5/17/2020
(Above: A horizon gilded with rampant sunflower blossoms.)
Active Summary: Today began with calisthenics, writing, preparing some short ribs for a slow-cook in the oven, and a beef pasture patrol with Padre. After checking the bovines, I helped Padre milk the same tiny-teated Holstein described in yesterday’s entry, and I aided in the treatment of a Belgian Blue with pinkeye. The remainder of the ensuing morning was riddled with writing, cooking, and a journey to the Harbison farm market where I procured the weekly produce*. On returning home, I put the produce away, cut up a watermelon, and wrote until it was time to take the shortribs out of the oven.
(8:05 PM Update:) After a delectable lunch of BBQ short ribs, cabbage salad, and watermelon, I returned to Jacobhouse for a bit of rest. I was going to write some more, but I recalled that I wanted to try out the homemade rolling pin. It seemed to work quite well when it came to flattening pastry dough, granting plenty of leverage and actually performing in quite a balanced manner (i.e. no lop-sided pastry dough). I ended up forming the pastry dough into a pie crust for a square baking dish, filled it with cinammon/sugar coated apples, and topped it with another piece of pastry dough to make something akin to a double-crusted pie.
As the pie baked, and after I rushed back to the Jacob house to pull it out, I helped with many cattle-related activities (the usual feeding / catching / checking regimen). The temperature outside was near scorching, but the humidity was not quite high enough to make it insufferable. A chilled glass of seltzer midway through the afternoon tasks also helped out quite a lot. To conclude the evening outdoor tasks, I worked on some writing in the freezer room, performed a beef pasture check with Padre, and collected Moo-Magic funds from the stand beside the road.
Final Note: After concluding this entry, I will be bearing something resembling an apple pie over to the studio. There, I shall partake of it along with some watermelon and cabbage salad. It is going to be a relatively light meal, because lunch has seemingly not left the belly.
In regard to tomorrow’s activities, the only extracurricular task I know I’ll be tending to is refilling the compost stand.
*They gave me a 25 lb. box of cull tomatoes, so I will making a big pot of tomato stew / sauce again this week.
Living short ribs, funny