do have horse show ribbons 
lining the walls of my bedroom. Where else would I put them?)

Kids helping horses who help kids who help horses who help kids

Mike Archambault, founder of New Beginnings Youth Ranch, and some of
his rescued mustangs.

Last month, I was reading the February issue of the Tennessee Cooperator when I came across the cover story about a wonderful place not far from here called New Beginnings Youth Ranch in Clarkrange, TN. The more I read of this article, the more amazing the story became. I had no idea this was just down the road from me, not more than an hour from Knoxville. What a special place! I am and always have been a firm believer in the power of horses (well, all animals) to change and improve the lives of anyone/everyone around them. This ranch certainly proves that theory many times over. I know that there are programs out there that connect horses with convicts, dogs with convicts, etc., but the Archambaults endeavor to help those kids before they ever become a convict or prison inmate....and that is really saying something. In a world where I become so disappointed and dismayed much of the time by the greed, selfishness, and lack of compassion I see around me, this really brightened my day.

And, on a related note, I noticed that they have a link on their homepage to a list of items that they can use as donations. I will go through my tack trunks this weekend and pull out some old brushes that I inevitably have more than 2 or 3 of that I never use, as well as other miscellaneous grooming tools, and I will send them on. If anyone else has an inclination to help them out, it is a truly worthy cause. I always want so badly to help these organizations that do such wonderful work, yet I never have enough money to cover my expenses, it seems, much less having much left over for the people/causes I want to reach out to. It is refreshing to see that on their list of requested items, they also ask for "prayers." Now that is something I can offer that won't cost a thing!

Mission Meringue

My marshmallow meringue sweet potato pie, Thanksgiving 2010

Back at Thanksgiving, I made a sweet potato pie with a toasted marshmallow meringue topping. It was to die for (particularly since the addition of the marshmallow fluff to the meringue was a genius of an idea....thank you, Southern Living test-kitchen baker). I made it again at Christmas, but that time, the meringue just didn't get airy and fluffy, so it sort of oozed over the pie (which made me furious, but it was still delicious all the same). Last week, I made a coconut creme pie with coconut meringue topping and it was ok, but not the frothy, 5-inch layer I was going for. So, I have made it my mission to master the art of making meringue (since, clearly, I've already mastered the fine art of casual alliteration). 

My dad told me that his mother (who died long before I was born) used to make meringue and she always told him that the success of the mixture relied upon the weather: if it was too damp, wet, or humid out, it caused the meringue to "weep." Yes, I now know of what my grandmother spoke. There is nothing more depressing than "weepy" meringue, because once it's gone, there is just no fixing it. I'm curious about the chronological process of adding the ingredients to make the meringue more fail-safe. Add the sugar before/during/after whipping the egg whites? To salt or not to salt, and when? And, what about that mysterious little ingredient known as Cream of Tartar (which is reportedly derived from grapes, but I am at a loss to explain what it really does)? By the time the holiday season rolls around this year, I will be the Meringue Queen, so look out all you coconuts, lemons, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes. Or, for that matter, just about anything else that you can put meringue on top of. This should be interesting!

Another recent meringue-covered confection. 

An "Aha!" Moment

Yeh, OK, I think I just figured this one out. This completely explains why I'm just all about Gary Lightbody. I totally get it, now.

I don't think he would be offended by the comparison. I never really believed that Eddy was as macabre and dour as his writing implied (I bet he was clever and funny, when he was sober). I don't imagine gL is as melancholy and heartbroken as some of his songs imply, either. They had/have their styles, but I bet they were/are quite darling, in person. Brilliant writers and under-appreciated geniuses, that's for sure. A little introspective and overly analytical, but pleasant and friendly all the same. And, there really is NOTHING wrong with "introspective" and "overly analytical." If Poe were alive today, I could definitely see him as the frontman of a fabulously talented band from the UK. I'm absolutely feeling this similarity, here.

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were...I have not seen
As others saw...

I just hope my theory isn't proved too true 10 years from now when Gary is found delirious and half-mad in the gutters of Dublin or Glasgow!

Confession

So, I was supposed to catch up with my bestie, Kelsey, on the phone last night.....but I must admit that I got sucked into a viewing of the original (1978) Ice Castles and I Could.Not.Stop.Watching. Have I not seen this movie about 1,000 times since I was 10 years old? Yes, I have. But it was on and I just couldn't bring myself to turn the channel.

I'm fascinated by the premise at the end whereby Lexie makes a comeback and skates blind. I've been toying with the idea of shutting my eyes in some of my gymnastic schools, since I believe that riding by feel is far better than the tugging, chippy, overly-controlling alternative. I read something the other day where a MFH told a young member of the hunt field that riding to hounds was nothing more than "trust." Trust that her horse's feet were solidly under him while galloping over rough terrain, that he would jump whatever was in front of him, and that he would eventually come to a stop when she pulled back on the reins. If I could just close my eyes and be one with Eddie and trust that his feet will just carry us to the jump, that he would take off from a good spot, and that he will not buck me off on landing, then I'd be so much less likely to make a mess of things over fences. See, there was a horse-related moral to this story after all!

I guess I asked for it.....

Remember a few weeks ago when I said something like, "Let it rain, snow, sleet, hail, FLOOD...."? Well, this past Monday afternoon, we had some heavy downpours here in Knoxville/East TN and we got just that: Flooding. Needless to say, I did not have the cute green boots with the beagles on them to assist my flood-dodging efforts!

I have a dry creek that runs just behind my house, between my backyard and the horse field. When it rains hard, I live close enough to I-40 that the run-off drains from the Interstate and comes down through fields and the creekbed along my road and fills that ditch like a running stream. The other day, it turned from running stream to wild river in about 20 minutes. It floated 2 of my horse water troughs through the field, broke the bottom boards of the wooden fence, and pushed them into the trees way on the other side of my driveway. It also flattened two portions of my woven wire dog fence in the back yard that I had to go out and repair before I could let the dogs run outside. And, finally (and sadly), it washed over my fish pond/fountain/trough in my yard and swept away my two goldfish, Ginny and Lucinda. The water kept on moving down through my neighbors' fields and into a creek that goes to the French Broad River, so I'm hoping they made it to the river and are swimming free. I looked for them everywhere in the water's path after the rush went down, but I didn't see them anywhere, so I'm crossing my fingers they went on through and made it to at least the creek down the road.

There is supposed to be another round of rain/floods this weekend in Tennessee, so I'm moving all my buckets, planters, troughs, and garden ornaments to high ground. I do not want to sit here and watch it all wash away again!

Water viewed from the back porch, looking towards the pasture/barn.

Looking from my back porch across the yard towards the field and my horse trailer.
(That water that looks like it's standing is actually rushing pretty fast through there.)

Photo taken from my bathroom window overlooking the creek.
You can't even see the ditch that it usually runs down
through (it's completely under water....as is my dog fence)!

Looking from my bathroom window towards the barn/driveway.
The fish pond is the gray oval to the right that has been
completely washed over. That water in the center between the 2 trees
is about 2.5-3 feet deep (the creek/ditch is underneath there).

All Grown Up!

Megan and Malcolm running his first Training-level course at
Middle Tennessee Pony Club Horse Trials 2006 (Nashville, TN)

My friend, Megan Stout, sold her baby OTTB, "Sir Malcolm," a few years ago to a wonderful eventer, and he and his new owner did their first intermediate together a few weeks ago in Ocala. I met Megan and Malcolm at a clinic in Nashville back in 2007 and I have kept track of Malcolm's career via updates from Megan since she sold him. Megan keeps in touch with Michelle and she gets so much satisfaction seeing them moving up the levels and doing so well together. Here is a video that Megan shared today on Facebook and I couldn't resist sharing it here. Great job, Megan, giving Malcolm a fabulous start (right off the track!), providing Michelle such a beautiful horse to have in her life. Good luck in 2011 to Michelle & Malcolm (and Megan, as well...watching happily from behind-the-scenes)!

Class Act

photo by SW&P photography
Who else would you see, but Francy Pants, galloping XC in a dress shirt and cuff links? 

I've been a big fan of Francis Whittington (hereafter referred to as "Francy Pants") since I saw his dressage ride (via DVD) on Spin Doctor at Badminton 2005. Their extended trot across the diagonal is enough to make me simply weak-in-the-knees just thinking about it. I imagine that many of my non-horsey friends like to have their girl friends over occasionally to share a bottle of wine and watch something "chicky" that most likely features Brad Pitt or George Clooney. For me and my girl friends? It's more like apple martinis and dvds of Francy Pants (on any horse, at any horse trial).

Anyhooo....I've kept track of FP over the past few years and while he hasn't been as wildly successful on the podium as William Fox-Pitt, Oliver Townend, or Nicolas Touzaint (oh, don't forget his stunning 2004 Olympic appearance on Galan de Sauvagère, as well as their win at the European Championships in 2007....that's some fine DVD viewing, as well), but Francis has been a solid player in eventing (British and European) all this time. More than just competing and winning, he has become a student of and a businessman in eventing, and it has improved the sport in the UK, to be sure. 

I really enjoyed and appreciated the interview with him on Eventing Nation a few days ago. It gives me hope and enthusiasm to see people like Francis Whittington out there trying to do something to keep the sport exciting, safe, and enjoyable. And although he is a successful eventer and a present/future face in the betterment of our sport, I hope that Francy Pants won't lose his optimism and that things can keep moving in a positive direction (in the UK), and that the US will take note and similarly follow suit.