Visit and experimenting

Ariel, our oldest grand daughter came for a visit. She arrived on Thursday just after Grandpa finished up with his Hospice Nurse and his Home Health Aide. He was like a little kid in a candy shop. He was excited and beyond happy. 

Thursday night and early Friday morning there was a one heck of a noisy thunderstorm. The lightening shook the house a few times and the storms just kept coming through 8AM.

I grabbed this shot while on the porch just as it was getting light. I tried a composite of the clouds and the storm, but it was too dark and I had to retreat when the winds blew the rain under the porch roof. 

The color is bit off. I had it in the mode I shoot for starry skies which is a cooler temperature. The storm was pretty exciting for a while.

The really bad stuff with huge hail went south of us. We got 1/2 inch of rain which we really needed.

I had volunteered once more to care for my neighbor's cat and two dogs through the weekend. I love their pooches. Their pets are so well behaved. 

So when the storm was all done, Ariel helped Grandpa with his coffee and breakfast while I ran up and took care of the pets.

Here is the sun breaking through the fog
from the cold rain hitting the
warm soil.
The black dog is Rupert.
He is the happiest dog I've
ever met!

 

This is Tijo. I don't know if I am spelling his name right.
He is part Basenji. He has no bark.
He does squeak though.
I adore this guy. He seems to be 

standoff-ish. But once you are

pals, you are really pals. He is so

dignified.

No goofy wagging or 
bouncing. 
Just quiet closeness.

I don't recall this cat's name, but he is really quite striking.

I think he is also a special breed of cat. My 
neighbors ended up with him

because a friend moved and
her new place didn't allow pets. 
I think this cat likes me 

now, he no longer hisses 

at me. He wraps himself

around my legs.

My buddy Rupert.

See?

He is goofy and so darned lovable.

Ariel and I went to the indoor Flea Market just a short jaunt away.

We always like to walk around and browse at the things people want to sell. It is our thing. There are two indoor Flea Markets and a Resale shop in close proximity. 

Some of the stuff was pure junk. Some stuff was interesting. Over the years I've picked up a few neat things.

This time I purchased some toy related things and Ariel got a beautiful insulated water bottle thingy for a friend of hers.

I also found a unique metal chicken for my flower garden. We decided to do the other shop on Saturday morning.

Ariel wanted to make a cake for Grandpa and cook a special dinner. Boy was it ever good!!!

Since no one slept well with the storm on Thursday night, we called it quits early and went to bed.

This morning I got up before everyone else and went out to do chores. I noticed that the morning sun looked stunning on the daffodils next to the house. 

I thought. Goodness. I wonder if I can do an in camera Double Exposure? Like Anvilcloud!

I figured out how to do it. 

This is a shot of Virginia Bluebells and a shot of blades of grass with water droplets.

We hit up the other Indoor Flea Market and then headed home in time to make lunch for Grandpa. He had cake. Why not? Life is short. Eat cake first.

Ariel got ready to leave and both Grandpa and Charlie had the longest faces. She had planned her trip to see us for two days and be home in time to go to her church on Easter morning and join her family later on.

The visit was really quite nice. Grandpa was worn out but all smiles.

Tonight he sat at the table and kept saying how much he missed her and he couldn't wait to see her again. So sweet.

Charlie is pouting on the couch.

There is light...

I thought the Fireflies were done, until I walked out the other night at dusk to put the pony back in his pen for the night.

I thought I'd check out the meadow this time with a view to the northeast.

The old apple tree across the fence is in deep grass and brush. The photo is dark, but you can see that the Lightening Bugs were sure busy!

I then took the camera and faced it towards the evening sky. There was barely any light at all, but the neat thing about modern day cameras is that they pick up light better than the human eye.

The meadow's grass is pretty short here from grazing so I didn't see a lot of bugs lighting up. However the color of the clouds and the sky were beautiful.

I also could see the Big Dipper!

I set up for longer exposures hoping to get more Fireflies and more star movement all in one shot.

I used a 8 minute LiveComp exposure setting on the camera and hit the jackpot.

In the distance there was some lightening from a storm cell, I got the start of a star trail with the Big Dipper at the center, and the Fireflies showed up in great numbers. They also streaked across the sky in front of the camera.

Lucky me, I only got one airplane flying through the exposure.

I set up to do just one more exposure, but the Mosquitoes simply were not cooperative. I could have set the camera up and walked away for 10 minutes but I get nervous leaving the camera on a tripod when we have wildlife that move through the area.

Normally the bugs are not this bad. In fact, I think we are quite spoiled as we don't have lakes and ponds in our area, only rivers and streams. It does cut down on the bothersome skeeters.

Even sunrises are not so much fun right now. 

This was my Friday night attempt at a shots.

The crescent moon is on the left and my neighbor's yard light on their farm 1/2 mile away is on the right.
The fireflies are in the are down below. It was very warm and just after sunset. They were exceptionally active! I was quite surprised. The shot is taken over the mule pasture which is full of weeds and grass.

I turned north and spotted the Big Dipper just coming out in the dusk. It looks as though it is dumping right onto the spot where our house is!

As it got a bit darker, I decided to shoot a star trail over our house with the Big Dipper as the center.

Nah. I didn't quite get the Dipper in the middle and then I quit because no matter how many times I tried...airplanes had decided to use the north-south corridor in their flight pattern.

I tried several times only to continuously get airplane tracks.

One of the planes was rather low!

That is the bright white streak.

In my imagination ... later on. This could have been an alien ship trying to beam us up! Right?

Alas, it was just a small airplane flying low overhead. I imagine it was going to our tiny local airport which was having a pancake breakfast and fly in on Saturday morning.

I guess I'll keep trying.

Last night some storms came through to the south of us. I set up on the porch for a little bit to see if I could catch any lightening action.

Nope.

I did catch the night sky light up with lightening far off and some lightening bugs were busy in the yard.

It would have been cool to catch a lightening bolt.

I gave up and went in as the skeeters decided I was great food.

The night sky is a reminder
that even in the darkest
times.

There will always

be

light.

Wow...

Monday was such an incredible day. I woke up just before dawn. As is my routine, I go out to check the fence lines.

I've been trying to ID grasses so this bejeweled grass head caught my eye.

I don't know what grass type it is. I have to admit that I am horrible at ID'ing common grasses.

I spent about 10 minutes or so just trying to get a good shot of the droplets of dew. In the left side of the photo there is a mosquito that has had a meal sitting on the grass!

You might have to click on the photo to see it. This skeeter probably is the same one that was chewing on my forehead while I was trying to manually focus on the droplets.

I don't know what kind of bee this could be. I looked up 'tiny green bees' and ended up with an answer that ID'd it as a sweat bee. Apparently they also love nectar from flowers. I learned from an Entomology site that hunting for insects is best done in the early -- early mornings. Look for insects waiting on plants where the morning sun will shine and warm them up.
 

When Charlie and I got back from checking the forest fence, the sun was breaking up the fog over the neighbor's meadow. This is the view across the fence from us to the east. That tree was heavy last year with apples. 

This is one of my favorite wild apple trees.

Looks like I'll have lots of apples again this August to pick and juice up for jelly!

Another view through the fence line to the east. Monday was going to be hot and humid.

Not only did Monday feel hot and humid, it felt like ... as my Grandmother would say:

It is going to storm.

As is happened, the storm did edge around us and dump on a town about 10 miles away with heavy rain, wind, and hail.

We lucked out.

It was Tuesday that it was so 'stupid' hot, that I stayed inside and read a book.

Well that was something!

Three days ago, I found myself seated on the rocks at the bottom of my creek, creating a 'space' story against an 'interesting' backdrop. 

The creek bottom was my chosen spot, thanks to its cool rocks and mosses. I like this spot and use it often. I gives me a chance to get away from the house and enjoy some peace and quiet in the forest.
For the past 28 years, this area had water flowing through it. Not deep, just a few inches of water flowing over the rocks.

Now?

Anyway, I was literally able to sit on the rocks and arrange my setup in a dry section. Recent rains have cleared many weeds and rocks from the creek's bed.

24 hours later, the scene had changed.

And then, another day passed...

A boulder was moved along with several logs. It was the result of 3 inches of rain for the day's total along with one downpour that dropped an inch and a half in less than 45 minutes.

Yet, the rain performed its intended role in the Dry Runs. It cascaded through the boulders and 'washed' into the creek.

We call this event:  A Gully Washer

The heavy rain sweeps out the dry runs of old leaves and debris, also cleansing the creek beds.

I can't wait to return and discover the creek's new appearance once the water recedes. Observing the valley's subtle transformations over the past 28 years has been remarkable and it feels like Mother Nature puts on a show just for me. 
[not one other human aside from myself explores this region]

I presume the township will also have considerable work, given the damage the rain caused to our gravel roads. 

Welcome to the start of a new week.

From Sun and Warmth to...

This is Olive's little boy Aiden, we got to do some play time in the yard on Saturday afternoon.

Olive stopped by with fresh Eggs from her gals.

We had some rain and a lot of nice weather on Saturday. The daffodils even enjoyed it.

By chore time Sunday afternoon, they were not Happy Daffies.

The pine trees in front of the house were laden with ice and snow.

By Monday morning the snow was 5 inches deep at the bird feeder under the pines and knee deep on the hill behind the house.

The iris plants were partially buried.

I walked along some branches that were overhanging the hot wire they were drooping so I shook them and they rattled with ice. Some snow came off but not much.

I knelt down to get a shot of the Bluebells that were ready to bloom...

I went in the house to do something and suddenly the mules were running and snorting. One of the large box elder sections of a tree came down where I had been.

I shut the gate to that area and decided I'd deal with that issue when things warmed up which it is supposed to do this week.

I might have to check in with a couple of my ridge neighbors to see if I can barter or trade for some chain saw work.

From the extended forecast of rain from Tuesday through Thursday, it looks like I might just have to take hand loppers and and see if I can get the stuff off the at least one fence.

Perhaps I'll just ignore it today and just have some tea with Miss LaFleur.

So far...so good?

It was kind of a strange night... the winds picked up as it got dark out. There wasn't supposed to be lightening, but my cell phone lit up again and again with new warnings.
Lightening strike 1 mile from your location. 

Tornado watch until 11 PM. [Tornadoes actually happened, but not where I am]
High Winds Warning
Severe Thunderstorm Warning

I think my Weather Bug app just kept them coming. 7 notifications at one time.

I didn't really need my cell phone to tell me that something was going on. I only had to listen and look out the porch window. I could hear the howling of the wind above us and gusts of wind hitting the house.

I listened carefully. There are two tree west of our house that need to be taken down. Had the winds hit in July while they were full of leaves it would have been a different story. I'm positive the trees would have come down or portions of them would have hit the house.

At 5AM, it was 55 degrees here. Within two hours it has dropped to 30 degrees and the winds are still gusting to 45 mph. I think this is called a Flash Freeze. But at least we didn't have rain to go with it.

Finally it is just beginning to get light. I can see the mules and they are standing quietly in the shelter of the hillside. So far so good. I can see a bucket that somehow got blown up the hill to the north. Branches from the pines are scattered in random patterns across different sections of the yard. Some are scattered to the south east in complete opposition to the direction of the wind gusts.

There is a downspout that is not where it is supposed to be and a piece of sheet metal that moved from the junk pile to the outdoor hydrant. 

The mules will have to wait for their breakfast until the winds die down a bit or their hay will be blown away.

I wonder how many folks lost outdoor Christmas Decorations, you know, like those blow up Santas?

Stormy

Yesterday morning, the sky was interesting when the light started to appear in the sky. Ichecked the weather and apparently we were due for some storms on and off during the day.

I jumped in the 'Ru and took off to the ridge. I wanted to have some 'fun' with the Infrared camera as well as see a nice clear sky without smoke. Clouds and fog would add to the interest.

I parked and decided to walk up the road, that is until I heard the booming to the west.

I figured I had a bit of time before the storm would hit. So I hoped for a shot of some sun. I got fog.

I decided to head home. I didn't want to get caught in the storm and I knew Charlie would be having a fit if he could hear the thunder.

And then I saw the sun as the rain hit in big fat drops.

This became the start of a very long day of endless rounds of storms, lighting, thunder, and a quaking dog.

Thankfully, we were not hit by the rain like others were. 

Grabbed from VernonReportersPost on FB:

Because of the unique way our watersheds are situated, the intense rains were washed into other valleys and we were pretty much spared. Coon Valley, Chaseburg, and Avalanche were not however. Roads closed quickly outside of Viroqua as the flood waters drained down the hillsides and rushed towards the Kickapoo.

We got a total of 2 + inches in 24 hours. A tornado touched down in Boscobel and blew apart some buildings. Thank goodness no one was hurt. LaCrosse got nailed too.

This morning we had another round. Charlie got me up just as he was able to hear thunder in the distance. Other than being soggy around here right now, things are quiet for the moment. The storms may stay north of us which is good for us but bad for those in its path.

It looks like it might be a good day to stroll through the trails and see what the heat, rain, and humidity brought out. That is besides the skeeters.

Stay safe.

For those interested, the mighty muddy Kickapoo is quickly rising and doing its thing. The quiet little river always is ignored until a big hard rain. Then it reminds us just how powerful water can be.

Hot and Stuff

This is just going to be about things I've seen over the past week including things of beauty, things that make me curious and things I photographed just because.

Wednesday's storm front. I was on the way to CrossFit when I saw that I was driving into the heart of a huge cell. The closer I got to town, the meaner it looked. According to the weather service it was to go northeast of us. 
I don't like storms, I don't like to be in storms. 
I've been in two tornadoes and one really exceptional storm in 2007.

I pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed my camera. I only had my IR camera with the 850nm filter. It really only captures stark black and white and really highlights details in clouds. We had some winds when the front came through along with rain but thankfully no damage.

Other areas had hail and up to 3 inches of hard quick rain.

Shot of the neighbor's cattle pasture at dawn. Yes, the cow in the middle of the photo is pooping. 

Dogwood. I found some! 

Wild Grapes! They look plentiful and I wonder about making grape jelly.

That would take a LOT!

Sumac. It looks like it wants to start turning colors! Heat and drought stress?

Elderberry flowers. Most are done flowering now and the berries are turning dark. This one had a tiny bee on it.

Queen Anne's Lace in the meadow across the fence to the east of us.

Ohhhh!

Chicken of the Woods? I saw it, I didn't pick it because it was too beautiful. However I would like to have an expert by my side to try something like this. 

Apparently my soldiers will keep an eye on it. It was too bloody hot and stormy to continue wandering around the woods with the heat and 'thick' air. But I will get back to it!

Indian Pipes! Generally they grow near an old oak's roots especially those oaks that have 'health' issues. Interesting to note that so many life forms are so intertwined with the forest like that. I mean I knew it, but I didn't KNOW it.

Moving right along. 

Last thing. 

The storm Wednesday night. Uffdah. The winds were pretty nasty so it looks like today is my day to go see if trees fell on the fence. Our corn was flattened and I found branches this morning down by the stock tank which is over 100 ft from the trees in one direction. Branches were down in another direction too and some found way out east of the house. No damage to buildings but small branches on top of the shed too! Interesting. You may be able to guess what I will write about later!