on a mission....

Oh goodness. Have you ever decided to do one thing and then find out that you need to do several things to DO that one thing?

I wanted to put my mountain bike downstairs for the winter. Or at least for these subzero days. So the first thing I had to do was make sure I had a good spot. At first I just pushed a few things around in the little basement. Then it got serious.

I got out the shopvac along with a broom after rearranging things. I moved the fall and spring stuff to the bottom of the pile and moved the Christmas stuff to the top. I rearranged the gear hanging on the hooks. I made a mental note as to which items were no longer needed.

I vacuumed, I swept, and I went at it with a purpose.

Hubby stopped me as I came back upstairs and said, "I'm hungry. When's lunch?" I gave him the death stare and said, "I don't stop until the bike is downstairs."

He huffed and he puffed but...

knew better than to try and stop me.

When a woman is on a mission, no man can stand in her way! Or...he shouldn't!

In order to carry the bike safely down, I needed to take everything off the stairs that I'd dropped there because it was more convenient than putting it away. 

Now I took the time to put everything in its place and clean the shelves that I put it on. I took inventory of the items on the shelves and put the older canned goods in front and the newer ones in back.

I stacked put the distilled water on the bottom shelf in the order it should be used and faced the labels of other goods so a glance would be all I needed to grab something.

I eventually came back up to get the bike.

Hubby: "I'm hungry." 

Me. Another look. "Then you make lunch."

Big sigh. I explained that if I didn't get it done then, I'd put it off.

I wheeled the bike to the door and took it down. The storage area now looked nice and clean except for the cobwebs in between the rafters. I reached for the shopvac and stopped. I guess those webs could wait for my next burst of energy.

That was the start of my day. I was in that sort of mood to organize, clean up, and rearrange.

I even got the chair out its usual place and set it in the living room.

It is waiting for me too....

No one starved. Lunch was made.

Charlie begged...

...and life goes on.

Turkey Day was Lasagna

Our Thanksgiving was just a peaceful and quiet day. I'd made our lasagna the day before and thawed one of hubby's favorite pies I'd purchased from a Mennonite bakery. Peach pie.

Of course we are non traditional, why not? Whatever floats your boat, right?

While the hunters were out stuffing their faces, I got outside in the cold weather. 

I found treasures.

A box elder tree had frozen sap running from a broken branch. In the drop at the end you can see the forest and meadow reflected upside down.

In the buckthorn woods I found mossy logs with frost coming up out of their centers.

The crystals of ice and frost were beautiful. This was a look into the hole.

With the rest of the forest looking rather bleak, I found the mossy logs to be the most interesting. I imagine the center of the log was warmer from the previous warm days and had a lot of moisture.
As the moisture moved up and out, it formed the frosty crystals on the moss.

I only found it in this one place where the land hollows out in the forest. It is a bit of a swale but heavily shadowed and full of logs and downed trees from storms we had nearly 20 years ago. This section of our woods reminds me of the Mirkwood forest in The Hobbit, but without the frightening spiders!

It is a rather peaceful place both in all seasons.

Giving Back.

Sometimes I get in a mood and feel a bit down and out. It happens as a Caregiver and it happens around Holidays.
Social Media is not helpul as everyone is posting these great photos of big family get togethers and cheery this ... and cheery that.

Not everything is cheery for some folks during the holidays.

However. Sometimes things happen to pull you out of the dumps.

I pulled the trail cams cards out of the spots where I have them and got this funny video of a nice trophy buck laying down while does trot on by him. This was taken on the second day of hunting season when two neighbors got really nice deer.

 Both neighbors are hunters for the meat and not just trophy hunters. 

I shared this with my young friend Olive on the ridge after she sent a photo of her husband with his beautiful buck.

Yes, I'd photographed the buck her hubby got earlier this year in my meadow. I recognized him. She was worried that I'd be upset and I told her that I'd gotten 'my shot' of him earlier in the year with a long lens, so I was happy for them to have meat for their freezer and a trophy for her husband.

Then I got a text asking if I'd like to visit for a cup of coffee. My answer was Yes, yes, yes, yes... 

I got to spend an hour with her and her little guy Orson, who is just turning 7 months old. Now THAT is a sure fire way to cheer anyone up. Spend time with a crawling happy baby whose face lights up with infectious smiles and whose eyes are so bright and cheerful.

I found out that she had wanted to go out and join the gun hunt, but her husband was busy with coaching the wrestling team in town again this year. I asked if I could watch her kids for her while she went out to hunt.

I saw her look a bit confused at first and then HER face lit up like...well, like a Christmas tree. 

"You'd do that?"

Of course I would! I love kids, I don't even mind crying babies or even fussy babies. Sometimes a person just needs to change the scenery or look forward to an event to change how they feel.

Friday afternoon during hubby's nap time, I'll got watch a 4 year old and a baby while mom gets to go out in the woods and get some much needed ME time on a deer stand. 

It is a win win situation for me. I get some different scenery, she gets a break, and I get to play. Hubby said he was pleased that I'd get to go play with someone my own age.

Hah. Olive has been there for me in so many ways through the past couple of years and rarely can I find a way to help her out. She is a strong minded woman and mom who never wants to impose and is seems always willing to give.

Sometimes Giving Back is just the best medicine.

An annual activity

Uh oh! 

It is that time of the year again!

This will be the third year!

Just as dawn started to brighten the steel grey skies, concussions of gunshots rang out. Welcome to opening day of the gun deer season.

By 10am Charlie was a wet noodle of jiggling jello and anxiety. He wouldn't even let hubby go to the bathroom alone. He sat under Rich's chair in the eating area while I put away all of the stuff I'd been working on.

The mules were not bothered by the gunshots. They've been around for many hunting seasons and they just picked up their heads and glanced around then went back to eating their hay. They are up close to the house during the gun season.

I put all of my current projects away after shooting some more photos. I didn't want to put the crystal forest away, but it was time to do our annual project.

A not so nice Wizard!!!

Wanda feeds her pet dragon....

....and after lunch, we started....

I purchased this set during the summer when I saw it on discount. I thought it would be perfect for the 9 day gun season. 

Rich still gives me a bit of grief over TOYS, but as you can see, he really gets into sorting things. 

He even puts the minifigs together and anything else he can figure out. This is a huge challenge as he has essential tremors that sometimes  interfere with his eating. 

But he works at it. He delights in separating the Lego pieces by color and then separating those pieces by type.

His doctors love the fact that he gets engrossed in these projects. They feel that it helps his small motor skills, makes him think and use his brain, and it amuses him. Sometimes he studies the book to try and figure out how things go together. 

In short, he IS engaged in an activity.

I once asked the doctors if they could prescribe Legos. They laughed and said they wished they could. So each year, I try to find a project we can do together when the days are darkest for him. 

With every noise on Saturday, poor Charlie got so rattled. Eventually, he had to get in on the action by sitting on my lap while I was trying to put things together.

I usually start the Christmas Chair project right after Thanksgiving Day. But this year I'm going to wait to decorate. That 'spirit' has not struck me at all. I've already seen enough 'Christmas commercials' to make me grumpy.

Instead, we are going to take it one day at a time and enjoy this big project.

Eir the Healer & Crystals

I generally don't look up names of Lego minifigures, but I was curious as to the real name of this one. She is used in the Lego Dungeons and Dragons set of characters. She is a Tiefling Sorcerer. [I have no idea what that is!]

I've had this character nearly all summer but haven't really found a 'use' for her until I picked her up and took her to the forest.

I hiked up and down and through the creek just peering at things. During the winter, the creek always has beautiful green grasses growing along its edge. This is a creek that is fed by multiple small springs. The water temperature is almost always near 45 degrees F. 

I photographed her in the creek. What would she be so intent on?

I still wasn't sure what she was doing until she got to a mossy area.

She had to be a healer, she seemed to be collecting items for medicinal purposes. That had to be it.

I looked up names that meant Healer and found a Scandinavian name that fit the bill.

Here she is, Eir, the Healer.

What a find! Scarlet Elf Cup!

I couldn't spend too long in the forest as the winds picked up with 40mph gusts. I heard too many trees creaking and saw too many swaying.

I headed indoors to see how my crystal experiments turned out.

Tiny branches...

A bizarre tree made out of pipe cleaners. It looks much better painted.

And...it seems like my Druid and Eir seem to like the crystals just fine!

But last but not least, a fun little shot of my table where the crystal forest is taking shape.

I strengthened some of the integrity of the crystals with an adhesive spray and then used some clear glue on other pieces. If handled a lot, the crystals will fall off. In the mean time, I will enjoy their colors.

But golly I am having so much fun!

Taking a Moment to live in the moment

This is how I can live in the Moment. For whatever reason the other day, I opened up my video stuff and this came up. 'Wisdom at 96: Life Advice'. 

I thought, why the heck not? I decided to watch it. The lady was calm and interesting. No advice on living the right way but living in the moment. I just liked what she had to say and I found her so calming and so inspirational in a quiet way. 

The next morning, the winds howled the rain slashed the windows and it was cold. I thought "What a horribly yucky dismal day."

But after chores and cleaning and getting stuff out for supper, I decided to go live in the moment and do something that would use up all my brains cells. Something that wouldn't allow for outside world distractions and worry.

Can you make something out of nothing? 

And so the toilet paper tree began.

So in truth, it all started with an empty TP roll and some cheap foil.

Hubby walked into the room and gave me the side eye. 

'And what are you doing?'

Obvious! I am building a tree!

He shook his head, 'And I am the one they say has dementia and mental health problems.'

Well with twisting and shaping pieces of foil and a bit of hot glue, I made this odd looking tree with curly cue roots. I was/am hoping to make it into a fantasy tree that is small enough to use with Lego People.

And she seems to fit in there just fine. Since the top of the tree doesn't matter, I didn't put branches on it.

Now, how to make it look -- tree-ish. I wanted it to be a dead tree. So the first thing I should have done was spray paint it black.

But with howling winds and driving rain, I opted to just paint it with a mix of Modge Podge and black paint.

Hmm. What now? I know! Try to add some color and texture with some brownish, orangish, reddish mixed paints.

Ewww, it looks nasty and ugly.

The cool thing is, I can bend the foil a bit to reposition it. 

And perhaps with the right lighting and background it may even look cool instead of butt ugly.

However, Wanda seems to like it.

Later in the afternoon when the sun came out, hubby had placed her on a spot at the top of the tree. 
Actually this looked really cool in the bright sunlight.

Well now. She needed to have this tree in a haunted forest.

What do witches need? A pot to boil stuff in. A creepy forest. A creepy tree. Magic crystals.

What? Magic Crystals???

Back to the thinking box.

Wanda needed magic crystals. [See how this mind works? It isn't ADHD. I have flights of ideas....I prefer to call it: positive constructive daydreaming]

If Magic Crystals are involved, then dragons must be involved, if dragons are involved, sorceresses must be involved...if good is involved, then evil must be involved...if....then there must be wizards too, right?

Phew. I had to put on the brakes and prioritize.

The Old Creepy Tree, a weird forest. Crystals... 

Did you know you can 'make' crystals with Borax and water? 

The smaller ones are coiled pipe cleaners. The large one is an actual rock.

Maybe the forest needs a couple of crystalized trees?

Stay tuned! 

Wanda is really quite happy!

Wintergreen Trail in November

Sunday morning came and the rains had stopped. I looked at the weather and it appeared that it would be decent for most of the day.

I put some things together in my little backpack which included mini snacks for Charlie and my camera. We took off at 8am. I like to hike the Wintergreen Trail early in the day if I go on a weekend. It is a short trail that is beautiful and has many views of the Kickapoo River. The trail head is right off the parking lot to the Visitor's Center so it gets a lot of midday traffic.

I always take my time while walking this trail. I am very familiar with it. I hike it in the winter and fall because I can view the river more clearly.

I always stop at what is called the 'Look Out'. It is a bluff with a view. 

To get out on the edge takes a bit of maneuvering. It isn't the sort of thing you hop over and down onto the small ledge. Most people don't do it.
I carefully climb down to the spot where I can sit and just gaze south.

I never tire of the view in any season. Below is a shot with my feet in the frame along with the edge of the bluff.

Here is the bluff taken from across the river on a x-country ski trail. I think I took this in 2018. I was on the lower ledge where you can see snow in the photo. The river's edge below the bluff was frozen.

Charlie knows the trail by heart now. He has done it so many times. He knows that he has to sit and wait while I monkey around or pause to look at something. He also knows that I will take advantage of exploring. 

I went below the bluff on the north side. I couldn't get down next to the bluff and the river as it was too muddy and sandy. I had to stand on a little hilly formation to get this side.

I found it interesting with all the different kinds of lichen and ferns growing on it. Obviously there are geological layers showing also. I can't ID them, so I will just admire their beauty.

I can't help but photograph this odd tree formation every time we come through this part of the trail. I am afraid that one year, the tree will fall and I won't get to see it...

This August:

Over the years, I've gotten to know the best spots to look for spring flowers, the best spots to observe the river, and where unexpected rock shelters are. I look forward to seeing them in the winter as the water drips over the rock and forms an 'ice sheet' that can convert the shelter into an ice cave.

Once we hit the Wintergreen rock bluff, the path goes straight along the 'hogback'. The trail is lined on each side with pines and Hemlocks. It never ceases to stun me.

I always stop and the end of the trail and take time to sit on a log and just listen to the river and the sounds of the wind through the trees. It sighs just like I do.

Though, this Sunday we didn't get much quiet. In areas around the Reserve, it sounded like a firing range with all the different farms and at least two shooting ranges I know of that where sighting in their guns for next week's deer season.

Charlie turned himself inside out with anxiety. I had to carry him for a while as he literally shook and vibrated.

We still managed to have a great hike. We traveled only 2 1/2 miles total but took at least 2 hours to do it. There still is so much to see and observe even in November.

Yep. Not sure why there were pencils stuck in a log!

I could have spent most of the day just exploring....

And so now the new week is ongoing...

Rain rain rain...and flurries tomorrow? 
Looks like a good few days to do laundry, cleaning, dusting, washing, and a bit of crafty stuff!

Well I'll be durned!!!

Thanksgiving is generally the 3rd week of November right??? The third Thursday of November.

Deer Gun season always starts on the Saturday before. 

So I was talking to the grand daughter last night and she informed me that I was wrong! What? WHUT?

Well I looked it up and indeed, Thanksgiving is on the 28th. Duh. I was wrong wrong wrong. However, I did get all of my outdoor work done for the gun season I thought was starting this weekend. It isn't, so hurray for me. I got everything done a week ahead of time. That includes most of the ingredients for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Maybe I was having a Miss Merry Moment! 💖

Well, that actually made me very happy in so many ways! I have another 7 days of being able to go out to the woods and play! [Um, hike...I mean. Hike. Yeah.]

The trail cams have really been capturing a lot of very cool bucks doing some fun things right in front of the trail cam. I'm glad I turned on the option for short videos. It really helps me study what the deer are doing.

Two different large bucks are walking right up to a little branch in front of the camera and rubbing their faces on it. Later in the night there is a doe that stands under the branch and smells it intently. 

Does that mean that the bucks are leaving a scent on that branch as a message to the ladies? Maybe. I am no deer expert. So I looked it up. Bucks do rub their faces on branches to mark their territory. They also lick the branches to leave markers for the ladies.

Until I had a camera that could take some video, I had no idea. I knew the 'marked' territory, but I thought it was just like dogs and coyotes did. By peeing on things. In a buck's case, maybe peeing and scraping his antlers on trees. 

I learn something every day!

So this buck does exactly that .. and later on, a doe comes up to check it out! 20 second video.

I think this is the way the way a white tail buck leaves an email on his dating app!

Well. I'll be durned!

Have a neat weekend.

Using Junk for fun

Junk diorama.

I've enjoyed the challenges of making something out of nothing. I've watched some great videos about how to make dioramas out of junk. Below are pieces of stuff I was going to throw out. Medicine vials, parts of a defunct humidifiers, CPAP hoses, Toilet Paper rolls, soda caps, and miscellaneous card board boxes and pieces.

That is what the 'creative' table looked like before photographing the characters.

Below is what the photo ended up looking like.

The minibots are actually cheap cake toppers from the dollar store a few years ago. Except for the Lego Droids that I picked up at a yard sale, the cost of this whole set up was $1. Of course I got out my old paints and enjoyed giving everything a look of rustic old pieces of junk.

I keep these pieces in a box with fake rocks I made out of Styrofoam board I found in another junk pile in the shed. I keep thinking I should toss it out...but.....

The fake rocks were used to make this scene of an Ogre and Orcs meeting in a cave. The 'fog' was made with a long exposure of mist from a face mister.

When I get stuck inside all day, I busy myself while my hubby naps. This is something I can do with headphones on. I listen to music and rearrange my junk so I can make a new scene.

This included some of the previous junk stuff. The figures are cheap Hasbro Droid figures from the Star Wars series. I like robots and droids, they are cool. The light in the back is simply a medicine vial that I sparsely painted and set over a balloon light.

The possibilities are endless at my little creative table. The fun part is that  I can set things up and tear things down constantly. 

This next shot is a set up for a Dragon and Rock Monster portrait.

I do say that I make a lot of adjustments and mistakes before I get one shot that I keep.

Many years ago, I swore I'd never 'shoot' anything involving still life. But I took an online class specifically for that just to challenge myself. I enjoyed the class much to my surprise. Still Life can be very technical or very simple.

Since delving into the fun world of toy photography, I've decided that this is so enjoyable and presents with so many creative aspects. I'll keep on keeping on!

I'll never stop enjoying nature photography, but this is a great way to practice the art of photography when I cannot get out in nature.