Teddy Tea Party and Infrared Fun

Hmmm. I was going to start this particular entry with something on the lines of Deep Thoughts. Nah. 

I'm just going to have some fun here. I had a notion that it would be fun to go out on the cropland with Charlie and have a Tea Party with my Creek Teddy Bears. I grabbed Percy and Chance. I've had those two since 2018 and the Big Floods. I did find Percy 1/4 of a mile downstream in one of the first floods.

August 2018
After I found Percy...

Now my Teddies stay on the porch unless I am going to take them out for Tea or some other playtime. Looking for them after the flood was pretty distressing. I mean come on, I felt responsible for them!

These two even got names. Percy and Chance. Perseverance and Second Chance.
Dumb, I know, but I thought they earned it after surviving that flood and being found again.

Chance...scrunched into a pile of debris further down the valley.

August 2018

I have another Bear. He is larger than the other two. I really love his fur. This bear looks so lonely all of the time. Not sure what name to give him.

There, I got sidetracked again. 

There is an area in the cropland that is an 'island of box elder trees'. The neighbor kids call it The Tunnel. I wanted to take the Teddies there. Sometimes I have an idea in my head and I just need to try it out.

I grabbed my Tough TG6 camera and the little Infrared Camera. Why not? I had a satchel of Teddy Bears and tea cups. I really didn't want to carry much more.

Heading up the neighbor's driveway to get out to the cropland.
Infrared with Charlie in the road.

I couldn't resist trying the Infrared camera. I used the 665nm filter. IR works better when there are leaves on the trees. But I find colors still interesting with a channel swap in the winter. The oak leaves and some of the branches still reflect enough light to make things interesting. 

Below, original shot before

channel swapping

with my shadow.

One of the things that IR does produce in the winter months is stunning black and white shots. The light refraction is pretty cool.

The Tunnel

We haven't had new snow in over a week now, so the deer and other creatures have left the snowy fields full of tracks.

Oh what do I see? 

Bears in a Tree!

And yes, we do actually have a real bear or two around the area as well as many other forms of wildlife.

But these Bears aren't so Wild.

They like having Tea in the oddest of places.

This lonely Teddy was waiting for someone to show up. 

All alone in the field.

I think I'll bring Chamomile Tea in a thermos next time and sit with him.

Pandemic Play

What can I say? My closest neighbor and I call ourselves the Lockdown Ladies. We come up with ways to socialize distantly.

We talk with our electric fence between us. When we have something for one another we have worked out the Stump Exchange at my place or a designated spot near her house.

Her children love adventure and love going to my creek.

So I worked out a game for our two households that includes 'no contact' and lots of fresh air. It ties in well with learning for both myself and the neighbors.

We call it Treasure Hunting. An old game. We write clues down on paper and leave it in a plastic bag on the Exchange Stump. She texts me when they are ready for a creek walk and I stand outside and wave. 

Sometimes the clues include a type of tree. Sometimes the clues include the names of fossil rocks or fungi. We include upstream and downstream. 

Yesterday I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out a couple of clues the kids left me.  

Each child takes turns writing clues. I can see that from the handwriting. I have to say that it is a delight to have this 'game'. I get to spend time in the creek hiding toys and items, and they get to splash around in the cool waters on a hot day!

The game gives each household a purpose. I can get creative with these old toys and they can too.

Yesterday I was thrown by a couple of clues. I actually resorted to tracking the bent grasses and weeds to ferret out where the Truck was hidden.

They were clever, I was clever too!

It was not an easy find as it wasn't right in the creek but the description was a Great Fallen Tree by the Orange Target. If I'd read it properly the first time, I wouldn't have had such a hard time with it!

I searched high and love for the Creepy Doll without a face [these toys are left in the forest and apparently a squirrel or some other varmint decided to chew on its face.]

The Teddy Bear in the tree was pointing to the Creepy Doll which was 'upstream' from there.

So I looked in the area where the Teddy was pointing his face. I searched up stream and around to no avail! I was going to give up. But I went and stood in front of this sapling and pulled up the photo of the Teddy. HIS arm was pointing behind him!

How insanely clever!

The Very Creepy Doll was exactly where the Teddy was pointing.

Now it was my turn to hide the items. 

I used this time with the toys to experiment and get my photography fix for the day. The rest of my day was slated for my workout, cultivating the garden, mowing, and weed wacking.

The Pink Dozer is

trying to remove a log.

I think it may be too Big!

That Pink Pony

is resting on the 

Large Oak that is

bent over 

the trail!

Meanwhile, the lonely

Teddy Bear

decides to sit and 

chat with the 

blue 

Stegosaurus,

downstream from the desk.

The John Deere truck

has gone to work.

It is building a

dam just upstream from

the crossing path.

[Maybe you should stop and 

help him build a dam?]

This poor fellow was building a

dam too to make a

tiny waterfall! 

I think he fell 

into the creek!

This part of the creek is so

strange!

The Very Creepy Doll 

likes roots and rocks not 

far from the tree with 

huge roots!

Percy prefers a nice safe 

rock ledge to sit

on.

One time being lost

 in a flash flood was enough

for him!

Crazy Zombie Doll is hiding.

Not far from the place where the

rocks look like stairs.

The Orange Dino has decided 

to build a rock fort.

He thinks his brother the

Green Dino was picked 

up by a raccoon!

And once again, it is your turn!

Humming Bird Fight and other things

I'd love the live action at the feeders while cooking or eating a meal. This year the humming birds and Orioles are arguing over the red feeder.

I purchased a hummingbird feeder and an Oriole feeder last spring just for curiousity.

It ended up being an excellent choice as I find Rich watching and commenting on the birds constantly.

There was a time when the birds didn't interest him. Well now they do and he is enjoying the show.

Charlie and I took a walk to re-hide the toys for the next kid Treasure Hunt. We generally let about 4 days pass. The toys are out in the weather. Rain/dew/sunlight/heat/ and the chill of the night should take care of any lingering virus. Both my household and their household have been isolated since the schools shut down on March 11th. The kids have not gone in to town at all. They are living a life of home schooling and having to play with their own siblings.

The soccer games are not happening so mom isn't on the run all of the time. The kids come down to the little area their dad cleared for them and do play soccer. I can watch from across the field and sit on my porch.

It is pleasant to listen to children playing. Such a welcome sound.

Here Charlie sits next to the clue:

The skull points the way to the next clue. The Zombie Doll!

Yes, we have a creepy looking Zombie doll!

And so it went. Look for the Teddy Bear near an Ash Tree that is losing all of its bark.

There is a blue stegosaurus guarding the big mossy rock!

I hid the rest of the toys and turned around.

What a delightful surprise:

Charlie never smelled the fawn and it was as still as a statue. I used the zoom lens and then backed away and left it alone.

That pretty much made my whole day.

Mother Nature has a way of making a person feel better.

And once more I reminded myself as to how lucky I am to be able to live in this place.

Other hidden toys:

I got an assignment today for my workout. The WOD of the day was deadlifts. A rest and recover day before the Murphy WOD tomorrow. I don't think I will be doing that however I may do it unofficially here at home in a modified version.

My Coach asked me to go around the farm and find items that I could dead lift. He knows I don't have the proper bars so he suggested that I find the odd things a farm person has to contend with lifting and post them.

Here are some:

And how I did it...

And no, I am not crazy really. I just want to stay in shape and maintain my mobility, balance, and stamina.

I want to keep my body moving.

And that helps both my mental well being as well as my physical well being.

Making Cards

Well here we go again. It is time to make the Christmas Cards. I know others do it in some very crafty ways. 

Another Blogger---- > Far Side of Fifty, makes her own Christmas cards. Plus she and her husband carve and paint ornaments from ... real wood and cool bark!

My talent? I have a camera and lots of imagination. So here are some of my possible photos for Christmas Cards. 

The Creekside Bears:

Nor and Runo:

Then there is the Charlie photo. I wanted to keep up the tradition of having my pet dress up and pose. Morris was never still. He bounced all over and usually took several treats to get one decent shot.

Charlie is a dream. He is like a posable doll. He doesn't look at the camera but tends to look all around as if he is embarrassed.

But I think I have one that I will use.

Charlie is just plain tired of all the shenanigans. However, he is such a good sport about it all!

He even 'posed' on the chair but this is the look I got!
Okay. So now I've bored you to death about this.

I use a photo editing program and print out 5X7's or 4X6's at Walmart for about .06 a piece and then send them in an envelope with a note.

Is that a good idea or not? I sort of think so.

I think I need to get busy and order my prints so I can take some time to write notes. I may just print them out this year...I haven't decided yet.
I've always loved hand written notes, they seem so much more personal.

Then my next project. Calendars.

And Charlie was very relieved when I told him that we were done posing for photos.

That's it for today.
Boring, I know!

Oh...by the way. Sunsine is doing fantastic. It is like she never had any colic! I had to take Fred the elder mule...he is something like 33 ish inside the shed and out of the sleet. He warmed up and then proceeded to try and take apart the round pen panels. He started braying before light this morning and chasing the girls around.

All is quiet on the Farm.