Wild Weekend! Sort of!

We had 7 inches of snow on Thursday through Friday morning. It was up to Charlie's neck. That is how we measure snow around here.

Thankfully, around 9am on Friday, Frank showed up in his old beater pickup truck and plowed us out. I was in the middle of cleaning when he showed up and stuck my head out to thank him so much for his work. Yes, I pay him $50 for each time he plows, but IT is worth it for me not to fret about it or try to tackle that long hill on my own.

Just after Frank cleaned us out, I got a text saying that Dennis [18 yr old Grandson] was on his way to come and spend the weekend with us.

Saturday morning it was below frigid. It was 5 degrees below 0 F or -20C.  I waited until it was just above zero to do chores. Dennis wanted to take a hike through the woods. 

Charlie wanted to go but it was too cold for his paws so for most of the 2 mile hike through the forest, we took turns carrying him. Dennis actually dressed for the weather in his new Carhartt's. He has just landed a full time job doing finishing work in construction. It sounds like it is a good trade to learn and he'll always be busy. His finishing job is doing trim around doors, windows, and floor boards.

I may hire him to finish up what hubby couldn't do when he had his stroke.

We had a wonderful visit with his parents. Rich's daughter is an amazing cook and she prepared Prime Rib and all the fixin's to perfection at our house. We had an early supper and enjoyed each other's company.

They left, Dennis stayed as he wanted to go see the Ice Caves and give Grandma a ride in his new to him Truck.

Getting to the caves this time was a bit harder with the snow hiding all of the rough footing underneath. However, we got there. 

Infrared photo of the ice caves:

We bypassed going into the second set of 'caves' and headed instead to admire the ice along Weister Creek.

Hey! A shot of me with Charlie in front of one of the most beautiful places at the Reserve in the winter. Dennis took this for me.

The creek in IR:

Not IR

See that hillside behind me on the other side of the creek? There are a few 'sketchy' trails that go right above that ice and head further east of the creek. We went there to go see this...

There is a cable that runs across the bottom of the ice here. I've never figured out what it is for in the 10 years I've been visiting this spot. What was it for? Where did it go?

The water here is too deep to try and follow it out across the creek. It seems to end in the rock. 

Here is the same scene in IR unprocessed. Wild right?

Eerie! 

With channel swapping which basically swaps the colors nearly opposite of what they are. There is more to it than that, but this is the simplest explanation.

I'm fond of the cool blue tinted ice. 

...and now?

Onto the next phase of this week. Some fun and some quiet.

Santa is inrtoduced to his relief driver!

A Day off the Farm!

I always start with a fence-pasture check and see how the elderly girls are doing. I went into what we call the Meadow to put an SD card back in the Trail Cam and came out of the forest to the above shot. I only had my cell phone with me.

I imagine the doe had run off while the fawn was sleeping and suddenly the fawn looked a bit confused.

I stood quietly and just waited.

I was able to switch to video ---> 28 seconds...

I ended up seeing 4 more does on my walk back to the house.

I did chores and got moving as I had a 'date' with my Grand daughter Ariel and a 2.5 + hr drive to her new apartment. This is not something I normally do. Travel that far, but I had two neighbors for back up and prepped lunch ahead of time for hubby.

I cannot believe she is going to be 21 years old in another month or so! OH MY! Where did the time go??? I'm sure her mom and dad are thinking the same thing.

She grew up under my nose! 

She is employed, owns her own vehicle, and now has her own place to live. She wanted me to come see her 'new' place and chill out with her. Here is a view out her living room window. She didn't give me permission to take her photo or to take and post photos of her place so I just won't do it.

Suffice to say, IF I'd had an apartment like hers, I would have loved it! She is in town and can walk all over and ... it is 5 minutes to work for her. Like most young folks she had parents and grand parents who helped provide her with things she needed.

I was so tickled to see one of my favorite shower curtains in her bathroom! Small things matter!

We went to a late breakfast then went shopping at JoAnne Fabrics. Ariel has taken up crocheting and is making soft fuzzy blankets for her relatives. She introduced me to the Big Fuzzy Soft Yarn she likes to work with. She studied all the colors they had to see if anything tickled her fancy. She asked the girl who was stocking the shelves if they had new colors coming out.

I know a lot of ladies who read this blog who love yarn and collect yarn! I could definitely see picking up crocheting with that fuzzy soft yarn. Ariel even showed me some loop yarn that you don't even have to crochet! Hmmmm. I could dig that! Might be something I could do at night while I sit with the other half and he is watching something boring!

We then parked in a public parking lot and took a tour of the town. We spent time in a bookshop that served coffee and sandwiches. We browsed and Ariel showed me the books she admired most.

We ended up at an interesting little shop that sold Geodes, candles, scented soaps, carvings, incense holders, and all sort of cool hippy stuff. I found some neat 3D printed dragons that would go along with my Lego People. I like dragons of all sorts.

They'll show up later in some Lego or Toy adventures.

Back at her place, we relaxed and chatted. She told me about her job and workplace and how she was doing. 

Again. Hard to believe I was sitting in her apartment with her as an adult. But there it was. When I was getting ready to go, she asked if I'd stop and see her brother who works at Culvers. He'd just gotten promoted to a supervisory position, and she thought we should say hi.

Another small kid....who GREW up!

He gave me permission to post his photo.

When Ariel and I started to walk out the door we turned and waved to Dennis and the whole front staff all hollered out "See yah Grandma!"

That was super cool.

I headed home to the farm with warm fuzzy thoughts and a huge smile on my face.

A day off the Farm! 

Mica

August 2009 is one of the last times Mica was ridden out and about. I don't recall why Rich stopped riding most of the time, it seems that my job then interfered a lot with riding.
Here she is in full riding gear.
Mica has an excellent training backround. Her trainer was pretty meticulous about her ground behavior and her manners.

Fast forward to 2017. Mica has been 'out to pasture' retirement. Not because anything is wrong with her, but because Rich just 'didn't have time' or was 'too busy' to ride.

I insisted on keeping Mica even though she hadn't been ridden in ... 8 years. Rich took her out a few weeks ago and she acted like a bit of a ninny.
I sometimes wonder if it is the attitude of the person handling the animal.
Don't get me wrong, Rich is not mean but he does demand perfection.

I realize the animal is an animal. Mica has been handled a lot since her 'retirement' I catch her often, clean her feet, move her from one pasture to another...and she has never been tough to handle.

So. Yesterday she came out of retirement at the ripe age of 21.

I worked for about 20 minutes with her. Then I put on a saddle and mounted, dismounted, and lay across her.
I let her 'heel' me around the pen, stop, turn, follow, back up, and stand on vocal command.
She actually was enjoying the attention and the work.

The kids handled her too. And she was polite when Dennis made mistakes, she tried to 'heel' him and not get in his way.
After a bit of coaching, Dennis nailed it.

I was so happy and Mica was so content with the kids petting and grooming her.

My question to the kids was.
"Do you think Mica enjoys this?"
"YES!"

Most mules love a job. Mica is going to love coming out of retirement.

We put her away and the kids still wanted to 'mess with mules'.

So out came the fabulous bay duo.
Siera and Fred.

End of story!

I needed to bring Mica out of retirement. The kids want Grandpa to ride with them. He can ride Miss Sunshine and go along if all goes well with Mica.
This week will be fascinating.

Siera Becomes a Million Dollar Mule

It isn't often that a mule 'earns' that 'degree' from me. Although I must say that Badger was the very first one to earn that title.

He most definitely was a 'kid' friendly mule. Even if he was 15 hands tall. He was always careful with the children and walked as though he was carrying eggs on his back.

He was calm and cool headed.

Today I rode out with Ariel and then Dennis. Ariel has a bit more experience with riding and has more confidence in herself.
Fred picks up on that right away. He worked like a charm for her.

Ariel can ride independently from Siera. 
Oh, by the way. Fred is another one of those Million Dollar Mules. He has at least 20 years of experience with novice riders and even experienced young riders.

When Dennis and I rode, Fred walked slowly and carefully. He only followed where Siera walked. Dennis is doing very well but I don't think he quite has the presence of his sister while on top of a mule.

We rounded a corn strip and stopped to admire some Monarch Butterflies that were flitting about.

Suddenly a doe burst from the corn and raced in front of us. Siera stiffened and perked up her ears.
The doe's twin fawns still had their spots, and raced across in front of us also.

Siera stood and watched them intently. I glance back at Fred and Dennis.
Fred was nonchalantly playing tug of war with Dennis to get a snack of nice green alfalfa.

I was relieved that Siera had done her usual. She rarely spooks and generally her spook reaction is to stiffen and then after a big breath it is okay to go on. Had she whirled and fled I would have probably run into Fred and Dennis.

I patted her and told her she was a good mule.

We finished the ride and then I had the kids put on their blue t-shirts from the Titanic Canoe Rental place. Lily, Dennis, and Ariel had all survived canoeing with Morris and I. We all have t-shirts to attest to that fact.

I asked Ariel if she'd get on Siera and we'd take a photo of her, Dennis, and myself for fun and memory's sake.

Boots, helmets, and mules, along with the bright blue t-shirts made for a nice photo.

The kids still wanted to ride, so I asked Ariel if she'd like to ride Siera.
She shrugged. We let them into one of the paddocks and stood back to let the kids ride.

I strongly feel that kids can learn a lot after they've had the basics by just putting more time in the saddle.

Siera performed beautifully. Once Ariel figured out how to 'operate' her, they worked well together.

It looks like I'll have to get Sunshine out if I want to ride with the kids next summer.

Sunshine is a great little red molly mule that we raised out of my old mare. 
She should be getting used more. I think she'd do well again with a job.

After all, she did start out her riding career as a grand kid mule also.

I think I'm pretty lucky to have grand kids who want to ride and mules who love to work well.

Siera has officially gotten her 'kid' stripes.

Would I ever sell her?
Oh, just like I said to the man who wanted to buy Badger from me years ago.

"You got a Million Dollars?"

Firsts

The world of 'firsts' is a wonderful thing.

Dennis got to experience his first fishing jaunt at the Veteran's Memorial Park in DeSoto.

It is a beautiful park located near the Mississippi. Access is from the Mill Road in DeSoto.

We enjoyed the nice floating fishing area and Dennis caught the most fish of course. 

After getting enough fish for supper, we headed towards home. We had lunch and a Siesta.  Well the guys did. I took my little mower and did some trimming.

Dennis had his second lesson on Fred. I found a pair of riding shoes that actually fit him. Dennis worked some more on his balance. He called it his Yoga Balance. Apparently Football players do use Yoga and since he is a huge sports fan, this was a great analogy to 'getting your balance' while riding.

We started the lesson with some leading and ground work. Then Dennis practiced mounts and dismounts. We went back to riding while balanced and then when Grandpa Rich joined us, we added riding balanced while holding the reins.

At this point we don't let the new rider 'rein' the animal. They learn to ride while holding the reins and not directing the animal.

Dennis did very well, so we started with how to use the bridle.
Right, left, stop, walk, backup. All commands needed to 'drive' Fred.

A word about Fred. He gets bored in the round pen, being a mule. And he will decide to test his new rider by not wanting to move at all. This is a mule protest saying "THIS is boring!"

However I love this photo of the guys. The cell phone camera didn't do great, but the sunlight and the dust...sort of sum up the first day with learning to guide Fred with reins.

That night we had fried panfish. Another first for Dennis. He wasn't sure he'd like it, but ended up leaving the corn on his plate and chowing down on fresh fried fish.

We got up early Thursday morning and hustled around. Dennis had made and packed our lunch for our Kickapoo River outing.

We nearly had the river to ourselves which was pretty nice. We stopped at bridge 4 to have lunch.

When we got into Wildcat State Park, we canoed alongside an older fella who was a photographer. He bemoaned the age of digital and said he was upset that all of his film equipment was out dated now.

We canoed and discussed wildflowers, the river, and he pointedly told Dennis that he was a lucky fellow to have someone take him canoeing!

Let's not forget the Navigator!

We made bridge 5 on time and one of the guys from Drifty's helped us pull the canoe up. The driver showed up a few moments later and we were headed back to Ontario.

Dennis talked excitedly and suddenly was very interested in the Kickapoo River as we drove home on highway 131. This highway has the Kickapoo wind back and forth underneath it.

We got back home and Dennis hurried to change into his riding clothes. 
He caught Fred and led him to the gate.

It was time for him to ride in the paddock in front of the house.

We practiced.
Right, left, whoa, back up, mount, dismount, and leading.

Then I left the boys [Fred and Dennis] to experiment and explore while I watched.

In no time at all...

they were taking on challenges.

Today, I'll join Fred and Dennis with Siera.
We'll do some pasture riding.

Dennis's turn on Fred!

Dennis is learning to ride just like the other kids have been doing this summer.

I've thought that by teaching them that they can control their mount while walking alongside them, it will help build the confidence for being on top and...being in charge later.

They learn that it is amazing how with such a light touch they can control this huge animal. This hopefully transfers to a light touch with the reins later.

Let me say that I am not a certified trainer, I've just had many opportunities over the years to work with kids and equines. Fortunately the horses and mules I've worked with have been of exceptional temperament and have had lots of experience with all types of riders.

I think a donkey would work well in this sort of situation also. However most kids wouldn't want to learn how to ride a donkey. We, in this country glorify the horse and tend to look down upon mules and donkeys.

Balance without reins is first taught. Eventually the rider learns to balance without hanging onto things and without using the stirrups.

I was taught as a kid to first ride bareback. But my training was pretty informal. 
Get on the pony, ride and try not to fall off.
I fell off a lot.

Today Dennis will wear some boots. I'd rather see all kids wear the proper footwear, but unless they are riding a lot, I don't insist on having boots.
In the future? I hope all the kids can have a pair of boots to wear!

Today dawned cold and clear. In fact it was downright chilly on the porch this morning while I was having my coffee and watching Morris do his 'thing'.

A big thanks to Dennis yesterday for helping me clean up the porch after I mowed around it and spit grass all over it.

We sat outside and had supper on the makeshift table and watched the sun go down. 

What a good day.