Whether you are painters, quilters, bridesmaids, scrapbookers, sisters, cousins or just friends, First Farm Inn offers you a comfortable, relaxing, safe and fun getaway from your routine to laugh, chat and catch up with each other. 

    Four to six (we can make it a whole house slumber party and include more) ladies can take over the house, lay out projects out on the floors of the family room, living room and dining room table or use card tables and get down to work or play!  
    
     Chat, listen to music, snack and just have a great time escaping from the home front.  Three delightful quilt shops are within an hour’s drive.  Several big art and craft stores are within a half-hour.  Jungle Jim’s International Grocery is a fun day-trip unlike any other.

    Visit Rabbit Hash General Store, gallery and shops full of “what nots” then head into Burlington, stopping for a tour of the historic Dinsmore Homestead, then on to great bargain antiquing and lunch at the Tousey House.  Stop by the Gallery of Chocolate to stock up (closed Sun. & Mon.) or visit the Gap Outlet Center a mile up the road.

    From Dec.-early March, Perfect North Slopes offers great Midwestern skiing on discounted lift tickets from First Farm Inn.

    Hungry?  Follow our directions for a variety of food. Try Indian, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Italian or good ‘ol Midwestern steaks and ribs – all run by local people within a 20 minute drive. 
    
    Take time out for massages and hot tub time if you’d like, or just use the group’s energy and momentum to complete that project you haven’t had time to finish with all the pressures of home!  A short distance away, Citi Spa offers bargains on manicures and pedicures with massage chairs and foot spas.  They can schedule up to eight at the same time.

     Have a favorite movie you all laughed or cried over together?  Check out our video and DVD library and watch in front of the fireplace in the family room or in your room.

     We’ve even had girlfriends race each other in the rowboat vs. the paddle boat playing in the big pond!

     You know you always have the best times with girlfriends, get on the phone or email and pick out a date.  We can divide up the bill however you’d like, we just need one credit card to confirm the reservation.

• $108 per person for four to six includes two nights and two big breakfasts and use of the hot tub. 
• $160. per person for two nights, breakfasts, hot tub and a 2-hour horseback ride.
• $225 per person for two nights, breakfast, hot tub, ride and an hour-long massage.

Because we’ve spent so much time explaining the basics of internet marketing, free publicity techniques, how search engines work and more to friends and guests who own or are thinking of starting small businesses, we decided to offer a workshop that will go over those kinds of things. It’s really geared to the individual business, the person who has to wear all the hats and get everything done alone or with volunteer help – and on a limited budget.

When your days are spent creating your product or providing services to clients, it’s hard to focus on building your business.

This is your opportunity to invest a few hours and walk away with a marketing outline you can build upon. 

                2-5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31 
                First Farm Inn, 2510 Stevens Road Petersburg, Ky 41080

We’d appreciate it if you’d pass on the information to anyone you know who is thinking about setting up a website, wants to better understand how internet marketing works or is interested in expanding their small business marketing efforts while we have time before things pick up again.

We plan to keep the group small so we can interact and share ideas, and – of course – we’ll have an afternoon “tea.”
Please call to reserve your spot, or use paypal from the website.

For more information, call 859-586-0199, email dana@cincinnatiwebs.com or go to www.nkycs.com/SmallBusinessMarketing2010.aspx

In updating our list of family members this week, I removed four names of wonderful friends who are no longer with us. 

The one who’d spent the least time with us was Pepper, a stray Manx who arrived half grown a year ago spring.  We had her neutered and she took over the milkhouse as her home, refusing to let the other cats in.  This spring, about when coyote pups were being born and their parents bring them everything they can find, she disappeared suddenly and completely, likely a “coyote cookie.”

Our gorgeous happy, charming Fluffy dog turned 11 last September.  This spring she began having trouble walking.  As the summer progressed we visited numerous vets, finally finding one we trusted.  After verifying Fluffy’s X-rays with someone he considered more of an expert, he told us she had bone cancer.  All the painkillers we gave her couldn’t keep her from crying out in the night.

Skeeter was a big bay Quarter Horse who had just been with us a little over a year.  A career as a Western contesting horse had worn out his knees, so he was no longer rideable.  Glucosamine and MSM didn’t seem to help with three bad knees.   Then a floating bone fragment created more pain.  After trimming, his hooves quickly became misshapen, worn oddly from efforts to reduce his pain.  We added two “bute” (horsey Advil) to his daily diet, despite their negative side effects.  Then, probably trying to avoid pain, he did more damage to a front leg.  Soon he began walking to follow the herd rather than cantering away from the barn with them.  Sometimes he just stood in the barn and waited for them to come back.  He was in too much pain.

Seven’s Tiger was the Thoroughbred who came to us shortly after we moved here 12 years ago.  Because he was so skittish and unpredictable and I tried to give him back, but his owners refused to answer my calls…  He turned 30 in 2009.  While physically he was in better shape than Skeeter, his vision and hearing were deteriorating.  Always flighty, he was back to being nervous and spooky, even around those of us he’d trusted for years.  Always an auditory horse, he didn’t seem to recognize me even when I talked louder.

They were euthanized in late November. Their favorite mare and best friend, Ginger, stood between them until the end.  It didn’t affect her at all as they laid down under sedatation.  Then we took her back to the barn where she joined the rest of the herd.

For those who don’t know, horses are given an anesthetic that relaxes and sedates them, then a drug to stop their hearts.  Our vet, Dr. Donna Mather, like most, is extremely compassionate.  She had cared for these guys for years.  

Under at least Kentucky, if not federal law, it is illegal to bury a horse.  They must be removed by a service.  It all comes at a cost, although different county agriculture services subsidize it differently.  All in all, it costs several hundred dollars to have a horse euthanized and removed – which may be why some people let them die in pain and misery. 

A horsey friend said it best “better a day early than a day late” in making the decision to euthanize an animal.  We are lucky we can end their pain without fear and agony.  It’s always a terrible decision to make, but once you’ve been thru it, you know when the time has come.

         Make a vat of “Fat Burning Soup” and finish all the desserts off as the week goes on! 

This soup is loaded with healthy vegetables that will help you fight off winter colds.  It doesn’t have carbs – no corn, potatoes, rice or pasta – so you can fill in that carb hole with your leftover desserts! 

 The original diet plan that it came with had a whole list of things to eat each day, but if you fill up primarily on this soup, you’ll make up for some of those high fat, high calorie things that taste SO good.

 And this is good too!  It also freezes well.  If you have a vegetable chopping machine it comes together really quickly, if not, sharpen your knives and start chopping!

 “Fat-Burning Soup”

(Use a very large soup kettle or make half at a time)

2 lbs of carrots                  1 pkg.  onion soup mix   

2 cans green beans            2 green peppers

6 large green onions          1 bunch celery             

1 large can beef broth        1 large head of cabbage

1-2 cans tomatoes      (or 3 small cans not stewed)

Cut or chop carrots, add water just enough to cover and begin cooking.  Chop other vegetables and add to the pot along with all other ingredients

Boil fast for 10 minutes, reduce to simmer and continue cooking just long enough for vegetables to be tender.

Season with salt, pepper, garlic, curry, parsley, hot sauce, bouillon, garlic, onion pepper, basil, etc.  Whatever you like.

Bon Appetit and Happy New Year from First Farm Inn!

        Attending a session on holiday decorating at the Biltmore a few years ago, I was glad to find that people are teaching others to do what I’ve done for years.  It’s fun, it’s free and it gets you outdoors to appreciate the colors and variety of nature in winter.

        The first step in making a natural bouquet is to go shopping.  You need neither cash nor a store, but a child, friend or even a dog is a definite asset. An unmowed field, a country roadside, yours or another’s garden remnants, even some parks might offer materials. Wear gloves and take a pair of pruning shears and a basket or a bag.  

            Look around you, after a frost or two, notice the shapes and colors in what looks to the unappreciative eye like a field of brown.  You may find tall silvery thistles, milkweed pods, chunks of bark, dried Queen Anne’s lace, grasses gone to seed, interesting mosses, leaves with unusual shapes and colors.  Pick up whatever strikes your fancy.  

            In your garden, pick the flowery tops of chives gone to seed, dried okra pods, again – anything that looks “interesting.”   In the yard, notice stray branches coming off your evergreens.  The last time in the season you trim your taxus and other evergreens, leave some long sprigs somewhere, ditto with holly and red twig dogwoods.  

            


Variety is what you’re seeking.  Clip or pick different sizes, textures and shades of brown and green.

         Back at the house, select a container.  You can add water to a solid, low bodied vase or use a cube of florist’s foam as a base.  Start with a dense, bushy branch like a Norway spruce or pine.  Add items from your collection.  

        Remember that uneven numbers of things are more pleasing to the eye and symmetry isn’t necessary.  Think about where you’re going to put your arrangement.  Does it need to be one-sided or will it be a centerpiece, viewed from all sides?  If it will stay on the table while people are eating, it should be low enough to see over.

        Like more color?  Weave ribbons through it.  Add glass balls, mushroom birds or craft store items. Showcase your favorite heirloom ornament in it.  The possibilities are as endless as your creativity!   

Free Santa Horse photos of you, your child or family with the purchase of a gift certificate, overnight stay or horseback ride for two at First Farm Inn Kentucky.

Tired of traditional holiday photos?  Send a memorable picture with a Santa horse.  We supply a horse of whatever color you like best, a Santa hat and beard and you supply the smiles.  There’s also an elf hat or reindeer antler option.

Black and white, bay, strawberry roan Appaloosa, brown roan Appaloosa, blue roan, grey, tobiano (brown and white) – chose your favorite horse to stand beside or sit on.  Bring your camera or we’ll download photos from ours to your disc or flash drive. 

Gift certificates for riding lessons, trail ride lessons, and room nights are personalized for you and billed to your credit card.

While we've had sisters, cousins, quilters and small groups of high school friends, the Peaks Mill gang is the first girlfriends' getaway we've hosted for women tho met in elementary school.  
             After reuniting when they turned 40, the Peaks Mill gang has gotten together every year since and had a great time doing it.  Teresa just got back from Iraq and was so eager to do regular things that she insisited on washing dishes despite protests!   Sally flew in from California, tho her friends have flown out to visit her in Los Angeles other years.  Two could only join the group for one night, but came anyhow.

                 They had coffee on the porch each morning, visited Rabbit Hash, rode horses, enjoyed massages, sat in the hot tub, ate lobsters, drank wine and had lots of fun catching up on each other and remembering their school years!   

                 Peaks Mill is a tiny rural area just NE of Frankfort with a reputation for having the highest school test scores in Franklin County…tho the Peaks Mill girls didn’t claim to be stars in the academic realm.

After discussing horse feed in August with charming Michigan veterinarians on their way to and from a week-long Tennessee trail ride, I started reading feed bag labels. 

The last two winters had followed terrible summer droughts.  Going into winter without the fat built up over summer grazing, made it hard to keep the horses’ weight up to ensure they stay warm and healthy during the toughest part of the year.  I fed more grain than I’ve ever fed, but the horses looked worse and worse as winter progressed.  Despite having all the hay they could eat as well as supplemental grain, they didn’t recover fully until spring grass finally grew.

Our Michigan friends said that feed manufacturers, in their efforts to cut costs, are using things like sawdust and ground up paper as “roughage.”   Like for human products, ingredients must be listed on labels with largest quantities first.  Also, “real” products are listed with their real names.  It’s like the difference between buying cheese and “a cheese food” like those rubbery no-name cellophane wrapped slices.

Evidently most horse owners, like me, simply assume products marketed as horse feed are legitimate and healthy for their animals.  Most big companies that manufacture animal feed also make other things.  I suspect they’re putting real grains into other products and putting left-overs (with their tidbits of “left-over” nutrition) in horse feed.  This may have happened when corn and other grain prices skyrocketed due to gas prices hitting $4 several years ago.

So, I’ve been reading dozens of horse feed labels in an effort to find real corn and oats. No horse feeds at Tractor Supply listed corn, oats or alfalfa meal as ingredients.  Only one variety of “premium” feed at Orchlein in Lawrenceburg, out of more than a dozen available there (including senior feeds!), listed a whole grain as the first ingredient – followed by “by-products” of everything else. None of the feeds sold at Sam’s stores in the Cincinnati area list a single “real” ingredient.

Bi-County Co-Op in Walton had been shut down by the health department this summer for selling contaminated feed so I didn’t check there.

Purina Horseman’s Edge 12% Sweet Feed lists its ingredients as “grain products, processed grain by-products, molasses products” and a long list of chemicals and supplements.  Sweet Horse Feed marketed under the name Paymaster sold by Acco Feeds of Minneapolis lists “grain products, plant protein products, processed grain byproducts, roughage products, molasses products….”  To my surprise, TizWhiz, a nationally marketed horse feed, also failed to list any real grains. 

Our Michigan friends said they have feed mixed to order, so I found Laughery Valley Ag Co-Op in Dillsboro, IN.  They will mix a minimum of 500 pounds of horse feed at a time and have it ready in a half hour, which is the amount of time it takes me to drive that far. 

While the vets also talked about eliminating sugar from their horses’ diets because it makes them hyper just like kids, I like it to increase palatability for Seven, my old guy, and to make the glucosamine & MSM supplements stick to the feed. If I could cut sugar out of my own diet, I’d feel comfortable doing it for them, but I don’t see that happening!

So, I’m now feeding a mix of REAL rolled corn, whole oats, something they call a “balancer” supplement for horses and liquid molasses. Interestingly enough, it’s about the same price as I was paying at Sams – and much cheaper than the brand name products that cost significantly more.

(Be sure corn you feed horses is “rolled” or “cracked.”  Horses’ digestive systems can not process and get as much food value out of whole corn.  Before farmers had access to feed mills, they simply kept pigs and chickens with their cows and horses.  When the whole corn came out of the grazing animals, the pigs and chickens ate it. Animal Science 101 at Purdue has to come out every once in a while. ) 

While Seven may never regain his previous weight due to his advanced age, Sundance, our “cribbing machine” who is hard to keep weight on, has immediately regained what he’d begun to lose as grass slowed growing in September.

Give it some thought.  Pull the contents tag off your feed bag and make sure you’re feeding real grain, not by-products with little-to-no feed value that the company can’t sell at a bigger profit as something else!

People often indignantly ask “Why do you blindfold your horses?”

The facemasks the horses wear from late spring until the first frost keep flies out of their eyes.  Flies drink from the horses’ eyes and bite them – usually on their legs and bellies – to eat their blood.  They make the horses miserable, despite the spot-on fly repellants and fly sprays we use.  The masks are barriers that actually keep the flies away.

Fly masks are expensive, must fit each horse and should be put on each morning and removed each evening, so they are the mark of very well-cared-for horses.