Just fun stuff ~ Rains!

This past week....

We got so dry once more. But that was good in a way as the farmers got most of their crops planted and I put off mowing the yard a few extra days.

I decided that a shaggy yard was okay since the price of gas was so high, I could mow it a bit less and not worry about how pretty it looked.

Now we are in a cycle of rain and rain and rain. 

Friday night we had close to an inch of rain with some incredible lightening.

Saturday was supposed to get up to 83 F and be hot and icky. So after sunrise, the dogs and I took a 'field trip' to our creek. There was a dual purpose to it. I could do my daily check on the mules and get the dogs some exercise before it got hot.

I made one more discovery. Hannah loves, loves, loves water. She paws it, walks in it, jumps into it, and plays in it. If I toss a rock into the creek and it splashes, she pounces on the splash.

Our creek is not deep in places there might be pools of water about 6 inches deep, but that it is mostly about 3 inches of water that tumbles over the rocks.

Alas, the creek is full of weeds and grasses from years of dry summers. It used to be a nice rock bed that one could pick their way through. Not any longer.

This is a photo of the creek in 2019 before years of drought.

And what the area looks like now.

I've watched the valley change over the years. 

I now fight through thigh high garlic mustard and in June, I stop going through the bottoms because of 5 foot tall parsnip plants. I have spent hours and hours clearing paths along the creek in my favorite spot.

The runoff from the fields around us drains into our valley and we get all the nasty weeds from our neighbor. The deer and other wild animals spread the seeds simply by walking through these patches.

Garlic mustard

The cattle from the two farms on either side of me are gone now and the lands around us have turned into 'wildness' and weeds. 

However, I still go out and enjoy finding amazing plants and scenery. The dogs don't care about trails, weeds, or flowers. They enjoy the smells and adventure.

I have to assist Charlie through some of the places now as the plants are up knee high to me or thigh high. I used to take a corn knife and cut a trail through the difficult parts. I may have to do that again this summer. 

This is part of the reason why I go to the Reserve or our county parks. The trails are mowed and we can walk on them.

But I do love our forest.

I'll keep exploring it as long as I can. The hillsides and upper forest have so many amazing things to see all year.

Maidenhair Fern

Golden Oyster Mushrooms

Reflections of the tree above in a small creek pond.

Mini-me and my backpack and camera

always searching for the next

shot.

This week we are predicted to have accumulated at least 4 inches of rain since Friday evening. Perhaps the creek will have plenty of water for Hannah to play in.

Everything Everywhere and All At Once!

 

I think Spring gets me going just like Fall does. I feel like I am missing something out in the woods...except in the opposite direction.

I want to be digging in the flower garden and creating beauty when all sorts of activity is also happening out there...in the woods, in the pastures...

Everything Everywhere and All At Once!

I save part of a day to take a walk. I have to or I'd go crazy. After chores, I generally walk up to get yesterday's mail through the neighbor's woods.

These scrubby trees have reddish green leaves opening up. I have no idea what they are but with the morning light shining through the leaves...
well, it was beautiful and worth stopping to look at.

I'm afraid that we got distracted by the buds on the trees and took the long way around to the mailbox.
I noticed that the tiny fruit tree near the road was going to flower. There are two of these trees in one place. They have evil thorns that rip and tear. No wonder no creature has eaten them in the past 20 some years. 
They have never gotten large and I really have no idea what they are.

Dogwoods near the mailbox! We finally made it there! I riot of colors is coming quickly. Can I see it all at once?

Garlic mustard. It is now everywhere. However, it has good flavor so I picked some to use in my salad for supper.

After I made lunch and arranged for a friend to pick up our 4 wheeler and give it an oil change, I headed back out to the woods. Rumor had it that someone in our part of Wisconsin had found some grey morel mushrooms.
That is my go-to excuse to get out in the woods in the spring. 

Below is one of our patches of Wild Ramps. It is huge.

There is an issue with people now going out to find them and digging these plants up and selling them. It takes years for these plants to grow. I take a few each year to eat fresh and a few to dehydrate.

I leave the rest because they are so beautiful to see in the Spring. They do flower and spread seeds which take quite a while to grow into an edible Wild Ramp.
In the photo below, they are mixed in with Mayapples and Virginia Spring Beauties.

Spring is a wonderland after months of winter.

Carpets of Spring Beauties

Woodland Lilies --
Not Lily of the Valley

Ferns of all kinds poking up...

As Charlie and I were headed home from the back part of our property, a Barred Owl flew over us and landed in a tree.
I sat down and grabbed Charlie to stick him in my lap. I suppose he could be the right size for an Owl to think of as dinner for Owlets.

We watched the owl for quite a while.

It struck me then that I'd seen this owl [or maybe one just like it] in this area last year while hunting morel mushrooms. Charlie hadn't been with me then, but I did watch the owl for quite a while. The date was March 15th of last year.

Shot from last year....

I guess I should have remembered. Charlie seems to have a good sense of when to stay close. When he hears large hawks or the twitter of an eagle, he usually scoots right between my feet.

Spring is coming on hard. We'll have warmer temps and some nice rain to get things moving along.

Meanwhile, I'm outta here to watch the forest come alive...

Rainy Day Hike

On Saturday the rains moved in.  
I had planned on going for a walk to look at wild flowers and hopefully find a morel or two.

I put on my Frogg Toggs and decided to stick a pocket camera inside my pocket and go see what I could find despite the rainfall.

I used my weatherproof Fuji pocket camera and hoped that it was still weatherproof after all of these years.

My Frogg Toggs got muddy but seemed to hold up pretty well, I spent almost 2 hours in the rain and didn't get wet.
However I did get muddy.

I found some False Morels, these were all over on a north facing hillside.
Very nasty mushrooms from what I understand.  

These should never be confused with Morels, their stems are solid not hollow like a morel is.

I also found strawberry plants that were starting to bloom near the creek.

To my horror, I found a large patch of Garlic Mustard.  

I pulled as much as I could, even though this is not in our woods.  

So I spent the day hunting for morels and found just one, but also discovered two patches of garlic mustard.  As I pulled them I found dutchman breeches under them.  
These are awful plants and this forest will more than likely become invaded by this plant.

No animals eat it.