Daily Parelli: Welcome

The Parelli's have started a blog. If you are interested, here is the link:

http://heartanddesire.typepad.com/heart_desire/

It is brand new, and not many posts, but I am certain that will soon change.

Update to Stop NAIS

This idea qualified for the 2nd round of voting and received 6,568 votes during that period. There will be another voting period upcoming. Stay tuned!

Help Stop NAIS

Last Call - Please Help STOP NAIS! Win the Change.org competition!

"Protect Our Food Supply - Stop NAIS!" is still in the running at change.org, but we need over two thousand more votes to make it into the Top 10 Ideas. And only the top 10 entries in this online contest "win" and have their ideas presented at the National Press Club on January 16th and advocacy campaigns organized to promote them.

The competition ends this Thursday, January 15, at 5 pm eastern time. In addition to voting for stopping NAIS, please forward this email to all of your friends and the people you know!

Step 1: If you are not already signed up for the site, register at: https://www.change.org/admin/sign_up

Step 2: Go to http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais Be sure to click the box labeled "Vote!" to the left of "Protect Our Food Supply -- Stop NAIS!" Leaving a comment does not count as a vote.

After you click the Vote box, it will change color and show "Voted." If it does not do that, shift your mouse a bit and click again, because it sometimes take several tries.

Step 3: Email all your friends, and ask them to vote also.

The most important thing is the number of votes that the idea receives. If you want to leave a comment after you have voted, keep your comment short and clear.

Remember that all of the ideas are competing against each other for one of the Top 10 slots.

This is a very quick, easy way to help us raise awareness about NAIS and potentially get significant new resources for this fight. Please go to http://www.change.org/ideas/view/stop_nais and vote now!

WHAT IS NAIS?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently in the process of implementing the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) through the States. NAIS is designed to identify all livestock animals and poultry and track their movements. When the program is fully implemented, the USDA claims that the NAIS will be able to identify all premises on which animals and poultry are located, and all animals that have had contact with a disease of concern, within 48 hours of discovery.
Read more

Design Your Own Trail Obstacle Course - Associated Content

Design Your Own Trail Obstacle Course
Easy project for building safe obstacles for the purpose of training the green trail horse prior to actually hitting the trail.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/85914/design_your_own_trail_obstacle_course.html

Making Chicken Diapers 1

It is a wonderful world we live in. Things like this give me a reason to get up each day and marvel. What next? My sister is a seamstress and has been requested to sew all types of things, but I have a feeling, this would be a new one even for her.

The link was forwarded to me by the author of a chicken guide that I will be illustrating again. I just mention this in case you had wild thoughts that I was sitting in the studio entertaining myself by Googling "chicken diapers." Not yet, but I might be tempted!

The Adobe House Project

One of my new year's traditions is to start, and maybe complete, a new artwork on the first day of each year. This year I have had a painting commission in my work que for, sad to say, almost a year now. The first day of 2009, I sat down at the drawing table with all my notes and reference materials and completed the second sketch of the proposed oil painting. I have not painted anything architectural for a long, long time. The saving grace is there will be horses in the painting. This time I think I worked out most of the kinks from the first preliminary sketch and have a more satisfying "cartoon" to base the final painting upon. The customer has some changes she will be sending and I will post the changes as I complete them. I have to admit, now that I have this started, I am anxious to continue and put some color to this work. Lots of warm colors offset by the cool shadows of the trees on the lane. Can a northern gal pull off a Santa Fe painter look?

Since I removed some trees from the side of the house, I understand there is another window that will be showing. I also need to straighten up the doorway lines it seems. They looked off, but held up well when tested.



It is something with the shadow on the door that needs the correction.

The horses will be redrawn to match actual individuals. The painting will be large enough, I hope, at 14" x 18" to include all the detail the customer is hoping to see. I got the impression this work was more about a memory and a feeling than the individual details, although the details seem important.

I can never remember for sure. Is it God or the devil that is in the details?

ArtCardsWanted.com

ArtCardsWanted.com.

ACEO cards for the collector on a budget.

About Art Cards

Just like sports fans collect baseball cards of their favorite players, art fans collect art cards of their favorite artists or artwork.An art card is a small pocket-sized piece of art. They are commonly know as ACEO (Art Cards, Editions & Originals) as well as ATC (Artist Trading Cards). ATCs are only traded between artists, ACEOs are normally purchased. They can be original artwork or prints/reproductions of original artwork. These cards are bought, sold and traded all over the world. The official standard size of an art card is 2.5" x 3.5" (64 x 89 mm) and all the cards on this site must meet this criteria. There are three main categories of art cards:



1. Open Edition - Prints/reproductions of artwork that is printed in the standard card size. Open editions can be printed and reprinted depending on the demand for the card. There is no limit to how many will be printed. This can also be a mini-print of a larger original artwork.


2. Limited Edition - This type is also a print/reproduction, but there is a limit to how many cards will be ever printed/sold. These cards are more valuable then open edition cards, because there is only a limited amount of each card that is available in the world. Many times, limited edition cards will be numbered on the back of the card.


3. Original Artwork - This card is a unique piece of artwork done by the artist. It can be painted or drawn, but it will be 100% original and only one card exists in the world. This type of card is the most valuable.

Dog and Horse Cookies

Christmas is the time for secrets and surprises. I decided this year to make many of my Christmas gifts for loved ones myself. As much as I wanted to write and share my ideas, the need to keep the gifts as a surprise was tantamount. First, that is what most gifts are: A surprise. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good. Second: I had decided to bake the bulk of my gifts. The need for secrecy here should be obvious. If my friends and family found out I was cooking, they would never visit during the holidays and there could be the possibility of restraining orders.

That is the reason I am sharing gift ideas with you now, after the main event.

Jet Ranger inadvertently gave me the idea. While he wants me to cook, many times the dogs are the final recipients of my efforts. My idea for gifts churned from this outcome. Why not cut out the middle man entirely? I would cook for the dogs! All the biscuits and cookies I prepared for the canine members of my extended family were tasted and tested by my own two dogs, Bella and Radar. Some even earned the "Radar Seal of Approval" if they were extra yummy. My friends and family with horses received home baked horse cookies.

I did a Google search and found a fantastic inventory of mini cookie cutters from Off The Beaten Path at (where else) http://cookiecutter.com

Here are my adaptions of the recipes:
Basic Dog Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup milled flax seed
6 tablespoons shortening
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon molasses
1/2 cup water

Mix dry ingredients well
Cut in the shortening
Add egg, molasses, and water, mix well
Knead dough lightly on floured surface.
Roll dough out to 1/4+ inch and cut into shapes
Bake at 325 F for 30 minutes or until dough is firm to the touch.

Garlic Bites
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup ice water
1/2 cup dry milk
6 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon honey
Combine flour, milk, garlic
Cut in shortening and honey until mixture resembles cornmeal.
Mix in egg.
Add enough water so that mixture forms a ball.
Roll dough out to 1/4+ inch and cut into shapes
Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Basic Biscuits
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup flavored liquid (broth, bouillon, etc)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Roll and cut into shapes
3. Bake at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes.

Microwave Biscuits
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup dry milk
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup quick oats
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 tablespoon bouillon granules
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup hot water

1. Mix flour, milk, cornmeal, oats and sugar
2. Cut in shortening
3. Add egg, bullion, and hot water.
4. Knead 5 minutes
5. Roll out until 1/4+" thick, cut into shapes
6. Microwave at 50% power for 5 to 10 minutes, rotating plate.

Garlic Bites and variations on that recipe were the favorites. I exchanged water for chicken broth, eliminated the garlic on one batch and stirred in a small jar of strained turkey baby food on another. i have left out recipes that I tested that bombed. The recipes that included cornmeal were not as favored as the ones without that ingredient. Your dogs may feel differently.

Each concoction had its own cutter and it's own bag label. Making up the names and labels are half the fun. For example:

I found one horse cookie recipe that worked well. One other one started out okay, but then did not keep well in the zip locks. The nature of the horse cookies made it difficult to use cookie cutters, so I rolled each treat into a 1/2" ball.

Horse Cookies

* 4 cups grain (like oats, steam-rolled- I used grocery store Quick Oats as I was out of steam-rolled oats)
* 1/4 cup milled flax seed
* 8 tablespoons unbleached flour
* 1/2 cup molasses
* 3/4 cup water

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl.
2. Stir with large spoon until mixture is the consistency of thick cookie dough.
3. Grease hands and make 1/2" balls and drop onto a greased cookie sheet, spacing cookies 1/2" inch apart.
4. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour or until crisp.
5. Remove from oven, and cool for 30 minutes.

Many of the cookie recipes I have tried in the past were not on any of my horse's preferred menu. These definitely are, plus easy to make and keep a supply. This became my recipe for "Yee-Haws." I am still perfecting the recipe for the "Whoa-Ho's" and I will share that when it has been baked and tested.



So start off the new year baking and warming up those kitchens! Remember, your pets can not file complaints or divorce papers for what you feed them!