Tainter Hollow and other places

 These were the views traveling along part of the Tainter Hollow roads I've never gone on before. There is Tainter Rd, Tainter Hollow Rd, Tainter East, and Tainter West. If that doesn't confuse you, you are not alone.

However, the drive isvery scenic on gravel back roads that go up and down and twist all around the valleys and hills.

Then I found this truck sitting in a field. 

When I was 22 and pregnant with my first son

I worked on a Potato Farm. 

My job was to sort potatoes as they came up the belt on the harvester I rode on. The ugly misshapen potatoes went into a large bin and the pretty ones continued on the belt to be dumped into the truck like this one below. When that truck was full, the gent driving would drive back to the farm and dump his load.

I often rode with that old fella back and forth to the fields we were working on. He was a hoot. He had a country boy's explanation for everything in the world. 

One of his funniest quips was. "I didn't get much of an education, my parents sent me to school on the second Tuesday of the third week of each month."

He was quiet while I thought about that one and burst out laughing. 

I was paid $1.90 per hour. My work hours started predawn and stayed until midnight if there was going to be a frost. If the weather was good, we'd put in about 12 hours and be done for the day.

The farm owners brought out a snack for us in the field at 10am and at 3pm. We made our own lunches and ate out in the fields also.

I actually enjoyed the job even though it was hard. The family who ran the farm were very good to us. 

When the season was done, I got 100lbs of the ugly potatoes. What can I say? We ate potatoes with all our evening meals. 

We eventually made it to the Mississippi River and admired the river bluffs.

Now that a lot of leaves have fallen and been blown down, I was able to see some of the homes on the bluffs.

Yikes. I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't want to be perched on that bluff, though the view has to be amazing.

Charlie can see out of this car much better than the Outback so he seems more comfortable. It was a good day even if it was overcast and drizzly.

Saturday Adventures Abound

 Here is the prize Ugly Chair I got. I love it! It has been painted green underneath which shows through the ugly brown paint. It has scratches and worn spots, but it is sturdy and fits me just right. This summer I'll sand it and prime it, then paint it into a wildly colorful Happy Chair.

Hubby wants me to strip it and finish it. A Happy Chair is always more popular. My grand kids used to try and get to the colorful chairs first when they stayed with us. It is no secret that I like fun stuff. It is no secret that there is an in law who is horrified that I don't have one matching wooden chair around my old wooden table. 

The kids loved this chair! It was an old wobbly one I found in the shed and cleaned up. I did my best to unwobble it with glue and screws, but eventually it came apart.

It has been a while since I got to do a nice chair for inside. I found another neat chair at the Flea Market, it was SO ugly I loved it. The last layer of paint that chair had was bright pink with a white splotch on the seat. 

Another great find at the second hand shop was this jacket. Since I wear children sized clothes, this XL kids jacket fit perfectly.

Bonus! Mickey Mouse! Yes!

I went out to the woods after breakfast and chores to see if the Spring Beauties had appeared in the upper woods.

Imagine my surprise at finding Mayflower plants emerging where I'd burned weeds a few weeks ago.

Looks like my pals were out too! Doing selfies! Good thing they found that Quad pod!

Spring Beauties!

They have started! I was so thrilled that I didn't mind sitting in the midst of briers to get close to them. While there I heard thunder and the sunlight faded out.

A big thunderstorm moved in for about 40 minutes. As soon as it passed I trotted back out to look for cool things.

Virginia Waterleaf plant emerging:

Catkins on a Maple Tree:

Another thunderstorm threatened to move in and then hubby wanted lunch. Sigh. Spring was Springing and I wanted to be in it!

After the storms hubby went for his nap and I went to a place where I knew I'd find wild flowers.

Wood Anemones:

Virginia Bluebells:

Trout Lily leaves! That means they should flower very soon!

Remember Frank who had so many misadventures with his Storm Troopers? Well, he decided to get some R&R.
I found him doing this:

After chores and about supper time, we got a visit from Olive, Aiden, and Gerti. But that is a whole new blog entry regarding neighbors and barters. 

Now it is Sunday. It is cold, wet, and yucky. We will be under a Winter Storm Warning tonight into tomorrow morning with 8 to 12 inches of snow predicted. The days after the snow will be in the 50's so this will melt rapidly.

That means more excitement in the woods. Since I can't go anywhere until it melts, I imagine I'll have fun watching a large snow melt and run off in the creek and valley. 

Who ever said living in the boonies was boring? I'm absolutely over the moon with the weather and flowers.

Hubby says I am not quite right in the head.

Seriously Unplugged

 Well, our internet, Wifi, fiber optic phone 'stuff' has been going out intermittently the past few days.
Last night everything stopped working at 4pm ish and came back some time in the middle of the night.

I called their Help line with my cell phone last night and the nice gent on the other end had me test the power strip, plug and unplug things which were nearly impossible to unplug [either it was my poor arthritic fingers that couldn't grasp correctly or something!]. I finally got so frustrated after my cell phone beeped and said NO cell reception where I was at...

The tech called back and we tried it again. Nothing was working on his end either. He suggested a 'ticket' to send out a tech to deal with it. I said that was what I would prefer.

Our wifi and the battery pack is all owned by our phone company and their techs have always been great. They replaced it 7 years ago and I suppose the machinery is old? The nice thing is, they have to solve the issues.

We spent Friday evening with no TV. I read a book, hubby fidgeted. I made him sit on the porch with me so we could watch birds and just enjoy the weather.

Ariel had left to go home. We had a really great time together. Instead of hiking, we went to indoor flea markets that are prevelant in our area. We had fun looking at some of the totally weird stuff that people brought in to sell.

We've had two very hot days with high winds and this afternoon we will change over to rain and thunderstorms and Sunday evening we have a Winter Storm Watch with 4 to 7 inches of snow to dump on us.

If I don't visit your blog or reply to comments or any emails I get. Then our system went down again and we are Seriously Unplugged.

For now though, I am going out to enjoy the sunshine and mild morning before Mother Nature changes her mind again!

Funny photo of Charlie...he likes to carry his own leash when we go on a walk...

Peacefulness at Tainter Hollow:

Spidey web in the early morning light:

Maple Catkins. Did you know they had flowers? 

Have a great day!

Pictures of the Ugly Chair we found at one of the Flea Markets later! Can't wait for a new paint project!

Mules and More

Our fuzzy girls.

Sunshine is 25 this year and still going quite strong. We call her our little red mule. She is out of my grade Arab/Quarter mare which was the first and last horse I ever owned. 

Sundance is Sunshine's little half sister. Same mare, different donkey dads. Sundance is 14 this year. I've ridden her under saddle twice but she is retired with Ringbone. I've had two offers on purchasing her but took a pass on it. She makes a good pasture pet.

Oddly enough Sunshine got the flaxen tail from her mom, while Sundance got the flaxen mane from her mom! Both are brilliant red mules. We often refer to them as the Reds.

Here is Siera, our Peruvian Paso mule. She is really quite a nice ride. She hates leaving home, and hates leaving her mates, but will go eventually. On the other hand, she is gaited and fun to ride. Once she relaxes, she is pretty calm. With another mule along she is literally lazy. 

The ones behind Siera are Mica the grey who is 25 and retired due to health problems. She was a reining fool in her day. She can sit and spin with the best of them! 15 is the horse. She is a pain in my arse. I won't even go into her story. Let's say she and I have agreed to dislike each other immensely.

The weather is bizarre, we have Red Flag Warnings, Flood Watches, and a Weather Watch for snow up to 6 inches on Sunday evening to Monday morning along with thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon.

Miss Ariel is here and yesterday afternoon we went out the the two Flea Markets in Readstown. They are both called Crazy Franks. We had fun browsing all the cool junk and other things. One of the places had a 40 foot wall of nothing but Ertl farm equipment and assorted tractors. I found a tiny tea cup and plate that would go nicely with my little teddy bear girls when they have tea together.

Another bluebird came by and gave us a moment of excitement. We hope they come around again this year.

With this streak of hot weather, the trees have been showing off their catkins with leaf buds soon to follow.
The Virginia Bluebells are emerging along with Dutchman's Breeches. 

Virginia Blue Bells

Dutchman's Breeches

Pussy Willow Trees

These plants always show up first in Tainter Hollow along Tainter Creek. I think the Trout Lilies and Wood Anemone will follow quickly.

Why do you do that?

Black and white photos in the winter versus color?

Well, let's say that black and white just is something winter is great for. Winter is stark in its beauty. Leafless trees, stark shadows, clear skies, overcast skies, white and black.

or...this version...

The color version is beautiful. Look at that gorgeous sky with a wisp of a cloud drifting through. 

The monotone one [I choose a bluish tint just well...just cuz.]

Another friend of mine can't always understand why I love the winter so much. 

Lines.....

I love the lines and shadows the sun and trees create.

I mean just look at those lines! The tree shadows create geometric shapes on the road in the winter.

Here is this road in the summer...

Not quite as striking is it?

Tainter Creek from the west bridge.

Tainter Creek from the west bridge in color....in the summer:

[I used a painting technique on this....]

The red rocks...well I don't do those red rocks ever in black and white. They just don't deserve it!

I love these rocks. I stop and admire them every time I take this road.

See? This is with the new 'Ru.

This is with the old Chevy my son gave me....years ago.

No way I'd ever photograph these rocks and make them black and white...well...

Well...

Um.

Let's see:

Okay, to me that could work as the light colors are accented. But I do like the color version much better.

Last two shots from yesterday. Color and black and white:

Whoops. 

I lied.

And although I loved the colors of the creek and hillside, I thought it was too distracting so ....

When I go through my photos, it is just a matter of what tickles my fancy.

Storm photos of drifts and blowing snow...that was today's adventure.

I can pretty much assure you that those shots will be almost naturally black and white.

Looking back on my blogs...I had this very same arguement with myself before in 2015. Tell me should it be color or black and white?

And it was all with photos from Tainter Land.

Early to bed early to....what?

Rise?
I awoke at 3:30, that is in the AM. Morris woke up too and followed me into the kitchen. I checked the time and then looked out the window. The moon was not quite full but it was brilliant out.
I let Mr. Morris out and stepped onto the porch.

I decided to go back to bed.
As I laid down I thought about my drive through Tainter Hollow the day before while running some errands.

Lucky me, I'd seen an eagle perched just above Tainter Creek.
He/she stayed there long enough for me to take out my zoom lens and swap it out for the one I had on the Olympus camera.

I stopped at Tainter Bridge and admired the tree and its reflection. I thought it would make a nice subject for the black and white challenge I'd accepted.

As I tried to go back to sleep I wondered how things would look in the moonlight at Tainter Bridge. Could I get a shot of the same tree and the water? Would the moonlight wash out the sky?

The more I tried not to think about it, the more I thought about it.
Finally I got up and warmed up a cup of coffee.
I was going to go to Tainter Land.

There is a challenge to shooting in the dark. But the bigger challenge was to be able to take some shots while the moon still shone into the valley. The valley is very steep.
I got there at 4AM and set up as quickly as I could.
Finding the right spot was not too hard. I've photographed this same spot over the years during the daylight and sort of knew where I should put the tripod.

The next challenge was the cold. The temperature gauge on the Subaru said it was 28 degrees in the bottom. It had been 34 on the ridge. And my fingers felt the cold. Those fingers that had somehow aged on me and had osteoarthritis in them.
Note to self. Next time, bring hot hand packs!

As the moon began to sink towards the trees on the ridge, I pulled out my flashlight and took another shot...in the night.
I wondered if my light would be enough to help lighten the tree trunk as it fell into darkness.

It did.

And suddenly.
The lights went out and the valley which was bathed in moonlight was dark.

I stuck my hands in my pockets to warm them up and listened to the barred owl and the stream.

My moonlight excursion at the bridge had lasted all of 12 minutes.
I got back in the 'Ru and started it up to thaw out.

You know what? The moon is out again tonight. Moonrise tonight is supposed to be the Super Moon of 2017.

I'm going to pack some hand warmers and those hunting mitts in my bag.

I guess a day nap will be in order.
I hope the owl sings to me again.