Wet Weather

3:30 am on Wednesday...

Hannah started to growl and do some quiet 'woofing'. She was standing at the foot of the bed looking out the window.

I woke up and was surprised to see lightening and heard thunder. I grabbed my cell phone and checked the radar and the weather.

Thunderstorm warning with hail was expected shortly. I ran outside and moved my car into the machine shed.

After day break, I moved the car back out. The weather seemed to have passed over.

Two hours later? I moved the car back into the shed. Another line of heavy storms were on the way.

The dogs and I enjoyed some time on the porch with the cooler temps that the storms temporarily brought.

I had to deal with some little dog that once again tried to lick open her incision. She went out to go do her morning business and ended up chasing a rabbit through the mud with her pink shirt on. 

I grabbed Charlie's Hawaiian shirt [he used to wear that shirt when visiting nursing homes]. 

Charlie didn't care as he is not a dog who likes dog clothes.

She is darned cute with it on and doesn't seem to mind it at all.

I just want her to heal up and we can get back to our normal exciting life.

It was still muggy and humid, but I went to Kristi's. I wore shorts and decided to ride bareback. I found a blanket in my totes of horse blankets that Kristi really liked. Since I had one for Rich and one for me, I gave her this flag blanket. It looks amazing on her Black Bay horse.

Since we'd had so much rain we decided to ride along the dead end road to one of her pastures. I don't often try to take any photos while riding unless I have my point and shoot camera along. I don't like messing with the cell phone while riding. Especially bareback.

Halfway around the field Johnny was surprised by something and leapt sideways in a spook. Sunshine jumped to her left to avoid being bumped into. I caught some air over her back and amazingly settled where I was supposed to be.

The incident lasted less than a second and we humans looked at each other with surprise while our mounts just moseyed along as if nothing had occurred. What caused his momentary spook? We won't know but we were down in a field next to the forest.

I laughed and told Kristi that the ground there was soft anyway and I was riding a short mule. 

Despite the glitch, we had a nice quiet ride that felt so good. 

When I got home I found that I'd gotten a surprise package.....

How lucky can I be that I got a visit from a very good blogging friend!

Say hello to my friend Mary. She even brought a bench along so we could visit in comfort.

Thursday:

Overnight we had some rain. Okay, that is an understatement. By 6am we had 4 inches of rain, by 8am we had 5 inches.

The Sheriff just announced that there are roads that have had mudslides on them and that another local highway will be closed soon for water over the road.

Thursday seems to be a good day to stay home and go see what happened in the valley if the rain ever stops today. However, the forecast says that it will rain until some time on Friday.

If this keeps up, I will have to go empty the rain gauge. We are creeping above 5 inches and it is only 9am.

Just fun stuff ~ Rains!

This past week....

We got so dry once more. But that was good in a way as the farmers got most of their crops planted and I put off mowing the yard a few extra days.

I decided that a shaggy yard was okay since the price of gas was so high, I could mow it a bit less and not worry about how pretty it looked.

Now we are in a cycle of rain and rain and rain. 

Friday night we had close to an inch of rain with some incredible lightening.

Saturday was supposed to get up to 83 F and be hot and icky. So after sunrise, the dogs and I took a 'field trip' to our creek. There was a dual purpose to it. I could do my daily check on the mules and get the dogs some exercise before it got hot.

I made one more discovery. Hannah loves, loves, loves water. She paws it, walks in it, jumps into it, and plays in it. If I toss a rock into the creek and it splashes, she pounces on the splash.

Our creek is not deep in places there might be pools of water about 6 inches deep, but that it is mostly about 3 inches of water that tumbles over the rocks.

Alas, the creek is full of weeds and grasses from years of dry summers. It used to be a nice rock bed that one could pick their way through. Not any longer.

This is a photo of the creek in 2019 before years of drought.

And what the area looks like now.

I've watched the valley change over the years. 

I now fight through thigh high garlic mustard and in June, I stop going through the bottoms because of 5 foot tall parsnip plants. I have spent hours and hours clearing paths along the creek in my favorite spot.

The runoff from the fields around us drains into our valley and we get all the nasty weeds from our neighbor. The deer and other wild animals spread the seeds simply by walking through these patches.

Garlic mustard

The cattle from the two farms on either side of me are gone now and the lands around us have turned into 'wildness' and weeds. 

However, I still go out and enjoy finding amazing plants and scenery. The dogs don't care about trails, weeds, or flowers. They enjoy the smells and adventure.

I have to assist Charlie through some of the places now as the plants are up knee high to me or thigh high. I used to take a corn knife and cut a trail through the difficult parts. I may have to do that again this summer. 

This is part of the reason why I go to the Reserve or our county parks. The trails are mowed and we can walk on them.

But I do love our forest.

I'll keep exploring it as long as I can. The hillsides and upper forest have so many amazing things to see all year.

Maidenhair Fern

Golden Oyster Mushrooms

Reflections of the tree above in a small creek pond.

Mini-me and my backpack and camera

always searching for the next

shot.

This week we are predicted to have accumulated at least 4 inches of rain since Friday evening. Perhaps the creek will have plenty of water for Hannah to play in.

Wet and wild

This has been our world for the past week. Rain. Repeat.

Rain, dangerous winds, tornadoes, hail, more rain.

Repeat.

Fog.
Fog.

Rivers and creeks over their banks.

Below. Our creek and my boots.

The rain has been coming in the late afternoon and evening. 

The dogs and I [of course!] have been out to explore our creek. 

After years of drought, we now have water flowing again.

In the shot below, I'm standing in sucking silt and sand. Like a kid, I enjoy playing in the mud and muck.

After all. I'm still just a kid at heart. I enjoy a good rainfall and I enjoy puddles.

I felt it was a great time for my Mini-me and Mini-dogs to enjoy an adventure too.

Believe it or not, I finally found a Lego boat that actually floats!

The mini black dog with the red hat is Charlie. The other mini black dog will be Hannah. The current here was enough to move the boat and twirl it around while I squatted above the mud and took photos.

That may sound crazy to you, but play is how I relieve stress.  Hiking, Gardening, and play are the things that keep my mind safe and sound. 

Another nice thing for this week is that it is TOO wet and rainy for the scrap dudes to show up or to have any more landscape work done here.

I haven't been diligent about recording the rainfall amounts. Let's just call it ... A LOT.

My yard squishes in many areas right now and low lying areas have standing water. We've had so much rain that I don't have to fill any of my water tanks for the mules. The grass is growing like crazy and I can't even think about mowing unless I have 'water wings' on the mower.

So, we go hiking, do errands, and seize the day. 

False Morel
Gyromitra caroliniana

Multiflora rose bush leaves
sharp pointy stems!

Flat backed millipede
[recommended to leave it alone]

Cool places to wade in and get muddy. 
This is our valley which is very steep.
You can see the trees above in the 

reflections.

Frustrated Mini me who is not quite tall enough 

to get a nice shot of Spring Beauties.

Some of my favorite spring
flowers.

Spring Beauties.

Last night's storm front coming in. It is a time lapse 38 seconds long. Just sort of fun to watch the clouds and how the mules enjoyed rolling in the mud to help their coats shed.
This is the view from my porch facing south west.

The dogs were rather tired last night... and it is sort of nice to see them asleep together [which was by accident].

Wednesday deserves another Uffda. At least no tornadoes or dangerous hail happened, but we got....

this.................

Uffda may be used in Norwegian as a response when hearing something lamentable (but not too serious), and can be translated as "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that".

Bye bye...

The road bans went off and Frank [the plow guy] came over to pick up the skid steer and its attachments. I took a shot through the window as he was taking the huge and heavy post pounder.

It made me very sad to hear that engine wind up and know it would be the last time I heard it. Hubby loved that piece of equipment more than he loved [cough cough] his wife??? Maybe not, but it was his the one piece of equipment he adored the most.

I told Frank about the guys taking my homemade post pounder and he told me about how he made his own too. He described the very same method that Rich used. When he pulled out the skid steer, he forgot to detach the battery tender and destroyed it. He sheepishly offered to pay for a new one.

I asked him if he could make me another homemade post pounder instead. I'd call it even as I had another battery tender in the basement for the 4 wheeler battery that I take out each winter.

Yes. Soon I'll have another handmade t post pounder! Color me happy!

He then purchased a whole roll of barbed wire and gave me the going price for it even though I'm pretty sure that Rich probably got it at a huge discount years ago.

We discussed demolishing the busted garage and then regrading the area between the house and the old garage. Frank explained it all giving me a vision and direction that I could not have thought of. It will improve the drainage around the house and will improve the view from the house. [Imagine not having to look at a busted up building and seeing the forest instead!]

I got an odd phone call a bit later. It was from the Glen the Bow Hunter who leases the land next door. He sold some more 'property' in Kenosha and needed to invest it so avoid taxes. He offered for the fourth time to buy my farm and let me live on it.

I cannot see how that would work for me. I'd feel like a tenant that could be evicted at any time. So I explained to Glen that the farm is in a trust. I didn't give him the details but said that would complicate things.

Besides, once I have excavators, the bulldozer, and the forest mulcher jobs done, along with the scrap metal cleaned up... I am going to enjoy this place and its uncluttered beauty until I decide the place is too much for me.

Thursday was the ice storm. It was awful. I did watch small branches fall from trees when the winds blew.

The 12 hour rainfall with the ice was nearly two inches.

Apparently we are to get more Friday evening with heavy rain and damaging hail and winds.

March sure left like a Lion that was very pissed off.

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter Weekend.

Come on Spring!!!!

End of July

What does the end of July bring? Well, lots of flowers are blooming all over my yard. 

The hummingbirds and humming bird moths are crazy busy sucking up that nectar.

I put morning glories in several places this year. I put one right outside the porch door and let it climb up a shepherd's hook. 

Most of the flowers in front of the west porch area were variations of blue this summer. Of course, the Morning Glories take the cake!

 

July usually gives us a rest from mowing with a dry spell. Not this year. Mowing has to be done every 5 to 6 days. Maybe that is why I feel so behind on things. Days of wet, days and days of rain. No dry spells for the farmers to make hay.

The sunflowers are blooming too along with my Brown Eyed Susans. This is the first time I've grown them and they are doing so well.

In fact, they have been home to some elusive Crab Spiders. 

They hide under the petals of the flowers and wait for a meal to drop by. They are ambush spiders that don't create webs to catch their prey. 

August will bring the Orb Spiders out in force in the Meadow just east of us. That will be incredible to see again this year [hopefully]. Thousands of Orb Spider webs sparkling in the morning dew.

Air Quality was a huge factor on and off for July. Well, for this summer. Wildfires in the States and Canada are obviously contributing to the horrid atmosphere. However, the mules are pleased to be wandering a clipped pasture. The blueish haze is smoke.

We got a trip in to Cabela's yesterday and drove through driving rain. Hubby looked at the fish in their giant fish tank and was not impressed since he couldn't have any to eat.

On the way home, Steve as always took the scenic way home which includes as many back roads as possible.

This was a shot I took of the ridges above Prairie du Chien as we headed home. Shooting out the back window of a moving car is pretty challenging.

That's smoke too.

Today is much worse as the sun looks brownish and the haze is thick and smells bad.

Challenge Challenge...I like Challenges

My first 'new' challenge I made up was to only use the Lensbaby lens for walking around with Ariel on the evening of the 3rd and the 4th.

We headed past the shady garden and the late evening sun just glowed on the tall phlox. 

We walked out onto the ridge where there was a nice breeze. Ariel wanted to get in some walks while she visited. We'd set Grandpa up with a TV show or two and we headed out for our walk. It was still hot and muggy, but my 21 year old 'kid' walked with purpose.

This is something she has started to do for herself. Walking. What a great idea. I haven't been too motivated these past few weeks so it was a delight to have a companion to walk with.

Below is a Lensbaby shot of a hayfield getting ready for baling. It is being cut wayyyyy late this year due to the fact that this 85 yr old female farmer has to hire out for these jobs. Some jobs she can no longer do in a timely manner.

I've always loved this view though and on the 4th, it was stunning. We even stopped and visited with Olive for a few moments as she was out bottle feeding their new calf.

Ariel and I chatted about nothing important. I'm sure I sounded like an old fuddy duddy just rambling on about farms, skies, plants, bees, flowers, dogs, and life in general. But Ariel and I have been pals since she was 4 years old and started spending overnights with us on the farm.

I think even though I am not biologically her true grandma, I am her grandma [along with her two biological ones]. I'm the different Grandma. Which is cool. I play, I hike, I like the outdoors.

When we came down the driveway towards home. We admired the way the sun was going down in the sky.

I had to try a 'sunset' shot with this odd lens.

So.
This is considered an 'Art' lens. It was probably the cheapest ever lens I've acquired. It takes effort to use it as everything has to be manual. 
I never thought of it as being a landscape lens ... but then... I really loved the shots I found just walking with my granddaughter.

 Ariel had to go home and wanted to beat the incoming rains and storms. When she left, I felt. Well. Honestly? I was like Charlie...
I wanted to pout and look out the window too.

Eventually I decided to try some more challenges after I did my normal housework and cleaned up an accident by hubby. 

Funny thing. When Ariel visits, she has a quiet calming effect on me. I feel more relaxed with her around. There are moments we can sit on the bench on the porch and not say a word...just watch the clouds, the birds, and be content. Her company is comforting. We can just 'be' together and not impose on each other.

She even jumped up before me and assisted her Grandfather with little things.

She took these shots when I was doing a fly spray wipe and clean up of the mule gals.

In the distance you can see Lil' Richard grazing on the hard to mow hillside. Charlie is watching Sundance who is pawing impatiently.

When the rains moved in, I thought I'd try getting some shots of the garden while it was raining. I could squat under the porch roof and get some shots.

Not shot with the Lensbaby as I needed some reach to get out where it was raining.

Then I switched over and had some fun mixing a Lensbaby shot with a photo that I took of the same spot with my 90mm macro lens.

In essence, I made a double exposure from two different types of photos. I really enjoyed how it turned out.

I then took a double exposure with the Lensbaby ... this was okay...

There is such a subtle difference it is hard to spot. But the one below is made to be softer and more like an impressionist photo. I did that in my old plug in of Topaz Studio 2. 

This last shot was taken on the spur of a moment. I had some flowers I picked and arranged on a large wooden spool.

I don't know why, but I certainly loved the look. 

It reminded me that on these really hot and humid days, I could be practicing some more Still Life images with flowers, vases, and maybe not toys....

I'm digging the Lensbaby because if I get it right, there is nothing else to do to the shot. 

It also gives me a new way of looking at things and a challenge to do it well.

I like Challenges.