One foot in front of

 ---

the other....

We got some snow. Around here we call it free fertilizer. In the spring the snow delivers nitrogen to the land it falls on and as it melts, it fertilizes the ground. We call it the poor man's fertilizer.

Charlie and I got out for our first hike since Saturday. That is a long lay off for me. We enjoyed the fresh air and went down in the valley to check out the tiny trout pond in the stream.

They were fine and flitting about under a skiff of ice that was rapidly melting.

I enjoyed the hike and didn't rush. All sorts of plants are budding out. The gooseberries, multiflora rose, and barberry bushes to name a few. I was really enjoying the birdsong more than anything else.

I saw a lot of Robins. In the first shot the Robin is in a tree that has a grapevine in it. He/she was eating the dried fruit pulp. Back in our pasture, the Robins were actually getting worms from the ground.

This Robin was with several Juncos who were getting grit from the gravel road. I find watching birds and listening to them relaxing in so many ways.

Each spring I get Bird Fever and tell myself that I am going to learn more and more about birds. That usually falls by the wayside when the wildflowers start to do their thing in the woods. But...yes, one of these fine years, I'm going to get serious. I'd love to go along the Mississippi River and watch those birds come in.

When I worked at the Genoa Power Plant, we used to watch them at our leisure while we were doing our rounds.

Now just the dry cask storage is left as they demolished the plant this week. 20 second video:

Anyway, I got off track. While working at the river for years, I got to watch all sorts of birds migrate through the area. At the time I wasn't interested in ID'ing them.

Maybe in the future I can have time to do such things. One can hope and have dreams right?

Meanwhile in the woods. I found it quite odd that there are still bucks running around with a full set or half set of antlers towards the middle and end of March. I usually start finding sheds towards the end of February. These are trail cam shots.

This is beginning to be an odd year.

I think I'll go for my morning walk with Charlie and then just do some experimenting with Still Life and lighting.

I'm currently messing around with a build that the grandkids left behind.

I am modifying it slightly to experiment with different colors and minifigs. I keep moving figures around and changing things to see if a storyline will appear.

Sometimes things just seem to click and other times they don't. I like this scene. The softness was created by focusing through other bits of Legos.

I need to get things prepared for our busy week. I have multiple appointments to negotiate through Friday and an arrival of another Grandkid.

This weekend looks like my only day to chill out and relax a bit.

One foot in front of the other.

The Bone Collector

I love teaching. I just love having students.

My students are not always the two legged kind. Although I love teaching them too.

Dixie is my winter student. Sundance was to begin her lessons this winter but we ended up using the round pen to store large square bales.

And she loves all kinds of weather. Her hound coat is such that it sheds water and keeps her well insulated.

She is a willing student and thrives on "Good Girl!". 
At this time of year, I like to walk the woods and look for antler sheds. It is a hobby that is really just an excuse to get out and hike during these blah months. The days can be wet and dreary or cold an windy, yet at least there is a purpose to the hike.

I thought it might be fun to try and train Dixie to help me find sheds. She is already a master at finding dead disgusting things from a long distance.

Perhaps we could find antler sheds! I've looked up how to train a shed hunting dog. Apparently it is well known that you need to use retrievers and labs are very popular for this. You need to start the pup out very young. A pup out of shed hunting parents can be purchased for a mere 2 grand. An started dog just $3,500 or a bit more depending on their field experience. A trained dog? Hold onto your seats! Just 6 to 7 grand. Of course that dog will hunt sheds.

Well.
"Dixie! Will you hunt sheds for me?"

I see the twinkle in her eyes and see her brain working. "Haaa----whuuut?" 

Oh well, we'd go have some fun together. I figured since she isn't supposed to a retriever but she will retrieve a ball with gusto we might be able to do other things that a hound like her isn't supposed to do.
I do know she has a fantastic nose. Sometimes too good.

The east wind was cold and damp so we opted to cut through the woods and climb up to the ridge. Facing the winds after warming up would be easier than just walking straight into it.

Yesterday's run off seemed to power freeze. 

We made it to the ridge and I walked along the cropland next to the woods. I've heard from guys I used to work with that were avid shed hunters that this was the prime area to look for antlers.

Dixie checked each trail that went into the woods. She would run in and look around. I'd watch to see if she was finding anything and say "Hey" if I felt she was going in out of my sight.

She'd blast back alongside me and head to the next trail.

Well, I think we were doing something sort of right. I hit my leg twice and Dixie came to sit with me while we watched this deer watch us.

It finally ran off.
Dixie ran down another trail and seemed to find something.

An interesting skull. I picked it up and put it in my back pack and told Dixie "What a Good Girl!"

Wag, wag, wag...twisty wag...

I motioned for her to go ahead of me and off we went again. We got to about where the deer was and she trotted up to something on the ground, gave it a whiff and went on.
A shed!

I stood near it and asked Dixie to come and see. "Look Dixie! Look! This is what we are looking for!"

"Haaaaaa-whuuuut?"

Well. 
I don't think she'll ever understand that I don't allow her to run off and grab deer bones or chase deer, but I would like her to show me an antler.

Rome was not built in a day. I'm sure we can figure this out.
She did take me to bones though. She found them and then ignored them as if to say. I know they are there and I know you don't want me to dig them out of the ice.

Good dog.

I turned and headed up the valley along the creek. Yesterday the waters were raging. Today the creek had retreated to its quiet self. 

When I got to my part of the creek I discovered something very interesting.

The ice flow that had built up during our cold spells was still there but the creek flowed under the ice. Okay, not that strange, but look at this photo that I took by sticking my hand under the ice.

We came home with a skull and an antler shed. We'd hiked nearly 3 miles on rough terrain and we felt good.

The Bone Collectors can't wait to go out again.

Enjoying the Brown Season

Here is the view from the saddle.  Oh Siera, your mane is unruly and you look shaggy!

Thank goodness you have such big ears so that we can tell...almost that you are a mule!

Fred,  you and your most handsome rider appeared to be happy and very content on the nice easy trail!

We were supposed to be looking for antler sheds but I was enjoying just being out with Siera and my favorite riding partner.

We rode out to look over the back valley.

You definitely want a mule here that is not suicidal or crazy.  Last year I was barely able to keep Siera standing still in this area, nor was I able to get her down this steep trail to the point.

Fred and hubby are at a rock point and I think it could be at least 100 feet or a bit more straight down to the valley floor.

The view is incredible though.

Fred and hubby continued along the top.  Siera and I meandered around looking for things.

In the summer this area is so full of undergrowth and the forest canopy is so heavy that you can't see the other ridge.

I was pretty proud of Siera though, she and I took on a very steep and nasty dry run.  A year ago she would have refused and we would have had a fight on our hands.
But I've spent a lot of time building up her confidence and she has spent more time maturing.

It was muddy, slippery, and steep.
I got off afterwards and rewarded her with some loving while my husband laughed.

Siera is not like his mule.  Fred, after all has about 20 yrs more riding experience than she has had.

After a hard climb out of the valley we stopped to let Fred catch his breath. Siera being a youngster was ready to go.

But she also needs a bit more 'patience' training.

She has actually come a very long way since we started working together.  I think she is going to be an exceptional rider for me.
She has the speed when I want it and yesterday she showed that she can dawdle along at a nice slow pace if need be.

And thus we enjoyed the 'Brown Season', the time before things turn green again.

"Them Bones..."

All my life I've been fascinated by bones.  Oh not a sick weird, strange, fascination, but a curious fascination.

I live in a very wooded area and nature has its cycle.  A deer is killed by coyotes and a skull and some scattered bones are left to find.

I sometimes pick up the skull and bring it home.  Finding sheds is a huge 'sport' of sorts around here too.  Many folks I know hunt antler 'sheds' and sell the antlers.
I collect them.

I wasn't sure for a long time what I was going to do with my pile of magnificent sheds and skulls.  I just piled them next to the out house and took the nicer looking ones and put them on the side of the building.

Then I started to think of things I could 'do' with the skulls.  I started with small raccoon skulls I'd found over the years.  They were in pretty good shape and not too difficult to handle.  Easy to wash and since they were old, all I had to clean up was mostly collected old leaves and dirt in them.

The first one's I did were around Christmas time.  As experiments, I thought they came out pretty cool.

In fact I showed one to my mom who is nearly 81 and she loved it.  I asked her if she wanted it and she immediately put it on a shelf for display.

I painted a black one with gold highlights for my youngest son and put gold 'gems' on it.  He thought it was awesome.

I moved on to one of my rather decrepit deer skulls that I'd found laying in the woods.  The mice had been at it quite heavily and at the time I thought it wasn't worth bringing home.

But now?

Well I think it turned out pretty neat for such a beat up thing.

Then I took a rather nice one that I had and painted the skull white after sealing the cracks with glue and gluing the teeth back in that were loose.

I didn't have the heart to do anything else but preserve this skull as it must have belonged to a magnificent young buck.

After dealing with white as a base for the skulls, I wondered what it would be like to have one look primitive or more natural...or even antique.

So I stained and old doe skull rubbing the stain in and wiping it off until I got the effect I desired.

This is probably in some ways my favorite after I painted the 'line' drawing of a deer on it.

I did some reading up on what to do with weathered antlers and came up with my own idea.

This was a broken up antler with the ends broken off.  It was scarred and chewed. So I used the same method as before to add a bit of wood like stain to it.  I liked it because it brings out the weathering and the cracks in the antler.

I didn't want to fill the cracks with wood putty and try and reconstruct the antler, I wanted it as I found it.  Cracked and imperfect as mother nature made it.

I intend on finishing a couple of more of these wayward antlers and mounting them on a board with the tines up.  They will adorn the space above the new windows and hold white lights [you know, the Christmas kind].  Or they will become hangers, or curtain holders.

I may even take my group of antlers and construct a lamp base out of it.  

And then there is my prize possession.  A complete coyote skull.  I just preserved it in its natural bone color.

I have another very old skull that is full of lichen and moss.  The skull is badly damaged and the old oddly shaped antlers have been chewed on.  But it looks like it will be a nice challenge.

And it is shed hunting season again.  The bucks start to drop their antlers about now and it just gives me another reason to walk trails and look for more odd things.

Who knows?
Maybe I'll find some cool bones.

Mule Adventure

There is something to be said for mules and mule-adventures.
Hmmm, what?

Ok, let me start this all over.

We caught up Opal and Badger, because it was such a nice afternoon. The pretense was, we'd go riding together and look for antler sheds.

Well interestingly enough, we hit the Jackpot. I was more into riding and looking at the wildflowers coming up, my husband was keeping his keen eyes peeled for white antler sheds.

I found flowers,
He found sheds.

We were riding in the back valley and generally just taking it easy when I heard an

AH HAH!

He never *ah hahs* with that much enthusiasm unless it is something quite spectacular.
Which of course, it was.

Had it been a full set, he'd have had a 12 point buck!
The trail we were following has a large tree downed across it. It has been there for about 3 years and is a favorite spot to get our mules to jump in hand.
Which of course we did.





Those mules can be quite handy when coming to obstacles in the woods. Truly there is no other way over this downfall.
Barbed wire fence on on side and a rocky drop off on the other side...

We got home just before dusk and put the mules away.
What a fine spring afternoon.