My village can't be like this

Chapter 169

After Zhang An put the swallows in the nest, he went home and grabbed a handful of rice and put them on the wooden board at the door of the bird's nest.

One is to celebrate their return, and the other is to keep the injured swallow from starving for a few days.

Of course, it's best not to feed the swallows when they are fine.

Otherwise, after a long time, they will develop dependence, and when they fly south, they may be starved to death.

This board was nailed by Zhang An when they built their nests and settled down.

Because there are no poles and wires under the eaves of Zhang An's house, they usually have no place to stand.

Nail a board, when they are not in the nest, there is a place to stay, it is like a watchtower for them.

Hearing Zhang An said that Yanzi was fine, everyone was relieved.

Taking advantage of the time just now, Zhang Jianguo found a place to dig a deep pit for the crows that Huatou had already killed.

This crow is used to eating carrion, his body is full of bad meat, he is not willing to let Huatou eat it.

The return of the barn swallow can be regarded as a small episode in the family.

Everyone was very happy at first, but these few crows defeated everyone's interest.

But the way of heaven is reincarnation, and now they are all cleaned up by Huatou, it is impossible to jump around.

After breakfast, Wang Fang went out to the old house to see if the pair of swallows in the old house had come back.

Not long after Wang Fang went out, Zhang Jianguo came back from the outside.

He came back with a small bag of horseshoe nails in his hand.

"Dad, are you going to cut Dahei's hooves today?"

The horseshoes in this area of ​​Hongyan Town are cut by themselves at home, and there are no masters who specialize in changing hooves for horseshoes on the street.

But if you don't work for a long time, you won't be able to continue.

The main reason is that everyone is reluctant to spend money and would rather learn it at home.

In this way, you can buy horseshoes yourself, cut hooves and change horseshoes at home, saving money.

In the past, it seemed that someone specialized in sharpening hooves and changing horseshoes at the cattle and horse market.

"It has to be cut. When I took it out these two days, it didn't walk naturally. It had thick hooves. There were no nails at home. I went out and got some back."

Other people's horses are spent on horseshoes, while the big black in our own family is spent on people.

The horses of other people's families are all because the owner's family often uses them to pull carts and pack goods.

Therefore, after a long period of wear and tear, the iron horseshoe cannot withstand wear and tear.

Especially when the road was not built before, the dirt road was fine, and it didn't hurt the animals very much.

If the road is rocky, the horseshoe needs to be replaced frequently, otherwise it will hurt the hoof.

But Dahei from Zhang An's family is different, he doesn't often pull carts.

Except for using it more during busy farming seasons, Zhang Jianguo was reluctant to use it more at other times.

Basically, it is in the circle, or it is taken out to let the wind go, and it is very chic and comfortable.

So a pair of horseshoes can be used casually for more than half a year.

But instead of changing the horse's shoes, you have to cut its hooves. This guy's nails grow too fast.

If you don't run for a long time, the cuticle on the horse's hoof grows very fast.

If it doesn't get rid of this thing, the horse's shoe won't fit.

When this layer of cuticle grows, it will be inconvenient for Dahei to move.

Just now Zhang An heard his father say that it has been walking unnaturally recently.

This is the same as human nails, which have to be cut every once in a while.

In the past, Zhang An's family did not raise horses, so Zhang Jianguo and Zhang An would not cut hooves for horseshoes.

But if the family has a horse, this skill has to be learned.

At the beginning, you can ask the horse breeders in the village to come over and help cut hooves for horseshoes.

Then ask others to learn how to do it.

But you can't have to hire someone every time you change horseshoes and repair hooves, which is unreasonable.

And even if you have learned it, when you first start changing by yourself, you have to invite people to stand.

If you accidentally cut the horse's hoof, the horse will be useless.

"Father, let me come."

Zhang An is quite familiar with this work now, whether it is horseshoes, cows' hooves or sheep's hooves, Zhang An can repair them casually.

Zhang An put on a full-body apron, took the tools from his father, and prepared to start work.

Normal hoof trimming tools are generally pliers, hook knife, and scorpion.

Then add the mace at home, no matter how bad the sickle is, it can also be used.

However, in places where horses are professionally raised, these tools are divided into more finer details.

Hearing Zhang An said that he came to chip, Zhang Jianguo did not continue.

Anyway, both my father and I knew it, and when Zhang An cut his hoof, the family's big black horse became obedient and didn't move it.

Su Ying and Wang Min heard that the hooves of the big black horse were cut, but they had never seen it before, so they were very curious.

Watching Zhang An lead the big black horse out, both of them came over to watch.

When the big black horse saw Zhang An coming over with hoof pliers, he stood obediently where he was.

Zhang An easily lifted its right front leg and placed it on his knee.

Before sharpening the hooves, remove the old horseshoes.

For normal people's horses, just clamp them directly with pliers.

But Zhang An's big black horse has bigger hooves than other horses.

When changing the horseshoe, you have to cut off the tip of the horseshoe nail to cut off the whole horseshoe.

But at this moment, when Zhang An lifted the horse's feet, he could see a gray cuticle growing on the horse's hoof.

"No wonder it is uncomfortable to walk. The nails are bigger than the shoes. It must be uncomfortable to walk."

This thick layer of cuticle surrounds the horseshoe. If you want to remove the horseshoe, you must first cut off the protruding cuticle.

Dahei was very obedient, and Zhang An directly cut off the protruding circle with pliers, and only then did the horseshoe show its appearance.

Use the pliers to cut off the palm nail three or two times, and the hoof trimmers clamp it and pull it, and the whole horseshoe will fall off.

"Stay farther away, the big black horse will stink if it doesn't wash its feet."

Seeing that Su Ying and Wang Min were tightly surrounded, Zhang An was not worried about Dahei's rampage and hurting others.

It's just that the smell is not very pleasant, Zhang An is worried that they won't be able to bear it.

"Zhang An, the nail is on the foot, won't the horse feel pain?"

Su Ying looked at the horseshoe nails that Zhang An pulled out, how painful it would be if they were nailed to her feet.

"It's the same as manicure. If you don't cut the flesh, you won't feel pain. These nails are all nailed to its nails, and it's just a little itchy at most."

Horseshoes are different from cows' hooves. There is a V-shaped fork in the middle of the horseshoe. The inside is soft and it is very easy to insert foreign objects.

Right now, the inside of the big black hoof is full of dung, gravel and mud, and even its own cockroaches.

These things are why Zhang An said that horseshoes are smelly.

After scraping the hooves and forks with a hook knife, the hoofs can be trimmed.

Accompanied by a clicking sound, the original gray-black cuticle was cut off.

Every time Zhang An moves the knife, it is like art.

If it is in later generations, I will set up a video account for you, called Master Zhang who repairs the hoof.

If it is repaired in the hoof fork, it will save the trip outside.

Zhang An picked up the hoof trimmer and cut off a large piece of horse nail in a few strokes.

Then use a hook knife to repair it a little, and a white and clean horse's hoof came out.

Grind it with a file, file it, polish it flat, and then you can start horseshoeing

The old horseshoe had been deformed by Dahei's stepping on it, so it was obviously unusable.

Zhang An's family had already prepared a lot of new horseshoes, because Dahei's feet were extra large.

There are no shoes suitable for it in the town, so I can only go to the blacksmith shop and call for a beating.

In order not to cause trouble in the future, Zhang An hit a lot at once.

It took a long time for these horseshoes to come back, and there was some rust on them.

When Zhang Jianguo repaired his hoof in Zhang An, he had already put it in the stove and burned it.

Zhang An made these horseshoes according to the size of Dahei, so there was no need to adjust them.

It is just to remove the rust and play a role in disinfection.

If you really want to nail it, you have to wait until the horseshoe cools down.

As soon as you listen to horseshoe repair, you know that repairing takes the most time, and it only takes a few strokes to nail the horseshoe.

Zhang An quickly changed one, and then the other.

When the four hooves are repaired and new horseshoes are replaced, the work is considered complete.

Dahei seemed to know that he had changed into new shoes, and he kicked his hooves slowly.

There was a sound of kicking and kicking on the concrete floor.

"Is this the end?"

Su Ying felt that Zhang An was done before she watched it for a while, and she hadn't recovered yet.

"That's right, it only has four hooves, and they must all be replaced."

Zhang An smiled at her, "It's okay, I will tell you first when I repair my hoof, hahahaha."

Su Ying and Wang Min were fascinated by the two, which Zhang An did not expect.

When Zhang An was in his later life, he could watch hoof repair videos for an hour or two in the middle of the night.

It turns out that girls also like to watch this stuff.

Although Su Ying thought it wasn't fun, it actually took a lot of time.

This is still Dahei obedient, otherwise it will take more time.

After Zhang An was repaired, Zhang Jianguo brought Dahei back into the circle.

Zhang An swept the cuticles on the ground. He didn't know if he didn't sweep it, but he was shocked when he swept it, and the dustpan was full.

When cooking at noon, Zhang An told his mother to cook whatever he wanted.

Su Ying and Wang Min were also in high spirits because they agreed yesterday that they would have a barbecue today.

After lunch, Zhang An started cutting mutton for skewers.

Zhang An is ready, Wang Fang will bring Wang Min and Su Ying to wear it beside him, it's nothing to do with him.

"Just eating skewers is a bit monotonous, I'll give you some delicious food."

Zhang An sees that he doesn't need to do all the stringing things by himself now, since he is idle anyway.

"What delicious food?"

When Zhang An said to get some delicious food, both Su Ying and Wang Min looked forward to it.

"Hey, you will know later."

After speaking, Zhang An ran to the back ear room and came out with a bundle of hay.

"These grasses are the delicious ones you said?"

Seeing the hay in Zhang An's hand, Su Ying was a little disappointed.

"Don't worry, this thing is really delicious."

Zhang An found scissors from home and cut them into short pieces.

"This is jelly grass, Xiaoan." Wang Fang took a look and knew what it was.

"Yes mom, these are jelly grass."

These dry grasses are the fairy grass Zhang An planted in the space before.

After Zhang An dried them, he stored them in the ear room.

Speaking of which, since Zhang An planted this thing, he hasn't tried it yet.

"Is this grass really delicious? How to eat it."

Not to mention that Su Ying who has never drank milk tea does not know, even those who have drank milk tea in later generations will not know that this thing is the burnt fairy grass they drink.

"Whether it's delicious or not, you'll know later, hehe."

Zhang An cut all the jelly grass into pieces, put them in a bucket, and washed them back and forth many times.

While cleaning, let these sun-dried jelly grass fully foam.

When I feel that the washing is almost done, I start to drain the water, put it in a large pot and start cooking.

The pot that Zhang An used to cook the grass jelly was a large steamer that Wang Fang had just bought, and it was very, very large.

Fill a pot full of water, put it on the stove and start cooking. At this time, some edible alkali must be put in the pot.

Taking advantage of the cooking time, Zhang An poured some starch that had been whipped before, and mixed it with clean water.

After cooking like this for more than an hour, the water in the pot was full, but now it has dried up a lot.

But now the remaining juice in the pot has been boiled into a black gelatinous state.

When Zhang An was busy in the kitchen, Su Ying was really curious, so she ran in to see how Zhang An was doing.

"Zhang An, the delicious ones you told me about are probably these dark juices."

Watching Zhang An pour the dried grass and leaves in the pot on the gauze to filter, what was left in the end was a pot of black water.

"Wisdom, this thing eats this black water."

As soon as Zhang An finished speaking, Su Ying lowered her head and sniffed.

"Is this really edible? Shouldn't it be drunk directly? It's a bit strange, and it's a bit pungent."

The water boiled from this fairy grass looks like black Chinese medicine, Su Ying can't accept it.

"Fool, this isn't done yet, it's only half done, and when it's done it'll be like jelly."

Because Zhang An used gauze, all the branches and leaves of the grass jelly were filtered out at one time.

If a filter is used, the filtered water has to be filtered again.

Because the cleaner the filtered grass jelly, the more delicate, refreshing and smooth it tastes.

Worried that the grass jelly made later will taste weaker, so Zhang An mixed brown sugar powder and honey with water in advance.

Then pour the filtered black water into the sugar water that has just been reconciled, and put it on the fire to heat slowly.

At the same time, pour in the starch that has just been prepared with water, and stir while heating, so that they can be well fixed.

"Okay, that's about it."

Zhang An looked at the black water in the pot, which had already begun to look like a viscous jelly.

Just lift the pan off the heat and set aside to cool.

It's a pity that there is no fruit at this time, it would be better to squeeze some juice.

Although there is in the space, it is difficult to explain it out at the moment.

"This should be okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine. After it cools down, it will condense into a large piece, just like jelly, and it can be taken out and eaten at that time."

In fact, it could be put in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling, but Zhang An didn't do that.

Because when it is just served from the fire, the temperature is quite high, which is not good for the refrigerator.

In addition, the quick-frozen grass jelly does not taste very good.

Zhang An tried it in later generations, because it was cold outside, but it was still hot in the middle.

"Come on, it's getting late, we should go and light the fire on the grill."

(End of this chapter)