Goodbye Sunshine; Hello Happy Horse

This morning we woke to cold grey foggy skies.  After barn chores, I came back up to the house for a warm-up cuppa java and Brett's scrambled eggs (the best).  Then it was back down to the barn to get a ride in before the rain hit.  It was still cold with no sun to take the chill away and I tacked up Jackson as quick as I could.  I whipped off his blanket and whipped on the saddle in nothing flat.  Jackson was behaving more like his registered name, Twistin Turbo, than his barn name.  I'm not sure if it was being comfortable in the Passier or the weather.  Probably both.  He was forward and supple and we got in some very good canter work.  Jackson did insist on lengthening down the long side and got high headed if I tried to bring him back.  I think we went 4-beat a couple times.  Whee!!  Of course, in the cold my nose was going drip drip drip.  Riding in cold weather is so attractive... 

After my ride, I took some pictures of my Bates saddle.  I posted it on eBay and hopefully it will sell.  It's in really good condition - only a year old.  I'm fanatical about my tack.  I clean it after every ride, keep it oiled, etc.  So, I'm crossing my fingers.

I took a couple pictures of Jackson who was being a goofball, trying to sniff the camera and fogging up the lens.

I got the idea for this picture from Kate at A Year With Horses

Flash and Kalvin were busy doing the mutual massage thing.  Flash likes us to think he's above that kind of behavior, being the alpha horse and all, but now I have proof on film.

Yeah, that's the spot, riiiiiiight there.

Tuffy and Finessa were hoping for treats.

The rain started around noon.  It's a storm from the Pacific Northwest so it's cold and the wind is forecast to gust up to 50 mph.  The temperature didn't budged much from 42F all day.  I decided to make chili.  I tried out a new recipe that was pretty involved.  It's from Cook's Illustrated which is Christopher Kimball's publication.  I find him very interesting but sometimes the recipes very involved/labor intensive for just a smidge of improvement.  This time, it was worth the work.  The chili was awesome.  I made cornbread to go with it, Brett poured a nice Zinfandel (it was too cold to drink beer) and we feasted.

I assembled all the ingredients.

There were two kinds of dried chilis, which I toasted

Chilis, spices, cocoa and cornmeal ground together

Brown onions and jalapenos

Add tomatoes, molasses, ground chili mixture and garlic

Brown steak

Deglaze with beer, then add meat & beer to other stuff

This is how it looked out of the oven, 2 hrs later

And this is how it looked in my bowl with avocado, onion and cheese