1st of April are we fooled?

I think March can be as tough as November because we are in that in between stage where we are dealing with some rather drab colors in nature. 

And now we move to April which begins the real season of spring surprises.

But for now? I take the ugly parts of the day and do that never ending job of cleaning up what I didn't take care of in the fall.
I looked back on what I've done in the past few years in March and it is the same fight. Clean up burdock, Motherwort, pile, burn, rake up as many seeds from the sour dock and do the same. 
Hack down elderberry tree sprouts -- more come up from suckers... and generally clean areas up so I don't have equine full of burs when I can start rotating them.

One of the spots that I didn't work on last year proved to be extra nasty come this past fall.

If I had a herd of goats and proper fencing, I'd send them through here a few times a year and let them clean up the nasty weeds.

The Dexter cattle did a good job at that. But we had too many and we all know what overgrazing does to the land.

Charlie and I worked on this one little spot. Well, Charlie supervised, I worked.

I make small piles and wait for an early morning without wind then burn the small brush piles.

Just to the right of where this photo was taken the Buckthorn woods start. The only thing that will rid me of those nasty trees is a bulldozer, then forestry planting and a lot of work bringing the forest back to its glory days. 

This section is only about an acre or so, but it is on a steep hill.

Face it. It is wild.

I have one thought on it. If I were to invest in doing all of that, I'd never live to see the benefit. One more thing to leave to the next generation of owners after I am gone.

I have to admit defeat and let that area go. I am only one person who has no business operating heavy machinery or chainsaws. I don't have the time nor the energy. I feel like I am failing as a steward for my land.

I obsess about it each year. However, I've decided to fix fencing and enjoy my property and all it has to offer. 

I will pick my battles.

This year I have one less grazing animal. Three of our equine are over 25 years old. So it is mostly retirement time for them.

My neighbor is a forester and I am looking forward to a tour of our land with him [and his wife]. 

I'll keep trails open and mark the best places to gather eatable mushrooms, dig parsnip roots, pick berries, and enjoy the beauty of nature.

This is a mental battle I do each spring with good meaning and ideas.

As soon as the wildflowers start though, I feel good again.

Right now? It is snowing and coming down hard. 

Sven thinks it is just fine.

As daylight seeps into the grey morning here, I am putting on my coveralls and heading out to enjoy Mother Nature's Joke on us.

Last night over an inch of rain. This morning, heavy snowfall. Tomorrow? Looks like a beautiful day.

I'll take it!

Free entertainment

It is fun to have coffee and be able to peer out at the neighbor's land where they used to have goats and see this occurring. Two fawns had been staying where their moms had put them. 

The moms would feed them then the fawns would lay still in the tall grasses near some brush and stay until their moms came to get them.

For the first week, all we could see was just the tips of their ears when the twitched them. 

Since the goats left we see the deer making good use of the woods and field. 

I was cleaning out some weeds next to the outhouse when I got buzzed by a hummingbird. So I decided to take a break and sit on the back step with my camera and Charlie in the shade.

Hummingbird in my Siberian Iris? 

There was the friendly wren flitting about and alternating between scolding and singing! 

 

Here is a mule pile up under a box elder tree. They adore standing in the shade under the tree using the low branches as fly deterrent.

Fly season has arrived as well as bot bees that get the mules running and diving into underbrush to get the biting insects off from them.

Our not so brilliant horse that is named 15, came into raging heat. The red headed molly mules decided it would be fun to nibble her flanks and get her to squeal. 

Imagine horse squeals echoing in the woods. It almost sounds like something bizarre is happening. Thank goodness it only lasts about one day.

Sven, the goat loves to be with his pal Little Richard. The goat stands with his head under Little Richard's tail to keep flies off his head.

I thought the goat was really taking a chance of getting his head dumped on by pony poo. Apparently, he darts out before the pony drops a load.

So when the Firestick TV remote died a severe and unfixable death for the 3rd time, hubby had a melt down.

I tried to explain to him that he could find all sorts of free entertainment out doors.

Alas. 

Poor hubby. Did you know there was an app for a smartphone just for these emergencies? Oh yes! Firestick TV Remote app. Thank goodness, the world will not fall apart while waiting on a replacement.

However, since I am the only one who can operate the smartphone, it seems I need to be present any time he wants to watch the TV.

Come on new Remote!

This week's Cliff Notes

Mornings...and whatnot.

We still have frost on some mornings which can produce fog and make things look magical.

Frosted Daffodil

Below is Sven in his hot wire pen next to Little Richard in his pen. 

I had to separate the two the other day as the pony thought it would be fun to chase Sven and bite him on the butt. 

Sven ran like the dickens and jumped through the hot wires to escape. Sven can't stand to be too far from the pony so he just grazed in the open lane until I caught him. 

Sitting on the bucket in the back pasture is calming. I can listen to the birds wake up and watch the day lighten while sipping coffee.

Redwing Black bird singing  his
morning songs.

I've seen Tom Turkeys displaying their feathers and strutting around in the meadow. They are so awkward looking yet so determined!

One morning before it was light, I surprised this group of deer.

Wow, can they ever leap! 

This week has been a whirlwind of activity. I had something going on every single day!

The best part-sss of this week have been that the new young Primary Care doctor for Rich is amazing. She actually listened to him and his concerns. She didn't tell him to 'buck up and get over it' like some other doctor had told him. She asked him if he had a goal for this summer. She asking for a referral for PT with Pulmonary Therapy. He is actually looking forward to going. Best part? She is local and we don't have to travel 2 hours to see her!

His goals are fairly simple. He would like to be able to walk out to the shed and get on his riding mower and mow the yard in bits.

The change in his attitude of seeing a doctor that actually showed empathy and CARING improved his mental well being.

Other great things. 
Great hike with friend Mr. Bill. [more on that later]
Young friend Molly is back in town! I have a mule riding partner again! And Rich has a young gal who visits often to talk horses!

More on Molly from 2019 in Meet Molly.

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow to all moms. The weather looks like it is finally changing so I'll be out and about enjoying it. 

Morning Dew

Fencing time?

Lost and found! While hiking through the woods to go get the mail I squatted down to look at an interesting shape on the ground. Excuse the blurry shot, it was just around sunrise and I just snapped it with my cheapo cell phone:

There is a joke in my household. I often wear odd work gloves as I seem to be able to drop one while hiking and can never find it again. I purchased some cheap and really ugly hot pink gloves a few years ago. That worked. I never lost the mates. I wonder how long this glove sat on the forest floor? I mean look at the moss growth!

When I lose a glove I try to match it up with another lost glove and then I wear two kinds of gloves. When the tips of the fingers wear out, I cut them off.

Saturday, the neighbors messaged me and said they'd walk down and help me move a mattress and do two other simple things that required the strength of two people. Justin moved this log off the fence so I could repair it. He'll come back later with his chain saw to cut it up. 

This tree top had been struck by lightening a few years ago. Each year it loses some part of its top from winds.

Over the winter the top fell. I cleaned up all the branches and burned most of what I could up. I was left with two huge logs that I couldn't cut up.

This spot needs a goat to graze it. There are things that the other equine won't eat that the goat does, so I decided with the mild Saturday temperatures, I'd make a new Goat & Pony yard. 

It sure looks confusing to anyone who doesn't understand my method of madness for rotating critters, but since I do understand it...it makes sense to me.

Three hot wires are needed to keep my little escape artists in, so I set up a temporary fence with gate handles and access for the skid steer and 4 wheeler up. Little Richard is 32" tall at the withers and used to duck under hotwires to escape. He is in his late 20's now and doesn't try to escape as often these days.

Sven will stay with Little Richard and do some very annoying things like chew on his friend's tail until the pony gets pissed and chases him. It is a love/hate relationship that only the two of them understand.

These two are together in a lot I made in 2020 to clean up behind our large machine shed:

They have done a great job! 

I'd say it was a pain to build the fence, but I enjoyed it. I'll probably keep this for a year or so to see if my weed whackers do a good job.

My mules can be sorted into rotational pastures with just one hot wire. I worked on some new sections last year and have an idea for something a bit different in the woods this year.

I do miss the small Dexters cows we had. They were experts at cleaning pastures, but a huge pain to fence in. [Just like goats are!]

Looks like I need to get out to the woods and repair the fence damage the deer did to the hot wires so I can be ready to turn the mules out to the back woods to look for goodies.

End of the day

I told Siera to 'stay' and she did. Obviously she is getting plenty to eat out in the forest pasture. She didn't go for any yard grass.

I had to walk over and grab her bridle and a bucket. Yes, a bucket. When I ride bareback I use a bucket to get on my steeds. 

I thought a ride up and out on the ridge would be nice to see the evening light on the croplands. Hmmm, I was disappointed that the guys that are doing another farmer's fields did not rotate to soybeans. I saw field corn coming up. 

The ride was so pleasant. I stopped and talked to the neighbor kids who were on their swingset. They waved and I continued. Instead of going by the 'new' neighbor who lets his dog run loose I decided to ride up the dead end road and just soak in some quiet ride time. 

Siera was super cooperative, she didn't hesitate and refuse to leave home, it used to be a real issue when she was younger. Perhaps she is confident that I am not going to get her lost?

I knew that Rich was waiting for me to return so he could sit and watch more TV until his bed time. 

I'd worked in the pasture with the small scythe from early morning until noon. The we mowed. Rich with the rider and I used the self propelled mower. Uffdah! Rich ran over a tarp. I heard the snap and the mower quit. He waved me off and finished up which I thought was not a smart thing to do. 
Cleaning the rider is on Sunday's schedule. 

After the mowing was done, I worked on the shade garden pulling Bedstraw aka Sticky Weed and several other names. It is an icky plant. So that project started another project of cleaning up that much neglected little garden.

I used Sven to glean up weeds and he ate the tops of from several iris plants while doing his work. The iris plants will come back and he did a pretty good job on that sticky weed.

So for the end of the day, I relaxed as we walked down the road, clippity clop, and out to the far end of the ridge. 

I didn't take pictures. I was just enjoying the moments with Siera and her nice warm body under my legs.

Once home, I gave her some grain and led her back out to her mates.

Happy content mule. Happy content rider. 

We watched some obscure program and hit the sack. I was exhausted. My summer mornings start at 5 or sooner, as soon as the birds start to chirp.

Enjoy your Sunday, whatever you are doing. I hope to get in another evening ride on one of my girls.

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.