These times...

 

On Monday we had our updated Covid-19 boosters. And other than a slight ache at the injection sight we've had no ill side effects. That was actually a pretty nice surprise.

Tuesday was my 'hike or ride with Olive' day. Olive had texted me Monday evening to let me know she had found the Mother Lode of cool fungi in a forest that her husband's family owns. We decided to go at 10 AM because the heat on Tuesday afternoon was to be fierce.

She had found the Mother Lode!

Shrimp of the Woods was everywhere! She picked, and I photographed. We poured out gobs of sweat and hiked ...and brush busted through the woods getting full of stick tights and all sorts of nasty little burrs. We laughed and exclaimed how fun it was to find someone else as adventurous as we two were.

Apparently her husband is not into diving through the underbrush just to find dried up old mushrooms and exclaim OHHH! AHHH! Or to grab fungi from the dirt and marvel at their beauty. [However, he will eat what she cooks!]

I learned that Olive was indeed the adventurous type. After college, she took a year and went to New Zealand to hike a 2,000 mile trail. She said it was an epic adventure and she learned by trial and error about back packing. She learned about blisters, heat rash, and dealing with forces of nature.

I told her I was jealous, but admired her.

The arrow points to some oyster mushrooms she had 'seeded' with a slurry from other oyster mushrooms she'd picked. It worked!

We hiked and explored for about 2 hours before we hopped back into her beat up Subaru and headed home. We traveled both times with the windows down as her A/C hadn't worked since she'd beat up her car when she did a short stint as a Rural Postal Carrier. 

I'd taken a lot of photos and we'd covered a lot of ground. 

We both thought it would be fun to come back after the snow fell and snowshoe through the woods.

She dropped me off.

Two hours later she texted me with an urgent message. Her parents had Covid they'd been at their house on Saturday. She had been exposed but presented with no symptoms.

Well now. 

I'm wearing a mask in the house and doing all I can to keep separate from hubby.

This morning I received an update. Olive had to take her son to the ER last night and he tested negative, but has a full blown ear infection, teething, and a cold.

Her husband is negative too. So now we just wait and see while still practicing all the cautions I can...

Ever drink coffee with a straw? 

Interesting.

Doctor Doctor

Now that I am OF age, a curious thing happened. I had a complete Wellness Exam. 

I GREW shorter! I'm a half inch shorter than I was at 20 yrs old. Well, no real surprise there. I'm a little people.

Taking care of me is as important as taking care of hubby. 
A couple of things came up. The eyeball thing of course which will be re-evaluated tomorrow, stress from caregiving and dealing with the mental status of the other half.

My doctor Ann, is awesome. I've been with her for 23 years. She said with the stress and anxiety issues I go through she'd like me to go see a counselor. I agreed. [Seeing means by zoom in these times and I am not sure about that. I need human contact. Even if it means conversing outside.] Phone calls are OK. But seeing another face other than my walls is what I need.

Interesting that she said I qualified for meds for this. She rattled off the med list and I shook my head with each one. She smiled and said she did not see me taking those meds either. 

I told her what I currently do to try to keep sane. I will go back to CF with modified exercises until the bay doors are closed for cold weather. Then I will go back to Virtual CF. She prescribed hiking and Yoga. 

So I have a diagnosis code Z63.6 which is Dependent Relative. The hardest part is having to admit it to your provider. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been this comfortable discussing these issues in a Zoom or Virtual Appointment. 

Here is a not so great fact. Most CareGivers do not outlive their dependent if they do not take steps to Care For Themselves.

This is not new information to me. It is just how it is. I hate to admit it, but I do have more times per week that I get irritated with the other half for no real reason. I always am nicer after a nice long hike or workout.

And now I will take time to do a bit of bragging. I passed my exam with flying colors as far as all the vital readings go. I even got a BMI rating! Too funny, I had to look it up. 
Since I am small, I've got to do a bone density test. Hmmm, how do you study for that? One fasting lab and poke and I'm done with my tests. 

I also got the flu shot and am scheduling shots for Shingles. Interestingly enough on a side note. A friend who WILL not get the Covid vaccine did get the Shingles vaccine. 

Ruminate on that for a moment.

My last thoughts for today.
Doctor Ann told me that last week they had to divert patients because our little hospital had NO room in the ER or beds. She did not say why, she just said it happened.
The ambulance had to take patients to another state. There were no available ER's within 100 miles of our tiny town.

It did not make our local news. 

She told me to stay safe and do her prescribed hiking and yoga plan. To follow up with a phone call to get in touch with a counselor if the VA couldn't provide any help.

~~~~~

I'm going to make up a sheet to put on the fridge. 

It will go something like this:

Val must go hiking every week as a prescribed medication. Dr. Ann Said So.

I do like my doctor.

End of February

The Forest Dragon explains to his brother that Spring is still on its way.

I'm thinking someone is still pretty Grumpy.

The Forest Dragon welcomes his new little one into the world.

I sat down by the creek Saturday afternoon and listened to the oak leaves rustle in the wind. By May the oaks should start budding and push the old leaves off the branches.
Sometimes I just wander about and look around. I stop and look at rocks. Or moss.

Or gaze at trees and let my mind float up and away. 
I listen to the breeze and the creek.

There is peace in the creek and of course nature's drama. Life goes on here and isn't bothered by Out There.

So ends February, the month of snowstorms and some very cold weather. A month that seemed to stretch on forever.

Time well spent on walks in the creek enjoying the snow and ice.

Days of amazing frost that touched the trees on the ridge.

Mornings of fog and ice.

...and learning more about Infrared [my current passion].

A LOT of time spent studying Still Life, lighting, and other avenues of photography to work on some skills. I've watched quite a few training videos for tips and ideas. I told my son last night that this seemed to be my only saving grace this winter when I couldn't get out and about.

What will March hold for us? 

Silence ~ But I can do better!

I live with a person who has several health issues and dementia. Some days are quiet and pretty darned boring. Those are really the better days. Then there are the days that something gets his ire up and well it can get rather tense.

The other day I was watering the large heated stock tank. The outdoor hydrant is above the house on a hillside. I use about 200 feet of construction strength black hose to run water to the stock tank which is plugged in on the porch of the house. I separate the hoses and drain them in the winter. Gravity is such a great helper. Once in the past 5 years I've had one hose ice up on me. 

I separate the hoses by the LP tank. You can see how the slope works in my favor.

The tank fills with very little work most of the time. The two mules that need special feeding requirements are kept separate from the younger mules. Fred the pony mule is 35. Mica is the grey mule. She is has heaves when it is dry and dusty and is a hard keeper. Mica is also blind in one eye. I still ride Mica and put kids on her even though she is our tallest mule. She has a very kind disposition and is very gentle.

So I finished watering, picked feet, and gave everyone except Fred a nice hug and some ear rubs. Fred is anti social and doesn't like being caught.

I wrapped things up and headed to the house. Rich had been watching from the porch door. When I got inside he proceeded to give me a very stern lecture on 'how to drain the hoses properly'. I had the angle wrong somehow and I left footprints and divots in the snow which made the hose freeze up.

He even showed me how to hold the hose properly along with how to walk. It went on and on and on. 

I internally rolled my eyes and then in a moment of stupidity blurted out. "I've been doing this for over 5 years and I've only frozen up the hose one other time during the other Polar Vortex a couple of years ago. It will be 40 today. The hoses will be just fine."

His retort was quick and sudden and a bit nasty. He turned and crossed his arms in a huff.

I realized instantly that I his time frames were confused. In his mind he'd just helped me with it not too long ago. 

He was also stressed out because the program he'd been binge watching had ended. And he was frustrated because somewhere in his mind that he was no longer out there doing simple things like draining the hose.

His punishment was the Silent Treatment. He tossed the remote and and sat on the couch. He stared at the wall arms crossed and breathing in big sighs. After about a half hour, he got up and went to take a nap.

I understand mental health issues a bit. I am a lay person who lives with it. I married a person with it. I don't have any regrets. But there are days when even I can't deal with it and I take my Angel Hat and toss it aside.

However, I grew up in a household where Mom was the Expert at Silent Treatment. She could've taught a Master's Class in Silence and exasperated looks.
I knew I shouldn't engage in it, but I did.

I plugged my earphones into my smarty phone and dialed in Pandora. Mom was the expert and I learned from her. My Mom had some mental health issues too, so I'd learned from the expert. My poor dad, I don't think he ever could understand Mom.

Silence feels like a superpower. It is a very powerful weapon. Sooner or later hubby would need help with the TV or he would want supper. I rolled these things over in my mind and decided that I'd break his silence as soon as he got up from his nap.
After all, I should be the better person in this as I am caring for him.

There is no arguing with Dementia. I discovered that with his mom. Let them rant, let them tell you what is what and simply move on. Hard to do when you literally live in close proximity.

After his nap, he wasn't having anything to do with breaking Silence. He stood with the remote and kept clicking through programs and sighing loudly. I let him.

I started to bake chocolate chip cookies. Our cottage/house is very tiny. Pretty quick, he entered the kitchen and stood.

"Whatchya doing?"

Me: Baking cookies.

Him: Didjya fall on your head? [His joke at any attempt by me at baking.]

Me: Must have.

Him: Let me have some.

Me: Okay. Can I help you find a program?

Him: Yes please.

The Silent Treatment broken and things back on an even keel.

Where did it go?

Time, that is.

10 months ago, a self portrait in April of last year. Don't mind the messy table, it is always that way. Of course this is where we eat, discuss life, and hang out. It is my 'work' station and our dining area. 

This morning.

I don't like self portraits per se. Especially now that I can see how I have aged. I wonder why it is okay for guys to be aged with wrinkles and it isn't so cool for women?

I'm an outdoors person. Most of my time is spent outside in all the weather. I've beat the hell out of my facial skin. Hopefully wrinkles will come in vogue. You know those lines around the eyes and mouth. That ugly neck that everyone covers up with fancy scarves. 

I thought it would be fun to do some black and white work while I was in the mood.

Hands. My hands and how they have aged.
Once upon a time I looked at hands that worked in an office that were primped and polished. Beautiful nails and smooth skin.

Funny how I never saw the arthritic bumps and lumps and rough skin that are my hands now. But that is the progression of age and outdoor work. Our skin is the organ we all choose to ignore.

I remember being so impressed with my grandmother's hands. They were knotted, crooked, and bumpy. I recall standing with her as she used a scrub brush to get the garden dirt out of the cracks in her fingers. She was going to church and didn't want the other church ladies to see her rough hands.

While I was thinking about hands hubby sat down to cut up and apple. He didn't realize I could 'shoot' from across the table. The benefit of having live view and a flip screen. I set the camera to silent.

If I didn't know these hands belonged to my husband, I would have thought they were my father in law's hands. Age, medical conditions, and medicines all contribute to this dramatic change. 

I find it intriguing and curious. I see his hands while he is using them, but they look so stark when caught in a moment of time.

I'm making my mind up to get more comfortable with the looks of age. After all, I can't avoid it at this point. And I am not going to look suddenly younger. 
The face in the mirror is still aging even if I don't quite feel it on the inside.

Then there was this matter of going upstairs to clean up the room I'd left a mess with things scattered about. Suddenly, I found myself distracted. 

And amused.

I went to put some things away and organize some other things.

Ahhh. 

Well there you go. Another benefit of aging.

You can always give the excuse that 'my mind wandered' while I was upstairs.

Time keeps going. Funny how we are surprised at the changes we never noticed.

Be Chilled My Heart

I don't do Valentine's Day. But that is okay, I don't have a grudge against it, I just don't buy into it anymore.

So everyone loves to talk about weather. -15F translates into -26C? I never understood why we don't all use the same measurements. But that is for another day.
I know others are much colder. And I looked at the forecast for us. -17 tonight and Monday? Oh bother.

I measured the temp in the shed yesterday, because it actually felt a bit colder. It wasn't but it was out of the sun so that made it feel so much colder inside.

This is how the girls spend their afternoons. I get obsessed by worrying if they are warm enough. 
Everyone gets about twice the amount of hay during this cold spell. And thankfully, no one is showing signs of cold. 

When I had a place in the flat lands of Kenosha, I had to have a run in for my horses. There was no place for the equine to get out of the wind. 

I am literally going stir crazy inside. It is too dangerous to go hiking even if I get out of the winds. I'm wearing a mask, over the glasses goggles, and a fur lined hat. The secret of keeping warm hands?

My Grandmother's hand made knit mittens with a pair of little knit gloves underneath.

Grandma's Secret Weapon
Knit Mittens

I tried the insulated gloves that are called HotShots and every other high tech glove. Nothing. works like mittens. I've even been able to open gates with them on. If I have to put a halter on someone, I do have to pull the mitten off.

Watering has become a nightmare. The hoses work well and drain from the top of the hill at the outside hydrant. In the past, when we had these cold temps, Rich would help me drain hoses after disconnecting them. With subzero temps and one person, the draining doesn't work as well.

[Yes, one time the outdoor hydrant froze up. That was once in 30+ years. A year when we had no ground cover but subzero temps for an extended period of time.]

Mittens crossed that I don't have to fill the tank until Monday afternoon? With a high of 3 degrees, I may be able to get 'er done. 

Oh and for the curious. The mailman DID show up! His huge Jeep with knobby snow/mud tires could handle just about anything thrown at him. So now that he knows where the house is, I wonder if he'll make deliveries next time. 

I spoke with him this summer at the post office and he told me he couldn't find our house. True Story.

So for those who celebrate, Happy Valentine's Day.

For me? Just a daily outdoor chore challenge and then a day of walking about this tiny cottage waiting for a chance to get out and hike.

Stir Crazy.

Going going gone ...

 ...to the nuthouse I go.

I made this sign and placed it in the mailbox so the mail person cannot put a 'no one was home' notice inside it without pulling this dayglow sign off. I signed and dated it once more. I am expecting a package I have to sign for and if he/she refuse as usual to deliver it... I will have to wait until Tuesday to get said package. Post Office is closed on Monday.

We will see the results. I'm betting that he/she will leave a note and not come to the house. 

Anyone want to bet???

So....

I thought I'd amuse myself by trying some old editing exercises. Like turning a photo into a drawing.

Original:

Topaz Impressions:

Adobe CS2: Photo to Draw method.

I sort of like them all for different reasons. Great exercise for my brain.

Original. Tea Time:

Edited for High Key Look with a texture:

I like this version. 

I moved around the tea towel that is hanging from the clothes rack...and moved in a bit. I settled on a subtle film color adjustment after trying several. Yep, I cut the poor rabbit's ear off too. 

Well this was for experimenting and brain work.

And then since nothing I was doing excited me very much. I did this.

It sums up exactly how I felt about trying my 'still life' experiments on Saturday.

Couldn't sleep

And it all is another blogger's fault. 
I'm laughing because really it isn't anyone's fault.

But I woke up suddenly and thought: What if the Heater quits all of a sudden?

So I sat up and went out to the living room to listen to the heater. We have a cabin heater for our tiny cottage. It does just fine. But I was obsessed with the thought of it not working. 

I decided to read a book on my Kindle.
Then I got to thinking about Moss and Lichen and spring and summer.
So I started a search on books about Lichen and Moss. Identification guides.

...and then there was this Grumpy Dragon:

I decided to stop looking at things. This was no good!

I gathered some blankets and laid on the loveseat with Charlie and started to drift off. I checked the outside temps. -10 with a wind from the North. The mules were playing and chasing each other in the pasture. Must have needed to warm up a bit.

Guess what? The heater worked even when I wasn't watching it.

Bbbbbabbby it's cold out there!

It was -6 this morning and there was a windchill going on. But by the time I was done with hauling hay and water, I was hot! 

I took Charlie with me to get the mail and got a surprise. There was a thing left by the post person on Thursday. "Sorry we couldn't deliver". I looked the item number up on line and it showed an attempt of delivery at MY address at 9:15am on Friday. Well hell's bells. They never tried. I was outside doing chores on Friday at that time and the mail is never delivered until afternoon anyway.

I've gone through this before. Items that need a signature are never delivered to my door. Not since the last post person retired and the new person took over. Tsk, tsk. I paged through my 'Informed Delivery' and it was not included there either. 
Last year I went to the Post Office and talked to our delivery person and explained to him that he had to drive past the upper house to the lower house. 

Alas. Any complaints to the Post Office are met with deaf ears and attitude.

Well oh well. A trip to town come Monday morning is on the docket then. 

But on a good note~~

The VA called and Rich gets his first vaccination on Tuesday. Apparently I could have driven to Madison tomorrow and done it, but our high temps will be below zero. The VA used an auto dial and recorded message for us to call in an make an appointment. I was surprised that there was NO long wait on the telephone and that appointments were not that far out!

That was very good news. I prefer the Madison VA because Rich has had some severe reactions to meds in the past. Better there than a clinic or drug store.

I had a happy dance.

Fred, the Elder Mule and Mica were doing just fine bathing in the sun next to the big shed. I filled their water 4 times with warmed water. By Wednesday everyone will go back to their regular places. My shaggy mule monsters were napping on the forest edge in the late afternoon sunlight. 

But they looked quite content. 

I read a book after shoveling a path from the driveway to the house.

Then I took some time to play with some toys a Flickr pal sent me. Seems like people think I like toys to photograph!

These are hilarious. I wind the toys up and they hop or walk in circles. Charlie nudges them with his nose. He is not quite sure what to do with them. I think the wooden Squirrel is trying to organize them but it doesn't look as if anyone but the flopping teeth toy is listening!

Old Teddy Bears

happy not to be outside.

Something just for fun. 

I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

Hmmm.

Tomorrow it is supposed to get up to something like -4! I wonder if the creek did a 'flash' freeze.

I guess I will find out!

 

Bear and I

What do you want to do?

It is dreary outside. I don't want to do anything.

Oh I think we should. 

Want to go sledding?

Okay. What is it?

I'll show you.

...

This is nice. 

This is scary!

...

and fast!

How about we just set here for a while and watch some birds, Bear.

Yes, I like this very much.

We can do this any time.

Any day spent with spent with you

is my favorite day.

So, today is my new

favorite day.

~Quote

from 

Winnie the Pooh

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.