Cool weather and early morning walk

No no no!

You guys stop!

 Kids! Gosh! Stop it!

The magical medicine to clean Hannah's seroma has kept her from bothering it. Perhaps it stopped the itching? 

I don't know, but between the PJ's she wore and the medical wipes I've used, she has made a huge turn around on her seroma. 

I took the 'kids' for an early morning walk and the two of them couldn't help themselves. The 40 degree temps wound them up.

I hadn't gone down our little dead end road in a long time mainly because of heat, smoke, and Hannah being on 'light duty'. 

For most of the walk the dogs were quiet and just walked along smelling all the great smells. 

We found some cool insects that seemed to be resting, waiting for the sun to warm them up.

I've seen these guys before and they are pretty cool looking. 

End Band Net-Winged Beetle

[Calopteron terminale]

The grasses held another insect waiting for the warmth of the sun to get him going.

Carolina Grasshopper
[Dissosteira carolina]

Then I found some wildflowers on the side of the gravel road.

Is this a Brown Eyed Susan or a Black Eyed Susan?
I think it is a wild Black Eyed Susan growing up through Fleabane.

The next wildflower isn't very popular but I think it has a cool name. I enjoyed trying to get a cool shot of it.

Bladder Campion
[Silene vulgaris]

These guys are all over the place and I like to refer to them as miniature daisies. 

Fleabane

[Erigeron annus]

It is time for the blue colored flower on the roadsides to shine. Since I was walking early in the morning, this flower was not open yet.

Chicory

aka known as Coffeeweed, blue sailors,
Italian dandelion

[Cichorium intybus]

And last?

One of my summertime favorites.

Queen Anne's Lace

also known as Wild Carrot
--yes, I have eaten them when they are young and tender--
But the roots are very hard to clean.

[Daucus carota]

Not a flower...but Spider Webs!

I finally got to see a Clear Winged Moth yesterday, so this afternoon I will grab my long lens and stake out the Bee Balm next to the outhouse. I'd like to 'catch' a shot of them again this year.

With the cooler weather, I'm heading out with the pups for a hike at the Reserve. We haven't been back there since the beginning of June.

Enjoy your day.

My busy messy gardens. Hannah update too...

A post by a friend AC, got me thinking about my own gardens and yard. The mowing is done by a zero turn and push mower and it looks pretty nice. Unless you count all the overgrown areas of pasture [not safe to mow] and weeds growing around old equipment.

So I've always tried to make a very colorful and brilliant bunch of little gardens.

They may be messy and weedy, but the birds and the bees are really enjoying them.

Creeping Thyme flowers.

Morning Glories on the porch.

Self seeded Sunflower in the yard.

Happy Birds

Sunlit Nasturtium. These flowers literally take over the SE section of the porch.

 

Not a hummingbird.

Blazing Stars being watered.

My outhouse garden looks amazing and is nearly surrounded by Bee Balm plants. I can sit on the back stoop and watch bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds dodge around in the flowers. 

If I move closer and am patient I can get photos of them.

The East garden. It is one of my free for all gardens. I have creeping thyme, vinca, iris, day lilies [not shown] bee balm, zinnias, cosmos, a pumpkin plant...😁 along with nasturtium and corn flowers. Basically I took a jar of seeds to the one side of the garden and tossed them in, raked, and stomped and thought I'd see what happened.

There is actually a hidden path that goes through the garden. The dogs and I use it.

Yes the garage is still there crumbling slowly. No word from Frank on when he is thinking of tearing it down. I'm okay with waiting because Frank is also busy with working on two farms with crops. He also raises cattle and runs a Excavating and Gravel business along with hauling things for farmers. His wife believes he should clone himself.

Below is another mess. I had Borage Flowers that grew to 4 feet tall and got taken out by last week's winds and 6+ inches of rain. But the surviving flowers are filling in. I don't do a strict border, but just mow close to the plantings. Love in the mist, Borage, Morning Glories, and it looks like some self seeded black eyed susans are going to appear between some marigolds and nasturtiums. I like my untidy messy gardens. Lots of crazy textures to admire.

I've ignored this spot-- below.... 

But this spring I had a tiny field of tall Sweet William which I just let grow. I'll probably save some plant seeds from these and dig the whole thing up this fall to start over or let it grow to grass. It is a mess and overgrown.

I'm going to pick my battles and do less next year as it is obvious I can't keep it all up. I didn't have time to properly care for it last year either. So perhaps it is time to go. Though I hate to dig up the black eyed susans that put themselves here too!

My one tidy garden is this one.

I may do the same for the other half of the porch next year. But I'd rather have cosmos and zinnias along with all the reseeded Love in the Mist flowers.

I love looking at tidy well done gardens, but for the life of me, I like to mix up as many things as possible and see what happens with no rhyme or reason.

I'm finding out what flowers like to grow together on my own and which plants like which places the best.

I suppose I could study some garden books, but the gardens they suggest are too rigid. I like wild and untamed.

Hannah and I saw Dr. Grimm, she is an awesome vet and Hannah loves her! Hannah does have what is called a seroma or pocket of fluid that is to the side of the incision. Her surgical incision is healing perfectly, the seroma is a small concern and we want to stay ahead of it.

So instead of my solution to keep her from licking it open...we changed tactics.
The area must be open to the air yet keep her from irritating it. 

I have a cleanser to swipe the spot twice a day.

So not a gross shot but here is a photo of the incision and the area points to what seems to be a seroma: Clear fluid that is next to an incision. 

Doc and I want to stay ahead of this as it could be serious and hard to treat if not taken care of.

I learned something today!

She has a new look with a PJ top from Olive's house, she gave me some shirts that her kids didn't wear anymore.

So Doc gave me some cotton balls in a solution to swab the sight and she came up with this to keep the area aired out and keep her from licking it.

It is a toddler t-shirt with leg holes. It is super easy to do and she was embarrassed at first, but is not bothered with it by bedtime.

Farm stuffsss

Farm life for us.

Hannah and I did fence and field inspections via the 4 wheeler on Saturday morning before the smoke moved in. 

She has adapted well to being a 'farm' dog. 

Since she is part terrier she believes she is a super dog. She is fearless. She tags along when I lead Little Richard from one place to another. She will bark at and chase any animal that may stray into her vision. She thankfully is smart enough to return after a chase.

I went back to putting 'clothes' on her and wrapping her incision area with ace bandages again. She has developed a spot to the side of the incision that looks like a little bubble. Trying to keep a 'Terrier-Terror' calm without jumping, running, and chasing is a tall order. 

For most of the week I've been stuck inside during the worst of the smoke and the other night both dogs had so much pent up energy that they had the most crazy Major Zoomies/FRAPping I've ever seen or heard. Charlie chased Hannah, Hannah chased Charlie around the house.

Both surprised me by leaping onto the couch and using it as a springboard to leap to the area rug and take off again. 

I thought it was hilarious and let them do it. Afterwards, they fell sound asleep on the couch together. In fact I posted the photo of that peaceful moment in my last blog.

While doing belly rubs the next day, I noted that Hannah had a little 'seroma' which is a pocket of fluid that is generally a reaction to the inner stitches of her incision. It is usually caused by activity after being spayed. You know, like what pups normally do. Jump, run, play. 

That means we are back to limiting activity. The advice to keep her calm from internet searches are: Crate Time, only leash walks, keeping the dog from jumping and so forth. 

Hannah Hannah. 

I will call the vet today to see if she would like to check Hannah's Seroma out. This morning it is back down but I rewrapped her. Otherwise she tends to lick that area and I imagine that irritates it also.

She tolerates the clothes and the Ace Bandage very well. 

This dog really loves her food bowl. She will lay next to it in the late afternoon and sleep on it so she won't miss her supper. This after a busy morning of being a porch dog [anchored to the porch by tie out!].

Below, 10 seconds of Hannah's eyes from ground view while she is watching me. It is just pretty funny. This was late afternoon when she was sure that it was feeding time.

How's Mr. Charlie? He is fine but most of the time he doesn't engage much with Hannah if he doesn't have to. They will lay on the porch bench together and watch the world go by.

Charlie. Carlos, Chuck, he always looks so serious and dignified doesn't he?

I did get out to see Sunshine on Sunday. We went for a short ride because the smoke was moving back in. It felt really nice to ride again after all the hot and smoky days. 

No pics. Sunshine was really bothered by the huge herd of sheep that rotate through sections of Kristi's farm [they rent the pastures and forest to an Amish who raises sheep]. Sunshine was not impressed by their bleating and the guard dogs barking. My guess is that the sheep were just moved to that section and had been herded in by the sheep dogs.

I figure once the sheep get pastured next to her and Cash's pasture, she will have the opportunity to get used to their noises. She has already accepted the pygmy goats and mini donkeys that live on the farm.

We turned away from the sheep's temporary pasture [we'd ridden that area last week] and headed towards another field. Sunshine spotted movement not far off in a cow pasture. A white cow was making noise and others were moving around. She has seen them before but this wired her up a bit more. 

Meanwhile Cash just gave Sunshine the 'whatever' look and walked past her. 

By the time we rounded another field, and headed back to the indoor, Sunshine was back to her old self. While Kristi unsaddled Cash and rinsed him off, I had Sunshine practice 'heeling' to my shoulder. It gave her some ground work to think about. She did great and we ended up on a very positive note.

[I've taught my mules to 'heel' to my shoulder for ease of leading them. Hands free heeling is fun to do. They stop when I stop, walk when I walk, and back up with verbal commands. It took a lot of time and effort, but it is fun teaching it to them.]

I rinsed her off afterwards and when I turned her out with Cash she acted very ho-hum. But by then the nasty noisy sheep had all quietened down.

I wonder if she thought all the bleating sheep were a sign of distress and in her head it meant danger. Once they quietened down, she absolutely chilled out.

If we could only get into animal's heads!

No pictures during the ride, we were concentrating more on the vicious biting flies and our mounts, and the monster creatures. It was still quite relaxing.

As I left for home, the smoke move in with a vengeance. On the ridges it looked like this, but on the highway the road disappeared at 1/2 mile intervals.

I'm glad we got our ride in before the smoke descended on us again.

FRAP

 Frenetic Random Activity Period

also known as Zoomies.

Release of Excitement
Release of Pent up Energy
Pure Joy
Stress Relief

This is a new term I've just learned recently. I've always called them Zoomies, but Veterinarians have come up with a more technical name.

Some people say that it is a sign of dogs being under stress. Others say it is pure joy or the release of energy.

I say, I enjoy watching my dogs practice zoomies. Especially when Charlie joins in on the fun. I watched them charge into the kitchen, race into the living room, leap on to the couch and bounce off from furniture.

Last night the barks, growls, and frantic joy made me laugh.

This is the result after the FRAP was over.

I don't blame them for having the super zoomies in the house because I kept their outside exposure to a minimum for the past couple of days with the very smokey air.

I want to do FRAP! Imagine if I started just zooming around in the yard with unbridled joy, leaping and shouting, spinning and running willy nilly.

Wait.
Yeah. Sometimes I do that. 

According to Google humans have their zoomies and stress relief by pacing rooms, cleaning in the middle of the night [or day], and sudden mental energy.

I prefer to run around in the yard. More fun. But the neighbors on the ridge might hear me and think something is seriously wrong.

I'm going to go out and FRAP in the garden!

Have a day.

In sanity?

 I'm not going to blame MN or Canada for the fires. The dry remote areas are on fire and firefighters are trying to hard to contain the fires. 

The winds changed and sent the smoke into the Midwest and other parts of the US.

This morning I checked the Air Quality site and was rather surprised that the particulates were this bad. My eyes stung yesterday. I could smell what seemed like a garbage fire and camp fire mixed in.

Now. I don't want to criticize some folks, but when I posted this on social crap-media and commented that I'd not go to work out at the gym, I got some comments from others that said it 'would not be a big deal'.

Now our gym is simply an old garage for repairing vehicles. The bay doors are always open in the summer and there is no A/C. I don't mind working out in the heat, but breathing in heavily polluted air seems counterintuitive to exercising for better health.

Especially if you are working out and increasing your rate of breathing.

Yes, by noon, the Air Quality should be much better if the smoke moves off like it did yesterday afternoon. But I'm an aged athlete and I don't feel like working out and smoking a pack of cigarettes at the same time.

According to the DNR website along with medical websites, they caution against breathing in particulates --> smoke. It is not a gas, it is pieces of burnt plant matter among whatever else burned up. Think of breathing in miniature pieces of burnt matter and it changes they way one would think of the smoke.

That is my opinion and decision. Meh.

Here are two photos of this morning when I did chores. Little Richard looked as if he was in fog. Don't worry, I move him a few times a day in this heat so he can get into the shade. He also spent most of the heat days in a tree shaded paddock.

I grabbed this shot of Charlie when I was watering some flowers on the porch. 

At least by noon there will be a breeze to move the nasty smoke out of our area and move it towards Madison which will be horrible too.

I did get some plants watered so the won't wilt in the sun and heat.

Brown atmosphere...yuck!

Thankfully I was able to see the workout that we were to do and did the home version. It was nice to do it with the dogs watching to monitor me. 

Hannah is on towels because some pup thought 
it would be awesome to dig in the garden

while I was sprinkling in it.
She had mud up to her

eyeballs.

Gotta love a pup! 
She harmed no flowers in her morning 

adventure.

😁😂👇

But THAT look when I asked her:

What did you do?

I think I'll work on the stick house today. It is coming along nicely.

Mornings around here

So mornings have been pretty much the only time I've been doing a lot outside. The bugs have been awful in the mornings unless there is a good breeze.

Thursday morning looked like it was going to be foggy/smokey so I jumped in the 'Ru to avoid the skeeters. 
The smoke and fog were moving in when I parked.

In the skies above, I could see the clouds and sky...

Soon the smoke really decided to move across the landscape.

Chart of the air quality:

Neighbor's cattle on the ridge.

A doe and her triplets. There is a third in the weeds you 

can't see. I caught them in 

the next shot.

A cute little family.

So most of the day was spent doing something I don't like that much. Moving everything and doing a deep deep clean. Walls, floor trim, and even anything else that could keep me going.

I used the left over water in the shallow water tank to wash some pieces of rugs that needed freshening up but can't go in a washing machine.

Wednesday morning I did walk out to the ridge with the dogs and saw some incredible fog and sunlight shining through the logged forest. It almost was worth the attack of skeeters that I encountered.

Mornings and late evening have been the only times I've been out and about doing chores and gardening until the bugs start to chew me up.

Here is to staying out of the smoke and heat. Hang in there. Winter will visit us once more, I hope.