Sunday, May 14

[gottawonder]

Today I am grateful for:

That my husband was able to talk a little longer during the day today, I needed it. There are times when I just feel so alone and I just want to talk to someone. Of my family, I really only talk regularly with Sister E and Trainwreck, and Trainwreck isn't always the person you want to talk to when you're trying to improve your outlook on life.

I did the dishes, vacuumed the rugs, did some laundry.

I spent a little time pulling grass out of the perennial bed. I really wanted to do more in the vegetable garden, but didn't today.

I went to see River, and did some different things with him.

I wasn't pleased that he ran back to his friends the other day when I was riding him in the pasture. Not good at all.

I decided to work with him today IN THE PASTURE to instill in him the idea that when I show up, we're on the clock, no matter where we are.

I did a little bit of ground work with him at Liberty out there, then I wanted him to walk with me on the trails through the bush, since he seemed concerned the other day about being "alone" there. I did it at Liberty so that if he chose to leave, he could, but then I would just go get him again and make him work where his friends were, and give him relief when we went away together.

He only left once, and I did make him work near the herd, and then we walked away from them. We walked around the bush trails together, and he seemed more relaxed.

I hosed him off in the barn so he would be cooler for the rest of our work, because it was pretty warm today.

Then we did our normal work in the indoor arena and practiced the pattern for Liberty. He is doing a lot better on the circled to the right.

Then we rode in the outdoor arena and worked on the ridden pattern.

When I let him go again in the pasture, he did what horses usually do, which is trot back to their friends. I want to teach him to wait for me to release him, so when he went back to his friends, I went and got him and walked around with him again at Liberty, away from his friends, and I took him back to them when I was done, and "released" him.

Overall, I did a ton of extra walking with him today. Whew.

I came home and didn't do much.

I'm trying to mentally prepare for going home to visit family in a few days, for our annual family gathering. I'm going to have to figure out how to eat in a motel room (there will be nowhere in that small town that I can eat healthy, it's all fried chicken and french fries). I will likely have a microwave and a tiny fridge, maybe I can bring a toaster and eat a lot of canned soup and microwave oatmeal? For a few days I can survive.

I learned that New Zealand did not have any native mammal species besides bats before humans brought cats, dogs, cattle, horses, rabbits, etc. with them.

https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/1/156

Comments

[ratunderpaper]

Before you go, you might buy a couple of your favourite burritos in town and pop them in the freezer. They should microwave nicely.

[gottawonder]

Thank you for the suggestion. I do plan on making some wraps for the road and keeping them in a cooler.

I pretty much can't eat most fast food anymore. Bigger places have some healthier "fast food" but you'd have to drive into the cities to find them. Small towns have typical prairie fare and truck stops. The only vegetarian food would be french fries or the world's stupidest salad.

[ratunderpaper]

That's too bad - I thought there might be some little mom 'n' pop places that make curries or vegetarian rotis - interesting food.

[gottawonder]

You've maybe never been to rural Manitoba. There are the little Chinese food places, and if I ask I could maybe get some plain stir fried veggies, I've done that (I'm pretty sure they were still fried with Chicken broth). Otherwise, "Prairie Chinese Food" is a cuisine all to it's own, mostly consisting of deep fried chicken balls, deep fried shrimp, other deep fried food, a bit of veg, and lots of noodles or white rice.

It's tasty stuff for sure, but not easy to fulfill both vegetarian and low carb.

Actual Indian food is a rarity outside of Winnipeg and Brandon. I think most rural dwellers would have never heard of Roti. Vegetarian as a deliberate menu offering, as in making it tasty and interesting, is rare outside of Winnipeg and Brandon.

I will be spending the week in the same small Southwest Manitoban town, and the nearest bigger town is over an hour away. This small town is not vegetarian or low carb or healthy food friendly. It's got Subway, a Chinese food place, and a Chicken Chef. The local grocery store doesn't even bother carrying things like tofu or veggie burgers, and I had trouble even finding a can of vegetarian soup that wasn't just cream of mushroom.

I bet there would be maybe ten people in that town that are dedicated vegetarians. Maybe. I'm guessing, because I've never met anyone else there who was a vegetarian.

[ratunderpaper]

The last time I visited Manitoba (Winnipeg, St. Boniface and some other place I can't recall) was when I was 16. That was a long time ago. I remember one of the Chinese diners you are talking about!