Oh what joy...

 Really! 

I had a joyful hour of photography yesterday!

So you all have figured out by now that if I can get out and spend a bit of time with Miss Mom Nature, I am a happy camper.

I spent the morning setting up my temporary strings of fence hotwire and gates. In one direction, the gate allows the mules access to the forest. 

Moved the other way, they have access to the Merry Meadow [named by Ariel when she was little].

I'd fence, go back to the house to check on my patient -- go fence some more. Back and forth I went all morning. 

This included cutting down multiflora rose and cutting back Honeysuckle from where I was putting the electric fence. Yes, so much joy in that!

Done with that project. 

Next, I may have to revive the ancient mower and use it to cut down some thistles that are coming up in the meadow. 

If I mow the patch often with the push mower, I won't have to hack at it with the scythe. Anyway that is my industrious plan. Not sure it will happen but I'll try. 

That means putting the push mower in the cart that is attached to the old 4 wheeler and hauling it out there.

So.
Back to the photography.

Remember the odd looking moss/liverwort reproductive system in the rain? 
I found this yesterday. You can see that the little 'balls' blew open and 'spored' out for more plants.

Charlie was bored with me getting down low. But I can see the world better from his perspective.

I do have a fascination of little things. Big broad landscapes are really not easy to do in our landscapes of steep hills and valleys. So I find the little things.

The Spring Beauties as we call them were literally covering a section of our woods.

How lucky was I to not only sit among them, but when I studied the flowers I was able to find bees working the flowers.

I was using my Lensbaby SOL 22 lens. It is a frustrating and beautiful lens with an f stop that is set at 3.5 with a movable focal point. All of the work with this lens is purely manual as the lens doesn't communicate with the camera. 

I love the challenge.

Forest violets and yard violets....

Where the Maidenhair Fern Grows....

That's it for today.

It is Sunday morning and the day is looking bright and beautiful.

Time to get going and see what I can find today and work on my flower beds.

Stay At Home is not new to me

When we were kids, mom packed us up in the car a few days after school let out and we made a long drive 'Up North' to spend the summer in a small cottage on the same property as my Grandparents, Fred and Pearl.

From our cottage you could not see any other house other than Grandma and Grandpa's place. My Uncle and wife...and kids for a time lived on Grandpa's old place. We could walk there to play with cousins.

At first, my Grandparents had a party line for their phone. It was a few years later that you could actually dial direct. I recall sitting in the their kitchen and Grandpa getting on the party line to catch up on the gossip going around.

It was the Facebook of the early 60's!

Grandma cooked on a woodstove. We had an electric stove in our cottage.
Grandpa had a tiny TV that was black and white...I think. At first I thought summer programming only consisted of baseball games.

I can recall my sister and I playing crazy eights and keeping a score for the whole summer. We used the back of old envelopes as to never waste a piece of paper.

A game we played

...higher

and 

higher.

I'm the one leaping over the stick.

We created games to play and rarely told anyone 'there is nothing to do!' No TV, no real radio, no electronics. Just a lot of imagination and self entertaining.

So now we are are in what some people are calling a 'lockdown'. Well, it is a stay at home order. Or as our Governor says #SaferatHome. He softened the words.

We can go to local state and county parks, walk our dogs or other pets. Playgrounds are closed.
It hasn't affected me that much. Last week I was stressed out as I'd gotten into a routine going to CrossFit each day.

This week? My mind has turned to tasks at hand. Fencing, clearing burdock plants, worming the equine, figuring out how to trim feet on my own. Clearing the garden of weeds, fixing a flat tire on the lawn mower....

And I am doing it. I have buckled down and redone the front pasture just as I thought it should be done. And it works better than ever before...but just don't tell Rich!
I actually sat down and drew it all out on paper first. I spent a whole afternoon working on it. When done, I kept the drawings and stuck them in my journal. My drawings suck, but they are reminders of how I am learning to help myself get through a problem by working it out visually on paper instead.

We had a funny conversation the other morning.

Him: Can you shoot squirrel?
Me: Of course I can.
Him: Times get tough, you'll need to get us squirrel.
Me: Okay but I'm not sure how to clean it.
Him: I'll talk you through it.
...He winks.

I have eaten squirrel. I've even had mystery meat in a burger that Grandma cooked on a 'Smokey Joe' that my mom had brought for grilling while we were there for the summer.

I'm settled into a good routine now and don't miss the outside world that much ... like I did last week.
I have jobs to do.


And oh...so much more. The shed is waiting its next organizing effort too.

I did find skunk cabbage today on our walk.

Meanwhile

On the farm...

Who thought I'd be doing this?
Hard enough to find the right tool for the job of taking the ice piks off from the skid steer tracks, especially when you haven't done this before and don't know what size tool you need.

I spent a good 40 minutes sorting through 'his' junk pile of tools to find the right size.
Good.
Job half way done...

Then I went indoors to do this...

another job I am not very well qualified for. I sort of burned the edges.

However I am very good at raking and cleaning up the yard....

I make tiny piles and burn a bit at dusk.

Then back to the Sven Pen to put in a gate and get everything set up for Sven's homecoming....

And then back to the inside of the shed. This pile of windows and screens has been here forever. This is 1/2 of the pile and it resides in the area where Sven is going to have his 'stall'.
I have no idea why my husband has kept all the windows from his folks' old house, our old house, and some other house. I found 3 different styles of windows.
As soon as I can pull the truck up to the shed the windows are making a one way trip to the dump.

This was wire from the old catch pen that was destroyed years ago when trees fell on it. Yesterday I removed all the old bent up pieces by cutting them with a bolt cutter and then raking all the dry grasses and weeds into a dirt area to deal with later.
I've wanted to do this job for a while.

It is back breaking work but I did it.

I have to finish up a few more things in Sven's out door pen too. But it is getting there.

I'm happy I joined CrossFit. Much of this work would have made me sore last year. This year my stamina and my strength are beyond my expectations.

I loved the chill

Yesterday morning started out cold. It wasn't a killing frost, but anything that wasn't under a tree or the porch got nipped.

I used the remote for the Subaru for the second time since we bought it as I warmed up a cup of coffee and gathered a few items just before sunrise. September sunrises can be extremely colorful with all the moisture in the air. I had missed some spectacular colors this past week, but decided to go out and brave the first Frosty Morning.
The Subie was nice and warm when I hopped in and the windshield was defrosted.

I drove up to my morning spot and sat while the sky did it's thing.

Before the sun arrived, I headed back towards home but stopped to take a shot that is similar to the one I did with the IR filter a few days ago. At least there was a lot of color and you can see the frost on the fields.
Now if only they would stop putting up cell towers!

By chore time the winds had picked up and the clouds moved in. I wanted to go move the trail camera and gather up the temporary electric fence in the woods.
So after breakfast I headed out.

And...one thing led to another. For many years we had use of the neighbor's meadow that adjoins us. We used it all summer to graze our equine and hubby kept it clipped with his tractor and brush hog. After his stroke, we reduced the herd and I couldn't keep the Meadow up. Multi flora rose, burdock, and other weeds grew over the lines. I gave up and last fall started to take down the posts and fencing. I only got part of the way done by the time winter set in.

Yesterday was chilly enough for me to work in my old coveralls and a stocking cap. So I pulled out the 4 wheeler and buckled down to work.

Thick gloves and coveralls were a good thing. Pulling fence wire and posts in the above mess is not exactly fun. I brought nipper and clippers and in some places had to actually cut my way around a t-post in order to pull it.

I'd brought the 'fence puller' that hubby had made, but put it in the cart as the ground is still supple from all of the rain.

I filled the cart as full as it could get and headed back to the house with my load. I was thirsty, warm, and wanted something to eat.

I considered not going back out, but there was one last section to do. The dividing line we used to rotate pastures. The wire in this section was new so I'd save it.

I had something to eat. Rich said he wasn't hungry. He watched Netflix most of the day. I asked him to come help and he said he couldn't. Or well, maybe after he'd watched another episode of whatever he was watching.

When I sat on the bench to put my work boots back on. A Junco appeared and landed on the chair just across from me. It stared at me and tipped its head.
"Well hello!" I said.

My grandmother used to say that snow would arrive within 30 days or less after a Junco appeared.

I went out and pulled the rest of the posts and as I was coming back through the gate there he was! He'd come out to see what I was doing. He then did his 'walking' exercise. He only did the driveway twice but I considered that better than nothing.
He then volunteered to feed Dixie and the donkeys while I did the mules.

I consider that a win.

The cold air felt great on my face. I do like the cooler weather.
I know, I am odd.

But I do like the chill.
Winter is coming.

A Not Day

I think after I do the morning chores, and go to town for groceries, I will be coming home and I will NOT do any other physical labor.

Well, that is my good intentions, to take a day off and relax. The vegetable  garden needs a good hoeing and the flower gardens need weeding. I may get a the little squishy pad out and sit next to the flower garden and pick and poke at weeds and listen to music in the afternoon. That is relaxing.

Yesterday I walked to the meadow and fired up my Weed Eater and tore through a large patch of Canada Thistle. I know the cattle will eat the wilted thistle so last night I let them out into the meadow. My hope is that they eat it, if not that is okay. When I chopped down another patch by hand, the mules ate the chopped thistle and then stripped the remaining stalks.

My neighbor and her kids came for an afternoon jaunt down the new ridge road to the creek yesterday. We walked through the meadow and my neighbor noticed the Ox Eye daisy invasion and mentioned that her goats absolutely loved those pesky daisies.

Let's pause briefly for
Creek fun:

Back to the goats. Hmm. The Mules are natural browsers and so are the Dexters. I used to raise goats but never had them in the woods. It has been ages. I may have to see about 'borrowing' the neighbors' goats for some cleaning and gleaning. I know they eat multiflora rose bushes and those pesky berry briers along with burdock.

So last night my mind was whirring away, here I was trying to figure out a rotation to include a goat or two and wondering if I could pasture them with my Dexters. Mules are not generally happy with goats, however in the past two years the neighbor goats have been constant companions on the other side of the fence...and occasionally a wayward goat finds its way into the mule pasture.
I was sure that my red headed mules would hurt the goats.

So far that hasn't happened.

And then I wonder what I'd do with goats in the winter. Sigh. I do actually have the room to keep at least two.

Decisions, decisions.

However I've decided to NOT work on fences or thistles, or much of anything today. The yard needs mowing. Maybe I'll just trim a bit.
See? There I go again.
But I see rain in the forecast again starting tomorrow for the next two days.

Enough already!
And then I think.
Perhaps Sunday should be a NOT day.

And then there is that new fence line I thought I'd put up...and our pony who was wandering around this morning loose. He's broken his tie out...
and going to visit MIL...and...

Oh heck. Can I just have one day of doing nothing please???

Not much

I went for a hike yesterday mid morning. It looked like rain and I just wanted to wander around a bit along the creek and see what all the heat and rain had done.

It sure has changed!

And I found where the flea bane had begun to bloom...

I was surprised to see that I'd missed the bloom of morel mushrooms by a few days.

I found a few dozen but they were beyond the picking stage. I wonder if they will be in the same area next year?

I spent the early morning hours replacing some electric gate handles. They should have been replaced last year but I never got around to it. I must admit, I was pretty impressed with my work. Rich used to do all of the fence work, but I have watched over the years and learned quite a bit.

I solved the issue of that horrible hard place to mow behind the shed that is full of holes and stumps. I used our automatic self propelled weed eater/fertilizer pony to do the hard work.
Yes, I'll have to rake out his piles but at least he did the hard work for me. He isn't quite as good as a lawn mower or gas driven weed wacker, but he is less noisy.

Our neighbor at the top of the hill mowed alongside our driveway and cleaned out the end of the culvert that was plugged up. I had planned on trying my hand at using the weed wacker to clean that up.  Our farmer friend will be coming over sometime soon to fix the driveway for us. He rebuilt it in 2007 just before the floods and it has stayed reasonable good. The 2016 floods and rains made it deteriorate. Well, that and all the normal wear and tear a gravel driveway has to take on a hillside.

Here is a shot from the before and after work from 2007.

After supper I thought I'd saddle up Sunshine and take her for a ride. She is a good little go getter mule. Daughter of my very first horse.

I intended to ride to the Ice Cave and back but we got turned around by the booming of an incoming thunderstorm.

We got to the old electric fence in the 'Merry' Meadow -- it was not on. And I took down the lines so we could beat the storm home.  I leave the lines up because those folks with the 4 wheelers don't cross it and tear alongside my fence line and terrify our animals.

Today, the mules are due for their worming and then I'm going to transfer them to one of the rotation pastures. The Dexters that stayed on the farm are going to rotate to the pasture I would like them to clean next.

I think I should just label my pastures with numbers, it will be less confusing for Rich.

Then I start planting the veggie garden.
Hmm. I said Not Much.
But I guess I did do a few things.

I hope today is more on the boring side...

Meanwhile at the Farm

Here is hubby with his new spring haircut and beard trim visiting with his mom who is in rehab for a fall she had at the beginning of the month. The staff a Vernon Manor have been stellar. She's had intense Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy along with decent meals and her meds have been monitored.

The difference from before her fall to now is pretty amazing. Yet the woman of course is set in her ways. She is set to be released on Good Friday. I am of the opinion that she needs 24 hr supervision. Mostly because we've discovered that her mobility is still and issue [but good enough for Medicare standards] and her memory is a huge issue [but not 'bad' enough to warrant skilled care].
Medicare will only pay for up to 30 days in a Skilled Nursing Facility, thus the other reason for her release.


That is all on that front.

Hank is now a confirmed steer. He and his mom Stella will be moving to a larger pasture on Good Friday. They will share a fence line with Stella's old pasture mates. Hank will be 3 months old tomorrow. He and Charlie share a birthdate.

After a few weeks of being reacquainted with a fence in between them, they will go into the larger dry lot to await pasture rotation once the woods pastures begin to green up.

I've spent the past few days removing worn out soft braid wire and replacing it. All five of of pastures now that are in rotation have been 'Dexterized'. The Dexters clean the woods of berry briers and brambles along with eating ragweed and burdock.
The mules eat what the Dexters don't and we end up with a great way of keeping the woods and noxious weeds under control.

The 'other' usual suspects. The red headed sisters, the bay horse we call 15 and Fred hovering in back. Missing is the grey mule, Mica who was over eating hay in the feeder. I'd just finished up a session with the shedding blade and I am again their best-est ever friend.
Sundance is on the right, she is the younger mule who will get her education this year.

I worked with Charlie in the cold wind to string new wire and test the fence. I needed one lower line for the Dexter cattle.
Charlie is a very distracted helper. He was more interested in the mud he could get into and chewing on clumps of grass.

I had his new super-light weight cord on him so he couldn't just take off.
He made multiple trips with me to the large shed and back to the pasture. The cold wind didn't seem to bother him as he was 'busy' discovering the world.

The pastures had been set up for equine. I'd come up with a rotation plan and my husband actually agreed to it.
Since his stroke last May, I've been left to more and more of the decisions.

The remainder of the Dexter herd will be trucked out and sold at local auction. The two large bulls we have will be sent off for meat and sold.

I found a new cord for Charlie. It is super lightweight. However he doesn't seem to mind dragging it or allowing me to guide him with it as a leash. The new cord is a piece of my clothesline. It works very well.

However, Charlie is a master at getting into small places and thinking it is a game.
He is still very young so I don't get too upset with him. He is still a pup. The outdoor world is a huge adventure and his acute sense of smell leads him astray...well, astray in only human terms. If I had his sense of smell I'd probably have to investigate every mouse, deer, rabbit, and squirrel smell I came across too.

This weekend ought to be a wild one. My Kenosha Gang is coming up Thursday night to spend the weekend. We'll be coloring eggs and doing some farm work. I don't know what I'd do without these helping hands!

Charlie always seems to come up with a good solution for busy days. Cuddle up and take a nap!

Let's Go Fencing!

Plastic bags mark the division

I have always been one to advocate smaller pastures to rotate with. It just makes sense. At the moment I need to move some mules to woods pasture and cut the cost of feeding them hay until a buyer is found.

I had a crew out to help me 7 days after Rich's stroke. We didn't get to this dividing line. So I worked on it yesterday.
Good Neighbor Justin came down and did the heavy work with the T-posts. I am grateful to have such good people living near me. Justin also offered to mow our yard. His mower and ours are nearly exactly the same.
He has my yard mowing blessings.
At least it takes a bit of pressure off from me this week.

I need to get back out this morning and see why the line fence hot wire is not working. I have some clues, but need to figure it out. It takes a lot of walking and backtracking with a fence tester.
But when the project 'goes live', we will have 5 rotating pastures, plus the meadow at this point. I won't run out of pasture at all this year after we downsize the equine.

It is beautiful out there in the pasture.

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?