It's February!

January 31st

We had The Big Snow that wasn't.

However, Charlie had a very hard time getting through it. It was wet and very heavy. 

I ended up just breaking trail with my skis in the big field and carrying my poles and Charlie at the same time.

That was actually pretty hard but a great workout. I finally found a deer trail and let Charlie down into it. 
I must admit, he is a trooper. He did his 'snow swimming' thing and bounded ahead looking for deer pellets...er smart pellets.

I made it all the way across the ridge.

And then I headed back after watching some snowmobiles scream through the fields. I'm not sure why they need to be so loud. 

Myself? I'm happier doing the silent sports like snowshoeing and skiing. 

January 31st was a pretty good day. On the way back home I got to converse with my neighbor for a bit while her husband plowed the hill. Later on I called my friend in Alabama to see how things were in her part of the world. She is in her 80's and sharp and funny. 

My weekly call from my son was really nice too. His town got his with about 14" of snow. He had gone cross country skiing, or as he said, more like breaking trail...with a friend and had taken advantage of the snow day.

Rich even got out in his skid steer and cleared out the turn around and the lower driveway.

And The Big Little Dog said...

Nap Time!

327 days we have been practicing Social Distancing and masking.
Onward.

Hi

Visitor on the back door!

The afternoon turned warm and sunny. So Charlie and I went off on a little trek. I took only the 12mm lens which is a prime 'wide' angle lens. I wanted to challenge myself with it. It is really used quite often in landscape shots and astrophotography shots.

What could I do with it in the forest? There is no Wide Open Spaces. 

So I told myself to think outside of the box. Get out of the comfort zone of having the 14-150mm lens that I usually chose.

It was One Of Those Days. You know. Pandemic- Covid-19- Worry About the Whole Damn World Days. Stupid Mind Racing Thoughts Days.

Time to leave the smart phone on do not disturb and--- put it on a window sill--- and ---out of the way Days.

Getting out of the house and away from the endless drone of the TV is always helpful. Charlie was up for it as we'd skipped our morning walk.

We got to the area of the woods where the fungi liked to live. I sat down on a damp log to try and figure out how to photograph a few tiny fungi, when I noted Charlie sniffing and tasting the berries that came out of the Buckthorn Trees.

The berries look exactly like deer poo and I yelled at him, "Stop, drop it!" The mystery of why he was so sick last week suddenly dawned on me. He'd sampled some Buckthorn Berries. No more hikes in that section of woods for him!

So how did my 'challenge' work out? Here I am yelling at Charlie while photographing a Chicken or Hen of the Woods fungi. Apparently they are good to eat when fresh. Nahhhh, I'll watch someone else eat them first and then decide.

You can get an idea of the size of the fungi though with Charlie in the backround.

I did find some tiny mushrooms that should have been photographed with a macro lens, but here was my challenge. Could I do something interesting? 

The full shot pre crop:

And after cropping:

These were just for fun and challenge. I could have done a focus stack with the lens too but I decided that with Charlie's interest in the toxic berries, we'd move on.

Although this lens did prove to be pretty fun to work with even in a macro world! Below, same log different angles of the fungi. The second shot is cropped.

I moved out of the Buckthorn Forest and thought about how to get rid of those trees. A goat herd would certainly help. They were good on the Buckthorn saplings, but those larger trees were an issue. They totally blocked out the sunlight in this area of the woods. I liked it in a way because it was super shady and the mossy logs loved it for fungi. But I hated them too.

A bull dozer and a herd of goats would take care of those noxious trees. 

I ended up sitting with Charlie at a place I used to go to often. The kids called it The Fort. It is a small rock outcropping on our land.

Charlie loved the rock. I think he likes it when he feels tall.

In this photo you can see his twisted foot and leg. He was born that way and I imagine in years to come that may become an issue. No matter, we adore him anyway. 

This pose is SO Charlie. He will NOT look at me directly unless I hold a dog treat in front of my face.

We will probably go back to The Fort more often. It is a nice place to sit and look over the neighbor's land.

And lastly, the photo that summed up how I was feeling yesterday.

I am learning how to be alone but not lonely.

I am surrounded by amazing things.

I will leave it at that.

There it is...

It's going to be

Hot!

It has been an interesting few days. 

Things go on as normal around our little farm but the heat and humidity have changed how I do things.

Most of my outdoor work is done before 10am. That means picking beans, lettuce, onions, and pulling weeds in the garden.

[That includes CrossFit workouts too. Uffdah!]

I like to sit on the porch later in the morning and get the veggies washed and ready to blanch. That too needs to be timed for very early in the morning.

I don't want to steam up the house during the hottest part of the day.

When I am bored and can't hike or go 'do' something, I start to go rather stir crazy and take out the camera and just go at it. 

I experiment with Infrared, with long exposures, and even resort to taking the toys out for some fun.

Yesterday as I was sitting in the yard with some toy Unicorns and a rat skeleton [toy]. I realized I was just like a kid. 

I was creating. 

The camera was my paper and pen. Most of the photos were silly but fun and kept me occupied. I'd actually studied a tutorial regarding how to use a Long Lens for Macro work. 

So I decided to try it.

Not a true macro, but heck...it IS a unicorn!

And Unicorns like to play...so here they are playing! But yikes! What is lurking in the grass behind them?

I also wanted to be silly and tell a story...or make a visual. 

Nothing earth shattering, but just for fun.

This unicorn should be more careful!

Rich sleeps away the afternoons while the heat bears down on us.

Charlie and I sit on the porch and watch clouds, and listen to the birds. I read a book. But I can't sit still for too long.

I wander the yard and look for interesting things.

It's hot and muggy. 

Just dragging the hose across the yard to put fresh water in the mules' tank makes me gush sweat.

Uff.

I find something interesting to try so I sit in the grass. 

I'm always curious. How will I look back on this photo? Will I remember that I sat in the grass to wait for the tank to fill up?

I will look back and recall how nice it is to have Charlie with me.

He sits and surveys the world from a spot in the shade.

He turns to look at me every few minutes. 

.... and there it is.

Another quiet day in seclusion at the farm.

I don't mind it so much now.