More cool spring flowers and trees...

Just fun things I found while out checking the meadow east of us.

Below is a little plant/flower called Pussytoes. [scientific name: Antennaria plantaginifolia]

Here is a few glimpses of what I also found while walking to the mailbox and back.

Wild Plum Blossoms 5/1.

Wild Plum Blossoms 5/5.

Spring Beauties

Macro of above flower....

Grey Dogwood

May is a crazy month for me. Fall in reverse! So many things are happening in nature that is can boggle the mind.

Trees produce new leaves and catkins. Other trees flower. On the forest floor ephemeral flowers appear and are gone quickly while other flowers and plants emerge.

I feel that if I miss a morning walk, that I miss many things.

I need to get back out to see how one of my favorite trees is doing.

The Hawthorne tree.
Its needles are sharp and the tree has an interesting shape, but the flowers they produce are pretty amazing.

These are just starting. In the woods nearby, I can only find one solitary Hawthorne tree as the other three have died.

Perhaps I'll go out this morning and see if the blossoms have opened yet.

Fun is...

...Cleaning up fence rows... in the woods.

Actually I didn't mind it so much. I really wanted to go riding, but also knew that it was a perfect day for using the nippers and the saw to chop down those nasty barbed briers and multi-flora rose bushes.

This was a tangled mess. And it is on a steep hill that runs into a little gully.
You can't bring machinery into the area and trying to use a blade attachment on the weed wacker would prove pretty difficult as the footing can be tricky also.
I brought a handsaw and a pair of heavy duty nippers.

I ended up using the nippers exclusively.

It is not a job for the faint of heart, the briers and thorny rose brush grab your clothes, your gloves, your pants...
I swear they are attacking you.

Bit by bit I nipped and tossed and went for the base of the bush. A few times I wondered if I shouldn't have hired this done and then discarded that idea. If you want something done to your satisfaction you have to do it yourself.

I spent 6 hours bending, nippering, and tossing small saplings and the thorny brush off from both the electric line and the barbed wire line fence.

I've convinced my husband that the Dexter Cattle should be rotated into this wooded lot. Dexters are excellent 'cleaners', they will glean most of the weeds that the mules and horses won't touch.
So we'll run an electric line on the inside of the hard wire to keep them from pushing on the elderly fence.
My neighbor has cattle also and his cattle rarely mess with the fence. However, the line fence does need replacing and that is a job that should be hired out.

I certainly am not one for stringing up 4 strands of new barbed wire for a half mile on each side of my property.

However, the job I did yesterday is done. Whew. That was some back breaking work.

Just some minor adjustments to these fence lines and things will be ready to move some animals out of their winter lots.

I hope the rain eases up too as things around here were still quite muddy as of Saturday.

The winds and low humidity yesterday helped dry out things quite a bit.

Next big job? Moving the gravel piles out of the yard and putting it back on the driveway.
Tuning up the lawn mowers, tilling the garden...


I guess there is never a day that I can't be busy outside.
Maybe that is why I like winter so much?

Tainter Hollow

After my haircut yesterday I decided to go to the Tainter Creek Public Hunting and Fishing area. There is a small parking area just past this sign.

For a while the area was trashed with remnants of little campfires and beer cans. After this sign was erected, I made sure to visit often and pick up trash.
Whoever was partying here has moved on and the parking area has been pretty clean for the past couple of years.

I call this area *Tainter Land*. There is a Tainter Hollow Road, a Tainter Hollow East, Tainter Hollow West, and a Tainter Road. These back country gravel roads all come in contact with Tainter Creek at some point.
Tainter Creek is fairly well known locally to trout fisher-people.

I like the area because it is so unique.
In the early spring the flowers near the parking area are amazing...

Last spring I found Trout Lilies along with the bluebells and other flowers.

Since it is early spring and the snow is gone, I decided to see how far along the creek I could walk.
There is a path that has been mowed, but it ends. I instead just made my own way along the creek.

The creek is clear and cold. Which I imagine makes it perfect for trout. In this shot you can see the tufts of debris still left on trees and brush from last September's floods.

I found a rather beat up soccer ball wedged in the roots of a toppled tree.

There was a beaver dam in this area last year, I don't know if the DNR removed it or the flood waters did.

I will let you enjoy some of the views I did.

 Oh yes...Val-Barbie shared the adventures!

I followed Tainter Creek until I came up on Tainter Hollow West at the bridge and then walked the road back to the parking area.

In the hours that I was there, I saw one vehicle. I think that must have been the mailman/woman.

Going to be busy.

While cleaning out the back 'almosta' room, I came across and abundance of seeds.
Apparently I am a hoarder of seeds and didn't realize it.
I have now located all seed packets past and present.  I have an ice cream bucket full of them.

Combine that with all of the perennials that I have yet to dig up before the remodeling starts and those I gave away, it is a wonder that I should even have a yard.

Well this year I am sharing my seeds and my neighbor is getting quite a few perennials as we thought sharing would be fun.

I know some of the seeds are old but I'll plant them anyway and see what happens.

I finally got some Stella Doros to plant.  I have always loved their cheery blossoms in the summer.
I look out my window at the place where we have our garden.  Last year it was used as a pumpkin/squash patch and not weeded.  It looks like it will be an intimidating job to clean up and plant.

I am hopeful though.  I have beets, lettuce, and green beans to plant.  

Of course then reality hits.  I have a mess in the driveway from the last big snow fall, I had raked and cleaned the yard already once and now need to do this task again.

It looks rather daunting.  I started work on it again yesterday until the rain/snow/sleet forced me back inside.

After it quit, I went out to do some more work.  Alas the mess had turned to muck and there was no raking or shoveling it.  It needs to dry out again.

Then there is hubby who is finishing up cleaning up the Dexters's summer pasture.  We spent a whole day picking up the last remnants of stumps and debris that we intended to take care of last year before he had to go through cancer treatment.

This section was the messy area. The tree stumps are those left over from trees that were damaged in a bad storm.

It has taken us quite a while to get it all cleaned up.

The rest of the cow pasture is in good shape.

As soon as this weather breaks, it looks like I'll be back to fence repair in the Merry Meadow.  The deer and coyote have busted some of the electric line on the second wire.  We have brush piles to burn and more trimming to do.
Oh.
That is to be done while we are remodeling, and somehow I need to stick gardening in there also.

Hmmm.  Don't forget work!

Looks like a very busy spring.  

Oh Beautiful Spring

Because of our crazy schedule this spring, I haven't been able to take as many walks in the woods as I normally do.

Yet I did get an hour the other day to walk around and take a peek at what was happening in the woods.

The Apple Blossoms had started [now they are in full bloom!].

The Cherry Tree blossoms are amazing.

I really need to get back out and look for morels and see if the Trillium has opened up yet.

They were just sleeping on Monday afternoon, ready to awaken at any moment.

I'd found Jack in the Pulpits emerging from the woodland floor also.

And then we have the wonderful happy colors of yellow. They are beautiful and bright against the new green colors of the grass.

Yellow Rocket, they are worthy of a photo before being pulled.

I love the cheery yellow against the backdrop of fresh greens.

I do love spring.
But then I love all seasons.

Foraging for Fresh Veggies

I wondered how long it would take me to find enough fresh food in the woods.  I had some Wild Parsnips in mind.  I wanted to stir fry them up with some Ramps ... also known as Leeks.

So Morris and I took off with a shovel and a couple of plastic bags.

Morris was very pleased to be able to get out and run.  He'd suffered too many days of staying in the house.  In fact one of those days he simply acted as if he were very depressed.

It was good to see him run happily around!

When things begin to get hectic around here, Morris will be going on vacation at a couple of different places.  He will go stay with my ex boss and his wife for a bit.  That means he'll be able to hang out at the Chiropractic Office and greet patients as he used to when he was younger.

Other arrangements include visiting with his beloved 'kids'.

Anyway, off we went in a hurry.  We were going to go pick up our new ride later in LaCrosse so I wanted to hustle and get some very fresh natural wild ... food!

I laid a 'picked' parsnip next to one that was still in the ground.  Doesn't look like much does it?  
Well when the Wild Parsnip which is an invasive species is in full bloom, they are nasty wicked plants.
In the spring, they are tasty wild morsels when cooked up right!

After gathering enough for a meal, rinsed the dirt off from them and broke off the tops.  I stuffed them in a bag and headed off to the patch of Leeks.

I took a quick glance around the creek bottom area.  There were a lot of deer tracks in the mud mixed in with some raccoon.  I saw no sign of coyotes.

I was pretty warm by the time I climbed into the Leek Patch.  
A few weeks ago they were just emerging.

Now it was a full fledged patch.

I climbed up the steep bank using the shovel as a walking stick.  Then I set to work.

I stuffed those in a bag and checked my watch.  I had to get home and walk up hubby from his nap so we could get a move on.

Of course, I did get sidetracked by the 'Pinks'.  I think the proper name is Spring Beauties or perhaps 'Virginia Pinks' which is their official name.

These are incredibly small and hard to notice if you really aren't looking for them.  But once you find a patch, it is incredible and awe inspiring.

I made it home with some time to spare.

I'd found fresh wild vegetables in the woods, rejoiced at finding Virginia Pinks, and delighted in finding several patches of Mayflowers coming up.

I didn't have time to seek out the trillium I'd found the other day to see if it was going to open or not.

That would have to wait at least two more days.

We'll be travelling for appointments today and tomorrow I'm busy with deliveries and my own doctor checkup.

But spring is here finally.
Which means I will go Morel hunting soon.

Even if I don't find them, it is fun to look.

Busy as a Bee...Blood Roots!

I didn't expect to find anything coming up in the woods at all.  But it was warm on Saturday and I was taking a break from working on cleaning up the veggie garden so I took a walk and found these on one of the rock outcroppings.

These Maiden Hair Ferns were just barely above the moss!

I cut across to the place where I figured that the Blood Roots would come up and Lo and Behold!

The Blood Root was up and looking very good!  I'm sure after this rain we'll have more popping up on this hillside.

We have Barberry growing like crazy in the woods.  Personally I dislike it.  It is sharp and an invasive species.  I clip and dig up all that I find on our own land.
But this is the first year that I've seen Barberry keep its little fruits while leafing out.

It is pretty but it sure is sharp!  I hate trying to wade through these when they are intermixed with berry briers...unless there is fruit on the berry briers!

My short interlude into the forest brought me some much needed 'peaceful' time to collect my thoughts and attitude before returning to the vegetable garden and transplanting perennials so the would be out of the way for when the house is re-sided.

However, I do love Nature's Gardens even if they are not always so easy to locate.

Today we have much needed rain so it looks like a good day to pack up things for Good Will and finish cleaning out the extra bedroom.

Hubby will be in Madison for a procedure and will be back some time on Tuesday.

Our elder Subaru is taking a quiet and slow road to engine death and our Jeep has a lot of miles on it.
This summer looks to be a real crazy one as far as travelling.

Hubby suggested that I get something new or near new because of the miles we will be putting on this summer.  Plus he felt I needed a 'better' vehicle for getting back and forth to work.

Hmmmm.  I haven't had a car that was less than 10 yrs old in I don't know how long.

Looks like the rain will jump start our tulips and daffys into blossoming.

Well off to chores and some whirlwind cleaning inside the little house!