And BAM...Summery Spring has arrived...

Almost all of the trees are leafed out by now. The undergrowth of the forest which includes Barberry bushes, Honeysuckle, Raspberry, Gooseberry, and other prickly things all are in blossom or getting ready to blossom.

The grass and weeds in the Meadow have sprung to life this past week. The yard grass has a life of its own seeming to grow inches each night.

Our friend Jason came out for Mother's Day with his fluff balls...

his intent was to give me time to do what I wanted on Mother's Day.

This next series of shots is from my morning out in the forest. The last shot is of one of my favorite trees that flowers. The Hawthorne tree. The flower buds still weren't quite open. I was able to spend a little more time by this tree to discover that there were six or seven little ones growing under the forest canopy.

Color me happy.

Whoops...an Allosaurus???

Jason had come to give me coverage for Rich on Monday night. Olive's Track Team had a Conference Meet at their home field and I had volunteered to come and photograph the kids doing their things.

It also meant that Rich had to be comfortable enough with Jason to allow him to help him undress and put him to bed. Rich and Jason said they had it covered and off I went.

I donate my time and the photos. I give Olive the shots and she hands them off to the Head Coach who lets the kids have their photos. 
The last time I did this the Head Coach received feedback from the students. They asked to have my name and wanted to know how much I charged. 

I had set up the ground rules ahead of time.

I remain anonymous and they get their shots.

I did get to see a few students that I'd seen the last time I'd done this. Six hours of running about on a hot spring night 'shooting' action shots was pretty fun.

My favorite event to photo is the hurdles. I only tried them one time myself, but never quite got the hang of it.

The meet went on until after dark so the 'shooting' got a bit trickier as the night went on. Still, I had great fun pushing the limits on my camera. Even with a high ISO and panning, I got a bit of motion blur. However, this was the last event and it sure was an exciting one.

Another coach suggested I try photographing the triple jump and pole vaulting ... along with some of the other events if I wanted more cool action.

I'm game to try it one day.

I probably pushed the boundaries of activity and sleep a bit. By Tuesday I was totally wiped out between being up long hours doing fun things, farm things, and having fun at the track.

When Shay came out for 4 hours of Respite care, I went to the upstairs bedroom and turned a fan on high and slept for most of that time.

Below. A photo from the Meadow back to the forest pasture. I'll be opening this gate and letting the gals out onto more grass for the summer.

[Taken in Infrared...well, because it is that time of the year!]

I have a lot more work to catch up on the outside and yard.

Places less traveled ...

Below, Charlie stands in a wide expanse of Wild Ramps aka Leeks in the forest.

The location of this place won't be shared at all. I wouldn't want JohnQPublic coming in and digging them to sell. 

These plants take 5 to 7 years to mature from seed so they are slow growing. I have some in my forest and I generally just leave them alone. Their beautiful green provides me with joy. I may dig up one or two for an addition to a meal, but rarely any more than that.

They do actually flower and have seeds. In the fall animals walk through the area knocking the spindles of seeds which spreads the plants.

The hillsides were covered in them! In a few weeks the plants will disappear under the forest brush and they will be hidden from prying eyes.

I took a back trail along the river. I came upon some Canada Geese and their new little family. 

These geese were neat to watch ... the river was swift here and I was sure hoping all turned out okay for them in the end.

22 seconds of cuteness!

I assume they made it safely to wherever they were headed.

Below, my fearless leader. Since he has hiked with me since he was 10 weeks old, he knows the trails I take as well as I do. He bounds forward and turns to wait. At a junction he sometimes makes a choice and sometimes I follow his choice.

I finally did get a decent shot at a Red Wind Blackbird. There were several of them hanging out by the pond where I'd met the other photographer. I backtracked on the less muddy trails to the parking area.

I got home and the boys were having a good time chatting and solving all the world problems. I must give it to Jason, he can talk about anything to anyone and he does have a lot of experience and knowledge.

I'll leave you with a couple of shots that are a bit artsy. I have a Lensbaby lens and it has taken a lot of practice to work with this 'art' lens, but I am absolutely loving the challenge.

These were taken after my 'day' off when I went out to check the pasture and enjoy some more sunshine.

PS...we survived the storm, it went past us to the north.

I get by with a little help...

 my friends....

Wednesday was multiple errands day. Jason the Geologist showed up Tuesday afternoon with his fluff balls Piper and Felix. While Rich napped, I took the fluff balls, Charlie, and Jason for a walk down to the creek.

Jason immediately started to look for cool rocks and started giving me a lesson on geology and held up different rocks that he named. 

He has a Masters in Geology . He did teach for a while until politics of Governor Walker introduced Act 10 which removed significant rights for state and local government employees in 2011 by removing their ability for collective bargaining. Jason is an activist and protested at the capitol. 

He seriously believes in people's rights and has gone to bat for veteran's rights and other rights. 

Jason was chatting on and on when I walked up to him and told him to be quiet. He blinked, he looked at me and then I said:

Shut UP!

Stop Talking

 Shut your eyes...

Hear the Quiet!

.....and

he did just that...

I watched my friend who 

suffers from anxiety

suddenly sigh with his eyes closed.

We stood for a bit and then just before we turned back to go up the hill, we were serenaded by Barred Owls calling in the valley. Their calls echoed through the hillsides.

You'd think with 3 dogs in the house it would be chaos. However, it wasn't. 

Jason cooked supper [a vegetarian supper] and cleaned it up too. Rich chose to eat pizza. We chatted a bit and it was time for bed.

I was able to run several errands on Wednesday without worrying about Rich being alone. He didn't have to transfer to the bed from his wheelchair without someone close by. His abilities are better than the first few days home from the hospital. 

Jason's photo of my foot, Charlie, and Piper who was snuggling me on the couch.

 Wednesday afternoon while Rich napped we took another walk with the dogs to burn off their energies.

We had mud puppy tumbleweed dogs who were thoroughly happy. Felix and Piper both wore jackets so we could see them clearly in the areas that were colored just like them.

The weather was beautiful and we spent another quiet afternoon with Rich. Chatting until he needed another nap. 

I had a second meal of Kale chips [yum] and a vegetarian bratwurst. I can say without harming anyone's feelings, that I'd go for the real deal from the grill any day. Something about that juicy and slightly burnt brat makes my mouth water a bit more.

Thursday was the Home Health Aide visit. Rich enjoyed seeing Allie. She really knows how to make an old fart smile as she gives him a bath in his wheel chair.

I finally received the updated reports through MyChart on Rich's ER visit and his stay in the hospital along with his blood tests.

I'll probably update that on The Long Road later.  I can say this. Hospice was really the only choice and the best choice.

Jason's photo of Felix on the porch,
Charlie on Jason's lap, 
and Piper in out there blending
in with the brown grass.

I can't say enough about my good friends and neighbors. 

Different stuff...

Dirty girls. They look awful like this and then go roll in the sand 'pit' and come out looking much cleaner. They have burs in their tails and their manes. The manes won't be an issue because I trim them off.

Fifteen is our only horse and I never wanted her here anyway. We don't like each other much and the feeling is mutual. I don't have time to do right by her. 

The mules are trained and have perfect manners and will accept a saddle and go without any extra work.

I may have finally found a home for 15 with someone who will work with her and give her what she really deserves. Of course we have to wait and see if it works out. If not, then I will search some more.

She is pretty, but as I said, I don't need her and she and I don't exactly see eye to eye. The photo below is her this past fall. She does have a pretty color to her. She is a bright red bay with a beautiful mane and tail.

Less mouths to feed = less expenses in feed. With today's economy these things are important.

My hiking pal --> Jason the Geologist Pony Tail Guy -- is coming out this afternoon with his two tumbleweed dogs. [My stepdaughter calls him the Pony Tail Guy so we've given him that moniker!]

Jason is going to provide me with some coverage while I get our taxes done and some other errands that take me out of the house. We'll also have some time to explore the creek bottom and give our 'puppers' some time to stretch their legs.

Apparently Jason is coming with some food and plans on doing some cooking for us? I never thought a random meeting during a hike on December 31st 2021 would produce a friendship like ours. Jason and Rich get along too. That is another bonus. 

This week will be busy also. 

Taxes, errands, and then another visit from one of our ex neighbors [along with the home aide and the nurse].

Caring for Rich is like having a toddler again. We arrange things around his 'eat' time and his 'nap' time.

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful! It was up to 70F in the late afternoon when I took Charlie for a walk up the road to get the mail and some exercise.

I took my Infrared Camera with the 850nm filter on it. 850nm only lets you shoot black and white. Anything with chlorophyll will show as bright white. The clouds will show up white also, blue sky shows up dark colored.

This was our walk up and out to the ridge. 

It was another very windy day and I heard a tree fall in the woods, so we stuck to the gravel road.

This was the view of our house after our muddy walk. Our gravel roads turn to mush when the frost is coming out of the ground. Charlie got properly dirty and wet so we spent some time drying off on the porch.

We love our porch.

I found this doll head in the ditch. I know who lost it there a long time ago. One of my previous neighbor's kids used to take his dolls and make them into Zombies. [No, he did not grow up to become a serial killer..].

I found this on the edge of his old property and had to laugh as I recognized his work right away.

Perfect for a black and white photo.....

Zombie gal...

A 45 minute walk is about perfect for Rich's nap time and break time to breath fresh air.

This summer, I will be the yard mower since he won't be able to help. I plan on doing a bit more flower gardening to keep me near the house and focused.

I'm thinking Cone Flowers, Dahlias [maybe], and bunches of Lily's of different kinds. Bachelor buttons and then my mixes of cosmos, zinnias, morning glories, sunflowers and whatever else I can dream up.

I have most of the seeds I need from collecting them last year. Now I just have to figure out where I'm going to expand for more flowers.

I can always dig up the not so great sections of the yard to mow!

Last year's side garden....