Thorns may hurt you, men desert you, sunlight turn to fog;
but you’re never friendless ever, if you have a dog.
—Douglas Mallock
Temple
Curtis and I have three dogs. They are my children. I’m “oh she’s ‘one of thooooose people’ . Yep, pretty much nutty about my dogs.
They misbehave, they are loud, they eat gross stuff, they roll in manure, they chase the horses, they dig holes (well, mainly Otis) did I say they were loud?
Their lives revolve around three things: 1. Going somewhere. 2. Waiting to go somewhere. (Oh, and the little matters of eating and sleeping, but that wouldn’t get in the way of ) 3. GOING SOMEWHERE.
Going somewhere involves: the car, on foot, the tractor, the mower, the dirt bike, the mule wagon, a horse….you get the picture.
Over the past few years we have been to the vet for: eating rat poison, eating horse wormer, impaling by a stick while running through the woods (twice), dog hitting truck, car hitting dog , sometimes I wonder if “rescue” is actually the right word for them.
Meet Temple (pictured above). AKA Lumpy (our little lump of coal’s gonna be a diamond someday), loudmouth, the Dali Lumpy, smiley, stinky. She is named after Temple Grandin, famous for her work in low stress cattle management. We had high hopes and big dreams of Temple dog becoming our cattle foreman. Here she is pictured with a huge cow bone she found one day while we were fencing. Years ago (before Circle S) there were cows on this place – and all kinds of bones and skulls are scattered the woods – a little creepy but the dogs love it.
But – to the point. The dogs remind me of the simple things in life. They remind me that moving is a good thing, an important thing. Their enthusiasm is contagious.
For example….who else gets really excited about going to the dump? Trash and recycle day at our house is a happy day. As soon as I start emptying trash cans, the dogs start doing laps around the car. They especially love it when the prisoners who help unload our trash ask “Do they bite?”. They raise hell when the doors are closed just to keep them wondering. How can you take life too seriously on a day like trash day?
They also remind me that it’s ok to take a good nap every now and then – which seems more important as I get older.
So – since moving is a good thing, What’s in the bucket this week?
Summer or winter squash, sweet yellow and purple onions, potatoes, okra, TOMATOES, TOMATOES, TOMATOES, cherry tomatoes, maybe a stray cucumber, basil and parsley. Unfortunately, my pepper crop is sick this year – can’t seem to get them going.
What’s at Main Street Farmer’s Market: (Not a lot this week) tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, sweet onions. Circle S beef – ground beef, roasts, steaks, small briskets.
If you still have fennel hanging around in your fridge, a shareholder sent me this wonderful recipe for Fennel Pesto.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/08/roasted-fennel-almond-pesto-recipe.html
Also – good time to get rid of the cucumbers by making a fabulous batch of gazpacho.
This is my version of Gazpacho – if you want it to be more like a soup and less like a salsa, add 2 cups tomato juice.
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 cucumber chopped (if large pickling cucumber – remove seed portion)
1 sweet pepper, any kind, chopped
1 small red onion chopped
1/4 cup parsley chopped
1 t basil chopped
1 tsp tabasco
1 tsp worcestershire
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt or to taste
pepper to taste
Great to eat on a hot summer day, or dip a chip!!!
Thanks for buying local food from Circle S Farm!!