Coffee Clutch with Dutch Henry: Simmering Soup

Monday, October 29, 2012

Simmering Soup

The worst of Sandy will likely skirt around us here in Appomattox VA, but still we have a cold a blustery day or two ahead of us. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who'll have a rougher ride than us ahead them …

Coffee With Kessy and the critters was a full house this morning. In times of nasty weather I like to pen Kessy in her stall, of course there's no door, just a strand of white tape stretched across the doorway, but the inside, behind the tape, it gets nice and cozy. I had hung the, "tape door" last night when I tucked her in with her night-night apple. It wasn't really raining yet, but a heavy mist had her wet, and the wind had started to pick up, and it just felt like she'd have a more comfortable night inside. So when I moseyed out this morning with my thermos of hot Folgers, she greeted me with a happy, hurry-up, nicker.

The chickens had all beaten me to the barn, too. Well, I was a half hour late ... Tigger and Miss Kitty, Saturday, too were all snuggled in with Kessy. The chilly damp air seemed blocked by the tape, falling from my back like a discarded wet rag, as I stepped into Kessy's bedroom.

Saturday began to bounce, wiggle and howl, doing his fine rendition of, "I'll dance for my breakfast," Kessy followed my every step as I fed Saturday, scattered the chicken scratch at the, "inside the barn feeding stations" (I have a few tucked away spots so they can peck away out of the weather on bad days) and filled her haybag. Then settled into my chair, which today I moved back in the corner out of the wind, and steaming coffee in hand, just took in the peacefulness of all of us snuggled together, out of the weather.

The wind seemed determined to reach inside, but the way I'd built the barn only allows, even the most tenacious fingers of cold and wet, to get more than a few feet inside, leaving plenty of space for everybody to snuggle. The bird feeders were busy this morning too, Cardinals, Nuthatches, Titmice and a Chickadee, too swooped in, feathers ruffled, to fuel up for the day.

After a nice morning Coffee Clutch I headed back to the house where, as I opened the door, I was greeted by the delightful smell of a pot of simmering vegetable soup. It's Ravishin' Robbie's custom to fire up a big ol' pot of soup on bad weather days. Ah, what a wonderful way to turn a damp windy day, or snowy blowy day, into a delightful, "snug as a bug in a rug" day ... Simmering Soup!

Be safe and God Bless!

2 comments:

AnonymousOctober 29, 2012 at 10:41 AM
So glad the storm will miss you Dutch. The rest of the folks are in my prayers.
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DarleneOctober 29, 2012 at 1:32 PM
Ummmm I can smell it too... Enjoy!
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Welcome to the Coffee Clutch

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch, a happy place to visit. I write uplifting stories about a wide variety of subjects from horses to birds and nature, to love and family and friends. Sometimes I'll post excerpts from stories I've written for Equine Publications. Sometimes I'll post about writing itself. Coffee Clutch got its name because I often write while enjoying my morning coffee in the barn with my mare Kessy, and all our critters. Join us here for fun conversation and stories I promise will make you feel good.

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This is not a book about riding, or training horses. It is a book on my thoughts, ideas and suggestions on how folks might find the joy in doing things for the horse, with the horses’ point of view as the leading guide. My hope is to help as many people as possible learn to hear the horse, feel their spirit, and in that way help horses everywhere. Over the years I’ve met and worked with remarkable people and horses who taught me about their feelings, their joys, their sadness, and their spirit. As a horse advocate everything I do is from the horse’s perspective, including this little book. Every story, idea, suggestion and thought on these pages will be to suggest and share thoughts and ideas on how to maximize a relationship between horse and human—from the horse’s point of view.

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