I posted last week that I finally figured out what I was doing wrong and, in the process, found a great recipe. In my search for a good recipe, I bought a "Guide To Homemade Bread" magazine from Grit. Becky Sell wrote an article on the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day that I keep hearing about. It sounded pretty easy, so I decided to give it a try.
What I got was a very flavorful Italian like bread. A little too heavy for sandwiches, but great as a dinner or breakfast bread. This bread worked with just butter, honey, jelly and as garlic bread. We loved it!You could also add other things into it, like herbs or cheese for more flavor.
Sorry I didn't get pictures. I wasn't sure it would work after my first three fiascos. I'll take some and post them next time.
Ingredients:
3 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbs salt (sea or Kosher, NOT table)
1 1/2 Tbs dry yeast
6 1/2 c all-purp flour, NOT packed
*can sub up to 2 1/2 c whole wheat flour*
Directions:
1. Pour warm water into mixing bowl. Add salt, then gently add yeast (it will spread across top).
2. Add flour. Turn mixer on lowest speed until you have noticed that it slows down (about 30 secs). Turn mixer up a notch and mix until dough starts to form a ball and pick up the extra flour from around the edges (about 30 secs).
3. Remove bowl from mixer. Scrape dough off dough hook. Cover bowl with lid that doesn't seal completely and let rise for for 2 hours. The dough will be sticky. You can put it in the fridge for an hour or so to make it more manageable.
4. Sprinkle bottom of baking pan or stone with flour, cornmeal, etc or grease with butter or line with parchment paper.
5. For Round Loaves: form two balls and place on baking/pizza stone
For Pan Loaves: form loaves, place in loaf pans
Slash tops of loaves to allow even rise.
6. Place a boiler pan or brownie pan on the bottom rack when you turn on the oven. Just before putting the bread in the oven, carefully pour 1 1/2 cups water into the pan, put bread in and quickly close the door.
7. Bake round loaves at 450 for 30 min or pan loaves at 350 for 60 min.
Dough can be stored in a non-airtight container in fridge for up to two weeks. It becomes sourdough after one week.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
"I do it Myself!"
"I do it Myself!" This is something my just turned two year old proudly declares when (she thinks) she has done something all by herself. She is so excited and proud of her newfound ability to accomplish things. Somewhere along the line, most of us lose that and would rather have someone else do things for us. We as a culture have lost the work ethic and ingenuity that made our country great. Well, I for one, am working on getting mine back.
It's not that I've ever been a slacker, but I have been so caught up in being busy, that I haven't had time to enjoy and take pride in my work. Even in the mundane like laundry, you can look at the piles of clean and neatly folded clothes and towels and take a moment to feel that sense of accomplishment that you did a good job. It doesn't matter that half of them will be dirty again the next day. It matters that you did your job well today.
I have realized that there are many "chores" that I actually enjoy if I am not doing a slip-shod rush job to get on to the next thing. There is something about knowing that I helped make my part of the world a nicer, more beautiful place that makes me happy. By the same token, when I am doing a slip-shod rush job, I get no enjoyment from it all; partly because I am not giving myself time to enjoy it and partly because I know I am not doing as good of a job as I can do or should be doing.
I also had another realization: my kids are learning their work ethic or lack there of from me. If I want them to feel like doing something for yourself can be rewarding, I have to show that in my attitude and how I approach chores and projects. I also have to get them (at least the six year old) involved and not do everything for them. That second part we've already been working on and I think it will be easier if he sees a positive attitude from me about my own work.
On a side note, I have been becoming more and more aware of a few things regarding some of the cleaning chores which are really starting to bother me.
1. Have you noticed that almost EVERY disease and "disability" is on the rise in our country? Particularly cancer, autism, gastro-intestinal issues and immune system issues (allergies).
2. Have you noticed that almost EVERY food, drink and cleaner marketed for Americans to put in and around our bodies are chock full of chemicals or are "genetically modified"?
3. Have you noticed how ridiculous the prices are for the chemicals to "clean" your house so you won't get sick?
4. Have you noticed how widely prescribed and expensive the medicines are to treat the issues from #1 are?
5. Have you noticed there's not a whole lot of publicity about all of this?
So I'm thinking that #1 & #2 are CLEARLY related. And I'm thinking that all the big political supporters are making so much money off of #3 & #4 that they don't want anything changed, hence #5.
I'm not expecting any politicians or companies to do anything about this anytime soon. However, I can take steps to change that in my own house.
Instead of buying the expensive chemicals that someone else made, I am going to be trying some good old DIY (thank you Pinterest) Non-toxic cleaners which, by the way, cost a fraction of the brand name cleaning chemicals. We (got to have helpers for this one) are also going to plant our own garden so that we know what has and has not been put on the plants. I am going to use as many heirloom plants as I can since I know that they have not been genetically modified.
I've already gotten started, and I will let you know how my experiments turn out!
It's not that I've ever been a slacker, but I have been so caught up in being busy, that I haven't had time to enjoy and take pride in my work. Even in the mundane like laundry, you can look at the piles of clean and neatly folded clothes and towels and take a moment to feel that sense of accomplishment that you did a good job. It doesn't matter that half of them will be dirty again the next day. It matters that you did your job well today.
I have realized that there are many "chores" that I actually enjoy if I am not doing a slip-shod rush job to get on to the next thing. There is something about knowing that I helped make my part of the world a nicer, more beautiful place that makes me happy. By the same token, when I am doing a slip-shod rush job, I get no enjoyment from it all; partly because I am not giving myself time to enjoy it and partly because I know I am not doing as good of a job as I can do or should be doing.
I also had another realization: my kids are learning their work ethic or lack there of from me. If I want them to feel like doing something for yourself can be rewarding, I have to show that in my attitude and how I approach chores and projects. I also have to get them (at least the six year old) involved and not do everything for them. That second part we've already been working on and I think it will be easier if he sees a positive attitude from me about my own work.
On a side note, I have been becoming more and more aware of a few things regarding some of the cleaning chores which are really starting to bother me.
1. Have you noticed that almost EVERY disease and "disability" is on the rise in our country? Particularly cancer, autism, gastro-intestinal issues and immune system issues (allergies).
2. Have you noticed that almost EVERY food, drink and cleaner marketed for Americans to put in and around our bodies are chock full of chemicals or are "genetically modified"?
3. Have you noticed how ridiculous the prices are for the chemicals to "clean" your house so you won't get sick?
4. Have you noticed how widely prescribed and expensive the medicines are to treat the issues from #1 are?
5. Have you noticed there's not a whole lot of publicity about all of this?
So I'm thinking that #1 & #2 are CLEARLY related. And I'm thinking that all the big political supporters are making so much money off of #3 & #4 that they don't want anything changed, hence #5.
I'm not expecting any politicians or companies to do anything about this anytime soon. However, I can take steps to change that in my own house.
Instead of buying the expensive chemicals that someone else made, I am going to be trying some good old DIY (thank you Pinterest) Non-toxic cleaners which, by the way, cost a fraction of the brand name cleaning chemicals. We (got to have helpers for this one) are also going to plant our own garden so that we know what has and has not been put on the plants. I am going to use as many heirloom plants as I can since I know that they have not been genetically modified.
I've already gotten started, and I will let you know how my experiments turn out!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
A Lesson Learned From The Great Bread Experiment
For those of you who have been following us, you know I have embarked on a mission to find some good bread recipes. Making almost anything at home is cheaper but it is also safer because you can eliminate all of those unknown preservatives and other artificial things, many of which are known to be unhealthy for you. In our case, it is also ensures that there is no danger of traces of tree nuts.
Well, if you read my posts about the first two loaves of bread I made, white and whole wheat, you will find similar reviews. The overall appearance and flavor was not bad but both were way more dense than what I was looking for in a sandwich bread and you could really taste the flour in both. When I got to honey wheat and had the same result even though the recipe came from a different cookbook, I knew the problem was me.
I have done plenty of baking, but it had always been desserts, many times from mixes, or savory dishes. I had no idea how to figure out what I had done wrong. Did I knead them too much, too little or not get the yeast active enough? I was pretty sure I had followed all those directions. The kicker to me was that I had used nowhere Near the amount of flour called for in the recipes, so how in the World did they taste like flour?
Finally, as I was looking through a magazine on homemade breads (more on that later), a woman commented in her article about not packing the flour. Well, I looked at the recipes. They all said X cups of flour. There was no note about sifting the flour or anything like that. However, that seemed to be the most likely source of the problem so when I made her bread, which turned out to be Delicious, I stirred the flour before measuring it.
Lesson learned: stir or loosen the flour before measuring, at least for bread.
So I guess now I have to go back and retry the other recipes with the corrected amount of flour. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Well, if you read my posts about the first two loaves of bread I made, white and whole wheat, you will find similar reviews. The overall appearance and flavor was not bad but both were way more dense than what I was looking for in a sandwich bread and you could really taste the flour in both. When I got to honey wheat and had the same result even though the recipe came from a different cookbook, I knew the problem was me.
I have done plenty of baking, but it had always been desserts, many times from mixes, or savory dishes. I had no idea how to figure out what I had done wrong. Did I knead them too much, too little or not get the yeast active enough? I was pretty sure I had followed all those directions. The kicker to me was that I had used nowhere Near the amount of flour called for in the recipes, so how in the World did they taste like flour?
Finally, as I was looking through a magazine on homemade breads (more on that later), a woman commented in her article about not packing the flour. Well, I looked at the recipes. They all said X cups of flour. There was no note about sifting the flour or anything like that. However, that seemed to be the most likely source of the problem so when I made her bread, which turned out to be Delicious, I stirred the flour before measuring it.
Lesson learned: stir or loosen the flour before measuring, at least for bread.
So I guess now I have to go back and retry the other recipes with the corrected amount of flour. I'll let you know how they turn out.
Technical Delay
For my two readers: sorry for the delay between posts. We've been having technical issues. Technology and I are NOT friends. My poor husband, who is still on a first name basis with technology, had to rebuild my whole laptop. I tried to do a post from both my fancy iPhone and my Kindle and neither one would do it properly, so I decided to wait until it could be done right. Thanks for your patience.
Now to play some catch up!
Now to play some catch up!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Mishap Magnet
You have to laugh when things go wrong.
At least I do. I know it sounds weird. But I have to.
You see, I am a bona fide Mishap Magnet. It's true. Ask my mom. She used to call me her "little walking accident". If it could be knocked over, tripped over or run into I'd find it. I have a special knack for things not going quite according to plan.
I have been very fortunate that not very many of my mishaps have been on the scale of life threatening, although there have been a few of those, too. Most of them are those little inconveniences that we just don't have the time or patience to deal with. Sometimes they seem so big because they impact something else but, in the long-run, they aren't that big. That's what we have to remember. Most of these won't matter in five years.
Along my journey down the accident-laden trail, I have realized something. Things almost Never go according to plan and it's going to affect you. Here's the thing: you decide how they affect you.
I see so many people who allow these little frustrations to get to them. They get mad or irritated or feel put upon and let that feeling grow and grow with each event. Eventually, all of these little things build up into one big giant thing and they are bitter and unhappy because their life isn't what they want it to be.
Things go wrong for everyone. And everyone has the choice to dwell on them or laugh at them and let them go.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I never get frustrated. I'm an emotional extrovert by nature, so I understand the frustration and irritation and exasperation. But then, you've got to see the humor and the irony in these things. I learned to chuckle at the sitcom qualities of my life (even in the midst of a moment of exasperation) a long time ago and it's been one of the best life lessons for me. Because things are going to go wrong. A lot. And I want to enjoy my life.
For your enjoyment, a few examples from my own life. Go ahead, laugh. It's good for you.
- Lost keys/phone/homework/backpack/shoes/you name it as you're trying to head out the door to work or school.
- Accidentally deleted over twelve pages of a fifteen page paper
- Barely finishing a paper on time and the printer wouldn't print (technology and I aren't friends)
- Spent over an hour gathering groceries (making sure to check for sales). Get in line with a full cart, put everything on the counter and...left my wallet at home. And I've done that one more than once!
- Got stopped for speeding when I was running late for an important meeting at work.
- Drove four hours to a conference I was leading music at, got ten minuted from the hotel and my car dies. Apparently, when I had my oil changed a few days before, they didn't think it odd that they didn't have to take any oil out to put several quarts in and did not notice the quarter-sized hole in my oil pan. Had to replace the entire engine.
- Got a new car. Had a friend drive it home for me the day we bought it. She got in a wreck. Officer: How long have you had this car? Me: One day!
- New house (no fence), puppy in master w/pee pad in bathroom. No pee, but he Did destroy the Entire bed set: pillows, comforter, etc along with several books and shoes and the bed frame. It literally looked like it had snowed from all the pillow fluff.
- Got paint to match an item to go in a room, painted the whole room and the color didn't match.
- Tied orange tape to the trees we wanted to save when clearing for our house. They knocked those down the first day!
- Rode six horses at the barn I worked at, no problem. My back went out getting off a little pony who was standing still! Out of commission for three weeks.
- Was going to show my cousins my riding (they had never seen me do it). Get to the barn and someone had used the horse I was supposed to ride. She was handed to me hot and sweaty, so I hosed her off and took her out bareback. And it was July 4th. And someone shot of illegal fireworks. And I wasn't wearing a helmet... hellloooo concussion!
- So far I have brought two hurricanes and three tropical storms with me when I have visited my dad and stepmom.
- Visiting my dad and stepmom (they lived on a boat), the dingy to get to shore couldn't hold all three of us plus my bag, so dad rowed me & my bag to shore, then I was supposed to row back out to the boat to get my stepmom. At four o'clock in the morning (the airport was on another island). With a hurricane coming. Between the dark and the wind and high waves, I couldn't find the boat. I circled the anchorage twice before I heard her calling to me. Thought I was going to drown within sight of land on that one!
- Had my nose broken three times. All on accident. All by people I know. One was my mother by opening a door (love you Mom!).
- My "not broken" toe still has a bump that hurts when you push on it five months later.
- Twice pulled a muscle without moving more than six inches!
- Spent a week planning something special for the boy for good behavior and had to cancel because he decided to make up for lost time misbehaving the day of the event.
- Spending an hour picking up a mess it took my child two minutes to make (again and again and again)
- Telling a child not to do something and they just have to do it one more time (again and again and again). Come on, it's funny. Especially when they have been warned there will be consequences and you know they are going to do it anyway. It's like they can't stop themselves.
- Got all dressed up for a Halloween birthday party and, when we got there, no one was there. The party had been the day before.
- My wedding gets it's own category:
- The caterer for our rehearsal dinner forgot about it
- My stepmom and great aunt went to go pick up the food and got lost for three hours
- I tripped on the lining of my dress going up the steps
- I forgot the words to the song I was singing to my new husband
- When I threw my bouquet, it hit the ceiling on the way to the girls and fell straight down to the no man's land in between us.
- there were a few others but trivial compared to these ;)
- My birthday also gets it's own category:
- fractured ribs
- food poisoning
- double eye infection
- party fail (long story)
- my first ambulance ride
- broken nose!
I hope you have gotten a chuckle or two out of my misadventures! Take a minute and reflect on your own. How many things in your life that seemed so terrible or irritating or frustrating at the time are funny now? If we can keep a hold of that prospective, we can learn to chuckle even in the midst of those moments or at least soon there after. And once you can laugh at it, you break the power it has to make you unhappy. It's your choice. I choose to laugh at the sitcom moments of my life!
At least I do. I know it sounds weird. But I have to.
You see, I am a bona fide Mishap Magnet. It's true. Ask my mom. She used to call me her "little walking accident". If it could be knocked over, tripped over or run into I'd find it. I have a special knack for things not going quite according to plan.
I have been very fortunate that not very many of my mishaps have been on the scale of life threatening, although there have been a few of those, too. Most of them are those little inconveniences that we just don't have the time or patience to deal with. Sometimes they seem so big because they impact something else but, in the long-run, they aren't that big. That's what we have to remember. Most of these won't matter in five years.
Along my journey down the accident-laden trail, I have realized something. Things almost Never go according to plan and it's going to affect you. Here's the thing: you decide how they affect you.
I see so many people who allow these little frustrations to get to them. They get mad or irritated or feel put upon and let that feeling grow and grow with each event. Eventually, all of these little things build up into one big giant thing and they are bitter and unhappy because their life isn't what they want it to be.
Things go wrong for everyone. And everyone has the choice to dwell on them or laugh at them and let them go.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying I never get frustrated. I'm an emotional extrovert by nature, so I understand the frustration and irritation and exasperation. But then, you've got to see the humor and the irony in these things. I learned to chuckle at the sitcom qualities of my life (even in the midst of a moment of exasperation) a long time ago and it's been one of the best life lessons for me. Because things are going to go wrong. A lot. And I want to enjoy my life.
For your enjoyment, a few examples from my own life. Go ahead, laugh. It's good for you.
- Lost keys/phone/homework/backpack/shoes/you name it as you're trying to head out the door to work or school.
- Accidentally deleted over twelve pages of a fifteen page paper
- Barely finishing a paper on time and the printer wouldn't print (technology and I aren't friends)
- Spent over an hour gathering groceries (making sure to check for sales). Get in line with a full cart, put everything on the counter and...left my wallet at home. And I've done that one more than once!
- Got stopped for speeding when I was running late for an important meeting at work.
- Drove four hours to a conference I was leading music at, got ten minuted from the hotel and my car dies. Apparently, when I had my oil changed a few days before, they didn't think it odd that they didn't have to take any oil out to put several quarts in and did not notice the quarter-sized hole in my oil pan. Had to replace the entire engine.
- Got a new car. Had a friend drive it home for me the day we bought it. She got in a wreck. Officer: How long have you had this car? Me: One day!
- New house (no fence), puppy in master w/pee pad in bathroom. No pee, but he Did destroy the Entire bed set: pillows, comforter, etc along with several books and shoes and the bed frame. It literally looked like it had snowed from all the pillow fluff.
- Got paint to match an item to go in a room, painted the whole room and the color didn't match.
- Tied orange tape to the trees we wanted to save when clearing for our house. They knocked those down the first day!
- Rode six horses at the barn I worked at, no problem. My back went out getting off a little pony who was standing still! Out of commission for three weeks.
- Was going to show my cousins my riding (they had never seen me do it). Get to the barn and someone had used the horse I was supposed to ride. She was handed to me hot and sweaty, so I hosed her off and took her out bareback. And it was July 4th. And someone shot of illegal fireworks. And I wasn't wearing a helmet... hellloooo concussion!
- So far I have brought two hurricanes and three tropical storms with me when I have visited my dad and stepmom.
- Visiting my dad and stepmom (they lived on a boat), the dingy to get to shore couldn't hold all three of us plus my bag, so dad rowed me & my bag to shore, then I was supposed to row back out to the boat to get my stepmom. At four o'clock in the morning (the airport was on another island). With a hurricane coming. Between the dark and the wind and high waves, I couldn't find the boat. I circled the anchorage twice before I heard her calling to me. Thought I was going to drown within sight of land on that one!
- Had my nose broken three times. All on accident. All by people I know. One was my mother by opening a door (love you Mom!).
- My "not broken" toe still has a bump that hurts when you push on it five months later.
- Twice pulled a muscle without moving more than six inches!
- Spent a week planning something special for the boy for good behavior and had to cancel because he decided to make up for lost time misbehaving the day of the event.
- Spending an hour picking up a mess it took my child two minutes to make (again and again and again)
- Telling a child not to do something and they just have to do it one more time (again and again and again). Come on, it's funny. Especially when they have been warned there will be consequences and you know they are going to do it anyway. It's like they can't stop themselves.
- Got all dressed up for a Halloween birthday party and, when we got there, no one was there. The party had been the day before.
- My wedding gets it's own category:
- The caterer for our rehearsal dinner forgot about it
- My stepmom and great aunt went to go pick up the food and got lost for three hours
- I tripped on the lining of my dress going up the steps
- I forgot the words to the song I was singing to my new husband
- When I threw my bouquet, it hit the ceiling on the way to the girls and fell straight down to the no man's land in between us.
- there were a few others but trivial compared to these ;)
- My birthday also gets it's own category:
- fractured ribs
- food poisoning
- double eye infection
- party fail (long story)
- my first ambulance ride
- broken nose!
I hope you have gotten a chuckle or two out of my misadventures! Take a minute and reflect on your own. How many things in your life that seemed so terrible or irritating or frustrating at the time are funny now? If we can keep a hold of that prospective, we can learn to chuckle even in the midst of those moments or at least soon there after. And once you can laugh at it, you break the power it has to make you unhappy. It's your choice. I choose to laugh at the sitcom moments of my life!
B now thinks the puzzle pieces Belong on the floor!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Lessons from Horses: Trust Issues
Working with horses has taught me so much. I have learned perseverance, empathy, patience, and many things that translate into parenting. Today, one of my horses taught me a lesson in trust.
You see, horses are by nature very large scaredy cats. They are prey animals so their first reaction to anything new is "Can that eat me!?!" In most domesticated horses, this instinct has been dulled from disuse. However in some this instinct is still strong. I have two of these. And just to show that horses can be as different as people, one is afraid of new stuff and the other one, who was not handled enough as a young horse, is overly sensitive to what others do. If you stay calm, so will he, but if you get nervous or aggressive, he becomes very nervous and it difficult to calm him back down. The funny thing is, when you put the two of them together, they affect each other.
I have had Sky (the one afraid of stuff) since she was born. She is not bothered by anything you might do but if there's a loose plastic bag blowing around watch out! Slate, on the other hand, I purchased as he turned one. When I first brought him home I could not catch him in the field. The only way I could get Slate to come in to the barn was to get Sky and take her in. He would follow her all the way to the stall. He trusted her. He wasn't so sure about me. That was five years ago. We've come a long way since then.
Of course, the opposite is also sometimes true. Every now and then, when Sky freaks out about something, that herd survival instinct kicks in and he spooks, too. Tonight that was exactly what happened:
I have my farm set up so that when the horses are out I can put their dinner in their stalls and then just open the gate to the pasture and they will go into their stalls. Sometimes I will put my hand under the jaw of one and walk with them. I use this as practice in case I ever need to catch or lead them and don't have a halter and lead rope.
We had a large cardboard box turned fort for J. Of course, they didn't like it at first but they got used to seeing it before too long. Then it got left in the rain and collapsed sideways and the wind blew it to a whole new part of the yard (changing locations is just as bad as changing shapes to horses).
As I was bringing the horses in tonight, they caught sight of this new scary monster in the front yard and every single one of them spooked (aka freaked out)! The collapsed fort was closer to the barn than they were and they were not going anywhere near it!
I just happened to be walking with Slate tonight. When he yanked his head away from me and ran, I went after him. I don't want him to think it's ok to yank away from me even if he is scared. He did let me catch him again but he still didn't trust me enough to walk past the scary fort monster, at least not by himself. None of the other horses wanted to go past it either.
This time, I went to the barn and got a halter. Instead of putting it on Slate, I put it on Steele. Steele is my "Old Steady." His prey instinct is not as strong as the others' so he doesn't get as upset as they do. I've also had Steele for thirteen years. We have been through a lot together and he trusts me. So when I put the halter on him and told him he was okay, he believed me and followed me willingly. Steele is also the herd leader. The other horses know they can trust him to protect them for he has earned his place. They followed us in just like Slate used to follow Sky.
Once they were all safely in, I went back to Slate, put his halter on and took him back out to the yard. He was very nervous but he came. I walked with him toward the crumpled fort, stopping every so often to let him look at it and give him time to get used to seeing it. When we got to it, I did something he really didn't like. I stomped on it! It moved. It made noise. He did Not like this. I kept doing it for a few minutes anyway.
And then I saw it.
His demeanor changed as he realized that it wasn't hurting us and I was the one making the noise. And he relaxed a little. I stepped off the cardboard and gave him a good rub and lots of praise and he put his head on my chest. This is something he does both for affection and reassurance (and why he is the favorite with my mom and several students). I stroked his face and told him he was okay. And then I got on the cardboard again. He still didn't like it but he was nowhere near as nervous as he had been. We did this a couple of times and by the end, he actually walked on it for me! What a good, brave boy!
As I thought about all of this afterward, I reflected on how much trust it took for him to approach the thing that scared him and then to stay there and not leave; not that he had much choice since I was holding his lead rope. I thought about how hard I had to work to earn his trust and how careful I have to be not to break the trust of this horse for whom it does not come naturally. He is much like we humans are.
When we see something scary on the horizon of our lives, we want to run. When we feel God urging us to continue on our path even though it brings us to the scary thing, we want to yank away from him. We do not trust God to take care of us through the difficult times in our lives. We live in a fallen world, full of pain and sorrow. It affects everybody. Not one single person will live their whole life without experiencing it. Sometimes, when bad or scary things happen, we blame God rather than trusting him (as Slate could have with me for bringing him closer to the fort).
We need to remember that he cares for us and is there for us and trust him. Think of all of the other times he has helped you or sent someone to go with you as I did for Slate by having Steele go first. Even if no other person is there with you, God is just as I was with Slate while the others were in the barn. I did not make him face his fear by himself. You are never alone when you walk with God. Trust him. Put your head on God's chest first and let him hold you and reassure you if you need to. I promise he won't mind.
I don't know about you, but I want to be a Steele, an "Old Steady" for God. I want to develop so much trust in him that I am willing to follow him all the way on top of the scary stuff and lead others to Him. That takes work and time. It doesn't happen overnight. But I read somewhere that if I'm willing, He can use me.
Slate and Sky
You see, horses are by nature very large scaredy cats. They are prey animals so their first reaction to anything new is "Can that eat me!?!" In most domesticated horses, this instinct has been dulled from disuse. However in some this instinct is still strong. I have two of these. And just to show that horses can be as different as people, one is afraid of new stuff and the other one, who was not handled enough as a young horse, is overly sensitive to what others do. If you stay calm, so will he, but if you get nervous or aggressive, he becomes very nervous and it difficult to calm him back down. The funny thing is, when you put the two of them together, they affect each other.
I have had Sky (the one afraid of stuff) since she was born. She is not bothered by anything you might do but if there's a loose plastic bag blowing around watch out! Slate, on the other hand, I purchased as he turned one. When I first brought him home I could not catch him in the field. The only way I could get Slate to come in to the barn was to get Sky and take her in. He would follow her all the way to the stall. He trusted her. He wasn't so sure about me. That was five years ago. We've come a long way since then.
Sweet babies
Of course, the opposite is also sometimes true. Every now and then, when Sky freaks out about something, that herd survival instinct kicks in and he spooks, too. Tonight that was exactly what happened:
I have my farm set up so that when the horses are out I can put their dinner in their stalls and then just open the gate to the pasture and they will go into their stalls. Sometimes I will put my hand under the jaw of one and walk with them. I use this as practice in case I ever need to catch or lead them and don't have a halter and lead rope.
We had a large cardboard box turned fort for J. Of course, they didn't like it at first but they got used to seeing it before too long. Then it got left in the rain and collapsed sideways and the wind blew it to a whole new part of the yard (changing locations is just as bad as changing shapes to horses).
As I was bringing the horses in tonight, they caught sight of this new scary monster in the front yard and every single one of them spooked (aka freaked out)! The collapsed fort was closer to the barn than they were and they were not going anywhere near it!
I just happened to be walking with Slate tonight. When he yanked his head away from me and ran, I went after him. I don't want him to think it's ok to yank away from me even if he is scared. He did let me catch him again but he still didn't trust me enough to walk past the scary fort monster, at least not by himself. None of the other horses wanted to go past it either.
This time, I went to the barn and got a halter. Instead of putting it on Slate, I put it on Steele. Steele is my "Old Steady." His prey instinct is not as strong as the others' so he doesn't get as upset as they do. I've also had Steele for thirteen years. We have been through a lot together and he trusts me. So when I put the halter on him and told him he was okay, he believed me and followed me willingly. Steele is also the herd leader. The other horses know they can trust him to protect them for he has earned his place. They followed us in just like Slate used to follow Sky.
Steele
Once they were all safely in, I went back to Slate, put his halter on and took him back out to the yard. He was very nervous but he came. I walked with him toward the crumpled fort, stopping every so often to let him look at it and give him time to get used to seeing it. When we got to it, I did something he really didn't like. I stomped on it! It moved. It made noise. He did Not like this. I kept doing it for a few minutes anyway.
And then I saw it.
His demeanor changed as he realized that it wasn't hurting us and I was the one making the noise. And he relaxed a little. I stepped off the cardboard and gave him a good rub and lots of praise and he put his head on my chest. This is something he does both for affection and reassurance (and why he is the favorite with my mom and several students). I stroked his face and told him he was okay. And then I got on the cardboard again. He still didn't like it but he was nowhere near as nervous as he had been. We did this a couple of times and by the end, he actually walked on it for me! What a good, brave boy!
Relaxed with a calm rider
As I thought about all of this afterward, I reflected on how much trust it took for him to approach the thing that scared him and then to stay there and not leave; not that he had much choice since I was holding his lead rope. I thought about how hard I had to work to earn his trust and how careful I have to be not to break the trust of this horse for whom it does not come naturally. He is much like we humans are.
When we see something scary on the horizon of our lives, we want to run. When we feel God urging us to continue on our path even though it brings us to the scary thing, we want to yank away from him. We do not trust God to take care of us through the difficult times in our lives. We live in a fallen world, full of pain and sorrow. It affects everybody. Not one single person will live their whole life without experiencing it. Sometimes, when bad or scary things happen, we blame God rather than trusting him (as Slate could have with me for bringing him closer to the fort).
We need to remember that he cares for us and is there for us and trust him. Think of all of the other times he has helped you or sent someone to go with you as I did for Slate by having Steele go first. Even if no other person is there with you, God is just as I was with Slate while the others were in the barn. I did not make him face his fear by himself. You are never alone when you walk with God. Trust him. Put your head on God's chest first and let him hold you and reassure you if you need to. I promise he won't mind.
I don't know about you, but I want to be a Steele, an "Old Steady" for God. I want to develop so much trust in him that I am willing to follow him all the way on top of the scary stuff and lead others to Him. That takes work and time. It doesn't happen overnight. But I read somewhere that if I'm willing, He can use me.
Friday, February 1, 2013
3 Updates
As you all know, I am not writing my posts from the realm of a completed and organized house. We are figuring things out as we go. Kind of like life, huh? So I have a few updates to some previous posts.
1. The Great Bread Experiment: Whole Wheat Bread #1
When we tried this bread fresh out of the oven, we really liked it. It was soft and had a good whole wheat flavor. J ate it a couple of times and then started asking for "store bread" instead of the "new bread" for his sandwiches for lunch. Hmmm...I tried it (about four days post baking) and, while the flavor was still okay, it had gone stale. I had stored it the same way I had stored the white bread. Is this a wheat bread thing?
I also realized that I usually buy Honey wheat bread for J's sandwiches, so that may have been a factor as well. Next time, I think I'll try a Honey Wheat. There's not a recipe for Honey Wheat in my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book but I saw one in Betty Crocker.
2. My Home Management Binder
When I first decided to make this binder, I had purchased a pretty binder. It had a black and white filigree down one side of the front and turquoise and chartreuse down the other. Then, as I started putting it together, I found that all of my tabs were sticking out the side and would soon break off. Apparently, all pretty binders are only one inch binders and all one inch binders are not made wide enough to cover tabbed dividers when you put them in sheet protectors.
Luckily, I found the turquoise one that is featured in the post. Plain but wide enough and a pretty color which just happened to match my original folder. I know, none of this really matters. Except that pretty things, especially coordinated pretty things make me happy. Really happy. Yes I'm a dork. I've been aware of that for quite some time now.
Anyway, when I put my Home Management Binder together, I only had five dividers, so I combined my contacts lists with the calendar. I figured that they were both just reference and I had most of the info in my phone anyway. Then I started thinking and I wasn't really happy with that. I also realized that, if I use my "Goals & Projects" section as much as I think I will, it's going to take over the notebook. Solution? I took that section and gave it it's own whole notebook which just happens to match my big binder! This has worked out extremely well given all of the projects I'm currently working on or planning for the future. I don't have to lug my big notebook everywhere and when I put them away (once I've organized their space), won't they look nice together?
3. A Smarter Kitchen
This one is a small thing. In the pictures for this post, I have some of our cereal in some nice, sleek, space saving tupperware. There's one slight problem with that. To pour the cereal, you have to take the entire lid off. We have been trying to give J more responsibility, particularly for his own things. A six year old can NOT coordinate well enough to tip the container with one hand and use the other to keep all of he extra cereal from spilling everywhere. He just can't. Clean up in aisle four!
I do have a couple of containers with a flap at one end, but they are wide- enough to be difficult for him to control well when pouring. So, Mom and I went to Walmart today and found a $3 Walmart brand cereal container that is a manageable width for J and has the smaller flap he can open at one end to control flow. We got two to try out. If they work well, I might get a couple more.
Tomorrow I will be posting about some of the projects I have been busy with this week and hopefully we'll get a chance to make that Honey Wheat bread recipe I saw.
As always, let me know if you have any ideas that have helped you!
1. The Great Bread Experiment: Whole Wheat Bread #1
When we tried this bread fresh out of the oven, we really liked it. It was soft and had a good whole wheat flavor. J ate it a couple of times and then started asking for "store bread" instead of the "new bread" for his sandwiches for lunch. Hmmm...I tried it (about four days post baking) and, while the flavor was still okay, it had gone stale. I had stored it the same way I had stored the white bread. Is this a wheat bread thing?
I also realized that I usually buy Honey wheat bread for J's sandwiches, so that may have been a factor as well. Next time, I think I'll try a Honey Wheat. There's not a recipe for Honey Wheat in my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book but I saw one in Betty Crocker.
2. My Home Management Binder
When I first decided to make this binder, I had purchased a pretty binder. It had a black and white filigree down one side of the front and turquoise and chartreuse down the other. Then, as I started putting it together, I found that all of my tabs were sticking out the side and would soon break off. Apparently, all pretty binders are only one inch binders and all one inch binders are not made wide enough to cover tabbed dividers when you put them in sheet protectors.
Luckily, I found the turquoise one that is featured in the post. Plain but wide enough and a pretty color which just happened to match my original folder. I know, none of this really matters. Except that pretty things, especially coordinated pretty things make me happy. Really happy. Yes I'm a dork. I've been aware of that for quite some time now.
Anyway, when I put my Home Management Binder together, I only had five dividers, so I combined my contacts lists with the calendar. I figured that they were both just reference and I had most of the info in my phone anyway. Then I started thinking and I wasn't really happy with that. I also realized that, if I use my "Goals & Projects" section as much as I think I will, it's going to take over the notebook. Solution? I took that section and gave it it's own whole notebook which just happens to match my big binder! This has worked out extremely well given all of the projects I'm currently working on or planning for the future. I don't have to lug my big notebook everywhere and when I put them away (once I've organized their space), won't they look nice together?
3. A Smarter Kitchen
This one is a small thing. In the pictures for this post, I have some of our cereal in some nice, sleek, space saving tupperware. There's one slight problem with that. To pour the cereal, you have to take the entire lid off. We have been trying to give J more responsibility, particularly for his own things. A six year old can NOT coordinate well enough to tip the container with one hand and use the other to keep all of he extra cereal from spilling everywhere. He just can't. Clean up in aisle four!
I do have a couple of containers with a flap at one end, but they are wide- enough to be difficult for him to control well when pouring. So, Mom and I went to Walmart today and found a $3 Walmart brand cereal container that is a manageable width for J and has the smaller flap he can open at one end to control flow. We got two to try out. If they work well, I might get a couple more.
Tomorrow I will be posting about some of the projects I have been busy with this week and hopefully we'll get a chance to make that Honey Wheat bread recipe I saw.
As always, let me know if you have any ideas that have helped you!
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