Happy Birthday Mag

Today Mag turned 8. EIGHT! We're getting dangerously close to adulthood *lol*

It was raining sideways (light, but penetrating - what Germans call Nieselregen and what Seattleites call Drizzle) but I'd agreed to go for "walkies" with Ani and her mare, which she is not allowed to ride if her back is wet. I was fine with not attempting to scrape the mud off of Mag, because I have no covered area to work, and trying to de-mud a horse in the rain is ridiculous. Black clumps of mud hung from his mane, even Ani mentioned it. I was just hoping no neighbor would come out to talk to us, and see "the  neglect."

Of course, one of Mag's biggest fans in the neighborhood came out, the guy who wears shorts all year long (shame, I have no idea what his name is - his wife is the one who talks to Mag more than she talks to me). He offered three carrots to my filthy horse and I said, "Thank you, what a nice birthday present!"

Mag ate them but was perplexed about why we were out in such weather. He's a total weather wimp, and doesn't really understand that it's possible to walk through rain gusts. He tries to turn, put his butt to the weather, and wait it out, but we're going somewhere Mag, come on!

Our walk with Ani was fun, the mare is still in heat and was very pleasant to be around. The mare was soaking wet but such a fat, hefty mare doesn't notice bad weather. I had to put a polarfleece cooler on Mag or else he would have frozen solid out there.

I had multiple layers of polarfleece on and a fleece hat over my baseball cap (to keep rain off my glasses) and it is days like these I miss rain coats.

Mag had a big thirst today and even drank the little stream of water rushing along the curb on our street, for a very long time, despite all the firework remnants on the street.

Today is Silvester. Yesterday in Europe is like 4th of July in America. I was worried about Mag, but at midnight, we went out there and just hung out with them, and they were OK. Mag wasn't comfortable in the paddock/barn area, though, and wanted to be at the pasture.

I followed him out there, with fireworks blasting constantly all around us. What I found interesting is the fireworks themselves, exploding over his head, did not bother him. What concerned him were the people on the street, hanging out, the gatherings of kids and parents firing them off. "What are those people doing there on our street!" "Um, Mag, did you notice the fireworks blasting directly over us?"

Funny, just like Baasha, I don't have to worry about Mag on Silvester.

We had Raclette and a lovely fire in our new wood stove (which we're still learning how to use properly).

Today, Silvester, same thing: :Raclette and fire. My man is reading a Douglas Adams novel in his chair by the fire he made, and my cheeks are burning cuz it's so warm in here.

Warm. You know the feeling of being in the rain for hours (or FIFTY MILES?) and then getting into dry things and luxuriating in the feeling of having your dripping wet hair off your back, and toasty warm feet again? That was me today. (Though not to be compared with riding distance events in inclement weather.) BLISS.

I have to be honest though - I couldn't stand Mag's mud mane any longer and after we arrived home, soaked through, both of us, I got out my Christmas present, Oster Grey Horse Shampoo, and took the hose to his mane. (So cruel, and on his birthday!) But he was soaked already, and I was careful to have him wrapped up in his cooler, so the water would run only down his neck and not onto his chest. (This really works, I've found, and also, if you own a breastcollar, just pad it up with towels and wash your horse's filthy mane in freezing weather, as long as their body is covered from the rain/snow, they don't suffer as much.)

Mag loves a soapy mane massage so I don't have to languish in guilt. He also loved the three fluffy towels I used on both sides of his neck (ears included) afterwards. OK it wasn't his preferred way to spend his birthday, but he got so many carrots...and will have more tonight.

Now he's wrapped up in his Weatherbeeta which runs ears to tail, so I hope to not have to do this again for a while. Then again, I cannot torture him by keeping him covered, when his favorite thing is a full body mud bath. Ugh. Not that I want snow, but I do love that he cannot find the mud underneath.

For his birthday dinner I just went out and gave him another hay pellet mash topped with carrot "candles." The donkey also got a second bucket meal today (for her, it's a half cup of alfalfa pellets, the ones Mag should not eat). She was thrilled!

The church bells are ringing, inviting us in again. I love being cozy in the rain, but tomorrow Ani and I will go out tomorrow again. She offered to take Bellis for a walk; what a great offer for poor Bellis who hates staying home! I might even convince J to come with us, if there is a geocache in the area.

We'll see.

The photo below appeared in my cloud server from a couple years ago. I love Mag's calm yet "WTH" expression at my dismount technique. I just clamp my hands down and swing off in one move.


     




     
Geocaching this week, I wanted to show you how dismal the naked woods of Germany can be in Winter.


     
As I made all those cookies, I had to take a photo of the melting/simmering marshmallows. What a cool effect and great smell!


     
Since there are no Rice Crispies in Germany, I used some sort of healthy oat/wheat puff cereal, mostly whole wheat. They tasted remarkably healthy at the end, but sadly I cannot seem to turn the Germans on to them. And I've got a ton of them.



     
New Year's Eve means Raclette! As usual, I went crazy and bought enough meat, cheese, and veggies for a huge family, though it's just the two of us.




     
I marinated several of the meats and labeled them for J.


     
I don't have a photo of our Raclette grill, cuz we were so busy scarfing it down ,but here is what it looks like. It's a Swiss tradition focusing on melted cheese, served over whatever you like. A grill on top is like having a BBQ in your home. The tiny plates below are also grilled but with cheese on every tray. It's the best thing about Silvester in Germany. Fondue has nothing on Raclette!




My best Christmas present to myself - a robotic vacuum cleaner. The technology has really come far since they first came out. They have amazing processing power and seek out corners and walls and how to navigate chair legs. So far he has not learned my voice, when I call him, but he goes right back to his base when I say, "Roomba, DOCK!" This may be the best 200 bucks ever spent, cuz I hate vacuuming, and usually must do it every 2nd day due to the mud and hair we track in/shed. Roomba, good boy!

Happy New Year to my blogging friends who have the patience to read the lengthy scripts I type about my mostly mundane life.

Und hat jemand eine Ahnung, ob Wasser-lose  Pferdereiniger wirklich funkionieren?