Horse Sense....

 

                  

 

So y'all, do you know the difference between Silverbeet and Chard?

If you had asked me 24 hours ago I would have said, Silverbeet has one huge green crinkly leaf per stalk, and I have no idea what Chard is.

Fast forward 24 hours, and let me tell you the difference....

Silverbeet has a lot of folic acid, Vitamins A, K and potassium.  I'm not a big fan of eating it, I don't dislike it, I'm just a bit of a lazy cook, so to get my vitamins and minerals I periodically boil it, leave it to simmer for a while, throw the leaves out and drink the water.  It is super good for getting all my vitamins and minerals and is bloody awesome as a diuretic.  You know those times when your body is just holding onto absolutely everything. 

Silverbeet also only has a white stalk.  This is extremely important.

Onto Chard...

Looks pretty similar to silverbeet, actually looks almost exactly the same apart from some very minor, but extremely important, differences:

1) The leaves are smaller.

2) The stalks are red or yellow.

I have to deviate here a minute...I work very much with the Doctrine of Signatures which is Mumma Nature's way of telling me what a plant or herb does.  

Silverbeet:

Green = builds immunity and with the big leafy leaf bit, it builds immunity everywhere in the body.  Also the way that the leaves crinkle, tell you that it is good for cell regeneration and rebirth.

White stalk = is for the uretha.  Flushing out your system.

Chard: 

Green = builds immunity and with the big leafy leaf bit, it builds immunity everywhere in the body.  Also the way that the leaves crinkle, tell you that it is good for cell regeneration and rebirth.  

But this is where things deviate.  The leaves of chard are smaller.  Smaller means more potent.

Red and/or yellow stalk = red and yellow are for stimulation.  Stimulating the body, re-energising the body, making the blood flow stronger.

Which is how I found myself, instead of detoxifying my body and diuretic-ing, after having 2 mugs of this chard tea at around 8ish pm, instead I found myself full on awake as soon as my head hit the pillow.  And this continued through to  2.30, 3, 3.30 and the last time I looked, 4am this morning.  In the end I just gave up, got my duvet and pillows, went and curled up on the couch, and watched a movie on tv.  Which actually worked out extremely well, because about 6.30 I woke up.

Which meant that somewhere I slept.

This is why I try every single herb and/or vitamin for the horses.  The colour of the stalk was a really small difference, almost too small to notice, but it had a hugely different reaction.

The difference is in the detail.

**** 

So I have one mighty pissed off mini.

Ralph was standing at the Welcome Paddock gate demanding to be let out today.

Of which I said, No.

Not because I don't want to, but because he is Boo-ba-licious' best mate (don't make me repeat myself, we have had this conversation) and there's no way I can take the risk with Boo. 

Ralphy has to stay.

****

And after I said how everyone had had a good winter with hooves....bloody Az is down in the front paddock, right at the road, with sugar hooves and one hoof swollen with what looks like issues around the top of one hoof. He hoovered down baleage the other day, which is a huge NO NO for him, and this is the result.  It throws his body balance out and his hooves get all fusty.

I took sugar hooves food down to him today (yes, we have food for this) and just generally hung out.  

He'll be better in a few days, on a positive note though, no bloody grass in front paddock, so hooves won't get worse.

****

Our sugar hoof special feed, hot hoof bath and Kawa Kawa balm.  Az should be noticeably better in the next 24 hours.

****

And we have 3 new chickens!

And they are soooooooooooo cute!  One  is black with little lines of gold running through her, one is another Blue Lace like Lily but a longer neck, and our last one is a creamy one, but fluffy.  That one never even has to lay an egg, she amuses me with her looks.

And talking of eggs, already, after only a few hours, I've doubled my egg intake.

6 chickens normally lay 2 eggs (and an extra one on the odd day) and the three I brought home, I got two eggs out of!

Super stoked.

And I also got given my first actual peacock feather!

Peacock feathers are unbelievably good luck for not just bringing luck into your home but protecting it emotionally, intimately, physically and Spirtually.  

****

I had to bring Ralphy Poo out of the paddock.

Go on, ask me why?

I was feeding out tonight, Cappy and Mumma munching away and there Boo-ba-licious is in the background with Ralphy on the ground, biting him, leg wrapped around him and all ready to burglar him!

I was yelling at him, yelling at Ralphy, no one was listening and it was not a fun experience.

Then without having actually got near him, Boo-ba-licious just got off him, all miffy like as if I had some mucho problemo which I really should look at.

That one was too close for comfort, so I've brought Ralphy out and out he will stay.  

Well, if I leave him in there any longer he's going to have PTSD.  

On a positive note, at least Boo-ba-licious has 3 cows to play with.

****

And it's a year today, that the young one left for America for 5 years.

Nana and I were talking about it while we were having a cuppa and cookies in the sun.  She reminded me of how much of a baby I was when he first left.  It was my first Breeders night at Alexander Park 4 days later.  I got dressed up, drove in, walked in, looked around and went, Yeah, I can't do this...  turned around, walked out, got in my car and came home.  

And what about the older Spirit woman who stood on the other side of the airport doors, waving her hands and going, Hurry up! Stop mucking around!  It's time to go, we have work to do.

But what a difference a year makes.

Liam celebrated by moving into his brand new apartment (which is totally cool), hot wings, chocolate cake and beer and I'm on this side of the computer with good friends, great horses and a Zen home.  

It may not have been the easiest year, but we found a zillion ways to make our relationship deeper, stronger, more connected and just cooler.

I'm also looking forward to this Stallion night.

****

And this bloody Coconut Oil is annoying me.

Mostly because everywhere I turn round, there it is in food and it's doing my head in, because I speak to so many woman who are over weight and trying to do the right thing food wise - eat healthy, do exercise, and it just doesn't work for them.  They think they are doing something wrong and they are not.

I cannot stress enough that when you eat Coconut Oil, it is actually worse than eating chocolate. The weight goes on quickly.  So that raw slice that you are having?  Not doing you the good you think.

I wish the Dietians and "Peeps who know things" got their head out of this damn headspace (I mean, ass) of Sugar is the Enemy.  Yes, I am the first to say that we have an obesity issue, especially with kids and I'm totally for, Don't eat junk food.  You know this.  But y'all standing there preaching Coconut Oil and Soy, and that dinasaur thinking of calories in vs calories out, well, babe and babette, you're part of the problem, not the solution.

Soy is doing you so much harm, causing sooooooooooooo much dysfunction around your hormones, which in turn de-regulates how you process food and the vitamins and minerals within it, which then link to tummy disorders, which in turn play with your head making it all a hot mess. 

Add in Coconut Oil as a gateway to opening up your fat cells, well, between them you have a recipe for fatness, obesity, depression and Mental Health disorders.

You deserve better than that.

Trust what your body is telling you.

Listen to how you feel after you eat something.  

Keep to the basics of, Eat as fresh as you can, learn how to bake again, and live the belief system of, Food either feeds your body or nurtures your soul.  

Stop letting other people tell you how to live your life, just because they have a degree or 4.

Grow some balls, and start fighting back.

****

Az is noticably better.  Not perfect, mind, but walking around.

****

It might just be a coincidence, and have nothing to do with that bloody peacock feather, but it has been a bloody brilliant week.

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Oh, and Chew and Suz are also up by the house.  

I would like to say Chew has learnt his lesson re feeder, but considering I caught him this afternoon teaching Suz how to tap it, I'm thinking no.

I moved the chook feeder up on the deck tonight.

****

Az is all good.

Ralphy's way better.

Boo-ba-licious is sulking.

****

So that's been our week:

Spirit have been, What have we told you?  Details...focus....pay attention to the littlest change...to the one thing that doesn't fit...

So there have been lots of lessons this week. 

But on a good note, we're past the basics and onto the intricate bits, which is cool.  Really cool, actually, because I love working like this.  Well, to be fair, who wouldn't?  It opens up so many new doors and opportunities and makes me step out so much of what I think I know, to the things that I really want to know.

Again, if you asked me what I have been doing, I would say, Nothing much.

But every minute is bursting with Spirit.  Or finding a bliss hour here or there of absolute Silence to recharge and rejunvenate for the next spurt.

Go us!

Big hugs and horsey kisses from us here, to you there.

Caps, me, Spirit, Az, Ralph, Chew, Suz, and of course, my beautiful Mumma Bear, Belle and Boo-ba-licious, Pat, Chuck, Daisy, Delilah and Donz and our chickens, Rose, Petal, Kai-Anne, Pepper, Lily, and Shelley and the 3 new cuties with no names yet.

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