Gone Fishin'

 Wednesday was fishing day. 

Steve showed up a bit early but that was good because we had to load up his car with a wheelchair, lunch, Oxygen tanks, and all the stuff that would accompany us for a trip to the river and a search for some fishing.

Steve brought a patio umbrella he'd picked up somewhere along with plenty of zip ties to attach the umbrella to different wheel chair access points to provide shade for Rich. This was the first place we stopped at.

It is called Veterans Park in DeSoto, WI. We are in a backwater pond that is stocked once in a while with fish from the Fish Hatchery up the road [I think]. The guys caught a lot of little sunfish and really had a lot of laughs over that.

We moved to another place along the river and tried fishing there. This was at Gordon's Bay.

That didn't work out very well, so we ended up at Blackhawk County Park further up the road. Eventually the guys decided that the fish -- at least the bigger ones just were not in the mood to bite.

[this was shot in infrared black and white which causes green leaves
to show up as white!]

There were no bugs, but a lot of cottonwood seeds were falling all over the place. I'd prepared the snacks of Garlic Ring Baloney with fresh cheese curds and Ritz Crackers. 

I had water and soda along with wipes to clean up the wormy fingers. Of course neither of the ol' boys worried about dirty fingers, they just wiped their hands on their jeans and laughed.

Good ol' boys will be good ol' boys. The two of them reminisced about their days of training and hunting with coon hounds. They talked about the farms they used to go to and all the nights my husband took Steve's son out hunting while Steve worked night shifts at the Foundry.

They relived their younger days with so much laughter and fondness. 

Steve is thinking of taking us on tour next week to visit his son "Little" Steve who is now in his 40's. Little Steve has his own body shop/repair service. Steve's daughter is the person who gave the horse we called Fifteen a new home. 

Her new name is Honey and she gets attention every single day.

Old connections made new.
Old Friends connect.

Ol' Boys.
Gone Fishin'.

Days spent making life worthwhile and a life well lived.

Fog and Pasture

We used to fence off the neighbor's meadow and keep it clipped and grazed by the equine for quite a few years.

After my husband's stroke last May we sold most of the equine. I tried keeping up on the weeds vs. the electric fence last year but lost out. Without my husband clipping it with the mower, it became a tangled mess of multiflora rose and other nasties.

However, it still presents as a beautiful place to watch the sun come through the fog on those typical Driftless mornings.

Charlie and I walk back almost every morning to check on the status of the mules and Fifteen in the back.
And whenever the small herd sees me, the come up to the gate.

On the other side of that crooked-ly fence is the Merry Meadow. If I could drive a tractor and operate the mower, I'd clip the meadow just to keep the weeds down and create a nice place to ride with the kids. Hmmm, I wonder if I could get my husband or the neighbor to clip a trail????
Anyway, that was just a fleeting thought to be filed for later.

This particular morning, the fog was incredible.

Layers upon layers of mist rising...or fog.

And well, the rest was just nice to stand and watch.

I am currently working on putting up some fencing in the woods behind the meadow. I should say I am working on repairs and replacing part of the fence.

We haven't used the 'wooded' pasture since 2009. The posts are there, but there is some fixing to do.
I am just going to work on half of it.

I guess that is the one thing I do love about electric 'rope' fence. I can make a section just about anywhere just clear the weeds and underbrush and put in the posts.

Maybe I should just take some photos or draw it out. Hmmm. Thinking again!
My goal by mid summer is to have good rotation for the 5 head of cattle and the 5 head of equine.

The Dexter cattle are experts at browsing the undesirable weeds and cleaning up brush.

The ladies doing their job. They gleaned this pasture and are out working on the ragweed and other grasses in the large winter pasture.
Soon they will rotate back to their favorite lot.
I think I call that #4.

Well there you go. More than you wanted to know.

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....

15 and the Farrier Visit

The weather was miserable. Cold, wet, rain, cold...wet, wet, cold...well you get the idea.
Dan and Danny Tesar came and we introduced them to our new horse/pony we call 15.
Yes she came from an Amish farm and needs a bit of filling out yet, but we have been so surprised by her super laid back and gentle attitude.  She was supposed to have been 'a good rider'. But as things go at auction, she really isn't what we would call well broke.
That was okay.
Rich and she got along so well. She allows him to do most anything with her. And she will accept a saddle and work with a bridle.

That was pre-stroke. We haven't messed with her except to feed her, clean her area, and brush her a lot. We had a bit of trouble picking up her back feet and I had meant to have her over that before the Tesar's showed up.

The Dan's worked quietly and patiently with 15 and trimmed her feet. She had a bit of an issue with her back feet. But the guys worked with her and concluded that she was not going to kick, she just didn't really understand and was a bit confused and frightened about having her feet worked on.

Rich stood talking to her quietly. She seemed to completely trust him and most of the time stood perfectly still.

As Dan and Danny finished up ... well something occurred that I'd never in my entire time with Rich seen him do.

15 closed her eyes and dropped her head to Rich's chest. Rich leaned forward and planted a kiss on her face.

I poked Dan as Rich turned to take her back to her pen. "Why I never! I have never in my life seen him actually kiss a horse!"

It is obvious that 15 is very important to my husband. She has touched him inside like no other animal I've ever seen. Not even his beloved Fred Mule.

We dragged in wet donkeys from the winter pasture and got their feet trimmed. Some donkeys behaved a bit badly. Normally they are calm and sweet. Dan thought perhaps it was the crappy weather.

I thought a bit and then realized that normally we have all of the donkeys clustered around when trimming. It was probably a herd sour issue. That explained that attitude of our quietest donkey.

Once the weather clears up, the donkeys will get summer haircuts and be bathed. Even Eddie the gelding I raised will be sold. However Bob, ever calm and steadfast Bob will stay. If ever there was a handsome, gentle laid back Jack, it is Bob.

I need to stop here and thank Dan and Danny Tesar of Dan Tesar Horseshoeing Co. for their excellent work and generous gift.
Rich is still pinching himself.

Hey...it isn't raining at the moment! How about some rain? It could get dry!
We only had an inch yesterday!

Fifteen

I had a lot of other things to write about. One of those things of course was photography and my trip to the east coast of Wisconsin....

However as soon as I returned I was tossed into 12 hr night/day shifts and time got lost somewhere.

Hubby decided to go to an auction. He and I had discussed at length the prospect of getting a pony. I didn't want to go through raising a foal and training it again. I've done that so many times over the past um... well, I've had something 'in' training since I was 36.
We discussed the fact that the neighbor kids had expressed an interest in learning to ride. [The older grand kids learned last summer on Fred and he was so perfect.]

Fred the mule is our perfect teacher. He is pony sized and ultra patient. However he is also aged and even though he shows no ill health, being 30ish is sort of old.
He has given so many people their very first rides that I've lost count.


I wanted a horse pony since I was a little kid. Not the fancy Welsh pony or the Shetland kind. Just a small horse.
I am a small person.

I've also been going over the idea of getting back into 4H as a leader. I enjoyed it so much when my kids were in it. Having a pony/small horse would fit right in to my plans.

We did quite a bit of searching and found some nice pony sized horses. Nothing quite fit the bill. I wasn't looking for a fancy show pony but something I'd use as well as be able to teach with.

Hubby went to an Amish horse auction. I stayed home to recover from some 12 hr shifts and take a hike. I know Rich is very particular when looking at animals, I was pretty sure that he'd come home soon.

I went hiking and found some false morels as well as 3 small greys.

Rich came home and stated that he'd bought a pony and had his eye on another one.
I was surprised.

I went back with him and found #115. That was the sticker on her rear end.

When we got her home the neighbors came down for a look see. She stepped off the trailer and looked around. She quietly surveyed the area and all of the commotion from the honking donkeys to Little Richard's shrill whinney.
There was a new kid on the block and everyone had a voice in it.

"What are you going to call her?" Everyone asked, "What's her name?"
Well I'd thought about that.
I looked her over and ran my hand down her back. It stopped at the sticker.

"Her name is 115 or Fifteen for short." Rich nodded, he was used to me giving animals strange names.

And Fifteen has been home for two days now. She has shown us a very high degree of smarts. It takes a lot to impress a mule man.

Fifteen is doing just that.

I can't wait to work with her.

Welcome home Fifteen!