Challenges

I returned to the gym this spring once more. I had to really consider the monthly price for it. Would I be able to afford it, can I budget for it?

In a way I cannot afford not to go. 

Yes, I hike and do all the work around the farm and that should be enough right? 

At this time in my life I do not take any medications or have any major health issues or joint issues [other than arthritic pain]. That makes me feel pretty blessed. I do have severe osteoporosis. 

I tried all the medications for that and found that I wasn't able to tolerate any of them. I choose to challenge my bones and my cardio daily as well as my balance and strength. 

But I can't do it alone. Working out in a group twice a week really helps. 

We do strength training and all the other stuff that keeps one's body moving. 

When I first started CrossFit, I did not have enough hand strength to do simple things like open a jar lid. 

My shoulders ached all the time as well as my low back. I could barely lug a standard hay bale up into a wheelbarrow.

I had great cardio, I could hike and run like the breeze. But I sucked at anything that needed strength. 

Now? I can jump up on a bar in the gym and hang with my body weight for a full minute or longer depending on the day. My grip strength is incredible. 

I still have issues with my shoulders from surgeries years ago, but I have gained mobility and yep, strength.

Before I went to the gym, I had to have help in mowing, feeding the animals, opening a tight jar, and you name it...except for hiking, I was a wuss.

It is never too late to find a good place to do mild workouts. That's what we do in our Legends Class. It is designed for all of us aged individuals who have age related issues. 

One of our Legend Ladies couldn't get down on the floor and back up when she started. Yesterday, after a year of coming to classes, she got down on the gym floor and back up 12 times in a couple of minutes [I think, I was counting my Burpees]. She can now do jumping jacks. For a year she did a modified version of jumping jacks and just the other day completed 10 in a row!

Those who can't run or walk far do a rowing machine or a stationary bike. They move, we all move and cheer each other on.

 
This is a support group for exercise at whatever level a person is at. We have bad knees, bum shoulders, heart issues, arthritis, poor mobility, aches, pains, shoulder replacements, knee replacements, heart issues, cancer survivors, and the list goes on and on. 

But we workout together twice a week and support each other with laughter and hugs if needed.

We ... are ... Legends.

We are not top tier athletes, but we are moving. We share our aches and pains. We talk about our grandkids. We sometimes have coffee together. We are a community together. We celebrate small wins and big wins.

When I think of the monthly price for the support and benefits I get at the gym [NOT that expensive], I feel it is probably some of the best money I've ever spent. I've avoided PT for my hands, shoulders, and back. 3 to 5 months at the gym costs less than most PT visits.

I am, we are,

so lucky to have a program like this in our community.

Oh I still have aches and pains, but nothing as bad as it was before I started with the gym. Is it the gym that is helping me? Is it the exercise program that the coach puts us through?

Is it the support from others?

I can't answer all of those questions.

But I do know that in 11 days I'm going to complete my next big challenge [unless it is storming].

I will hike 15 miles to celebrate being alive.

Some of my friends from the gym are coming along either the full hike or part of it.  
When I turned 65 I challenged myself to an 8.5 mile hike. Can that truly be?

I did!

I recall that hike. I took it with Charlie and carried him for half of the distance because it was too warm for him and his little legs.

But completing the hike was a huge goal. And I loved it. I also learned not to take poor little Charlie on warm days. It is too hard on him.

Photo below from that hike. I set my little camera up with a timer....

7 decades here on earth.

A lifetime of challenges overcome.

What's one more?

Thank you CrossFit Viroqua. 

It is never too late.

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.

Hah. Siera you fooled us!

Here are a few photos over the past years of Siera. Her mom was a Peruvian Paso, her father a 'gaited' donkey.

Below, Siera's first ride off the farm when she was still green. Sooooo smooth!

Siera with kids.

Siera last year with a 10 yr old. 

Siera gets a bath after their ride.

Siera with another novice rider, my neighbor. 

Siera when she first came home to us in 2007.

In mid April I had Danny out for trimming and he did his usual. Four weeks later, Siera was barely walking as if all of her feet hurt. She was laying on the ground for hours and didn't want to get up. I took her vitals and watched her eat and poop. Her gut sounds were normal.

Everything was normal but her walk and attitude.

So I texted Danny and sent him a video. He came that afternoon and was surprised at how her toes had 'grown' out. She is one of those mules who grow fast during the warm months. She really gets long toes if you don't watch her.

Which I didn't because I was busy with the scrappers and a new puppy. My bad!

Danny trimmed her and tested her hooves for pain. He felt that her muscles and tendons were sore from the length of her toes. He said to keep him updated and see how she was doing in a week. 

For 4 days she didn't seem to get better at all. I called a Vet who had seen her before and he was able to come out on Friday. I stewed and worried and worried and stewed. Thursday I had a choice. I could sit on the porch and watch her all day or go hiking. I choose to hike to ease my stress. My watching wouldn't make any difference.

Friday morning, she was in the front pasture sleeping with the red heads. When they got up to head to the meadow, she followed. She looked normal. She looked as if nothing had gone on this past week at all.

I followed her out and watched her off and on all day. I kept wringing my hands. Did she have Lyme Disease? Was she going to be okay? She looked okay. Her vitals were okay. She let me pick her feet up just fine ... not like last week where she wouldn't pick them up at all.

The Vet arrived as I was bringing her out of the pasture. He stood and watched her walk in grass, then on the driveway, and then asked me what I thought the issue was. We talked about it and he concluded that indeed she had gotten sore from her long toes [mind you, they were not hugely long we can't think of anything else]. 

He suggested that she'd gotten frisky in the pasture [she did one day the week before!] and strained her tendons. The trimming strained them more and she was getting better.  OR---> she was showing lameness from Lyme Disease. 

He asked me to keep an eye on her and call the office on Monday with her progress. If she didn't continue to improve, we'd treat her for Lyme Disease.

Well.
Saturday came along and there she was, moving like herself with no signs of any issues. I caught everyone up and groomed them and ate a ton of shedding mule hair.

They then walked off in a line. Sunshine first [she is 29], Sundance second [17 yrs old], and Siera who is 23. Siera is almost never in the lead. She likes to take her good ol' time.

What a week. Danny was right last Saturday. I worried and worried and fretted and fussed. The Vet gave me peace of mind and Siera healed up.

I'm glad she will be back at it. This summer I'm taking her to a friend's farm so we can ride her land together. Better than me riding alone.

I have done so much with this mule and my other two, that I am grateful to have more time with her to have cool adventures.

I'm so happy to have my Goofy Girl back to normal...

Happy Trails.

Quiet long hike with doggies

Thursday

It was a ... day...

Instead of going right away in the morning like I do on some days I hike, I waited until later in the day to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. 

I used my 'hiking' vest to carry the essentials. Water and doggy snacks. I wasn't going to take Charlie, but the look he gave me was so pathetic, I did anyway. 

I ended up carrying Charlie for nearly half of our hike. I've done that before when it was too warm for him. Short legs put him close to the ground and the reflective heat coming off the ground makes him hot.

He was either too warm or just being a Dachshund who decided he wasn't going to work very hard. 

I should have left him at home. But in the end, they both enjoyed the adventures so much. After all, I wasn't trying to set a record, but just move along.

It was just one of those afternoons that were meant to enjoy the surrounding forest. I was so happy I did go. The Trillium were all over the place. 

I stopped a lot to just enjoy the sights and sounds. At other times, we marched right along. At one point, I dropped Charlie's light line and he simply ran ahead as if he were a pup. I had to trot with Hannah to keep up.

I found so many patches of  Dwarf Ginseng. I often forget what it looks like and have to use Google Lens to ID it.

There were patches of invasive Garlic mustard that I picked and put in a plastic bag to turn into the Reserve at the end of our hike. [I have used young garlic mustard as seasoning and it is good, maybe next year I'll dehydrate some and crush it for seasoning]

I have a hard time destroying Dame's Rocket. It is just too pretty. 

That tiny black blob on the trail is Charlie. I got tired of carrying him or trying to drag him along. He followed at his own pace through the pine forest. During the ground bird nesting season, I do keep him close and use his beeper collar to keep him from seeking out nests.

He sure does have the stubbornness his Dachshund and Pekinese parents. He does things *His Way*. I love it.

This beautiful trail is one of the most hiked ones on the Reserve ... well, hiked, equine riding, and bike riding that is.

Here is the Kickapoo River which has gone down in its water level since our last hike through here on April 27th.

When we finally reached that last leg of our hike on Old 131, Charlie perked up and set the pace. We stopped here at this pond to watch Canada Geese and Goslings swimming. We saw what I think was a Beaver peeking at us before it disappeared into a mound of sticks in the opposite pond.

If anyone is wondering why I have beeper collars on the dogs, it is in case I drop their leash and they decide to chase through the underbrush. I can beep them back to me. It is a safety measure for them. I lost Charlie in my forest for an hour when he was a pup. 

I trained him long time ago [and Hannah now] to come when beeped. It is never a punishment.

Oh and if you haven't guessed it by now. I think my life is ruled by my dogs and mules. Dogs and mules don't lie to you or BS you. They are honest as the day is long.

And ... they are without a doubt always thinking that their purpose in life is to be my friends.

--------

Miles hiked: 9.84
Time? Not an issue, but nearly 4 hrs with lots of breaks

Gear: Merrill running/hiking Janii shoes [not as good as my other ones, but no sore feet]

Temperatures averaged 75 F

Steps? Most steps in a day according to Garmin. Huh: 28,622

[that must include my chores, checking fences, sunrise walk, and whatever else I did during the day]

How did I feel? Uffdah. Well, my low back hurt from carrying Charlie a lot. Iced later.

Hannah: full of energy all of the way
Charlie: was himself, *don't rush me!*
 

Busy Day ~ Night Out

Another day with the scrappers, they filled the truck and the trailer from behind and in the little red shed.

The fella that sold this place didn't throw things away either. Imagine that. His old farm has old vehicles in the dry runs along with stoves, refrigerators, and various other things.👇

The scrappers felt they'd won the lottery. All those old mowers and mower decks... so many engines taken half way apart. 

All 'good' stuff. 

They actually dug down about 2 feet for some of the items. The sinks and toilets stayed.

 

Glen, the previous owner was a handy man that did remodel jobs as a business. 

Often the stuff he was to toss came home and landed behind the shed. I'm sure my husband did not collect over 40 mowers! Most of them were hidden in the dirt.

They found mowers, bed springs, couch springs, and buckets of big heavy bolts along with tranny covers and a few transmissions. Don was in heaven when he found a nice Pepsi sign and some 40 yr old truck plates. He will decorate his shed with them.

I worked around the house while they were mucking around in the old garage and the red shed. I did stuff that is boring but necessary to keep the house clean and clothes for me to wear.

The guys left around 12:30 and I decided to take the dogs out to stretch their legs. We hiked through our woods. 

We found that the wild geraniums were beginning to bloom.

I took these with my Lensbaby lens. I love the softness it produces.

Oddly enough, I did enjoy the little hike, but also didn't enjoy it. For years now, I've had low back pain on the left side. It is due to arthritic spurs on the spine. Normally I just get a bunch of twinges, but Wednesday it left me a bit breathless while standing up from bending over.

Hah.
I know better than to do that. I have to squat to avoid irritating that Uncle Arthur spot. Bending is not a good option ever for a back.

I hobbled home and got an ice pack out. The dogs and I sat on the porch bench and watched birds for a while.

I was surprised and please to see Siera following the red headed mules at her slow pace [she never really is in a hurry]. 

I called the Vet Clinic [this is a different one. Dr. Anderson had seen Siera years ago when she was not herself]. 

The receptionist said Dr. was pretty busy and I said it wasn't life or death, I just thought she should be looked at as she is not herself and either pulled or strained muscles and perhaps we'd need to give her some Bute if appropriate to help her move better.

Dr. Anderson saw Siera in 2014 when she 'tied up'. 

He is an excellent Vet. We had him out in 2009 when we nearly lost Cheyanne. He and his daughter treated her for dehydration with fluids until midnight. You can read about that here at: She's worth it. 

After all of that, we made out suppers. I wish I was like a dog who could just eat something simple like Kibble and get on with my day.

I made veggies with chicken and had ice cream for desert. Nothing fancy. Just eatable stuff.

I asked Charlie and Hannah if they wanted to go for a walk. They eyed me like...mayyyyy beeee....

I put their beeper collars on and we hiked out to where I am making my campsite.

We gathered sticks and made a little campfire. Charlie has been at a campfire before, but Hannah hasn't. 

This was a trial run to see how they liked hanging out with me in the forest.

Sniffing and digging seemed to be the most fun for them. The found spots nearby and dug. Hannah collected sticks to chew on. 

After that, they both wanted to sit in my lap.

Well. I will need a bench or a much larger chair. I think there is a folding camp chair in the trailer, so I'll grab that next time.

After much sniffing around and checking things out, they both wanted to sit in my lap.

My lap doesn't have much room for them.

But they were pretty content to listen to the birdsong, coyotes songs, owl calls, and hang out with me.

Smelling the forest in the evening is much better when you are on your master's lap apparently.

I intended to stay out after dark, but released that I had two black dogs that would be invisible on the walk back to the house.
Next time, I'll bring their collar lights.

This was probably the nicest evening I've had in such a long time.

The video is about 10 seconds long and includes the Eastern Towhee

singing its evening songs.

I ordered this for our next excursion into the woods to watch the sun fade and nightfall. 

This way, I can just use this pop up shelter to sit in with the pups. It is really for a beach or sitting outside out of the sun, but it is a pop up shelter. 

I think this will be easy to put up and take down. I even have a spot I can hang it from a tree limb so animals won't mess with it.

I am so incredibly happy that I had this Forest Mulching done. I plan to maintain the area. The mules can get to the pasture when the dogs and I aren't there. 

Here we are enjoying the evening. I set my little camera up with a self timer for this.

We are enjoying a bit of heaven in this world's chaos.

And yes, if you look, my hair is colored wild, just like me. I felt like doing something weird and unusual, so I did it.

We all fell sound asleep by 9:30. Hannah snuck onto my old jacket I'd dropped onto the bedroom floor. I let her sleep there. She surely is coming along nicely. I'm so very lucky to have these two friends to keep me company.

Do you wannah?

Do you want to go for a hike?

The reaction.

Immediate.

YES!

It is nice to know that sometimes I can just pick up and go. The scrappers have been absent. I think they just want a few more things and hopefully I am done with trying to guess their schedules.

I'd spent the weekend with Siera and making a campfire ring out in the woods, along with a place to put a tent. I hauled dirt for my washtub flower 'pots' and seeded other small areas.

The yard needed mowing sort of. But since I had the rider back it could wait until I was ready to do it.

I checked the times for travel to Wildcat Mountain with the big detour and was surprised that the detour would add lots of miles and time. I compared it to Wyalusing and found that the time would be equal even if it was 10 more miles of travel one way.

I have not yet hiked at Wyalusing in the spring pre-skeeter season, so I jumped at my chance.

I started down the Immigration Trail which led to the backwaters of the Wisconsin River and saw the sign that said the trail by the river was temporarily closed due to the flood. However the river had receded and I saw a bird photographer further down the trail looking around.

I ended up turning at the sign that said 'Bluff Trail'. The Bluff Trail that comes off the Immigration Trail is steep and difficult with rocks that are like stairs but also about knee high. With two rambunctious dogs on leashes, it was a bit tricky.

There are no pictures of the treacherous spots. I concentrated on footing.

We made the steep climb out of the valley. Miss Garmin said it was about 900 feet of climbing over a mile. But the view from the Bluff Trail was really quite beautiful.

We could see the river below and catch glimpses of Turkey Vultures, Eagles, and Red Tail Hawks.

I found lots of cool looking rocks and bluffs. 

We were actually below a bluff on this trail.

There was a little footbridge over a rock slide that I stopped at to give the dogs a drink of water and a break for me.

They are looking up towards the bluff top where we could hear birds and someone mowing in the campground up on top of the bluff.

There are hazards to having a dog or two along. Sometimes when you find something really cool, you squat down to take a shot of a wild flower...and....

But, I persisted.

Here is a flower that I have never seen in the wild before. A shooting star!

Imagine my surprise to find that this section of the trail was literally lined with them below the cold bluff rocks. I'm not saying a few here and there, but thousands of them.

We finally got to the steps I'd heard about tales about. Steep steps made out of wood up the side of the bluff.

...and doggy entanglement....

The steps were built by the CCC eons ago and still hold up. I doubt most people could walk up this slope without the stairs in place. In the winter, this trail is closed off due to it being steep and the one side having a drop off.

At the top of these stairs was a whole in the rocks that we could fit through. The trail goes beyond the rocks but the stairs built to descend were too steep for us to negotiate safely with leashes and happy bouncy dogs.

The dogs would have been happy to attempt them and I would have, but I'd have had to let the dogs loose to do it. 

I decided ... not this day.

We opted instead for climbing to the top of the bluff and finding one of the lookouts.

I did promise myself to come back without dogs, or maybe bring just one for the ease of investigating more cool plants and an easier hike ... this experience was like herding cats on a steep trail. Eventually we will get this down to a science and the dogs will be on a split lead requiring only one hand. 

But with every adventure, Hannah learns more and so do I.

Until next time...

I thought about the double dog thing and recall having a leash when I trained hound dogs that let me have two dogs clipped to the leash.

I looked that item up and ordered one, guaranteed not to tangle.

Well, there you go!

Maybe there will  be less entanglement and more fun next time!

We finished strong with 4 tough miles under our belt [leashes].  I think the most satisfying feeling was that I wasn't tired at all.