Mushy Mushy & funny signs

With temps rising into the 40's I knew that the snowshoes would collect snow pack as I walked. Lucky me, however as the guys with the 4 wheelers had been out tearing things up on the neighbor's land. See the oldest brother says it is trespassing and gets upset. The oldest brother lives 4 hours away. The younger brother that lives there lets his work pals [some who are of dubious character] take their UTV's and 4 wheelers out and rip up trails.

The local law says if one brother says they can be there, it is not trespassing. I've talked with the UTV dudes and they know I am out there most of the time. We've run into each other a few times. [Only because I allow them to see me.] 

We talked on Sunday while I was out walking Charlie. I was happy they worked up the trails in the woods. Charlie and I could walk in packed down snow.

Charlie was ecstatic. He ran like the dickens up and down the slippery mushy trail. We hadn't been on a long hike since the cold spell. I walked along trying to ID trees and just watching out for coyotes. 

When we finally got down to the creek and valley, Charlie took off like a bullet and charged through the creek and scrambled up the opposite bank. He was chasing a turkey. 

Tiny dog on top of the stream bank. One of the places where the 4 wheelers have damaged the soft bank of the stream. I'm the shadow. Charlie spent a long time watching the turkey as it flew across the valley.

We headed upstream back to our land. The going was easy along the creek and got harder once we headed up my old snowshoe trail which was pure mush now. 
Step, slide, step, stumble, 
it was like an incredible work out. CrossFit had nothing on deep mushy snow! Balance and leg strength!

I thought we'd have it easy peasy when I reached the summer meadow. Alas. Not so.

Poor Charlie. Being a Low Rider presents issues in deep snow. But he went snow swimming.

He was still hunting turkeys. He'd pause every once in a while and scan the trees. Or perhaps it was squirrels he was watching for.

He was dragging butt by the time we got home. And I was tired of walking like a drunken sailor. 

I'd taken my little red pocket camera and for some reason I'd bumped the tiny switch on it to log my gps coordinates. I never do that . However, it was interesting to find out that the elevation change from the creek at the muddy bank to the house was 323 feet in elevation change. 

Lastly. I got bored and decided to order a couple of signs of my own.  Back by our fence line where the not so nice absentee landowner put up his signs. He also has a deer stand setup to shoot on my property. I will re-string the barbed wire and have a few more tricks up my sleeve to make deer hunting awful that little section.

One should not piss off an 'old' lady who has nothing better to do than think of creative ways to subtly get back.

And yes, I do carry a pistol.
And no, I never intend to hurt anyone. This person invites friends to hunt and they set up their stands to shoot on other's land. The whole group is disliked intensely by our ridge community as they 'think' they can do what they want. This land is really quite remote so I bet they think I wouldn't notice their stand OR their arrows on my land.

Today? I'm going hunting some ice caves on KVR. 

Those 4 wheelers

Well two years ago I notified the Absentee landowner that 4 wheelers were trespassing on his land and tearing up the first valley. I texted him with a photo of one of the vehicles that had parked up on the road.

His answer was "I'll check it out."

That was the last word I heard from him.

Here a photo of what the 4 wheelers had been doing.

I was heartbroken and disgusted at the same time. The owner never got back to me.

One day while taking photos and hiking, I allowed myself to be seen by the 4 wheeler 'dudes'. The three of them pulled up. They were actually pretty polite, said they had permission to be there. I found out later that they are actually NOT nice people and the long arm of the law has been after all of them off and on for different reasons.

With no word from the owner, I continued to arrange my hikes, rides, and daily explorations with an ear out for the 4 wheelers.
The past year someone has brought in big UTV's and chainsaws. They have cut down trees to rearrange trails and make new ones. Their engines are so loud that two weeks ago when I was in the back valley [a mile away] I could hear them unload their UTV's on the ridge.

Yesterday a truck and trailer with 3 ATV's pulled down into our place.

It was a nephew of one of the absentee owners who lives locally.  He'd just taken his kids back on 'the farm' as they call it to do some riding around and he was horrified at the damage being done to the steep hillsides and places where the fragile earth would just slide and crumble down the hills and creek banks.

He said he'd been back deer hunting in November and things didn't look as bad as they were now.

The damage IS pretty horrifying. These big machines go to wet spots and dig it up with their huge tires and fling mud for no other purpose but to fling mud. Those wet spots are natural springs that provide water to the creeks that flow in the two valleys.

Ok.

I told Derek that I was surprised they didn't know about it. The local family members had pretty much left this chunk of land alone and only came out during the 9 day deer hunt.

Well, apparently these 4 wheeler/UTV's are trespassing.  And I said I'd call Derek to notify him when they unload this weekend to go out and tear things up. I said they were like clockwork.
They off load around noon and tear things up for about 4 to 5 hours or mor

I can only hope that we get peace and quiet back. That would be nice.

I'll help keep an eye out not because I'm just a good/great neighbor.

But because I love this land that I have roamed daily for 24 years. I know every tree and trail like they are my best friends. And I am selfish, I love this land and am the only person that visits it daily.

Progress!

So, I got the 4 wheeler going. But now I understand that it needs more than just my help.
I sat down yesterday morning and read the manual and Troubleshooting Guide for this machine. Really, I do like this 4 wheeler, and I think with a tune up and spark plug change, it could run for me all winter long, but other than hauling things with the cart, I don't use it much in the winter.

So at CrossFit we were sitting around after working out and someone made a suggestion that was actually a great idea.

This:

Yeah. A Polaris Ranger with a snow plow. These newer UTV's are for working and have engine block heaters and electronic fuel injection and all sorts of gizmo thingies to run in the winter or summer and the cheaper version can haul 800lbs of 'stuff'.
Oh my heart be still.
Yes, it is expensive, but I think I could easily sell the skid steer and get one of these which would be sooooo much more useful!

I'm thinking of how to approach Rich. It may take a year or so, but I think I have found a solution.
Yesterday I 'aired' up the truck tire and moved it to a level spot so if it goes flat again I can take the tire off.
One of the reasons I haven't sold the truck is that we had a conversation about it last year. Rich said that truck was to last as long as he lived. Huh. Do I need to say more?

So on to the fun stuff.

Yesterday morning ... going out for chores....

The dawn was delightful.
The temperatures were mild and dry!

So later in the day I thought I'd take a short walk with Charlie. I took a bagful of stuff for ... well, here it is:

I'm always searching for a fun way to use the woods as a backdrop for some still life photography.
Can you guess which camera I used to take this photo? Hint [the little Tough Camera!]

Or this?

Charlie was not amused at this intervention of his job to smell and search out squirrels. However he did sit still for me. Just would NOT look at me directly. I'll have to try this again with some dog treats!

Lighted vase in between two mossy rocks...

An Elf...

Grumpy Gnome...

Cowboy snowman...

All sorts of fun in the woods!

And then an incredible sunset....

Let the Winter Solstice celebration begin!

An exercise in ...

frustration!

I used the maintenance trickle charger to keep the 4 wheeler battery happy just as I was told to do by the guys at the place where I bought the expensive battery this spring.

However. When starting the 4 wheeler...it would not NOT start. Bingo. Hmm. I opened up the gas tank as I knew it was low.
Imagine my surprise to find it nearly dry as a bone. My friend had used it during deer hunting season. I think he parked it and didn't think to tell me? I knew it was low ...but dang.
So I went and got gas and gave it a good drink.

Still NO go.

So I left it alone while I worked in the shed with Rich's tool mess and started to sort them. Did you know he had 14 13/16 inch open wrench thingies? Yep, I counted them. I have plastic coffee cans that I am separating the tools into. I can then move the saw horses with the pile of hay chaff and other gross things away and make a place to put tools that is not in the way and is not filthy with bird droppings.
I went back and tried to start it again. Nope, same thing over and over.

Finally I kicked the heck out of it and swore at it. I put it in neutral, released the brake and considered pushing it into the yard and taking the battery out of it until spring. I also considered shooting it. However I sort of like the 4 wheeler and the tiny cart for yard work.

I stomped into the house and tossed my gloves and boots. Rich looked up and I said I was done...done..done...done. I wasn't going to pretend to be the maintenance gal anymore...., I didn't know what the hell I was doing and I was going to sell everything that was machinery on the farm except for the lawn mowers.

Well color me surprised. Rich said he'd get dressed and go start it.

I told him to wait a day. I looked up the manual on Google Docs where I stored it and read about cold starting. I'd probably flooded it.
I even tried to find out more about hard to start 4 wheelers. Apparently the older ones don't like to start in the cold weather. Newer ones have heaters in them. Seriously though, last year I never used the thing, just figured it wouldn't start because of the cold. This year I thought I'd run it in the winter. Maybe I was wrong about that and should just shove it into a corner and leave it until spring arrived.

But I was serious about getting rid of things I don't like to run, like the skid steer. It is a beautiful piece of machinery but in truth, it is not earning its keep anymore. If the only thing I am keeping it for is to clean up after someone else plows, is it worth keeping? I don't know. I suppose after a blizzard I'd wish I had it ... if it was gone. Maybe Rich can show me how to put the plow on and how IT works. I just need to get him outside so he can show me. That is the issue. I need hands on guidance.


Today I'm going to air up the tire in the truck and park it on the level. That way if the tire loses air again, I can jack it up and take the tire to be fixed. Another pain.

I'll use the warm weather today to get the skid steer out and warm up the engine and its parts and maybe pick up some wood that is laying up in the pasture. It needs to do some work and I need to get more comfortable with it.


Give me animals to take care of. I understand them. Machinery is not my forte.

[Last note...maybe I am so hopless and helpless after all. I read the troubleshooting manual this morning and it sounds like the sparkplug should be replaced if it won't start again where the heck is that? So it could be that if I can't start it, I will push it into a corner of the shed and wait until spring to work on it with my neighbor. I'll take the battery out and store it in the basement and do the maintenance charge on it once a month.]

Muddin' with Siera

I promised myself I'd take Siera riding today.

I even put it on my 'to do' list. We've gone 36 hours without rain so I thought it would be a good time to take Siera on the 4 wheeler trail to the creek and all of the way down the valley.

Siera hates black muddy muck. She has told me that she is sure that the black nasty smelling stuff was only put there in the trail to suck her mule soul out through her hooves.
I have assured her that it is just mud. In the valley where the 4 wheelers have torn things up? Well indeed, it may just be sucking black muck that would pull you down.
However, since the trails those guys made are pretty decent except for low branches, I decided to take her to the end of the valley and back.

We slid down the first incline into a puddle of green slimy water that was at the bottom of a dry run. Well, it appeared more like deep rutted wash out with gobs of gunk in it. See Siera with her head turned? She knows that home is up over the ridge and to her left.

I told her how proud I was of her, she was taking on these slippery inclines and rutted ditches like a real trooper.
She was not impressed with my voice at all.

We made it to the creek and the path we normally use was partially submerged in ages old black dirt that had turned into quagmire.
She tried turning around to take the trail home and I asked her to go up and around.

She is a pretty good mule. Some of the branches I had to duck under had me laying over her neck and slightly to the side to avoid the saddle horn.

Here I gave her a choice. Walk in the soul sucking black muck or walk in the creek.

She turned her head again as if she'd rather go home. I told her that she couldn't head back until we'd gone to the end of the valley.
Hmmm.

Fine.
The creek, it was. We rode to the end of the valley and I made her stand still.
Normally she'd be a bit calmer with another mule along, but she was solo.

On the way back she was in a hurry and stepped over a tiny sapling that was bent across the trail. It slapped her between the hind legs and she did this buck/jump thing. Since Siera is terrible at bucking, it felt more like a trip than anything else.

I took the opposite side of the valley and intended on coming back a different route when we got stopped by a literal 'sea' of black sucking muck mud. I figured we could get around it by edging up towards the woods, but going through wild roses, thorny apple trees, and berry briers didn't look like an option to me.

Siera knew that she had to cross the narrow valley to get back to solid ground and we back tracked as she peered at the maze of gouged 4 wheeler ruts that were black and filled with smelly green oozing water.
I let her go along to seek a way to get across. It was if I could tell that she was really examining things or perhaps she was seeking the spot she'd safely crossed just a few weeks ago.

She made a decision and through the nasty stuff we went.

I could just hear her saying over and over.. 'Nasties! Nasties! My hooves are going to get dirty! Knee deep in smelly wet mucky muck!'

Her hooves did make sucking noises as she crossed the ruts and we got to the creek.
Big Sigh.
I like it when she sighs.
She is relaxed then.

We had two hills to go back up that we'd slid partially down. At the bottom of the hill I gave her her head and let her make her own way up the hill. I wished in a way that she'd had a luxurious mane to grab hold of ... but she doesn't. Up we climbed.

After the last climb we stopped. I wanted to let her catch her breath. The day had turned very humid.

When we got to the gravel road, I dismounted and loosened her cinch.

Siera sighed again and we stood in the road while a nice little breeze cooled us off a bit.
I walked her home.

She had really put out a great effort for me. Mud and water had always been a huge issue for her. Steep hills and tough terrain are also a bit harder for her than a mule out of a quarter type horse. She is gaited and doesn't have the incredible back end strength that Sunshine and Mica have.
On the open and flat terrain, she can really move out.

I tied her to the shade tree in the yard and took my time letting her cool off and brushed her until she was dry. She does like attention. I figured she deserved it after the hazardous adventure she'd gone on.

With dry weather coming up this week I hope to get some more rides in with Sunshine and Mica also. They handle the ditches and the mud in a different way, nearly a bored attitude.

The weather is to turn warm and muggy again so our rides will be early or late along with more round pen work with Sundance.

When I let Siera go she walked away slowly. The red headed sisters crowded me as if to ask for some attention. Sundance smelled my shirt which was spotted with black dried 'valley' muck.
Siera rolled in the dirt...
I took a shower.

...and I had to clean my saddle...
And it was a fine day.

Fencing and Fencing!

Last year in July I restarted a 'fencing project'. I wanted the mules to be able to get in down into the woods and clean up the briers and some of the other underbrush.

There had been a good two line electric fence there until the 2007 storm which washed out banks of the creek and dumped trees on both the electric and the barbed wire line fence.

I only sectioned off a small section of the woods though. It had been tough hot work and the mules did a nice job working in the woods.

This is a photo from last year. The original fencing went all the way back to the creek. I put this up with a gate so I could walk down ... or take the 4 wheeler to the creek if I wished.

I didn't think I'd ever get up the energy to be able to complete this task. But I decided to work on it a few hours a day if I could to get the brush whacked away from where I wanted to run the lines. Now that was hard work.

At least with both Sven and Charlie for company, it wasn't lonely work but pretty pleasant. Both of them helped me run the new lines.
Well.
Help wasn't really the word I'd use. Sven kept moving into the wire and somehow got it wrapped on his leg .. or neck.. and he'd walk to me dragging wire and stop and look as if I'd offended him somehow.
Or Sven would pick up a glove and walk away with it.

Goat Fencing could be an Art. Much more difficult than Goat Yoga, I'd think.

In the above photo, you can't see it, but this is one of the banks above the creek. Here it drops 20 feet to the left of the posts.

Today I hooked it all up and drove the 4 Wheeler down to the end to test if it was 'hot'.

It sure was. And the grass I'd seeded had come in quite nicely.

This is how the area looked when The Bulldozer guy was working on it last June.

Looks better now doesn't it?

So as I was driving the 4 Wheeler back to the house, I thought to myself. A job well done! I had completed the project! 

And then after I started mowing the yard I looked at one of the areas that is impossible to mow. It is a section of yard that never got landscaped after the basement was dug. It was a series of holes, bumps and two washed out areas.

Last year and the year before, I had spent time with the weed whacker and chopped it down.

I stopped the mower and looked over at the mules.
Why indeed!
I could build a mini fenced in area and ... hmmm...
let them do the work.

They could handle the rough ground better than I could and then I'd just be left with a few odd weeds to cut down.

I started to smile and then chuckle. I like making temporary lots and using them wisely to feed the critters.

Maybe I am a fencing Diva?

All work and no Play?

This should be a day for me to rest up for the coming week...

But...
There is always a but...

I think I am done with the 4 wheeler for a while now. The fence is connected and tested. I will release the mules into the forest later today...this afternoon so I can walk down with them and see how they react. They should be just fine.

I have learned quite a bit about fencing and electric fences from this project. I won't bore you with the details however it can be a challenge to get it to shock properly. As of right now a very minimal pulsing current is enough to keep my mules in. They don't even touch it.
The cattle respect it also.

I did find out that if we enter a very dry spell that the grounds get weak and the fence drops in its effectiveness. We are in that very dry spell, so I did some research and used a sprinkler to dampen the earth by the ground spikes.

Okay, that was pretty boring. But testing this morning shows my fence power is back to normal!

Last note.

When Charlie begins to disappear in the grass, it is time to mow.
I mowed yesterday and finished all but the weed whacking in 2.5 hrs.

I tried some motivation for Rich to get up and get off the farm today to go with me to see some kids and their fair pigs. I have a memory stick of photographs from last weekend's softball game to drop off to our 'hay' man and his family.

No such luck. Rich will generally jump at any opportunity to go and visit with Ed and his family.

There's always some reason

To feel not good enough

And, its hard at the end of the day

~~Sarah McLachlan

In the Arms of an Angel

Have a good Sunday. Charlie and I just got back from watching the sun come up on the ridge. The fog is pouring into our hollow now bathed in golden light.

I think I'll go start our chores.

Gardens and Fences and stuff

Remember when I gave the neighbor kids a bucket of seeds to toss in the dirt next to the porch?
Well it is blossoming right now. Zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, 4 o'clocks, and green beans all in one place.
The humming birds are swarming the flowers. No need for messy feeders. I can have coffee and watch the hummers fly in and then sit on the pine tree.

Yesterday I figured it would be a piece of cake to finish up the fencing project.

I guess my cake was in shambles.
I took some line we'd used already at one point and strung it out. It all went very nicely until it got tangled up in briers and multiflora rose.

I carefully got it untangled and it got tangled again. Solo fencing is the pits. It goes much faster with another person.
Oh well.

If you look carefully there is a little brown spot in the photo. Two small brown Teddy Bears.
They are my fencing pals. They supervised everything going on at the gate.

I was so excited to get both lines to the 'ridge' road finally!

However I didn't have enough to finish the project and it was time to go check on Rich anyway.  It was close enough to noon to have lunch also.

I put the one gate handle up and took a photo so Rich could see what I was doing.

To turn around the cart and the 4 wheeler, I have to take the yellow cart off and manually turn it around. Then drive the 4 wheeler to the creek where it is wide enough to safely turn around ... and then come back and re-attach the cart and go on my way. This method, while not perfect, has saved me so many trips of carrying heavy items.

I had to stop and admire the flowers by what I now call the Morris Garden. This is where Morris was buried. Flowers do help ease the pain. However, I do know this is where he loved to go first thing every single morning....
Funny how it is such a lovely spot now that he doesn't pee on it.

We had lunch and Rich put the mower deck back together for me. The good intentions were that I would quickly finish the fencing project and then jump on the mower and start on the yard.

I got an email from MIL's cousin telling me that I should go over to Folsom School and check it out. Her husband went there and was doing the painting and cleaning to prepare for a get together and school reunion.

I ran over and took a peek inside the school house.

It is a one room school that operated from 1880 to 1961. I found the little school chairs to be adorable. The atmosphere inside was one of hushed respect. I don't know why I got the feeling but I could almost hear the teachers talking to the classroom full of different aged children.

I wanted to linger but I knew that time was 'a--wasting' as my Grandfather would have said.

Back to the fence. What a job it ended up being. I had to go back once for more wire and then I had to get some of those heavy T posts and pound them in.
My neck and back were feeling the effects of a heavy lifting 'work week' and too many hours driving back and forth to the VA in the car.

Finally! The last thing I have to do is connect the wires to the other fence so the electric pulse will follow through the wires ... and I am done with a project I started over a month ago.

I plan on finishing the work this fall and winter along the barbed wire fence all of the way to the creek and revamping the old fence that Rich had put up somewhere around year 2000.

I consider this a start at least.

After supper, I decided it was too late to begin mowing. So I picked green beans and some pea pods.
I froze 12 packages of green beans and the plants have just begun!

Brawn and Brains

The picnic table will get the chainsaw treatment...safely by my neighbor. This was project #2. The ancient glider that was rusted through.

Hubby bought this in 1998 and it was aged then. I painted it a few times and finally just gave up on it. For several years it has just been moved from spot to spot to mow around. No adults really sat in it ever. The kids love it and after the last time kids nearly tipped it over, I figured it needed to be dismantled.

I got out the handy dandy 7/16 inch wrench and 3 got bolts off. None of the other nut thingys would budge. With quiet determination and lots of rolling sweat, I began to saw and rip the old wood away from the bolts.
Charlie supervised.
Again.
No cuss words.

Now to bend the metal at it's stress points and make it smaller so I can toss it away.

Next on my agenda was fencing in the forest. I need/want to stay busy and productive.

The 4 wheeler loaded with fencing supplies and a partial bucket full of pasture grass seed. I'm seeding the 'ridge road' that was re-dozed by my farmer friend.

I want to get the mules into the forest to browse on the undergrowth. I used to have donkeys, mules, and horses in the forest but after 2007, the repairs were just too overwhelming for my husband.

My idea is to do a bit at a time. I'm using electric braid fencing which is easy to manipulate and string. The hard part is pounding the t-posts and carrying the post pounder along with all the posts into the woods.
Hah! I now know how the 4 wheeler operates so I can use the trailer to transport the items I need instead of hiking back and forth, I can use my time more wisely.

Bless the person who invented these little pound in posts. That means a lot less pounding of the T-posts and less pain to those arthritic hand joints. I must laugh though. Yes it hurts sometimes a lot. But my OT person said "Use it ... or Lose it."
I'm using those hands.

I had a round about discussion with my neighbor regarding fencing and straight lines. I argued that yes...he could saw down a tree if it was in his way. However, I'll use that tree with a temporary nail in insulator and make my fence according to ease of use and the lay of the land.

My idea was to use my brains to make things easier for me. He wanted [as my husband used to do...] perfect straight lines. I argued straight lines are for line fences and not 'sections'.

He promised to help.
Yep.
I got this too.

I'll take a photo of this area after the mules have been in for a week or two and see if you can spot the difference.
Tomorrow, if it isn't pouring cats and dogs, I will string the soft wire.

I must be getting much stronger. A year ago, I couldn't squeeze the hand break on the 4 wheeler, I'd given up all thought of ever operating it. My Occupational Therapist told me to work my hands. I did. Out of necessity I've worked my hands, elbow, and shoulders. I'm stronger now than I've been in a few years.

Yesterday I unloaded 50 bales of hay and stacked it in the shed. I felt fine after that. However I did take breaks often.

Tonight was another story. I couldn't for the life of me, sit inside the house after supper and let daylight fade away.
I went out to the garden and picked.

I tossed weeds over the fence to the mules. They liked it.

I picked an ice cream pail of green beans and set them on the porch.

I asked Rich to come out and see the beans. He hesitated, I told him the temperature was fantastic on the porch. He and Charlie came out.
I started to snap the ends off. I have time tomorrow afternoon to blanch the green beans and freeze them.

Rich surprised me by sitting on the bench that my Kenosha Gang made for us...he asked if he could help with the green beans.

We spent an hour in silence. Listening to the birds, the cattle, and the mules all make their evening noises as we silently snapped beans together.

And it was good.

This is a plus in my book. He is taking interest, he is participating. He doesn't see it as a big deal, but I do.

Charlie observed.

So I count this day as a good one.

It started with a gorgeous sunrise....


And ended with a warm and loving sunset...

No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.
~~Aesop