Hello Winter

with darkness...and cold.

You have a certain appeal for me.

No flying skeeters and No-seeums. Fresh cool air. Cold crisp nights and days. 
Warm blankets and a cuddly dog at night.
Candle light.
Soups.
Stews.

Frigid winds. Leafless trees.

Bitter.

Bright clear sunshine on cold days. Low slanted sunny days.

Ice.

Snow.

Colors of delight in 

the forest

of invasive Barberry plants.

Glistening paths through the woods with a happy dog who also loves cold weather.

The pleasure of seeing the moon in the morning through the naked trees.

...and now in the logged area of the forest...

magical morning light as the sun comes over the hillside.
 

Welcome winter. 

You are a good friend.

November is also...

A time for cleaning. Like Spring Cleaning, but Fall Cleaning. 

Thursday was a get 'er done type of day. Now I am no fixer type person like Sandra is. But I'm in the same kind of mood for cleaning and organizing. I think many of the other Bloggers I follow [and some I just visit regularly when I can] are all doing the same sort of thing.

Sorting.
Cleaning.
Organizing.
Getting our indoor lives straightened out so when the frigid air comes, we can enjoy our comfy spaces.

I cleaned the walls, tore everything out of the closet of our bedroom and separated the clothes that would go to Bethel Buttik [they pronounce it Boutique!]. I donated the clothes in hopes that they will be used for those who need them.

So my mess looked something like this...

I took out the frame that was under our bed and replaced it with the original frame we've had for 30 years. The little frame was lower and easier for hubby to get in and out of until we swapped to a hospital bed.

And I flipped the bed position around. Hey, it makes sense for me and it feels right for now.

I had to prepare for the snow and rain event we are supposed to have tonight. So I cleaned Little Richard's stall and set things up for him.

Then I got with the program and finished the up with the chair. I sanded it and put the final coat of acrylic satin finish on it.
TA-DAH!

I'm sure someone could say that I mixed up all sorts of colors that may not really go together. However, the chair is full of whimsical colors. 

Whatever happened to make me happy at that moment was the color that went on the chair. I see that now...

I will have to work on those other two chairs! I won't know exactly what colors they will be until I start. The chair gives me an idea of what I should do.

You read that right. I don't plan, I just do what the chair seems to want. I imagine this one wants to be pretty. Don't you think?

I have begun to write a very detailed To Do List for each day so I can keep on track. I also make sure that I have adventure days. I have to equal adventures with work so I keep in balance.

My 'work' around the house and farm days do include an hour of walking the forest with Charlie. He needs to get out in the woods and so do I. 

How else would he be able to make sure that all creatures great and small know they are on his land???

I enjoyed the forest enough before it started raining to do some play time. My mind says that we are all on an epic journey of sorts. That journey is called Life.

We must give into it and live a life as we can and enjoy it.

I re-joined CrossFit --> Legends and am so happy for the movement and friendships I have in that class. I need to continue to work on my balance, strength, and friendships to continue to be healthy.

It is snowing now and we are expecting to have almost an inch of snow on the grasses by morning. I can't wait to wake up to a new day.

And to those that wonder. 

Yes. 

I miss HIM every single day. I still ask him questions and opinions on what I am doing. I see him laughing at me in a gentle way and telling me to 'Go ahead. Your going to do it anyway, no matter what I say!'

Wyalusing State Park

The last time and only time I was at this State Park was in 2016, some neighbors and I got together and decided to explore Wyalusing.

Side note: My father had some great stories about working in the CCC Camps when he was young.

My grand daughter, Lily, was with us and the first place we went to was the overlook. I wrote about it in a blog back then called To There and Back. I'd let Lily use my camera to take a shot from the overlook. The trip was in August and we'd had a rainy year.

2016

Lily's photo:

My photo 2016:

November 5, 2025.

It sure looked different! The bridge in the distance goes across the main channel of the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien and crosses to Marquette Iowa. The bridge in the foreground crosses the Wisconsin River and heads through Prairie in the distance.

It was rather cold and windy on the bluff, so I decided to take a trail that went down into a valley.

Charlie was the perfect gentleman and walked as is he'd been leash trained all of his life. We went a trailed called The Sand Cave Trail which is a 2.4 mile loop with two little Sand Caves or as I'd call them, Ice Caves in the winter.

The trail is well worn and well marked. The only issue I would see is the roots that could make it difficult for others to navigate.

It was also a beautiful trail.

Just before we got to the Big Sand Cave, we were lucky enough to have this guy pose for us.

The Big Sand Cave:

I didn't take any photos of the second Sand Cave. I would like to go back and see it in the winter.

I wanted to get back to the Long Valley Road and walk down to see the boat landing and come back up the Sentinel Trail.

The trek is surrounded by the pink line below on the map.

Well, we almost made it. We made it to the purple area I think. 

Charlie was pooping out and I decided to walk back up the road to the parking area instead of navigating the rougher trail with him. 

Charlie got a lift part of the way back up the Long Valley Road.

The road that went down to the boat launch was mesmerizing.

Look at the amazing curves in the road!

It reminds me of the stretch of curvy road in Door County that is Highway 42. It is one of the most photographed stretches of road in Wisconsin and supposedly was influenced by a landscape artist.

This road is not as dramatic as the photos I've seen of Hwy 42, but I think I discovered something pretty special. Not only that, I didn't have to drive to Door County to see it.

I found it undeniably beautiful with its shadows and colorful foliage.

We had an amazing day and look forward to exploring all of the other trails. 

My Garmin did indicate that we traveled 7.56 miles on foot. 

Sunday Morning coming up

What a magical frosty morning!

It was 23 ℉ when I went out to enjoy the morning sounds on Sunday morning.

I thought it was raining or there were droplets of water from the trees, but it wasn't. It was the most beautiful sound of leaves falling gently to the ground around me.

The sun takes a long time in the later months to come over the hilltops and trees. As it comes up slowly, it lights up the colors of the trees across the meadow. 

[This is a section that hasn't been logged yet so there are still quite a few oaks as well as other colorful trees]

15 minutes later, I could see through our trees across to the meadow floor. The deer usually come out along these woods late in the day when the sun shines directly into the area where the green leaves are. 

I found a spot to sit down in my coveralls and watch our meadow as the sun slowly came up over the trees.

The only sounds I heard were some crows calling and flying overhead, along with the whisper of locust leaves and some oak leaves drifting down.

Off to my west I could hear a deer snort and blow. Either it scented me or something else had disturbed it. I waited.

The Queen Anne's Lace was delicately decorated with frost.

The Vervain that I was sitting next to reflected the morning color hues.

Finally the sun was high enough to shine on our meadow and I waited. Most mornings, the does will come out and cross our meadow and browse quietly before jumping our fence and heading east into the neighbor's land.

They didn't this time. So I took a few more 'frosty' photos and decided to check our trail cam which I'd set out a couple of weeks ago. According to the time strip, on the trail cam, this guy was in the woods west of me.

He sure is a pretty one.

Here he is a few days earlier. 

However, I looked through about 200+ photos of deer and we have quite a few who like to come and either sleep in front of the camera or wander through. 

I did see a short video of one buck chasing girls, so it is obvious that the rut season is on.

The day broke wide open and I hunted up a tiny bit of color.

A blackberry bush that had climbed the barbed wire fence and was glowing from the morning sun.

What a brilliant morning to be alive.

 

Turn the page

Here it is. November. 

I promise not to get glum.

However, historically, I have not liked November. I say this each year. I'm going to go out and find something I like in the landscape of November.

I have to look a bit harder, but I'm sure I can find beauty around me.

That is, until the period of time I can't go out for walks in any of my usual haunts for 10 days during the WI Deer Gun Season.

I don't want to complain, as the deer herd does need to be managed. But.....

November 22-30th is when the majority of the gun hunters are out. December 1-10th is the muzzleloader antlerless hunt. 
December 11-14th is a special antlerless gun hunt.
December 24th through Jan 1 is another special antlerless Holiday Gun Hunt.

If that isn't enough, Bow Season lasts through January 4th.

Uffdah.

The 10 day season is the worst.

However, the folks that end up on the land east of me during the other seasons keep me on edge. They don't always know that a barbed wire fence means property lines. Go figure. 

Sometimes I dislike living in such a rural area. However, there is till amazing beauty all around and this year I will have to make some special efforts to deal with it.

Below are a few of the last blast of some of the plants in our woods. Maybe not gorgeous like the full fall colors, but still interesting enough for me to stop and take a look.

I spent most of the day yesterday with another gal friend. We enjoyed an afternoon of fun things. 

November also holds the promises of all sorts of Holiday Fairs and Craft Shows that I can visit. I'll have to keep busy. These are things I couldn't do for the past several years.

So even if November is the time of less color outside, a time of weather change, and more...darkness, I promise to find something fun to keep the spirits up.

Glorious sunrises always do help.

A good and quiet day

 The bike rack that attaches to the hitch came in very handy when Mr. Charlie wanted to run about and sniff for good marking places. 

This trail has a sign: Dogs Must Be Leashed.

He was attached to the car as I assembled his cruiser and got everything together for our ride.

Yesterday was an adventure day. 

I'd spent Wednesday doing errands and taking care of 'stuff'.  

I'd had lunch with my MIL's cousin and was introduced as The Widow of Richard. I almost corrected her and said 'wife' but realized Widow was correct.

It gave me a pause for a moment.

My good neighbor Justin [a bike expert! He likes to build bikes!] came over and helped me assemble and learn how to use my bike rack. 

Thursday  seemed perfect to go try everything out. 

The temperature was 40 degrees F when we hit the trail. Coldish weather bicycling is new to me, so I layered just enough to feel a bit cool while putting our gear together. There was a 5 mph wind and the sun was shining. 

We took off and saw one runner and one other bicyclist. This is not a super popular trail in cooler weather. However, it is maintained by the county and is FREE to use. It is an old railroad bed so it is flatish and not hard to cycle.

My copilot seemed quite happy in his trailer. We did stop a few times to have a dog treat and a small walk so he could sniff and pee on things.

Parked:

Thing is, we enjoyed it so much we went further than I'd been before.

My eventual goal is to reach the WI River Slough and petal into the State Natural Area to observe birds and wildlife. The round trip would be around 20 miles, but very doable. I think going by bicycle is an extremely cool way to get around and visit areas along the Pine River and the Wisconsin River.

The little blue-green line is some of what my GPS recorded. The trail ends at Lone Rock. One of these times I will ride all the way there and buy lunch. It just seems to be a fun thing for me to do.

IF we don't have a lot of snow this winter, I will be able to cycle this trail often.

The State Bike Trails cost $25 per year from January 1st to January 1st. I may purchase a pass to go on the State Trails this coming Spring, but not at the end of October. 

I have the mode, the means, and the time to explore by bike. I can go further than a hike and see more wildlife and land.

Today I saw a flock of bluebirds flitting about and flying in front of me. In one of the pastures I passed, several Sandhill Cranes were strutting about. The Tamarack Trees were turning yellow. 

It was cool yet refreshing. Pictured are stops along the Pine River. The colors are still pretty even though most trees are barren.

When I got home, I found that the new and smaller table had been delivered. It is an Ikea sort of table, a put together thing. It is going to replace the huge round table that Rich inherited from his great grandmother. 

That old table was partially broken. Parts of it were falling apart. It was also huge and cumbersome to get around. 

While in place, there was very little room for anyone to sit around the table. The top was no longer in good shape.

I dismantled it and was surprised to find dry rot under the top. I guess it was time for it to go.

Below were the parts for putting the new table together. 

I've always wanted a 'gate leg' table. 

Or a table that had fold down sides to open up the little eating area.

The top and the fold downs

are photo'd below.

It wasn't hard to assemble and I like the extra room it gives me in the small eating area we have.

I was very surprised at how easy it was to assemble and how sturdy it feels.

The table has two leaves that fold down or up depending on your guests. Since it is mostly just myself and Charlie, I decided to go with things this way. 

I'll be putting a slightly larger rug under the table. The floor under the chairs is a concrete slab which can feel cold in the winter.

I'm pleased.

The old table was too large for the area and too hard to move around. Now it feels more open and agreeable.

Charlie's chair is on the lower right side. He does have his own chair that he likes to sit on when I am at the table.

I figured it was a good day. We traveled and explored, we constructed, and we modified our living space.

All is good.

Halloween is today. No plans for anything as we are so remote. I will be working in the pastures if it doesn't rain and if it does...well, there is always organizing and more purging to be done inside.

These shots below were photos I worked on for Halloween Themes for this year.

Have a great day! These will be my trick or treaters!