There is nothing more relaxing as riding your horse down a beautiful wooded trail in the forest. Trail riding is the most popular pastime of many equestrians and if you have ever ridden your horse on the trails you will understand why. It is the most amazing connection with nature you can find. YET, in a moment it can become a disaster. Here are 5 tips to help you get ready to hit the trails...
We got through the first wave, now the second wave is upon us. Many of us are tired, anxious and have run out of energy, yet here we are facing a second wave on top of the regular flu season. It is not the time to be complacent, rather, it's time to be even more vigilant if we want to get through this.
Uncertainty in the world continues.
As a barn manager how can we continue to move forward and continue to provide a safe place for our boarders?
It’s time to re-visit your operational guidelines in six key areas:
Policies and Guidelines
Staffing
Lessons/Clinics
General Barn Maintenance
Sanitization
Communication Strategy
What is working, what needs to be 'massaged' and what needs to be totally changed. Here are 6 tips to help guide you...
One of my favourite veggies is carrots. Some folks love them, some tolerate them but we have to agree they are nutritious. Not only are they my favourite for lunches and snacks, my horse loves them too! They’re a great source of fiber, vitamin K, antioxidants, and more. But that’s not all carrots are good for. Here are 7 of my economical and safe uses for Carrot Seed Essential Oil - from face, to joints, to moisturizing not only my hair but my horse's mane and tail! Surprised? Keep reading...
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Are those cuddly moments with FIDO becoming a tad distant because of his/her bad breath?
Freshen the moment with this quick and easy recipe for Cool Breath Biscuits!
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Hatha Yoga is a low-impact exercise that strengthens bones and balances hormones and it is one of the many techniques being used to fight osteopororis. Don't let osteoporosis keep you on the sidelines of life. Here's how I fight Osteoporosis to keep enjoying an active lifestyle...
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When I was growing up my Mom, Dad and Grandparents always had huge gardens. The vegetables produced in these gardens filled our kitchens with the best aromas ever, the My kindred sister and I loved to raid the pea patch for those fresh peas when Mom wasn't looking!
Some of the veggies grown in the garden back then weren’t exactly a favorite as a kid, but as we grow, get married and really explore nutritional benefits of our food, our tastes changed. Even my sons, who never liked broccoli when they were kids, now devour a veggie plate with a nutritious dip like there is no tomorrow!
Here are 20 of my favorites I like to use in my kitchen. All sure to transform the picky eater to the savvy eater in your family!
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Are you always focused on the big win but never quite get there? You may be surprised at how celebrating the baby steps will bring you toward victory a lot sooner than you thought!
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Vacations come once a year for many of us. As pet owners many of us love to travel and arranging care for our fur-babies while we are far away on a beach in the Caribbean can be overwhelming if not darn right stressful! 90% of us consider our pets to be part of our family, which means we need to look at caregivers who will provide companionship, reassurance and playtime on top of the basic needs of food and shelter while we are away.
Here are 8 tips to help reduce the stress when choosing the right pet-sitter for your fur baby...
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Well we’ve tried on-line shopping and while ok and an excellent service during this world pandemic inevitably they don’t have many of selected items or they substitute items of less volume for more price. Produce picks are ok but could be better. Had to throw out a full romaine. Yet they do their best and appreciated.
As with millions of others, we are committed to staying home and only go out for necessities. Today we headed off to Costco for the early morning seniors’ shop. Staff at Costco were very well organized and it was an actual pleasure to shop. Masks and gloves on, in we went.
We are used to buying and cooking in bulk; repackaging into smaller servings and putting the food in our freezer. In the long run it saves time and money. Particularly when we are at the farm and the trip into the City is one hour.
In the city, well I really hate shopping (hubby loves that!) so the less time I spend shopping gives me more time to do the things I love doing! Like riding my horse, painting, gardening and playing with my granddaughter. Even when my boys were younger, I'd rather be cheering them on at the hockey rink than shopping!
Memory Lane:
I had two very active and growing boys with huge appetites! I remember when the first family packs of meat came out in the grocery store and I immediately noticed the difference in price. The message: buy by volume and get a discounted price. Worked for my budget! Prior to that we always ordered 1/2 beef, one full pork, chickens (later raised them and turkeys) and I canned veggies, tomatoes (2 bushels minimum) pickles, fruit and even made fruit cocktail. We’d buy 3 bushels of apples in the fall and apple sauce, apple pies, apple cobbler and always apples to munch.
I had two very active and growing boys with huge appetites! I remember when the first family packs of meat came out in the grocery store and I immediately noticed the difference in price. The message: buy by volume and get a discounted price. Worked for my budget! Prior to that we always ordered 1/2 beef, one full pork, chickens (later raised them and turkeys) and I canned veggies, tomatoes (2 bushels minimum) pickles, fruit and even made fruit cocktail. We’d buy 3 bushels of apples in the fall and apple sauce, apple pies, apple cobbler and always apples to munch.
Potatoes were bought in 50lb bags. 4 bags might get us through until the spring. Flour by the biggest bags available (no store-bought cookies and many pies, cakes, muffins and monster dough biscuits) and cheese by the huge brick - I used to grate it and freeze it long before we could buy it like that in the store.
I even made grape juice once - until it fermented, and a couple of mason jars exploded!
The little backyard garden supplied us with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, onions, cucs, radishes and more.
Pumpkins and squash always plentiful in the fall and put in the freezer.
It was important for me, even as a young mom, to know what I was feeding my family.
One of my greatest 'finds' was buying ketchup in the huge can. I figured it out and it would equate to getting over 1 1/2 bottles of ketchup FREE by buying bulk. I'd simply wash and sterilize the old ketchup bottles then replenish them from the bulk can. Once I tried to put a 'no-name' ketchup in the bottles. The can was on sale and a good deal. My son, the ketchup connoisseur, looked me in the eye and said to me, "M-o-m ... this is not Heinz!" Pausing and shifting slightly (and thinking 'dang - how could he be that good??) "Ahh, sure it is!" I responded not quite convincing enough. "Nope, it's not!" he stated matter-of-factly with narrowed eyes. "Ok, ya got me!" I laughed. Lesson learned. Only Heinz was allowed, but I did use the 'no-name' for sauces ... that got by him! LOL
Perhaps this pandemic will bring generations closer as we pass on our kitchen tips to the next generation.
Sadly, most of us have taken all that for granted. Hubby asked me this morning as I was repacking some pork chops, “How did you learn that trick with the straw?” I replied, “My Grandma K showed my Mom one day as they were blanching peas from the garden and putting them in the freezer. It’s the original vacuum pack method! I was thrilled to help out and remember sucking the air out of the bags through the dedicated straw until I got bored!” Simple and it works!
Shopping tips, cooking, baking, family meals. The things that make lasting memories. The things that remind us of how important family is. Looking forward to our first family meal together - hopefully soon!
How do you like to grocery shop? I love to hear how people save time and money on their house-hold budgets😀🦋
Love this info? You'll LOVE my guide to becoming savvy! Check it out right here
You have just bought your first horse trailer. It’s a simple one, but even the simple bumper, 2 horse with a small tack room can cost $15,000+. Add your truck, $35,000 plus gas and you’re talking $50,000.
What about your tractor? A simple tractor like a New Holland 2210 – 35HP ($30,000) plus hay mower attachment ($8,000) hay rake ($8,000) plus small square baler a baler plus a 60HP Tractor $150,000.
While these are all ballpark figures based on used and new equipment and can vary depending on what the equipment is being used for and the horsepower needed, you get the drift. You have lots of money tied up in these essential assets to run your farm.
One day a friend or family member asks to ‘borrow’ it. What do you do?
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