Finding the Wonderful

As I've mentioned, I work in a public library.  To be specific, I work in the basement of the public library, which holds the reference collection, the movie, audiobook, music collections, as well as the public access internet computers.  It's a busy place.  Like any worker behind a public service desk, I meet many kinds of wonderful people.  I also meet a few kinds of people who need some more help to find their 'wonderful' side.

Last night, I might have met the Spirit of Christmas.

This cute little guy about six came up to the counter, reached up to hand me a candy cane and wished me a heartfelt 'Merry Christmas'!   My face exploded into a smile and I burst out 'Oh, thank you! Aren't you just a bundle of JOY?!!!'.  He absolutely beamed at this.  I saw he was carrying a big red-ribboned basket full of candy canes and was making the rounds to every patron and staff in the library.

There's the MAGIC of CHRISTMAS...I'm still smiling about this one. 

His mom that was standing quietly a few feet away deserves big kudos.  She's helped her son find that the true spirit of the season is to be found in spreading some Joy to his community, rather than spreading some money around the mall.

When I think about it, the more actions like this by more people and we could all move a little closer to our 'wonderful' sides.

 

Christmas has different meaning to each of us who recognize that day.  Some make the season last for at least a month of extravagant festivities, while others feel Dec 25th approach with a sad ache and feel relief on Dec 26th.

I don't think of myself as a religious person, but at times I find myself praying.  I follow a great cooking blog written by some lovely Mennonite women.  Every Sunday, their spiritual post is called 'Bread for the Journey'.  I did find comfort in their post this past Sunday.  Perhaps you will, too.

I Borrowed a Back Yard

It's very rare that we get away, but hubby and I managed to slip away to Niagara Falls, Ontario last weekend.  It had been 31 years since my last visit.



 



 

Niagara Falls is the Honeymoon Capital of the World. Ahem....it wasn't my honeymoon then, either.  This time, though, the hotel was significantly classier and the view from the room was much better.  Not the backyard that I want to wake up to on a daily basis, but for a night or two, it's wonderful.





 

 

We even paid $15 to park right down by the Falls on Saturday.  The trees were ice-covered, the walking treacherous and we got soaking wet.  No crowds, though! 

 

It was great to get away, even for a brief escape.  

 



 

I found this young partridge out and about in the yard today.  Looking for the pear tree perhaps?  (Not in this climate, buddy!)

 

I'm weaving bookmarks.  At one time, I thought weaving bookmarks or teatowels was a waste of time and talent.  However, over the years I have been given an assortment of handwoven bookmarks from weaving friends and I can remember their thoughtfulness everytime I move a bookmark from page to page.

The mint coloured bookmark was given to me by a weaving acquaintance a few years ago.  I am using her weaving pattern but using different colours of thread.  It's surprising how different they look.

About Ambition

There's been something rolling around in my head that I needed to get out.  (The few marbles that are left, perhaps! ;))  Since it's been about 6 weeks since I've been inclined to post, I thought I should just throw these words together and see what happens.  The topic is a bit rambling and a bit off my usual topic of fibre arts and farm life, so the pictures provide some eye-candy.

 

I've been thinking about 'Ambition' lately and my relationship with that word.



 

 Single ply pink wool

 

Growing up, did you learn to associate the word 'Ambitious' as a positive personality trait or a negative personality trait?

How did family, cultural and religious influences help form those beliefs?





 Single ply from handpainted alpaca\wool

 

As a young person, if you heard the phrase "She's quite an ambitious gal", did it carry the same inference as "He's quite an ambitious fellow"?

Was one comment negative and the other positive?

 



 After plying into a 2 ply yarn...next step a cowl perhaps?

 



What makes someone very ambitious to lead and excel, while another is content to follow and accept what comes their way?

 



 my softest handspun yet...perhaps the softest yarn I've ever felt!

 

What happens to a person's ambitions when life is derailed by debilitating illness or overwhelming family obligations.  Does the 'fire in the belly' just go away or does it slowly burn with frustration and anger?

 

 I love this nose!

How do Ambition and Contentment relate? Can a very ambitious person ever be truly content?  

Can we choose to live with either one of Ambition or Contentment?

Is it necessary at times to choose?

 

I love this smile (and even the stinky dogbreath)!

Does ambition have any value in a person who does not possess a clear goal?

I wonder what he's thinking?

 

I've only asked questions because I want to hear what you have to think!   







Photos and Pumpkins

 

I haven't spent much time getting to know my new camera, but I am still amazed at the difference in photo quality that the new, better technology and a real zoom lens makes! 

 

Sweet Banty Hen

(Miss East Ferris Township 2011)

Evil Killer Hen

(RunnerUp Miss EFT 2011)

Georgie

KaKocha's Nose

(yes, alpaca noses are soft!)

Not-Quite-Cured Pumpkins

 

My pumpkins did not quite ripen on the vine.  We've had heavy frosts lately which has killed the vines, so I picked most of them today.  There were a few already starting to rot in the garden.  From what I've googled, I should be able to 'cure' these ones so that they turn orange.  Regardless, if they don't get squishy, someone can make jack-o-lanterns from them even if they are green.

 

It's very cold and very wet this weekend.  I saw a few flakes of snow today.  Tomorrow, we have wood being delivered.  It's definitely time for toques and boots and hot apple toffee lattes!



New and Improved!

Yes, it's true. 

This blog is about to get improved with new photo quality!

Until now, all photos were taken on this 10 year old Kodak EasyShare...

which, if I say so, has been fairly good at producing some nice shots.  However, closeups were hit and miss.  Action shots or distance shots were almost impossible.  As well, the thing eats batteries, so I'd often miss great shots because I'd find myself looking at a dead battery light.

 

I've been browsing the sales for a while now and talking myself out of spending the money even when I did find a sale.  But today, I found a "deal to end all deals"!  It was meant to be and it's now mine! 

It was kind of overwhelming looking at all the components and manuals in the box when we brought it home.  Now I had to learn how to operate it!

I might have left it in the box for a couple days, if it weren't for techno-hubby going through all the attachments and settings.  So, before he laid claim to it, I grabbed it and headed out into the field to try some quick close-ups of fall's fading flora.

 

I think there is a lot of potential with this camera.  I have a lot to learn, but I think I have a good tool in my hands.

 

Tomorrow is October already!  Time to put away the garden tools and find those long johns...

 



Mostly Pictures

 

This is a bloom on a lovely rescued potted Gerbera daisy just prior to our killing frost last week.  My daughter is an optimistic saviour of all my neglected plants.  She takes  my neglected potted plants to the back yard picnic table and, whatever she does - somehow manages to revive them from brown, parched and wilted stems back into colourful, blooming life.

 

This year, she also planted sunflower seeds in pots on the picnic table.Her grandmother and I kept explaining to her that you couldn't plant sunflowers in pots - that they needed more soil to support the long stalks.  She persisted with her pots, but, in order to keep her elders quiet, she also planted a lot along the edge of the garden and various spots in the yard.  Guess what?  None of the sunflowers planted in the ground took (I think the chipmunks ate the seeds) but her potted sunflowers grew tall and beautiful.  



Some blueberry scones, just out of the oven. 

 My big boy Junior. 

 

His best pal, Sadie.

 

They have been here two months now and have settled in...to both the home and our hearts.  They are very good dogs.

 

The alpacas are still wary of them.   We don't bring the dogs into the barn or pastures yet.  The dogs will lay and stay on command at the barn door when I do the chores.

 

Smokey the cool cat is still in shock.  He still hasn't got over the fact that we are letting Mittens (the stray cat) into his house at night. 

 

We walk with the dogs around the outside of the alpaca pastures usually twice a day to go play ball in the back fields.  The dogs take the opportunity to do their 'business' on that walk.  I'm happy that they are leaving their 'calling cards' for the coyotes to notice.

 

The dogs didn't seem to know how to swim when we brought them to the lake.  This was very odd to us.  Being in Northern Ontario with access to lakes everywhere - it's just part of life with a dog to take them swimming.  It took a bit of play and convincing, but Junior now enjoys swimming to fetch.  Sadie will only go up to her chest, wait for Junior to go fetch the stick and then try to steal the prize from him before he gets to shore. 

Sometimes you make choices and just hope for the best.  These dogs were a very good choice for us.

Thanks for stopping by to read my blog. I always appreciate reading your comments.

The Year of the Humungous Garden

2012 was the YEAR OF THE HUMUNGOUS GARDEN here on our 'clay farm'.  I still planted my wee front yard garden at the house, but we also planted a complete small-sized pasture near the barn.

Then, like people who don't plan their time well, we let nature take over for the most part and tried to react.

I'll admit that we had no idea what we were in for.  We might have guessed by the gaping mouth stunned look on peoples face when they said "You planted that whole area?"

Well, really....how hard could it be?  Our collective grandparents fed their own families from their farm...and like, they likely didn't have a grade school education between them, eh?  Certainly, two successful (over-confident) college grads armed with Google and a library card could easily overcome anything nature threw at us, despite having only a lazy hobbyist approach to any previous food growing attempt.

Well, we've gained an education this summer.

Here's how it rolled out...

Corn - we planted 6 rows of 3 varieties - the one that didn't produce at all was supposedly specially developed for Northern Ontario. "Spring Treat" corn did the best, although here it was a late summer treat.  We ate quite a bit on the cob and I froze quite a lot of kernels.  I had a lot of cobs with uneven, undeveloped kernels and many little cobs that the chickens are now eating.   Next year, our goal is to get bigger cobs with even kernels. 

Potatoes - We planted a lot of potatoes.  We were encouraged by the lovely flowering bushes that came up and talked seriously about building a real root cellar.  Then, we were infested with potato bugs (well, not us but the potatoes).  I tried picking them off but I couldn't keep up (and boy, are they UGLY...horror movie UGLY).  We bought predator ladybugs and followed the directions on the bag...but alas, they flew away.  We tried different organic ideas and even resorted to some spray from the garden store.  It was an epidemic of grand proportion!  I stood in the garden with hubby and said something akin to "Wow...imagine if we had to actually rely on this food to see us through the year!!!" (The previous mentioned 'uneducated' grandparents had large crates of potatoes put up in their cold, dirt cellar every fall.  Hmmmm...maybe potato bugs didn't exist back then...) Anyway, the foilage was toast but we still dug up the wee little potatoes that we love to boil up.  Not the crop we aspired to, but we did enjoy what little we had.

Onions - minimal success.  I think weed control would have helped.

Purple Prince Turnips - I picked, cooked and froze quite a few of these, but they were smallish, hot tasting and not at all like the orange-fleshed kind of turnip I prefer.  Also, something enjoyed nibbling the top of the turnip when it started showing at the ground level.  Next year, I'll plant a different kind.

Radishes - Boy, we had a bonanza of radishes.  And you know...it's not easy to find radish recipes.  Why is it that the stuff that does well isn't the stuff you can preserve?

Spinach - We had lovely spinach for a long time.  I didn't replant for continual summer growth.  I didn't get on top of things to freeze spinach and keep the young growth coming.

Carrots - minimal success.  Weeding will help, but our clay soil is also so compacted the carrots were very tough to pull out.  What we have had was tasty though.

Cucumbers -   We've had a few cucumbers but considering the amount we planted, they weren't successful.  Something else out in the garden ate a lot more and left the bottom skin on the ground.  (groundhogs? )  We've had more cucumbers in the past week than all summer, so whatever was eating them may have moved on.

Beets - Total FAIL.  Some colourful beet tops but only little dried up roots.

Yellow Beans - I love fresh yellow beans and so does my family.  I've grown them in my wee garden and in containers on the deck, but I've never grown enough.  So, this year, I planted a lot..in my wee garden and in the HUMUNGOUS garden.  A LOT.  Then, with the dry spring, and dry early summer...no blossoms came.  I thought the bean train had passed me by.  A bitter disappointment, indeed.
Then, came the rain.  Then, came the blossoms.  Then, came the beans.  And more beans, and more beans, and more...you get the idea.  We ate a whole lot of boiled beans which we love and I blanched a whole lot of beans which will be great in the winter.  Honestly, the snow may fly before I want another yellow bean on my plate.  I hate to admit it but a lot of beans died in my garden because I couldn't keep up.

Swiss Chard - Did pretty well.  I don't love swiss chard but I understand it is one of the most nutrient rich foods in the garden.

Peas, Soy Beans, Lettuce - Total failure.  I suspect soil condition problems for this.  I've grown lettuce successfully in my wee house garden which is of nice, aerorated top soil.  Next year, I'll keep the lettuce in that wee house garden or containers.  We can only eat so much lettuce anyway.

Zucchini - I am destined to be a zucchini farmer.  This stuff took over (see earlier post here).  We ate zucchini in many different forms and I froze a lot of shredded zucchini.  We sold zucchini, gave it to friends, wrapped it as a birthday gift for co-workers, left it on random doorsteps and almost got arrested trying to sneak it into someone's gymbag at the YMCA.  I have avoided that end of the garden since mid-August...I know they are out there still.  And for whatever I took from the garden, there were twice as many that were half-eaten by some scavenging creatures out there (groundhogs? birds?)

Acorn squash - so far, so good.  Something is eating some of it, but leaving me enough.

Tomatoes - This was a great year for tomatoes.  We had our first frost last night, Sept 15th, so many have had time to ripen (and I covered the plants last night, so hope more will ripen).   Usually, I grow green tomatoes but only a few red.  This year was so warm, I even have tomatoes on plants that grew from last years late tomatoes that fell from the plant and rotted into the ground.  Rare in this part of the country to have tomatoes from seeds that haven't been started indoors.

Pumpkins - If all continues well, I will have about ten or so jackolantern pumpkins.  Currently, they are dark green, so with orange blotches.

So, it's been a learning experience.

The most important lessons are...
1.  Our soil isn't totally useless.
2.  The pump and hoses were a good investment this summer of little rain. 
3.  Weed control matters. 
4.  We are capable of growing food. 
5.  We have a lot to learn. 
6.  It takes time to harvest without being overrun. 
7.  Friends really appreciate your produce.
8.  Growing food for ourselves is a fun and rewarding family hobby.
9.  My kid has the entrepreneural spirit (she's already planning next year's sales).

I follow some blogs from some seasoned market farmers and the general conversation has been that it's been the toughest growing year for many decades.  So I take heart in that.

All this greenery will go back into the soil when we till it under for preparation for next year's garden.

To try next year:

1. I'll be propping up the beans - I saw a great idea to use cattle panels from Leigh at 5 Acres and a dream.  I learn a lot from her blog.
2. Try companion gardening - I knew about this, I just didn't plan it.  I'll check those books out of the library this winter.
3.  Use weed barriers.  Reality is that I'm not going to be out there weeding that large lot by hand.  The plan instead will be to use something like the alpaca fleece throwaways and cardboard as garden felts/weed barriers.
4. Have the plan for excess - which includes having the recipes ready, a sales plan and a giveaway plan to the soup kitchen or food bank.  (Part of the problem is that this food needs to harvested and preserved during the hottest part of the summer when I'm not wanting to boil or cook in the kitchen - I'll have to think about this)

Learn and improve.

Do Whatcha Wanna...

This is the title of the last episode of Season 2 of 'Treme'.  If you haven't seen the HBO series...and if you love Blues music, drama and don't mind hearing the 'F' word a lot- watch it!  The series begins in New Orleans just 3 months after Hurricane Katrina.  The people in the stories whose lives intersect are just trying to get their lives back together.  It's awesome and it left me searching my library catalog for other material written about the culture of New Orleans and the impact of Katrina on the people there.

'Do Whatcha Wanna'....

This is a hard concept for me and many people like me.
We understand the concept of getting a good education, striving to get a 'good' job, amassing wealth for long-range security (imaginary?) and juggling that with giving the best to your family and enough to your community.
Whew...what's left to 'Do Whatcha Wanna'?

For many of us, having a couple hours a week to pursue our passions is all there is.  If you are like me, carving out even a couple hours a week to 'create' feels like a luxury.  Sometimes there is a guilty feeling attached to taking time for myself to create something that will have no tangible value.

I envy those people who seem to know at an early age what they want to do - what they need to do - and are willing to sacrifice most other things in order to pursue that need.

I'm on the downhill slide towards 50.  It's taken me longer to realize that my life won't fully be lived unless I make time to 'create'.   Still now, it's hard to justify spending an afternoon painting or felting or writing when there is a to do list waiting and people or animals needing something from me.

Thinking about that earlier in the year, I connected with some like-minded artistic women to form a little art group.  We met once and shared some ideas and inspiration.  Great supportive women all of them.  We even made a silly name for the group.  The decision was made that we could arrange the time around my schedule of work and family life - since the rest are empty-nesters who are retired from their paying jobs.

Guess what?  I haven't arranged the second meeting.  No excuses.

What do YOU do to make sure you make time to 'Do Whatcha Wanna'?

Mostly Photos

I'm sharing a few pictures of the farm from this week.

We enjoyed a long Civic holiday weekend by just hanging around home.  It was perfectly relaxing.  The weather on Monday was perfect - sunny but not too hot or humid.

Here's a picture of my small herd enjoying the day doing what they love.

We put our hay in the barn early in the summer, but our back unfenced fields that don't get hayed do need to be cut to keep the bush from taking over.  Also, we use the fields for ball-play and walks with the dogs, so it's nicer to have the fields cut than try to wade through the growth.

My teenage daughter gets to use the newer model estate size tractor.  She loves being a tractor operator and she's very good at it.  This is a talent that she wouldn't have discovered by attending high school but I encourage her to investigate machine operating as a career choice. 

Hubby loves to drive his old (I can't recall if its 1939 or 1941..but it's old!) Allis-Chalmers that he fixed up last year.  In fact, it's got a small bench seat on it and sometimes he takes me for a romantic ride around the fields in the evening.  (My friend's partner has a new shiny convertible...I get an orange repainted tractor...)  It's bouncy!

The choke cherry trees are full of fruit.  We have a lot of these here which attract the birds, as well as bears.

This is a picture of the creek that runs between the house property and the barnyard.  It's very picturesque.  When I cross it, I am always looking to spot a beaver, ducks, muskrat, or other little creatures. 



We are harvesting our favourite summertime dish these days.  Fresh yellow beans, boiled and served with butter.  





By the way - my daughter's zucchini sales went really well and she had extra money for the midway!  She has the entreprenueral spirit and dreams of selling at the market next year ;)  Funny, she didn't find that talent at high school, either...

I could write further on that but...Oh - but don't get me started...it would turn into a rant....;)

What Makes The Heart Sing

Last weekend, I participated for two days of The Artist's Garden hosted by Ash Creek Pottery in Callander, Ontario.  This was the 10th year of the event.  It's a awesome event.  It's great to meet new people, talk to old friends and see some works from talented artisans. 

It was a hot, humid weekend with thankfully only a sprinkling of rain during the day and night (sorry to the farmers but scrambling to save my product in a downpour is not fun.)  I had the best spot for a booth, with nice breeze and guaranteed shade in the afternoon.  Plus, it was the closest booth to the tea room, so I was able to convince the church ladies to deliver the pie and ice cream when the mood struck.

It's always a lot of work to pack up my shop and set it up somewhere else.  Coupled with the effort to produce the product in my booth, it's obvious that I will not be paying all my household bills from my farm-based yarn business any time soon.  I hear a lot of comments from people who don't 'get it'.  People who don't understand why I would want to do it.  ``So much work``, ``so hard to compete with the price of imports``...yada, yada, yada.  I get especially suspicious stares from people I knew from my former IT career, where "billable hours" rule the day. 

Why do I do it?

Simply - because it makes my heart sing.

Sitting outside at this lovely venue, I spin the most lovely brown alpaca through my fingertips for hours (which is like a day at the spa for me).  Having three little talkative girls of 3 and 4 years old stand and watch my wheel for most of an afternoon and ask me questions makes me feel connected.  Hearing strangers complimenting my yarns, so soft and colourful, makes me feel proud.  I showed my Canadian made spinning wheel to a visiting tourist from Wales who is also a spinner.  I shared my weekend with other wonderful artisans and their family members who I now know just a bit better.

I don't golf.

I don't 'get it'.

But this...I do.

Recent additions to our household include two 3 year old German Shepherd half-siblings, Junior (sable on the left) and Sadie (black on the right).

We are really enjoying them after being dog-less for 16 months or so.
They are very well-trained and very loving to their pack (that's us now!).
German Shepherds are very intelligent dogs.  It`s important that they are kept challenged.
These two came from a young family who spent a lot of time training them.
Puppies are adorable, but being able to find these really super dogs already trained is like winning a lottery. 
At 82 lbs and 62 lbs respectively - they do fill up the house!
And hopefully I won`t be finding bear poop in the back yard anymore.

Jimena the alpaca kept a good eye on the dogs from the barnyard, alarming to the others quite often for the first few days.  She's calmed down now.  We've started walking the dogs through the pasture on their leads after supper on our way to one of the large back pastures that we use for off-leash exercise.  The alpacas are curious and wary of the dogs, keeping their distance and a fenceline between them.  Our other dogs never went to the barnyard or pastures.  These dogs are more intent on keeping an eye on  the ball-thrower ('Chuck-it') that we are carrying to the back field - they know it means loads of fun.

The chickens, though, are living dangerously.  The other night, when we entered the alpaca pastures to walk through with the dogs, the chickens all decided they were going to follow us out to the fields and walked with us like a gang of minions within the danger zone of the dogs.  I'm not sure what was going through the dogs minds or the chickens...although I am reminded how small a chicken brain is and perhaps how well-behaved a dog can be.

On the gardening front, we have proved that despite our lack of ability, our inexperience, the lack of rain, the groundhogs, the potato bugs, our lack of weed control (this gathers lots of 'Tsk, tsk'ing from other gardeners)...we still get to eat!
Think about what we can produce when we get better at this!!!

Despite making oven-baked zucchini sticks, whole wheat zucchini load with blueberries and pecans, garlic and parmesan fried zucchini, freezing shredded zuchinni for winter use and adding zucchini to everything I cook...alas, we are swimming (almost drowning) in zucchini.
My daughter thought we had found our calling when she discovered how many zucchinis were hiding under those big leaves. 
I've written enticing sales ads for the zucchinis that I've given away at work.
The neighbours don't eat zucchini apparently (what!).

But my daughter is an optimist and future entreprenuer.

Zucchini's for sale!!!

Trailer for Sale or Rent...

"Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let...fifty cents...."

Remember that song 'King of the Road' by Roger Miller?  I remember listening to the parents Country Cowboy album.

Well, it's my new theme song for the trailer by the lake.

YES, LADIES...the snake was back when we went out to the trailer on Saturday.

Curled up under my pillow.

And even though hubby had said he would "take care" of the snake, it wasn't to my satisfaction.  I envisioned that "taking care" of a snake would mean something that required a parental warning to view...kind of like a scene from The Sopranos.  I did not think "taking care" of a snake meant kindly guiding it to the trailer door and letting it slither back under the trailer (where it could find it's regular entry to its luxury home).

Arrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!

On a brighter note, we've been eating out of our garden.  Yes, we've had our battles with bugs, groundhogs, and drought.  The weeds also got the better of us.  We have a greater appreciation for our grandparents who grew most of what they ate out of necessity.

More on our vegetable garden experience in another post.

 A friend gave me some rhubarb, so I tried a new recipe that I found on Nancy Guppy's facebook site.  Nancy runs the Chapman Landing Cooking Studio in Nipissing, Ontario.  She's all about local food that's good for you and tastes fantastic.  I wanted to link to the recipe on her facebook page, but I can't find it on her facebook page now!  
I found out lately that rhubarb is packed full of calcium.  Good stuff.

I finished weaving my alpaca rugs and cut them off the loom.  I'm happy with them.  I will make a hem on one and just knot the fringe ends on the other.

Have a good day!

Forget the Fleece...

Okay, not really....but look at these eyes! 

He's still very much a shy mama's boy, but he's getting a little more curious.
30 lbs of adorable. (and yes, he does have ears... they are just tucked back.)
I'm currently calling him Joey...short for Copper Joe.  I say currently because I'm not sure if it suits, but I wanted the Copper part in there for his colour.

I'm beating the heat at Ralph Johnston's basement weaving studio these days.

I've woven a couple of alpaca rugs in plain weave.  These are the first alpaca rugs I have woven.  The thick rug yarn has a jute cord in the centre and weaves up very quickly.  I'm anxious to get some more rug yarn milled so I can experiment with different patterns.

I've also been using the heat as an excuse to lay around and watch some TV series from the library.  Laying around is a new art form for me...and I must say, I am learning to enjoy it.

 

Are you familiar with Downton Abbey?  I work part-time in the Audio Visual department of the city library and was quite bewildered by the obsession over the Downton Abbey series.  But now, I'm hooked into the characters and story line.
And, ER has George Clooney.  Need I say more?  The library owns fifteen seasons of ER...I'm only up to season four.  I do hope George Clooney is in all fifteen seasons.
Speaking of obsession.
Ahhhhhhh.

The eyes!
Maybe I should call the cria George.  Or Copper George.