Tails From Provence

The Gang goes Trekking

We all got up early on Saturday morning to go for a combined trek/hike. Poor Cinnamon had to be left at home, because we were planning a 2 – 2.5 hour ride, which would have been too much for her in the heat, but we picked up a follower at the farm when Chips decided to come along, too.

All the gang. From the left, Chips, the LSH, Flurry, Ash, Aero, YD. Cookie was behind the camera with me!

But first, there was hoof inspection. Both horses are shedding their soles. Is this what is meant by a False Sole? It lifted off really easily, so I cleaned them up and trimmed the bars which had suddenly become very high. Aero’s hind soles weren’t ready to come off yet, so I left them, but he had done a pretty good job of wearing them down by the time we got back to the farm!

What I’m really pleased about, though, is that there is a clear improvement in Aero’s front feet in the last four weeks.

Aero shedding out his sole, July 13

June 19th

His frogs have bulked up and his heels are finally beginning to open out. The heel bulbs even look beefier, although it’s hard to be sure with the photo being taken from a different angle. Is this because I took The Dancing Donkey’s advice and bevelled his heels?

I’ll continue to use his front boots for long rides, but I will definitely be trying him 100% barefoot in the near future.

Enough hoof stuff, what about our trek?

We did one that loops around on the northeast side of the farm. It’s just over 8km. Here’s the Everytrail map from the very first time I did it, you can see there’s a big descent and a big climb!

The YD and Ash were riding first, but they led the horses for the first few minutes to allow their backs to warm up.

Then they mounted and we discussed whether I’d lead Flurry for Ash or not. Or Not was the decision and thankfully they got on great together. Flurry was the perfect Trekkie, following happily along behind Aero, and Ash wasn’t phased by anything – even when we gave him instructions on what to do if Flurry bolted.

The LSH brought up the rear-guard with our folding bushsaw and disposed of a few pesky low branches.

After about 3km we got to a fairly hairy bit, where the trail crosses scree with a steep drop to the right. We stopped, took a photo (this angle does nothing for my handsome Aero! His back looks about a mile long!) and then the guys dismounted and we all walked for a bit.

It’s the most scenic point of the ride but mostly we were focussing on keeping our feet underneath us.

After that, the LSH and I rode for a bit, down a steep trail through the woods. There was lots of ducking and diving, and no chance to stop and saw off branches – it was just too steep for any such antics.

The LSH very kindly offered to walk for the last stretch, which is a very steep climb, giving the YD the option of riding again. I refused to give way to Ash, on the grounds that I would probably die if I had to do it on foot. I swapped on to my lovely little Flurry ♥ and the YD rode Aero.

Off we went, tried a shortcut which didn’t work, backtracked, and eventually arrived back at the farm alone.

The LSH and Ash had decided to stick to the road, seeing as it’s less sheer than the trail we followed and they arrived about ten minutes after us.

Showers were necessary. For everyone,

but we had to wait until we got home. We stopped into the local boulangerie on the way for the world’s greatest quiches. Quelle horreur, they had none left! We had to make do with sausage rolls and pizza instead.

Nice, but it’s just not the same!

(They really are the world’s best quiches. Trust me.)

Postscript.

We got home to find a very guilty-looking Small Brown Dog. Has she wee’ed somewhere? we wondered.

Nope. It turns out that The Good Dog, the well-behaved one, the one who was not rescued from the gutter but was brought up in a loving but disciplined environment all her life, the one who would never, ever climb on the table, had done precisely that and helped herself to an entire saucisson sec which was sitting there.

Disgraced.

July 15, 2013
Aero, Cookie, Flurry, Provençe, trekking
7 Comments

Sunday Stills – Going Buggy

I still haven’t figure out Macro on my new camera, the Nikon 1 J2, so I took this one with the Nikon Coolpix P300, with the intention of going out later in the week with the other camera.

Opportunity knocked, though, in the shape of an enormous Stag Beetle which blundered its way into a party. I suppose you could say he gate-crashed!

But the bad news was that I didn’t have either camera on hand, although I did have my iPhone – all was not lost.

I was really pleased with this photo :

…but it was one of those pure random chance shots. I was trying to get a picture of the beetle sitting on the back of the chair with my husband’s finger for scale. I pressed the “shutter,” but the iPhone was so slow that by the time it captured the image, the beetle had opened his wings!

I was happy that I had enough for this challenge and then Ash arrived in on Friday and said “Look at this!”

A Rhinoceros Beetle!

Well, it’s actually only half a rhinoceros beetle, but it’s still pretty cool! These guys must be BIG when they have the rest of their body attached, here it is with a 5c coin for scale (the same size as a US 1c coin).

I’d love to see a complete one stomping around in the wild!

For more great bugshots, visit Sunday Stills and see what everyone else posted.

Thank Friday its the YD’s Birthday!

The YD’s employers, La Pastorale in Céreste, very kindly gave her the evening off so she could enjoy her birthday. She didn’t want to go out, though, she wanted her favourite dinner – Aubergine Parmigiani – at home.

Aubergines, tinned tomatoes, mozzarella and parmesan were purchased and assembled into this :

and served with garlic bread. So tasty… I should have made more…

If you’re interested, the recipe is here on the Wanderly Wagons blog, scroll all the way down, it’s the second last thing on the page.

The print on the wall is a self portrait by the ED, so it’s like she was with us at the table!

Then there was dessert to consider. It’s just coming into peach and nectarine season (droooool!) and Someone had left a tray of eighteen nectarines on our doorstep….. Flambéed Nectarines, we said!

How to Make Flambéed Nectarines on your Birthday

First slice up your nectarines, and if you have any other fruit that’s about to go off, throw it in, too. We added plums.

Melt 3tbsp butter and 2tbsp sugar in a wide pan over a medium heat, stir until sugar dissolves.

Add a slosh of orange juice and the juice of half a lime if you have it.

Chuck in the fruit and cook for a few minutes.

Ask “Who’s going to set it on fire?”

Get told “You.”

Lob a good measure of rum into the pan.

Light a match, throw it into the pan from a distance and watch as it is extinguished. Fish it out.

Light another match. Curse, shake it out and throw away the two broken halves.

Repeatedly attempt to light a third match, the last in the box. Scream “WHY WON’T IT LIGHT??”

Relight slightly damp first match from gas ring. Bravely hold it over the pan. Nothing.

Decide that all the alcohol has boiled off. Prepare to throw another good measure of rum into the pan. Stand back as Dad (aka the LSH aka the Long Suffering Husband) takes over, keen to prevent any further misuse of his Bacardi. Watch as he lashes the rum into the pan and with a twist of his hand, angles the pan so it ignites from the gas ring.