Unplugged

My day started out with a pre dawn hike with Charlie to the ridge. I guess it really was just a walk as we weren't in much of a hurry. Charlie sniffed around and I walked across the crop land hoping for a colorful and blazing sunrise.

Well that didn't happen, but listening to the birds and watching the deer run across the unplowed land was just fine.

We went by the little tree and just watched for quite a while.

I was pretty grumpy and felt ornery and tired so I thought a walk would do me good. I wanted to cancel my gym class but decided to do it anyway. I had to get groceries in town, so I may as well suffer through a class.

I left my phone at home and was surprised at how I didn't miss it at all. No little dings letting me know that there was news, or email, or whatever.

CF put me in a good mood as did the sunshine. Between CF class and Mobility, I took off on a jog/run. Last week we had a run/jog WOD which I enjoyed immensely. I hadn't jogged in two years and I found my rhythm as if it had never left.

After lunch Charlie and I went looking for leeks in the woods and we found some above the creek. Yum! Looks like forest food is coming up! I picked some newly emerged nettles for tea and greens for supper.

Before heading back to the house, I sat on a mossy log and listened to the creek. In the past two years, it has been so dry here that this part of the creek was nearly dry and silent. I watched water bugs and listened to the creek music. 

10 second video of creek sounds and a woodpecker marking his/her territory.

Things are still without color mostly in the woods, but with this warm weather the plants will get a jump start.

Late afternoon I found my phone and discovered texts and emails. One was from our grand daughter Ariel. She is coming to visit us on her own, was that okay?

Another was from Olive. She wanted me to meet the new addition to her family. Gertrude or Gerti. She had Monday and Tuesday off, could we get together?

Being unplugged is nice, except when you miss something! I took care of the messages and brought the skid steer out of the shed and parked it next to the house running...

I told hubby that he needed to clean up the gravel pile that Frank had left and fill in the dip in the driveway as his granddaughter was coming to see him for his birthday. 

Wow! He got out! 
I'll be washing his skid steer today and making him strawberry shortcake for his birthday. I need to run to town to get Almond Milk for Ariel with a couple of other foods for her special diet needs.

I hope we get to meet Gerti too! Olive texted that she thought Gerti and Charlie would get along just great. So I am assuming she has a new dog!

Guess I'll plug back in.

At least I got rid of the Grumpies....

Warm weather!

Crocuses from the yard are coming up alongside the tulips and daffodils.

Meanwhile further down the valley in one area.
The Skunk Cabbage has made its appearance. It only grows in one part of the valley.

Lately guys with 4 wheelers have been riding pretty hard through the property. I am assuming that the land holders know that their brother is allowing 4 wheelers to ride all over. The riders must think that the louder their machines are, the better they are?

I sort of have a dislike for the noise and mess they have created. However they are making trails through what used to be nearly impassable places because of the multiflora rose bushes and wild berry bushes.
I will have new trails to walk or ride a mule on only during the weekdays though...

However, this time of year, the soil in the valley is quite delicate. And it makes me very sad to see this.
To me, the destruction is pointless.

Really? What is the point of making a huge trail of mud on such beautiful fertile soil? One big flash flood and ... think of the erosion!

My neighbors and their kids took a hike with me on Sunday. The kids love the creek and enjoy hunting for bones and interesting rocks.

I found Spring Beauties poking up from the soil on a eastern hillside.

When they come up and open they look like this shot below!

I am overjoyed at the prospect of the warm weather for this week. It means the bloodroot should be shooting up along with Trout Lily's in Tainter Hollow.

My CareGiving Duties for my husband and currently my MIL, will keep me from Tainter until at least Thursday.

Spring is coming!

Snow! April is Bizarre!

We had quite the unusual storm for April. These are views of the driveway and then scenes from the top of the ridge where the mailbox is.

Charlie didn't mind the snow until it was over his head. Here he is running and playing. He also was under the impression that he could catch a Robin. Or at the very least chase it.

He gave up later when the snow was over his head. I had to make a trail for him to do his business.

Morning came and the new snow added some beauty to the dull landscape.

Sunlight arrives in our valley about an hour after sunrise.

Charlie threw a fit when I got dressed to walk out and explore the morning light. I let him out with me and we got about 30 yards before he squalled about the snow being over his head.
I stuffed him in my coveralls and took a walk.

Home Sweet Home. Everything seemed more brilliant in the fresh snow fall.

Even the 'Ru looked pretty.

I took Charlie back in and went back out to do chores so that Rich could just concentrate on plowing.

I knew there would be a rapid snow melt but Charlie had a vet appointment for his distemper booster and I had to take care of some MIL business in town.

I thought the snow was stunning.

The Plow Man, however, was not impressed.

And the blue birds weren't either.

Charlie though, thought he had a great place to observe the plowing and cleaning of the Subaru.

We lost most of the snow in one day.

I hope to get back from my errands today to observe and enjoy the snow melt and run off into the creek.

It will be in the 50's again today.
I'm going to take my SIL to check out an Assisted Living place in town.

Enjoy your day. Generally this time of the year I am out in the forest photographing these little beauties....

Fun is...

...Cleaning up fence rows... in the woods.

Actually I didn't mind it so much. I really wanted to go riding, but also knew that it was a perfect day for using the nippers and the saw to chop down those nasty barbed briers and multi-flora rose bushes.

This was a tangled mess. And it is on a steep hill that runs into a little gully.
You can't bring machinery into the area and trying to use a blade attachment on the weed wacker would prove pretty difficult as the footing can be tricky also.
I brought a handsaw and a pair of heavy duty nippers.

I ended up using the nippers exclusively.

It is not a job for the faint of heart, the briers and thorny rose brush grab your clothes, your gloves, your pants...
I swear they are attacking you.

Bit by bit I nipped and tossed and went for the base of the bush. A few times I wondered if I shouldn't have hired this done and then discarded that idea. If you want something done to your satisfaction you have to do it yourself.

I spent 6 hours bending, nippering, and tossing small saplings and the thorny brush off from both the electric line and the barbed wire line fence.

I've convinced my husband that the Dexter Cattle should be rotated into this wooded lot. Dexters are excellent 'cleaners', they will glean most of the weeds that the mules and horses won't touch.
So we'll run an electric line on the inside of the hard wire to keep them from pushing on the elderly fence.
My neighbor has cattle also and his cattle rarely mess with the fence. However, the line fence does need replacing and that is a job that should be hired out.

I certainly am not one for stringing up 4 strands of new barbed wire for a half mile on each side of my property.

However, the job I did yesterday is done. Whew. That was some back breaking work.

Just some minor adjustments to these fence lines and things will be ready to move some animals out of their winter lots.

I hope the rain eases up too as things around here were still quite muddy as of Saturday.

The winds and low humidity yesterday helped dry out things quite a bit.

Next big job? Moving the gravel piles out of the yard and putting it back on the driveway.
Tuning up the lawn mowers, tilling the garden...


I guess there is never a day that I can't be busy outside.
Maybe that is why I like winter so much?

Spring ... ing...

Flowers are springing up.
My Grand daughter and I hiked the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. We enjoyed finding Blood Root, Hepatica, and Pinks along the Wintergreen Trail.

When we walked past the Reserve Center we encountered a bat. We watched as it climbed a tree. I really wished I'd had a great long lens, however this was the best I could do with not really wanting to get too close to the little brown thing!

The Wintergreen Trail really did not disappoint us at all. We found the outlook on a bluff over the Kickapoo River and decided to stop there and have our packed lunch.

The trail behind us looked like a mystic movie set.
I could imagine Elves and Hobbits peering at us from behind the Hemlock trees.

There is a surprise if you follow the trail all the way out nearly to the end.
An Ice Cave.

We spent a good part of the day doing some portrait shots. Ariel was a fantastic model and very patient.

The boys finally came home from their fishing excursion with a nice 'mess' of fish.

Our weekend ended last night with a nice pink and purple sky.
Spring has arrived...time to get to working on the fencing!

Trying to keep it together

I love spring for many reasons.  Mostly because I enjoy not having to wear so many layers while hiking.  I do like spring for the simple fact that I can go out and find new things appearing from what looks like a barren forest floor.

Here the ferns are just emerging on the 16th from on top of a rock. The curls are nearly as small as a pencil eraser.
Next to them is a Virginia Waterleaf emerging.

My grand daughter went on a very early morning hike with me on Sunday morning.
The dew was still heavy on the grass in the valley.

And as we dipped into the steep valley we walked into areas that the morning sun hadn't even come to yet.

Eventually we made it to the Big Spring.  It is a spot that water comes from a hillside and adds to the existing creek.  The spring sports a beautiful morning delight for us.
Marsh marigold everywhere.

Ariel busies herself while I take several shots of the flowers.  She works on a story line for Doe Story with a Meerkat and Fox toy.

Our journey kept us going.  Ariel asked if we could try a another route home and I said we could.  We decided to go along the rock ravine and climb up to the old logging road.

We had more adventures, but I am going to stop this here. I've run out of time today and have to get ready for work.
I know that we had a great time though.

To be continued...