Moving right along...

Mr. Pony is shedding! My little self propelled lawn mower got a good curry Saturday. In one hand I had the curry and in the other I had a shedding blade.

I hope the birds find his piles of hair. 

The weather for Sunday afternoon has promised us heavy rain and lots of it.

Up to 2 inches or more are expected.

I did get out in the morning to explore the valley and the creek for a little bit while Rich was busy watching a program.

The rain that was coming would keep me indoors for the rest of today and most of tomorrow.

I set my watch. I know how long it takes me to get to a few spots that I want to check out and get back home before he needs me for something.

I admit it. I'd rather wander with free will. But life doesn't always allow it.
Other chores around the house will wait for when the rain descends on us.

Mr. Chipmunk [Chippy] had a great time this morning checking out my daffodils. 

Isn't he cute? 

I washed and dried him and he came out looking just great. I'll add him to my collection of Stuffies. I do have my eye on the Prairie Dog I saw at one of the resale shops. He'd go great with my Chippie and Beaver!

I did some studies of lichen, mosses, and ducks Sunday morning.

I think it is Acarospora strigata lichen. I'd call it scaly white lichen on a log. I didn't find a common name for it, but still the macro shot is sort of abstract in a way.

My favorite green stuff found with mosses? Simply this: Snakeskin Liverwort.
I think that is a fun name for a Liverwort.

It has a Scientific name if you are interested. Conocephalum salebrosum.

Folklore says it is good for warding off evil spirits and brings good luck.

I just love the incredible texture it has on the small leaves.

I got to the creek and couldn't resist pulling these little ones out of my bag.

Go ahead and laugh. I'll never have my ducks in a row figuratively. But I can try.

I was careful and checked my time. I had some shots in mind and set them up quickly. I grabbed my stuff and dumped it in my backpack to head home.

Halfway home, I stopped by a little rock that had moss on it. The day was overcast which is like having the whole forest in a huge softbox.

I put my little 30mm macro lens on the camera and enjoyed a few minutes of 'close ups'.

One takes what conditions the weather gives you for photography. I like slightly overcast days much better than bright sunny ones [unless I am shooting Infrared, then bright sunny middays are perfect].

Now onto Monday's duties. We had an inch and 3/4 of rain last night. I expect my equine will be a bit muddy today.

A bit of Equine Stuff

Busy morning! This time hubby didn't wake me at 4 am! Whoo Hoo!

Our old pony is starting to show his advanced age. This past winter has been hard on him. He gets a stall inside at night as he is the only one who won't try and rip things apart. Throughout the winter he has had access to places where he can not only eat hay, but he could search for greens.

I checked our paperwork and we got him as a 4 yr old from our friends in Missouri. I always thought he was a 2 yr old when we got him. That would put his age at 32. This is the first year that I've seen him lose weight. 

He was a very happy camper all this week when I found patches of green for him to be tethered out on.

He is our weed whacker and trimmer for tough spots.

In all of his years of being tied out, he has never ever damaged a vehicle nor has he ever gotten tangled up. 

This is 15 years ago when I had him tied to the tractor.

He surely has had a good long life being a Guard/Yard Pony. His first job on our place was being a teaser for our mares. His retirement job is Guard Pony and Entertainment Pony.

Here he is ON Guard in 2009. I physically had to get out and move him out of the way.  

He is such a handsome fellow with such a fine temperament. He can prance and dance like a fancy high stepping pony. But considering that he has been handled every day since he arrived here, he is a breeze to lead around.

I love how he talks to me with his wee little whinny every morning and evening. He wants to make sure that I don't forget him.

And since I was going through older shots, I came upon a photo of our old 'string' of riding mules in 2005.

Left to right. Henry, Badger, Pipes, and Patchy. All from our Jack named Bruce. All half brothers.

Rich's main mount was Henry and mine was Badger.

Patchy now works in North Carolina as a pack mule doing training exercises with the military and was used to pack in supplies after last year's hurricane.

The others are no longer with us but always in our hearts. These guys were our 'cool' dudes.

Another quiet rainy, misty, cold yucky day in WI!

Foodie? Catch up...

Spring calls for wild food. I skipped the wild ramps this year, Rich doesn't like onions that much and I have a tiny plot of chives out the back door that I can use anyway.

However, he had a taste for Morels. I hadn't been able to find any until yesterday. I found Morels and I found several places that had Oyster Mushrooms. I leave enough oysters alone so they will spore out and create more on the same log or tree.

The Morels were not huge, but I will cook them up for hubby. It is his favorite. 

I thought I'd try some Pheasant Backs too since they are so plentiful.  They can be found mainly on box elders that are dying. I read up on when to pick them and how to process them.
 

I decided to just try a few and see how they tasted.

Scrap off the spores with a spoon. And it surprisingly smells 

like

cucumber!

Then peel off the brown top...

Chop into thin slices...

One recipe called for white wine and butter. I went with another that called for dipping them in eggs and flour/seasons, then frying. 

I can fry or sauté pretty good aside from boiling water that is...

They were okay. After all, what doesn't taste good fried in butter? Not as good as Morels or Oysters though.

Meanwhile there is mowing, fencing, grooming, to do.

The toilet took a dump and died. I was impressed by the same day service from 608 Plumbing. The price was?  Well. You pay a good price for a plumber. Joe was super nice and said if we wanted him to adjust the flush, just let him know. 

I quipped, as long as the s--t goes down, I don't care about the flush!

The farrier[s] were here too. They are a father son team. All mules behaved and Lil' Richard was probably the hardest for them to do since he is only 31" tall.
One of his jobs is to keep the hill in front of the machine shed trimmed.

We had some rain overnight so I'll be out foraging again for Morels and perhaps dig up some parsnip for fresh veggies.

I did manage a trip to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to knock off another trail section and do some exploring. More about that when I get time.

Hectic Week! I'm looking forward to 2 quiet days! Next week the Mini Split will be installed!

20 seconds of Orioles

Wicked Wicked Winds!

Ever try stapling hay down to feed equine? Gusts were said to be something like 45 mph!

Dang! 

The winds were incredible today and happened just to come the right way down through the hollow. The pines did the Hula, and the Locust trees whirled like dervishes.

I swear, it sounded as though we had a freight train running overhead.

Lil Richard is indoors as his pen had no place for him to get out of the wind. He is my only equine that doesn't mind being penned indoors. I put out a fresh pile of shavings for him to spread out.

Funny pony! He deposits his manure directly on the pile of shavings and beds down in the dry dirt. 

We noted that Fred [37 yrs old] is losing condition. Poor fella, his teeth are pretty much gone [molars and premolars]. We feed him Senior Feed pellets and he still acts as if he were just a teenager. He chases the gals around and herds them when he decides their hay pile should be HIS!

Fred and Hubby 2005
Wildcat Mtn State Park

I sure would love to ride there or Duck Egg again. 
That is if I could get a truck and trailer! 

So today after checking the fences and dodging blowing branches, I settled in for the day.

I did some research on a tow behind brush mower for the 4 wheeler. I think using the scythe might be a bit much for me this summer. I would still love a UTV but I'm still working on that. It also depends on what my Bird Bone meds may cost me for the next year or so.

After reading about all my horse friends riding adventures, I get the yank to get back out and ride. I really do miss it. Worst thing now is, I have no truck to pull a trailer. 

Oh, and I completely stink at pulling anything larger than a two horse trailer. I can't really get away for a nice trail ride. I have to settle for riding around here. 

Enough of that.

I had my afternoon tea with Mr. Charlie on my lap. The howling winds didn't seem to bother him a bit!

Tomorrow is Good Friday. Have a wonderful one.

Maybe Charlie and I can get outside tomorrow and inspect pastures and take a walk!

Boring

Boring Saturday. 

The little mule in the middle is Fred. He has always been the boss mule. He rules the roost at 35 years old. Yes, that is totally old for any equine.

Fred could use dentures as his old teeth have pretty much worn out. However, after a life time of service to my hubby, attending our wedding, and teaching numerous people how to ride, we have decided that Fred has earned a retirement with grain and special feed.
He prefers the pasture and chasing girls though. 

Here Mica joins the group. She is often pushed out. I wonder if it is her color?
The reds hang together as well as the bays.

Fred had decided that he would try and convince everyone that they were in heat. Yes, mules do come in heat. He kept nuzzling all the gals until everyone decided to take a morning nap.

Fred is a gelding and has always been this way.

Lil' Richard is our small stud who had a job telling us when the mares we bred to our Jack were ready to be serviced. We'd put the little stud pony next to a mare when we expected her to be in heat and Lil' Richard would work with her until she'd stand for him. Poor little guy could never do the job, but he was accurate.

Now he is simply a mower and fertilizer. 
He and Sven keep the hillside mowed and trimmed among other places like the tractor in the weeds and other piles of 'junk'.

I took a walk in the rain yesterday just to get out of the house. Endless loops of Alias on TV was driving me nuts. Binge watching is not my idea of a day well spent.

I found more Pheasant Back fungi and made a discovery. These trees that used to produce Morels are now dead enough to produce this fungi. This tree produced 3 or 4 bags of Morels about 4 years ago. Now? Just these fungi. I noted it on other old Morel trees too. 

The Honey Suckle is blooming. Yes, it is invasive but it sure smells nice!

This was on my neighbor's land. They don't manage it, don't keep up the fences, or do anything with it. 

Higher on the ridge I found Jacob's Ladder. At the top of the ridge I found wild geraniums.

Different levels of the hillside had different temperatures and that creates mini climates.

A bee was hiding inside the blossom. I imagine it was stuck there because it was cold.

My second woods walk landed me at the far back of our acreage. I found Oyster Mushrooms...I think.

Since I don't have enough knowledge about edible fungi, I just admired them and moved on with Charlie.

We found so many trees that had antler rubs on them that I figured that Big Buck was still hanging around in the prickly ash woods. Smart Big Buck. He knows how to hide well.

I had to laugh when I saw the Spider on the Tree. I'd put that up a long time ago when decorating the Spooky part of the Woods for my neighbor's kids Treasure Hunt.

I was looking just above our creek for signs of any sort of fungi or if the light rain had brought out any interesting new plants when I spotted something pinkish under a geranium.

Showy Orchid aka Galearis spectabilis. 
Yep, I prefer the name: Showy Orchid 

I have found these once or twice before in our woods just about 20 feet above the creek. They are really hard to spot and like hiding.

If I can spot these, why can I NOT spot a morel?

Probably because it has been too cool, too dry, and just a crappy year for them.

I wandered through the Buckthorn Forest and decided I'd turn the mules out there after I roached their manes and wormed everyone. 

The grass simply looks abundant and delicious.

Goat, Pony, Fence, Dew, Mules

That about sums it up.

Sven got a new lot and I put Mr. Pony Baloney...Lil Richard in with him as an experiment. Lil Richard used to be an escape artist but I've found that putting him an electric fence with a third line keeps him from going under the fence.
Likewise, I had so much trouble keeping Sven in any mule fence. He would just duck under the hot wire.

I can't mow this section because it is a hill and it is littered with huge rocks. I needed to be cautious and not cause erosion so Lil Richard will make visits and Sven will have the run of the area in the summer.
He is a grazing animal and has suddenly become infatuated with the pony.

However, he is also respecting the fence. The only time Sven got out was when he and Lil Richard were playing 'tag'. Since then it has been very peaceful. I'm happy I can have Sven earn his keep!

I fenced in this section of the 'yard'. It is a pain to mow. And it was used for hay storage for round bales for years. It also is a place for Mystical Things that Hubby keeps that are stored and forgotten. Like the Tractor he had and parked next to the fence in 2015. I didn't fence in his mom's car, the old tractor or the manure spreader [that has become part of the landscape]. There is still room to use Lil Richard to keep down the grasses around them.

But now the mules can eat the good stuff out of this area and I can run the mower over the weeds to keep it tidy.

Yesterday morning was one of those incredible misty mornings we often get in the 'Driftless' Region of Wisconsin.
The early morning is absolutely incredible.

It is time to trim up these mules and get back to riding now that all the Spring Fence work is done.

The fog and the dew was rather incredible. I do love early mornings!

Today it is overcast but it is supposed to be warm. Rich mowed yard yesterday. The first time he has felt good enough in 3 years to actually mow!

Today I'm taking a break with my Hiking Buddy, Bill. I'm going to show him Black Hawk Rock.

So.
Even with the Covid-19 threat, our CrossFit Coach has come up with a plan that I can modify work outs and do them at home with items I have here.
I'll write about that later.
Right now I have to go work out and report back to my Coach.
Just call me happy!
I'm back at it.

The only draw back is I don't have the music they played in the gym.