It's been a few days

I decided to divide my time between with some more fun with the Medieval Village.  After all, I have to do something while waiting for paint to dry.

Below. The Elfin Twins enjoy a morning chat with Charlie who happens to adore their herd of goats. Charlie wants the goats to come out to play. The Twins say, "Not today!"

Yet, this happens. Below Charlie explains to the Blacksmith that he thought he'd just take the goat herd for a walk. He assures everyone that he has everything under control.

Sometimes my brain does these things. It seems the chain of events just pops into my head and I have to set it up. 

Many Lego Photographers usually highlight just one character in a scene. I admit, that is much easier to do.

But I like to create a scene that shows more.

Lego 'portrait' scenes look like this:

I try to make the scenes epic. Well, at least so the viewer thinks it looks like something out of an epic movie.

I had a brilliant idea. Well, I thought it was brilliant. I took a Lego Building in a tote through the woods [not far from the house] to try a scene I thought of in my head.

I wanted it to look like it came out of the movie The Hobbit. I had everything set up and the sound of shots from a mile away echoed through the woods.

Charlie who was with me, jumped through the wizard's cart and knocked things around. I spent the next 20 minutes digging through leaves to recover minifigures. Charlie kept trying to get in my lap and shaking. 

So, my epic shot never happened. I packed everything up and walked back to the house. However..........

IF I go back to this spot after the hunting season is over, I will rake all the leaves away and prepare the sight for the next day that I can try this again. It will take quite a few tries to get what I imagined. I'd like to do this once more on a very foggy day and see what happens.

Note to self. Do not take Charlie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that was earlier this week and now I can make a quick comment the chair I am doing. I've gone with some blues for the main part of the chair with a 'shimmering Rose Pink' color for the very top. It looks red, but is a rose pink.

Gold and silver nobbies and hues of blues for the rest so far. I'll finish off the top and seal coat it before the weekend so the chair can be used if my youngest son and his crew come to visit.

My Lego build is going well. 

Here is a hint at what I am making:

Each day I think about getting out for a walk and just as I think I can go, I hear gun shots. Yesterday morning someone very close shot. Close enough for us to feel the concussion. The mules actually had a bit of a freak out while looking west at my neighbor's farm.

The next morning I got to see what the ruckus was all about.

My theory from the mess in the snow was that the deer that was shot at came through my winter fence and knocked down  a section by getting tangled in the hot wire. 

My mules took the opportunity to go looking for greener pastures last night.

They were fine and not too far off. They were in a section on a knoll which is not where I want them when hunters are out shooting.

They had gathered quite a bit of burdock in their tails and short manes.

They enjoyed their time out overnight and were happy to find a huge pile of hay with some grain in it when I walked them back to the winter pasture. They are good girls, I just came up and asked them to follow me back and they did.

Today is Thanksgiving Day. Normally we don't do anything after it became too difficult to haul both hubby and his mom to his daughter's house. I couldn't do it with wheel chairs, oxygen, and medications. So in the end Rich and I would have Lasagna, pie, and build Legos together.

I had an invite to go to a friend's house [actually a few friends from the gym invited me --isn't that incredible of them?--]. 

We've had a good friendship with Kristi and her family for nearly 10 years. Her husband was my husband's Hospice Nurse.

I'm pleased to decide to go. There was a point in which I thought I'd turn down invites so I could stay home and relish some time to feel sad and sorry for myself.

How nice. I'm not going to!

Tomorrow will be a busy day, IF my youngest decides to fight the snowstorm and come on Saturday, then I need to get some things on Friday. This means I will break my rule of NEVER shopping on Black Friday. 

But this year has been full of changes and adjustments for me.

Well I'll be durned!!!

Thanksgiving is generally the 3rd week of November right??? The third Thursday of November.

Deer Gun season always starts on the Saturday before. 

So I was talking to the grand daughter last night and she informed me that I was wrong! What? WHUT?

Well I looked it up and indeed, Thanksgiving is on the 28th. Duh. I was wrong wrong wrong. However, I did get all of my outdoor work done for the gun season I thought was starting this weekend. It isn't, so hurray for me. I got everything done a week ahead of time. That includes most of the ingredients for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Maybe I was having a Miss Merry Moment! 💖

Well, that actually made me very happy in so many ways! I have another 7 days of being able to go out to the woods and play! [Um, hike...I mean. Hike. Yeah.]

The trail cams have really been capturing a lot of very cool bucks doing some fun things right in front of the trail cam. I'm glad I turned on the option for short videos. It really helps me study what the deer are doing.

Two different large bucks are walking right up to a little branch in front of the camera and rubbing their faces on it. Later in the night there is a doe that stands under the branch and smells it intently. 

Does that mean that the bucks are leaving a scent on that branch as a message to the ladies? Maybe. I am no deer expert. So I looked it up. Bucks do rub their faces on branches to mark their territory. They also lick the branches to leave markers for the ladies.

Until I had a camera that could take some video, I had no idea. I knew the 'marked' territory, but I thought it was just like dogs and coyotes did. By peeing on things. In a buck's case, maybe peeing and scraping his antlers on trees. 

I learn something every day!

So this buck does exactly that .. and later on, a doe comes up to check it out! 20 second video.

I think this is the way the way a white tail buck leaves an email on his dating app!

Well. I'll be durned!

Have a neat weekend.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Over the years we have been so lucky to have the 'kids' visit during Thanksgiving, even though it was the Gun Season for deer.

Hubby generally had one or two deer that he was processing. One would be for his daughter and one for us. My husband's family grew up hunting deer. My mom's family did also. 

This photo is from my Dad's archives of slides that my brother scanned and saved. This would be my cousin standing in his yard after he and his brothers, father, and uncle had a successful hunt. I think the photo would have been taken in the mid 1960's.

Hunting and family get togethers was more of our family tradition for a long time. 

I have unscanned photos from many years ago with my young boys watching their grandmother process a deer. 

Anyway. Our country families were always brought together by the hunting aspect of Thanksgiving week.

That has stopped. The big draw was my Mother in Law, she'd always put out a big meal. She was one of those people that could make magic in a kitchen without seeming to make any effort at all.

When she moved to her apartment and started to decline in health, I'd make lasagna and take it to her place. The rest of the family sort of wandered away and did their own thing.

Geography played a big part in our get togethers.

Distance does that. Sometimes travel is fun and sometimes it is just too hard on those who would like to travel but because of health reasons, cannot.

I will remember past Thanksgivings fondly even with all the extra stress that was involved.

I recall the long road trips to my Grandparent's home and the fun we had with our cousins. All we have left are photos and distant memories now.

Here are a few photos of Thanksgiving pasts...when some of the grandkids were still wee ones.

They are grown up now and doing their own things...

Time moves on. Where did it all go?

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Quiet day

I was up early, not to put the turkey in the oven, but to have some coffee and breakfast before meeting up with my neighbor as we had both signed up for a fund raiser 'rowing' & movie event at the gym.

This is what greeted me while I walked up the road to catch a ride with my neighbor, Olive. I only had my cell phone and IF I'd had my camera, I would have been tempted to spend a good long time photographing different aspects of this scene!

Sometimes I wish I lived on the ridge...not during winds and storms though!

The gym owner is a fire fighter and very community oriented. The rowing event was conducted with a free will 'donation' in a little drop box where we donated money for a family that needed help. 

He put on the movie Elf and we started rowing. I had a couple of young sisters as team mates and we each rowed until we wanted a break and then the next person took over. It was fun. While waiting my turn I could catch up with other members of the gym that I hadn't seen in a while and talk with the sisters.

I couldn't really hear the movie, but it was fun to watch it anyway and visit. It is probably the biggest social event I've been to in the past few years.

When I got home, I found Rich doing this:

He had gotten bored while waiting and pulled out some pieces from the pie tin we had the bits in and put together little chairs. He did this without looking at the instructions of course! I was pretty amazed as he has terrible tremors which really frustrate him. But somehow he got this done!

I turned off all my electronics and spent part of the day cleaning and purging items from the closet under the stairs. I found a box that contained pictures and items that my brother had sent to me a long time ago. I'd put the items in the only closet space we had at the time.

Anyway I found some fun drawings I did as a kid. 

I recall being fascinated by the history of the Roman Kingdom and the violent world they lived in. Latin - Roman Wars -- drawings I did as a 6th grader.
I loved it that my Dad kept all sorts of our kid artwork. It creates warm fuzzy memories of childhood.

I found a beautiful blow up photo of my favorite shot my father took in 1965 of the after math of the eruption of Kilauea Iki in 1959.

Here is my shot from 2001 of the same tree

and a photo of us dated 1965 walking up the Devastation Trail at Volcano National Park.

In 2010 I went back with my father's ashes to put them in the place he was always the happiest.

Another trip down Devastation Trail was made and this was the result.

I think I need to go back and really get the angle right! Though to do so, I think I'd have to step off the trail. In 1965 that was dangerous as the lava field was apparently a bit sketchy to walk on.

The fond memories set me in a quiet mood. Some days I wish for those days again. You know, when we were kids and exploring as a family together. Pre Later Life Drama. 

I cleaned and vacuumed the tiny basement area while I dug out the Christmas boxes of stuff. I have no idea what I'll do this year for decorating. I'm going to lean towards a simple prelit and fake birch tree and go from there.

Rich took his afternoon nap and Charlie and I spent time snuggled and reading on the couch. 

The sunset was as spectacular as the sunrise:

BLTs for supper and an episode of The Santa Clauses Series on Disney +. We get good laughs out of the comedy Christmas programs.

Don't keep me IN!

There is not going to be a big ol' Thanksgiving deal going on here today. No turkey since I am cooking and dis--like Turkey. Mashed tators, gravy, chicken breasts with crispy ranch coating, veggies, and red velvet cake.

So I have no big prep to do. Thanksgivings here have generally been a chili meal while the Great Big Hunters go out and sit in the woods to return and tell of the big one that got away. [Reminds me of fishing stories] 

Other years I made lasagna. Super easy. One dish no fuss.

The past couple of days were crappy ...rain with fog. Absolutely perfect for going out to the woods.

I mean, I had to get out of the house. I felt closed in.

Besides, wanted to see how the M1 Mark III did in the rain. I know, ...take a digital camera out in poor weather? Well, it is made for that. For skiing and rock climbing, I will use the Tough TG6 pocket camera.

Olympus makes more than one camera that is weather sealed and they also make weather sealed lenses. Those lenses are generally a bit heavier than the light weight kit lenses that I use the most. 

Nah, you aren't interested in that!

So how did this camera work? 

A dull rainy November crappy day.

And the messy but wonderful creek.

This camera has internal ND filters that you can use. This photo is shot at 2 seconds. The water smooths out with that exposure.

Fog, rain, and snow. 

It gives the creek such a different look doesn't it?

Without the 2 second exposure, the creek wouldn't have been as noticeable.

I had to walk to the ridge to pick up mail and drop off some cards to be sent out.

Charlie felt it was a good day to be out and find deer poop to nibble on.

We took a trail that led us down through the woods next to the driveway.

Multiflora and Berry Brier tangles...

Barberry in the wild and very invasive...but pretty.

Duck this thorny stem!

And the Meadow in all of its Gnarly Foggy Rainy Glory.

Ewww, just not pretty at all right now.

Today? I'll be putting up a hay feeder for the elder mules. Taking Charlie for a walk, and probably talking to family.

One of my Fractal friends told me to download another free fractal program called Mandelbulber. I'm going to watch a couple of tutorials later and see what fun things I can discover.

A couple of photos from this same day, 14 years ago.

Grand daughter and Grandpa together.

Have a wonderful day however you are spending this day.

 

What about Thanksgiving?

I follow a few blogs and one thing that just came up for discussion by The Midnight Carver was Thanksgiving.

His post titled:  2020, The Year's Saddest Thanksgiving? Is a pretty good read. It makes one think. 

I can recall the year my boys and I had hotdogs for Thanksgiving. Their father was on duty and the boys and I thought it would be fun to have hotdogs and create our own picnic. Of course my ex gave me a dressing down for that. The kids and dogs didn't mind that we didn't have turkey and all the other crap that went along with it.

Thanksgiving.

I can recall as a child travelling 12 hours by car in the 60's...mind you, that was before the interstate was built...going to my Grandparents cottage to spend Thanksgiving with the Up North Family. My sister and I slept on the couch, I have no recollection of where my brother slept, or where my parents slept. 
We ended up at my Aunt's house where gobs of the family showed up. My Aunt also had indoor plumbing which was really nice.

We cousins were put in the entryway to the house at a couple of card tables and left with dishes that our mom's made up for us to eat. I can recall that we decided to take the squash [which was not up to our tastes] and stack it in a pile in the center of the table. We added things to our squash sculpture, like green beans, chunks of bread, toothpicks, and anything else we could think of.

We were having a grand time until The Moms came to check on us. Then all Hell Broke Loose. We kid cousins abandoned the table and went out to play in the snow on the hillside. Never mind the deer hunters. We escaped to the hill and used boxes as sleds. 

The Parents stayed inside the house and did whatever parents and family did on Thanksgiving. We kids had a blast. Playing dangerous games with our cousins was just about as fun as making Squash Sculptures. 

I don't recall many Big Family Thanksgivings after that year. The Sisters had a falling out and soon after we stopped the long trek to the North Land. 

I tried as a parent to participate in a family Thanksgiving with my Mom and Her Boyfriend and my Dad...sister...and her husband. It was awkward. My ex wasn't well liked so they berated me about him. Mom and Her Boyfriend got drunk a lot and my kids didn't like squash any more than I did at their age. My sister's husband was an Ass, but the cousin kids did get to play together and have fun. My poor Dad was there because he was included, but my Mom and Her Boyfriend couldn't help but take opportunities to pick on him also.

I stayed with my Dad at this house and truthfully, I think we could have had hotdogs and chips and been very happy.

This year?
It will be us. Charlie, Rich, and I. 

Thanksgiving doesn't bring about fond and warm fuzzy memories. 

To bring my mother's side of the family back together would require all relatives to leave weapons and attitudes at the door.

There won't be hotdogs, but we will have a nice quiet little meal. And it won't be a sad Thanksgiving as we are happy and thankful to be here for each other.

That is good enough for me.

Snow Storm!

Our tiny cottage as viewed from the open pasture south of the house.

And here are the mules having their breakfast. It was getting hard to find a dry enough spot to feed them since we had approximately an inch of rain before the snow began to fall. The snow was super wet and heavy.

They watch me come out with the 'hay' sled and follow me to wherever I am going to spread their meals. The three older mules follow me away from the rest as I set out their grain in their pans. It is almost funny as to how routine feeding time has become.

Charlie loves snow. He just loves to romp in it and stick his head under large clumps of grass. His sniffer never quits when he is out and about.

Mr. Sven was not having any of the blustery weather. He watched out his goat 'door' and stayed inside with his hay and nice dry bedding.

Charlie and I walked up to where the hill starts on the driveway to look up the hill.

It looked like a fine day to stay home and let mother nature have her way. The winds picked up and we headed back to the house.

Water was standing everywhere under the snow and the ground was saturated.

That wet spot in the driveway is something I hope to get fixed next year. In fact this section of the driveway needs new gravel as it turns into a mushy quagmire each spring that is nearly impossible to drive through until it dries up.

That brings us to today which is Thanksgiving.

No visitors, no family stuff going on today. It will be the usual fair.
Hubby asked for Lasagna for supper.
Seems when the kids were young we had company and now that the grands are more grown up everyone has their own thing to do.

Photo from 2006 Thanksgiving.

Have a nice day, whatever you choose to do.

Thankful stuff.

I know, it is pretty corny... every where I look on Social Media people are posting things they are Thankful for.
I wonder if sometimes we don't really lose focus of what Thanksgiving is really for.

Big Meals and Football?
That seems to be the thing. Turkey, dressing, lots of people, lots to eat, and so much chatter.
In years past we gathered at my mother in law's house. The family was not scattered as it is now. Family joined together.

In more recent years the celebration of Thanksgiving has become something else. After all, it is during The Big Hunt Season.

There is no family gathering. I mean, who wants to 'gather' at my house when you have to wear blaze orange to run around the yard?

[And that trophy buck may be walking through my woods???]

I'm not opposed to the hunting. I am opposed to many of the idiots who aren't careful while hunting.

I don't like turkey as a rule anyway. I mean I wouldn't object to cooking a turkey breast and having some stuffing and a salad, but not the monstrous turkey that so many have for Thanksgiving.

Okay.
This is the part where I'm supposed to be Thankful.

I am thankful that I am now home full time taking care of Rich and that I can be. I am thankful that we have great friends. I am thankful for my family who I miss.
Ugh.
This isn't going the right way.

I am thankful that the vet helped us with Morris and that I still have him with us being a nag. I am thankful that I could spend most of yesterday working on making the Christmas Chair again this year.
See?
I am no good at this.

Okay.
I am thankful that Siera is such a good mule that kids can ride her safely.
Hmm.
I am thankful that ... um.

Oh heck.
I think I should just quit while I am ahead.

There are all sorts of fine things that happened in the past year and I am just going to say ... life is not too bad.
And for that, I am thankful.

And...that's all folks!

I stole this idea...

I saw a post on Facebook titled FriendsGiving. My son was tagged in it and I realized that he and his friends must have gotten all together to visit and share a nice meal.

What a great idea.
Saturday is opening day for the annual Wisconsin Gun Deer Season. It is like a sacred day for hunters.
They clean their rifles, check their scopes, hang out the blaze orange coats, and make final preparations for the Big Day.

I normally do not go anywhere on opening day. Period. The shots ring out and the deer are running like crazy either from the Rut or from hunters. Last year two deer provided 6 people with enough meat to last one year. Imagine that.
The hunt season runs through Thanksgiving weekend.

Our friends from the other side of the state are coming out to hunt with Rich. Rich was sure that he'd never hunt again after his stroke. Yesterday he was busy getting things organized for opening day. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be hunting. Our K-town friends are coming for a long weekend.
This way if Rich does get a deer, we have extra hands to help.

Daryl suggested we do a *Thanksgiving* together. I saw the idea on FB and changed it up to *FriendsGiving*.
There is something good about being able to hunt to provide for your family. The deer population is quite large. Ask anyone who has had a deer-vehicle accident, and they will tell you how awful it is.

Anyway.
Friends. It will be nice to have friends to sit down with and have a celebrated meal together.

I can't recall the last time we had a meal with family on a holiday like Thanksgiving or Christmas.

The house is ready for the coming chaos of kids, dogs, and adults all going every which way. I'm looking forward to it.
This morning I'll be making some homemade bread, cheesy bread and cinnamon bread.

Our kitchen table will once again be graced by friends, we'll sit around the table and chew the fat. Everyone this evening will be talking about the upcoming hunt. I'll be doing the cooking and the chores.
The house will be full of conversation and laughter.

And that is how it should be.
I am glad I 'stole' this idea.

Make Your Own Thanksgiving Tradition

I'm not a Turkey person, however I will eat turkey and poultry IF someone else makes it.

I don't mind poultry in soup.  

Thanksgiving traditionally has Turkey on most tables.

On my table we have homemade Lasagna.  And no, I am not Italian!
Our Thanksgiving was going to be very quiet.  The neighbors were gone, and no one was coming to visit or have dinner with us.

And hubby was out deer hunting.  

I had done all the chores and put together the lasagna ... so what else was there to do?

I'd been cleaning this humongous house we have. The laundry was freezing on the line, 

and I needed something more to do.

Ahhhh!
I went out and found the antique cracked chair in the shed.

I had used the chair last year when making my 'Christmas' decorations.
Because our house is so small I thought I'd try something new.  I added an antique fruit crate this year.

I draped an antique bridle, and two breast collars to the chair.  Little by little I added a few things including my carousel horses.

By the time hubby came in to tell me he needed help bringing in a doe he actually got, I had put the finishing touches on both our supper and my new traditional....

Christmas Chair.

I think I'll continue to use this chair for decorations and have Lasagna for Thanksgiving.