Squash, Pumpkins, and Squmpkins

I have been trying to get a post like this on my blog for probably about two weeks. Unfortunately things have been very hectic and I haven't had the chance to write it. I hope to correct that now.

I will start with the pictures from 19 September. I harvested a pumpkin and squmpkin then and planned to make a blog post, but that didn't happen.

Our zucchinis have done very well this year. We have harvested plenty for ourselves, to give away, and even sold some by the road. We didn't sell very many, but it was probably enough to cover the costs of seeds. We used a good bit during the course of the summer and now I have some in the freezer for the winter. When I free zucchini, I greatly in advance and then package it in 2 cup amounts in bags. 2 cups is the right amount for zucchini bread and also works well for many of the other recipes in which I include squash, such as soups, spaghetti sauces, and Mexican.

I don't know how well you can see it, but this picture shows a very large squash. We let this one grow large on purpose with the plan of harvesting seeds for next year. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that these seeds will actually produce zucchini, but we've decided to give it a shot. I harvested seeds by cutting it open and removing the best ones I could find. I then washed them off and spread them on newspaper to dry. I probably also could have taken the meat of the zucchini and grated and frozen it, but I decided not to.

These squmpkins are proof of how uncertain it is to collect seeds from squash for planting. They were grown from seeds that we brought home from one of my mother's squashes on our US trip last year. I had to plant about 25 seeds to get these two plants.They initially grew like a squash in one place, but later the one of them began to send out feelers like a pumpkin.

 

 

 

It was quite exciting to see what the white fruits would turn out like. We expected an oddly shaped white squash like the one that we think we got the seeds from. Instead, we appear to have gotten a white pumpkin. As you can see, when cut open, it shows stringy insides like a pumpkin. I baked it in two cut halves with the open side down, like I usually do for pumpkin. The resulting cooked pumpkin tasted like pumpkin usually does. I strained some of the extra moisture from the meat then puréed it with the staff blender. After packaging in 2 cup portions, I froze it. 

 

This type of pumpkin translates to “giant pumpkin.” They did not end up as large as I expected. I have not yet tried cutting or baking any of these. We have one that is ripe and two nice not ripe ones and one that is a little odd.

 

 

 

This is the only ripe one we have of the more classic American halloween pumpkin. My understanding from the seed packet is that they should still have a good meat for pies and other food uses. We have several in varying sizes at different points in maturity.

 

 

 

 

Because we have begun getting frost at night, I have had to harvest all the various squashes and pumpkins to prevent them from being destroyed. All are now packed in a clear tarp on the picnic table that I can open on sunny days. I hope at least some of them will ripen so I can harvest them. We also promised a white one and the ripe halloween-style one pictured above to my mother-in-law. She cans them in a Danish style that is sorta like a pickle. These two are the best in size for her to handle and use.

 

Riding Quintas

A little over a month ago, we made a long drive with the horse trailer to take Quintas Cold Cash to our preferred trainer down south. This is the same trainer that did Ria two years ago and Daisy fourteen years ago. Obviously we are satisfied with the results or we wouldn't keep going back.

After we dropped Quintas off, it turns out she got into a bit of trouble. She wasn't too happy with the gelding that was put into the box next to her and kicked the box wall. It left her a bit lame for the first few days.

Unfortunately, a few days were not enough to completely resolve the problem. It wasn't that she remained lame, but she would be a bit stiff getting moving. The trainer found that working her on the longe helped and she would loosen up after a few minutes. Quintas was not comfortable galloping and her gait wasn't quite right sometimes. It didn't seem to be anything serious the she probably needs to have it checked by a chiropractor.

Over a week ago, we went down to see how things were going. We also took our two available saddles to see what fit her. We could see the problems she was having moving, but it wasn't anything we need worry too much about. It wasn't possible to get an immediate chiropractor appointment anyway.

DH rode as did the trainer. After having ridden nothing but Daisy for more than 15 years, DH found Quintas quite an adjustment. Their ride went very well anyway. I think a lot of the difficulties he had were caused by riding in the trainer's saddle as opposed to his own, which did not fit.

This past Wednesday, we went back to pick Quintas up. This time I rode before DH. Because Ria was only trained two years ago, the adjustment to riding Quintas is very minor for me. Ria is still being ridden in two hands.

That time we took Ria’s saddle, which sort of fits. The trainer seems to be satisfied with the fit, but DH and I are not. The back tips up when without a rider and bumps when riding faster than a walk. We are still optimistic that the product we are expecting from the United States will solve these problems and allow us to use DH’s roping saddle on his horse.

After I rode for a while DH did try for short time and did very well. Quintas was getting a little bit annoying, which was probably because she was tired. Having three different riders in one day it is quite a lot for a young barely trained horse to handle.

Then we loaded her up and drove home. She did fine in the trailer, but was very happy when we got home. Released her immediately onto the pony pasture with Ria and the fat pony Tanya.

Thursday morning, we didn't want to work Quintas. She had a hard couple days and reintroducing her and Ria to Daisy and Tracy on the other pasture gave all of them plenty of exercise.

Friday we went out and got a longe line, which we didn't have. I worked Quintas on it for probably about 20 minutes. Much to my surprise, her gait was completely normal in both walk and trot on both sides. She was even quite content to gallop on the better side. The slight bulge she had had on her back to the side of her spine was gone.

Yesterday's weather was absolutely miserable and not suited for working a horse. Today is windy but better otherwise. I didn’t want to wait any longer to get out her back.

So I started working her on the longe line. Again, no signs of the bulge and her gait was clean. This time I even got her galloping on both sides, but only a little on the worse side.

Then we saddled her up—in my saddle. DH held her while I got on from a block. The stirrups were too long, but she stood pretty quietly for those to be adjusted. DH led a short distance into the more open area of the pony pasture. The stirrups were still too long and she waited again for adjustment.

He removed the lead line and I began riding. She is a joy to ride—smooth and soft and easy. Just the slightest touch on the reins or press from my leg is enough to adjust her position.

She was actually easier to ride today than at the trainer’s. Down there she seemed nervous and insecure. She had trouble focusing. Here she was calm and, although I won’t go as far as saying confident, seemed less unsure of herself. She didn’t freeze up and get those “blonde moments” (as the trainer called them) where she seemed to have completely forgotten what to do or couldn’t figure out to combine two things together. Her concentration was complete, despite traffic, cows in a nearby pasture, and a good bit of wind. Wind and horses normally don’t mix well together.

Before my mother or anyone else gets too worried, I wore both helmet and safety vest while riding today. I am not taking any unneeded chances and wouldn’t have gotten on her back at all if she had seemed upset working on the longe.

I only rode for about 25 minutes. I wanted to stop while things were going well and didn’t want to push either of us too hard for the first day. I did jog a little on her as well as walking. I don’t even gallop on Ria most of the time, so am not about to be the first rider to gallop on Quintas right now.

We have an appointment next Friday with a local vet that also has equine chiropractor training. I’d used her for acupuncture on a horse several years ago and like how she works with horses. This also means that Quintas will not have to go through a long and difficult trailer ride on both sides of a chiropractor treatment like she would if we used the chiropractor the trainer recommended. We hope that will sort out the problem she had—if she even still has it.

I told DH he better not have me ride Quintas too much I will get horse jealousy. She is much easier to ride than Ria because of her sensitivity. I have to ride in spurs on Ria because my legs lack the strength to give a good strong kick. Instead I barely touch her with the spur. But Quintas reacts to much more subtle ques.

While riding today, I tried some of the things I know DH will be doing when he rides, like moving the outside rein into her neck. He’d rather ride one-handed, but she isn’t quite ready for that yet. Quintas had no problems turning as long as the outside rein was LOOSE, which it always is for DH. At the trainer’s, she had had trouble with that. With her increased calm, I am sure the two of them will be able to sort things out quickly and build up a relationship at least as good as the one he has today with Daisy. Because she is so light and sensitive, it is likely to be even better—even more telepathic where he just thinks it and she does it.

So I am VERY happy today and feeling much better thanks to the ride. I’ve been tired for several days and have slept most of the weekend so far. I do think I need a nap soon though…

Just Got My Haircut

You'll have to excuse me for squinting a bit at the sun while DH took my picture.

Right before this picture was taken, a friend came by and did my hair cut.I am so relieved to be rid of that big fluffy bush I used to have.

On a side note, I am currently testing a new application for publishing to my blog.It's Windows live writer and it looks like Dragon supports it without serious problems.This will make posting a lot easier than a copy and paste method I used to use. It also helps because now I can get pictures and then lay them out the way I want while editing text.

There Aren't Enough Hours in the Day

My mother reminded me that I have been neglecting my blog dreadfully lately. The problem, quite simply is that there aren't enough hours in the day.

My health has been demanding that I sleep a lot. Nothing new there really but I have more things I want to do every day and it's getting harder and harder to get even a fraction of them done.

It's 10:30 now and I haven't even had breakfast yet. I have made it and had a few cups of tea. I've also managed start vacuuming that I need to do today. The vacuuming is far from finished, but I have to empty the vacuum before can do more.

Molly is in heat, so needs panties on to be allowed beyond the kitchen. She's been out twice today already, so that's multiple panty removals. Shawnee still seems to believe that she is to go out every five minutes even though she's as old as she is now. I think she's been out four times and spent some time in the crate to tried to encourage her to hold it longer.

In other things I need to do today, I am planning to make calzone for dinner, so need to make the dough and slice tomatoes and onions before DH is home from work.

Tanya and Ria are still on the pony pasture, which is without grass. They need hay twice a day so I do that in the mornings and DH does it in the afternoons.

There's a big pile of dishes that need to be done.

I am desperate to write. My struggles to write are taking a lot of my time. I also need to maintain a certain level of activity on the writer's list that I'm on. I have subbed two of my chapters already and have crits on those waiting for me to respond to and process. There also a few works by others that I need to crit. One is a complete book draft from someone who has contributed a number of useful comments to my subs so far. I offered to give her book a complete readthrough, because there are a lot of flaws in the chapter by chapter method that the group uses. By offering do this for others I have favors I can draw on later when I need my own done.

As if that weren't enough, the girls are desperate for training and attention. I really haven't been giving them enough training lately. Molly is really feeling it because she's not allowed to go anywhere when she's in heat. Since Shawnee hasn't started yet, she at least has been allowed to make some small outings with her father.

My health needs me to ride. Right now, I still can't saddle up by myself. DH has built the lift system for me, but Ria needs training before she's willing to go under the saddle. So I ought to spend at least 15 minutes working on that.

If I am going to finish my next secret leather project in time for when I plan to give it to the recipient, I need to get working on it. My drawing for the design is finished and I'm very proud of it, but I need to make a pattern for the pieces I need cut out of leather. The woman in the leather shop offered to help DH cut them out there.

I also have an order, when I eventually get around to it, for a lady's wallet for the friend down the road that ordered last one for husband. That one is finished by the way he should be getting it tomorrow. Idiot me didn't think to take any pictures of it. At least I still have copies of the drawing for the design.

Well, if I don't eat soon I'm going to pass out. Hopefully this gives you an idea why I am not updating my blog more often.

Contemplating Grandparental Nomenclature

This is actually a blog entry that I've been planning to write for months. I just keep not getting around to it.

As a writer, the names I choose for my characters and what my characters call each other is very important to the suspension of disbelief. Have you ever read a book and thought that a name just didn't quite fit? What about what they called the grandparents?

For names themselves, I am not having much trouble. But many of my characters come from families with strong religious backgrounds, so biblical names are an easy choice for first names. For last names, I am relying on historical research into early settlers of the area from which the families come that have that religious background (church and cemetary records usually). In that way, I can ensure that anyone that is familiar with that area and those cultures will not find the names unusual.

But then I have the issue of what my narrator, who is also my protagonist, calls her grandmother. I don't think I can effectively Google what people in that area and with that background called grandparents.

So I myself wondering what the factors are that influence the selection of grandparental nomenclature. Here are some of the things I can think of.

• Education and literacy level of the family.
• Family tradition.
• Cultural background.
• Childhood mispronunciation.
• Grandparental attitudes towards being a grandparent.
• What other children in the family are calling the person.

Here in Denmark, the selection is simple. Are you the mother's mother or the father's mother?

The maternal grandmother is pretty much always called "mormor." The paternal grandmother is "farmor." The maternal grandfather is "morfar." The paternal grandfather is "farfar."

When you get into mixed families with stepgrandparents, "bedstemor" and "bedstefar" are often used. The generic word for grandparents is "bedsteforældre."

What I find impressive is that no one, especially the children, find it confusing that one cousin calls the person one thing and another cousin calls the person something else. That always seemed very complicated to me.

Then we have the factor of distinguishing between the grandparents on both sides. I called both my grandmothers grandmom and both my grandfathers granddaddy. But I know that at least one of my brother's families has insisted that my parents and the child's mother's parents have different nicknames. So which way will my character's family deal with this issue?

The sheer number of options for naming grandparents in English is simply overwhelming.

Grandmother Names

• Grandmother
• Grandmom
• Grandma
• Gramma
• Gran
• Gram
• Mommom
• Nana
• Granny
• Grammy

Grandfather Names

• Grandfather
• Granddad
• Granddaddy
• Grandpa
• Grampa
• Gramps
• Poppop
• Papa

I am sure that there are more I haven't thought of.

In some of these cases, the word may be combined with a first or last name to identify the specific person.

Although this seems like a minor issue when writing a book, it feels important to me. It would help define my character and her background.

For example, if you hear someone calling their parents ma and pa, the thought would usually be that either the family is extremely old-fashioned or it is not that highly educated. My mother always calls her mother "Mother," which throws another wrench into it all.

I tried googling for relevant linguistical research, but found the only, a Washington Times reporter who was contemplating the same thing in his blog. That didn't help much.

Anyone have any ideas?