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.

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.