We need rain!

I walked down the valley today with Charlie and Sven. 

My hiking pals in the summer meadow. Sven is easy to hike with. He never gets far behind and basically is a pain in the butt if I squat down to look at something. He likes to pull on my hoody or nibble the back of my baseball cap.

He is sure I have dog treats in my hair.
[Yes, he loves tiny little dog biscuits. A way to a goat's heart is through his tummy.]

His coat looks pretty rough because I used scissors the other day to cut out the burdocks he had stuck in his coat. He looks better once he sheds out.

Charlie and Sven have been best pals since Sven was born. Sven turned two years old in February and is achieving full size now. He is a La Mancha goat that was orphaned at birth.

Here is Sven at my neighbor's house when he was two weeks old:

Sven always cries out when he sees Charlie and I heading into the woods. He is a pain if I am working on fencing. If I set a tool down, he'll pick it up.
However, he is really nice to have along while hiking. He continuously checks in with me. Oddly enough he never wanders away.

But...he has no sense of Personal Space! 

The moss I'd photographed 3 weeks ago was turning brown. Brown enough that at first I didn't understand what I was seeing. Brown moss? I took a few shots of it so I could record it in my Naturalist Book. April 21st ~ moss going dormant from lack of moisture.

The skunk cabbage 20 feet from the creek was brown and the leaves stunted. Was this from the cold snap or the lack of rain? Questions I don't know if I can figure out. Perhaps it is a combination of both things.

The skunk cabbage was doing well in the Big Spring. But the water was notably lower in the spring than it had been weeks ago. The vibrant green moss on the logs was dry in places.

The marsh marigold was sparse. 

Our meadow pasture is dry and the grass is not coming like it normally does. 

I should just fence off the yard which for some reason is looking lush and long in places.

Then I remind myself that this is April still and that normally things are still brown and fairly dreary. Those warm days confused the trees and the plants. 

I looked back on past years and see that the pastures really don't get going until May so I remind myself to be patient and hope for some nice easy rainfalls.

Charlie and I are going on an adventure today. It is time to take the Subaru in for some work at the dealer. They welcome dogs at the dealership and even have a little dog park for pets. It is not unusual to find customers with their pets in the waiting room or walking with their pets to look at new 'Rus on the display floor.

Last time we were there together, one of the sales people let Charlie onto the sales floor from the dog park. I didn't have him on leash. Before I could grab him, Charlie followed the salesperson into a room where they were closing a deal.

The buyers asked Charlie if he liked Subarus. Charlie gave his opinion by squirming and looking cute.

I think everyone at the dealership also carries dog treats in their pockets!

Little Red Camera/Olympus Tough TG6

First an update on Sven.

I've taken a warm soapy washcloth in a baggy now each morning and have gently cleaned Sven's ears. He drinks his warmed water and stands quietly while I wash his ears.

So, who would have ever thought I'd be washing little elfin goat ears as part of my morning chores?

However, as we started our walk, I noticed that Sven would stop and shake his head. So I peered at his ears and the left ear was gooped up again. I cleaned it gently with my glove and then gently massaged it. More runny goop came out. It was not green or smelly. He shook his head again and loose goop flew. 

He then settled down to walking with me and browsing.

We ended up in the creek of course and the boys had some fun.

Apparently Charlie believes that Sven drops magic pellets of smart pills and I happened to catch him putting his nose up Sven's rear end.

That is part of the fun of having a pocket camera. You point and shoot and don't miss the goofy stuff.

We got to the frozen 'falls' and I thought I'd set up the toys that the boys from Missouri left me to hike with.  Every once in a while I take them on an 'adventure' and send the photos to the Doe Story page on FB so they can follow the adventures that their toys have in Wisconsin.
I thought this would make a nice Christmas Card for them.

Charlie ran over the ice and somehow made it to the leaves on the other side. Poor Sven, he tried to follow but ended up losing his footing and slid down this ice and into the creek bottom where he landed on his feet.

He stood up and shook his whole body then gave Charlie a look. I think the expression on Sven's face was 'YOU tricked me!'

I coaxed him to join us once more with a doggy biscuit. I had no idea that a goat would adore a dog biscuit so much! Good thing to know. Both Charlie and Sven love dog biscuits.

And then the two of them decided to help me rummage through my backpack.

I decided to do some experimenting with the Tough camera. Could I fool it into taking a 'longer' exposure? Indeed I could. I did this without a tripod, but it took me 3 tries. It is slightly harder to take a steady shot when a goat decides to taste test the straps on your backpack.

But I got the job done. I went to aperture mode bumped it up to f9 and lowered the ISO to 100 which gave me a shutter speed of 1/6th of a second. Just enough to get a little flow blur. If it hadn't been overcast, this wouldn't have worked.

I was happy with the result.

Then I tried out the macro modes.

Macro mode:

In camera focus stacking mode:

Pretty good considering I didn't have this on a tripod. And I am sure my hand moved. I'll have to really try this with a timer and a tripod to get a proper idea of how good it can be.

However, I did one last shot with Sven at my elbow.

I want to go back and try this one again...without a goat nibbling on my hat.
[Same mushrooms on 12-3!]

By the end of our walk, Sven's ears were clean. He was tired but more himself than he has been in a while.
I know he needs the walks just as much as Charlie and I do. He is such a character.

If I have to wash his ears daily in the winter, so be it.

He is a very sweet animal.

And there it is. A first outing with the tiny pocket camera. I did take a short video of Charlie running but it is nothing worth writing home about.

Now I need to get back to writing out some cards and searching high and low for my address book that I put in such a safe place that I cannot find it!

Snow Day!

Just last week I went and had new bindings put on the pair of non waxed cross country skis that Dad gifted to me years ago. I've hung on to them all this time because ... well, they were Dad's.
And today I had a chance to try them out thanks to Mother Nature dropping about 4 inches or so on the ground overnight.

It was like having Dad skiing with me in a way. I literally flew through the meadow with Charlie and Sven chasing me towards the woods. I'd purchased some 'back' country skis a couple of years ago for 'breaking' trials. They are wonderful, but lack the slide and glide speed of long skis.

It isn't exactly Goat Yoga, but Sven sure enjoyed the romp. Charlie chased along with his tiny legs. Sven got distracted a few times by some greenery, but always came along after I whistled for him.
Note the bright orange scarf. He is colored too much like a deer to go out during gun season of course. But I thought a sporty scarf on both Charlie and Sven would be fun.

I did a morning hike after chores and will look at some of those photos later. But this was the fun part. Walking the dog and the goat in the snow while on skis.

I walked with Sven and Charlie to check the mail and see if they had plowed the road on the ridge. They did. I checked the mail and didn't see anything. As I turned and started downhill I hear the mailperson come. They have a large Jeep Rubicon. I thought I'd stand and wait for the mail.

I have no idea what the issue was, but since there was unplowed snow by the boxes? The mailperson just made a turn around and left.

I was certainly perplexed.
The new hires for the rural mail carriers sure are picky.
I could have driven through the unplowed snow area easily with my Subaru, heck a regular car would not have had trouble.
Remember, this is the mail carrier that didn't think two fire numbers meant two houses.
These are the people that I had to draw a map for.
How odd.
Well, I've decided to put up a trail cam on that area for future reference.

I generally do anyway at different times of the year. I do have a good spot to put the camera that takes shots of the plates and vehicle as they come down the hill.

Sigh...
Anyway, the skiing even though it was not superb, was a lot of fun.

Goats, Campfire, and Cotton Candy

Saturday morning Daryl and his youngest daughter got up early and headed out to bow hunt.

Rich was sleeping, and the rest of the house was quiet so I grabbed my Nikon and headed out the door. I did have to go pick up milk at the little local gas station before the rest of the house appeared.

And why not enjoy the morning sunrise at the same time?

The photo is looking east from the ridge top across the Kickapoo River valley. New cell towers seem to always be popping up. I think they sort of ruin the pictures. I can easily erase them. However, they they are.

We eventually all gathered for a quick breakfast of 'whatever you can find to eat' and headed out to go to the Vernon County Fair.

As usual the last county fair in Wisconsin was packed with locals and visitors. There was the usual fair food that delights yet causes intestinal distress later. I didn't participate in the photography show this year. The time to organize my photos just wasn't there and my heart wasn't quite in it.
I did enjoy looking at the fair displays though. My favorite displays were those of flower arrangements, potted arrangements, and crafts.

I mentioned that I'd wanted to have a campfire in the evening. We could sit on chunks of wood and watch the full moon come up along with a nice small campfire.

The dogs and Sven joined us. It was an experiment which worked out very well. Charlie stayed very close and kept trading laps. Scout decided he wanted to go back to the house when the coyotes started to sing.

Sven hung out after he inspected the flames and decided they were not Goat-Worthy of tasting. One of the kids had a bag of Cotton Candy and Sven sought that out, grabbed it and walked away.
It led to a lot of laughter and the kids got it back.

They asked if Sven could try a bite. Yes he could. And Charlie wanted in on the action.
Sven's reaction was hilarious. He loved it. Of course! Who wouldn't like pure spun sugar?
From that point on, he kept circling and begging for candy until it was gone.

Sunday morning we took the dogs and Sven for a hike to the creek. After all, my friends can't seem to spend a weekend without going to the creek to check it out.

Apparently, Sven thinks that Charlie is HIS personal pal and other dogs need to leave his little buddy alone.

And of course, everyone including Sven enjoyed the creek. See him next to the Grace watching Daryl? He is a curious and fun companion to have along.

Sven browses as he walks and then trots up to the next person to see what they are doing.
Amanda set her waist pack down on some rocks.
Sven calmly walked over and picked up the pack by its strap then began to walk off.

A shout of "Sven! No!" doesn't faze him at all. He just gives you the Goaty Eye and continues.
I think the souls of goats are lovable imps.

How are the ribs? Wow, they were still terribly sore all weekend. Laying down to sleep and get comfortable is a challenge.

However.
I need to get over it and back into the swing of things.

I think I need a bit of goat 'lovin' and another campfire....

[taken by Grace]

Quiet time

I'm trying to carve out a bit more time for walking Charlie and Sven together.

It was a nice quiet walk with Charlie and Sven playing on the trails. Charlie would stop and listen to a chipmunk in the woods. Sven would stand by him and browse on berry briers or some other leafy bush and then they'd trot off together.

It appears to the casual observer that these two are pals and have a very close bond.
I know Dixie was very fond of Charlie but Sven seems totally attached to his dog pal. He cries when they are separated, yet if I tie them up in the yard where they can be near each other. They will actually lay down so that they are touching each other to nap in the sunlight.

Sven is like a rather large dog that is even better mannered than most dogs on the trail. He doesn't eat deer poop, he doesn't roll in stinky things, and he comes instantly when I whistle or call him.

He still has some of his light colored 'baby' coat left. I imagine as his winter coat grows in it will fall out. I like the funky colors it gives him right now.

Charlie still wears his little beeper collar on hikes. He rarely gets separated from Sven when we all go together. But it is nice to know I can 'ring' his bell if he gets into the thick underbrush and I can't find him.

We walked to the back of the property and I had some fluorescent spray paint I wanted to spray on the line fence. That is my next project is to fix the back fence. It is an old barbed wire fence, some of the posts can be reset and some of the wire may still be usable. I'm always up for a project.
I used the green paint to mark areas.
Sven decided to try and taste the paint on the posts. Silly goat. He has fluorescent paint on his nose now.

When I sat on a log to let my two companions walk around in the area, they both came and tried to get my attention. So much for sitting and mulling things over!

I walked down the hill back towards the creek. I'd told Rich I'd only be gone for an hour so I couldn't go exploring. Sven and Charlie trotted on deer trails and I could hear their bells. The bells are a stroke of genius. I can hear what they are doing all of the time without watching them.

I noted that there were a lot of maple leaves down with colors on them and some of the ironwood trees had leaves that were turning. Some of the black berry bushes had a tint of red in them.

Fall is coming.
Lucky me!
In one week, I've arranged for my winter hay, arranged for trees to be taken down... and while in town I even ran into another neighbor who said he'd come out with his chainsaw and truck to take firewood and help.

I found some very pretty white mushrooms at the creek bottom.

Well, let's say that getting down on your knees and scooting low is not always the thing to do with a Hiking Goat along.
Mr. Hiking Goat decides that he will practice Goat Yoga with you and that your back makes a perfect place to put his hooves while he nibbles on your hair and ears to .. let you know how much he cares about you.

I gave up taking macro shots and we just continued to walk slowly towards home.

When back on the big trail, Sven and Charlie played chase.



One thing I can say for certain. They wear each other out playing.
And that was the purpose of the walk, to give them some time to play and exercise.

I took a video with my phone but ... well for whatever reason, it won't download.
Suffice to say that it shows Sven and Charlie racing up together and back on the trail with their little collar bells merrily jingling away.

And that was my quiet time. Peaceful and full of smiles.

Walking the kids...

What can I say?
Play time with Sven and Charlie.
Always fun.

Phone calls and walks

The Ghost Plant or Indian Pipes are coming up! I love these things!

The shot below is 4 days later:

After leaving an early morning message with the Tree Trimming Service, a message with a neighbor, and calls to the VA, emails to one doctor, and re-scheduling appointments...and a run to town for groceries...

I decided to take out the dynamic duo.

I really don't like to wait around for return phone calls. However, I was smart enough to leave my cell phone number as an alternative to the house phone. I wonder? How many folks still use land lines? We decided to keep ours basically for 911 calls. I don't have to describe where I live, the dispatcher knows immediately because I am calling from a land line.

Anyway...

Sven deferred to Charlie, following him all over. He took turns between coming for a neck rub down and petting to trotting after Charlie. Sven is a great hiker and because he was bottle raised he is very attached to humans. The two of them are great friends and practice grooming each other. Sven will nibble around Charlie's shoulders and Charlie will lick Sven.

Below, Fleabane flower with a crab spider.

It was just one of those hikes where I walked the trail and basically followed the dynamic duo allowing them to pick the way.

I was trying out my converted IR camera and the 550nm filter. The filter works better with sunlight, foliage, water, and sky as elements in it, but I had to test it out in the woods of course. And why not?

The spectrum of colors comes out incredibly different than what a person could imagine.

Well this was not much of a shot...
But it turned out better in black and white...

and the Indian Pipes didn't reflect anything as they don't have chlorophyll in them so black and white was the way to go. They would have appeared blue otherwise.

After Rich's PT and the Nursing Home visit today, I think I have some free time.
I think I will head out on the bicycle and see what I can come up with.

The yard work is done and I have a lot of other small odd jobs that need doing, but for a most of them I need some help from the neighbor to get started.

I'm going to take the metal tracks of the skid steer and send it in for maintenance. I won't put the tracks back on as I don't anticipate driving through the soupy quagmire that Rich used to. But it may be handy to move some dirt for me!

Have a great day.

Whirlwinds...

Just this and that...

I've been hunting Morels like a mad woman.
Well, that and mowing the yard, trimming with the little mower and using the pony and goat for those impossible areas to get to.

Sven is in this photo near the light colored mule on the outside of the fence. He is trimming what I couldn't get with the mower.

I've been going to see MIL in the nursing home. She is sure that she is going home the very next day. She is fairly non compliant with the things she needs to do for her leg edema which is getting worse as her legs are starting to leak.

Our visits have been good, but it just means I need to pack more into the latter parts of the day.

Rich has been okay sort of. He is maintaining an slightly better attitude. I feel badly because I am running around like a mad woman outside doing as much maintenance as I can to catch up on these dry days.

This includes taking Charlie and Sven on Morel Hunts.

In two days I've gotten enough for two meals and have dehydrated some for use this winter.

I have been crazy busy this week.
But spring is quickly changing the woods...

And I have to remember to stop and take a breather and enjoy it once in a while....

And....
I'm off and running again...