That time of year again...

I get motivated to get out some decorations and take photos of them to look creepy. Some folks don't like Halloween. I'm pretty ambivalent now that we live in the middle of nowhere. As a kid I loved to dress up and go trick or treating. I'm aging myself when I say I did it in the 60's and 70's. 

I had fun doing makeup for my boys when they loved it too. 

Now?

Meh. It is just another day of life on the farm. However I do grab the creepy dolls and the skeleton decorations and gather them up for some fun.

Creepy Dolly

Creepiness in the Woods...

Stranger things...

A sense of Bizarre...

and the skull that wears a 

mask...

Be safe and well.

Happy Halloween if that is your thing.

There is Evil...

We know someone evil is planning to take over the world with this Covid-19 stuff.

The virus is real.
It is a hoax.
It can kill you if you are old.
Ahhh, that is how the evil 'them' are planning to get rid of the old folks.

Unless you are young and die from it too.

But wait, send the little vectors back to public school
where they can spread it to the teachers and families.
For the greater good. Or the great Evil.
Or discover how well you can educate your children at home.

Or discover how the kids are getting on your nerves and
you'd like to send them anywhere BUT home!

Masks.
Wear them, don't wear them.
Wait. If you wear them with sunglasses then the
evil government can't use facial recognition on you!
Wear a mask!

Be kind to your neighbor.
Don't be kind to your neighbor.

A vaccine will implant us all with computer chips.
[Hey, that may be good for old people who wander off!
Wait, the virus will eliminate old people who wander off...or
it won't.]
A vaccine may save many lives.
So a vaccine is good.
Or bad.
Or evil.

This evil virus was created in a lab.
Or in a wet market.
It was released as a weapon.
It just happened.

Let's get back to normal!
Define Normal.

There was never a normal.
Really?

Then we get the meat of it.
[Where's the Beef! Vegetarians are behind this!]

I'm right you are wrong.
My opinion matters, yours doesn't.

Quarantine Fatigue.
Isolation Fatigue.
Stay at Home Anger.
Social Distancing - Isolation.


Now if you have gotten this far, you should know that this is written with a bit of sarcasm and 'tongue in cheek'.

I'm going to blame Creepy Baby and his Nefarious Frog Friends. They are at the bottom of this working in their crazy little lab.

Note: If you ever watched Pinky and The Brain you'll know where I got this idea.

Creepy Baby...and the sewing machine

I like Still Life photography and even have had more fun with it when I use toys. Most toys in the beginning were given to me. This Creepy Baby was given to me by a little boy when I was baby sitting for him.

He said the toy was 'yucky'. I asked mom about it and she grimaced saying it may have been her toy as a kid. Please take it.
It just looks like a demented toy of sorts and thus it was named Creepy Baby.

He's been around for a couple of years and is small enough to fit easily in a pocket.

I usually toss him in my camera bag along with the LIL Bear which was also a donated toy.

He ends up in so many places!

But!
There needs to be a bit of cuteness in this world of madness, right?
Who doesn't love a cute Dragon Baby?

The mushrooms and funky flowers were made by me. I also made the green Popsicle stick thingy with green stuff on it...I couldn't help but have a bit of fun.
The tiny treasure chest came in a huge bag of stuff from my Grandmother Pearl's belongings. It is very old and had a thimble in it.

I wonder if cute dragons get along with the more dangerous looking types...

I guess we will find out.

See? I'm a kid at heart.

When we were kids, my brother, sister, and I used to take our toys and build them forts on the saggy ping pong table in the basement. We used to 'set up' soldiers and other toys to present a story to the viewer. We'd leave The Set Up for a day or so and then change it again.
We entertained ourselves for hours in the basement. Huge battles were won and lost. The Kitty Hotel was built. It featured an eraser that was shaped like a pink cat. I had a yellow dragon eraser.  We never used them on the end of our pencils.

They raged battles with the soldiers, until we launched marbles at all of them and knocked them down.

So this evening I messed around with some items I found chucked in the big shed. I wondered what it would be like to create a scene with Creepy Baby and his Nefarious Friendly Frogs.

So yes, I had some fun which took my mind off the news.

Today's rap sheet ran like this...
I wanted to find the plug for my sewing machine. After thoroughly going through every box in the basement and cleaning and organizing ...and labeling everything...
I went upstairs and did the same thing to the tiny closets and the little attic space.
I have a cart-full of junk to haul to the dumpster.

I even went through all the items stored in the little Red Shed.
No cord for the sewing machine.

So I ordered a replacement before chores and supper.

And then this evening, I had a bit of fun....

Stay safe.
Stay well.

Sneaky Doodle Gang

Once upon a time long ago and far away...well. Hmm.
About 20 years ago I lived in Kenosha County and my older 4H horseback riders and I used to ride the side roads and we'd 'sneak' through the farm fields on the paths left for huge tractors. We'd sometimes ride at night through the fields.

At that time we dubbed ourselves The Sneaky Doodle Gang.
I know, how stupid sounding is that?

Well this past weekend we wanted to get back to a place we'd been to before. It is a State Natural Area. It has no real access points that are trails. If you look the area up on a site, apparently you can park on a road and look around for bent over grasses and follow that until you come to the 'trail head' which may be a pebble or a thicket of thorns.

We knew where we wanted to go. One of the options is to climb directly down a steep dip between bluffs. Good luck with that on a snowy day. That area is strewn with a boulder field and dead falls. We have done it once before but it takes good balance, two functional arms and two very functional legs.

One member of our gang had just had shoulder surgery 10 days ago. That meant she had one functioning arm. Since I've had a similar shoulder surgery about 10 years ago, I fully understand how painful and awkward one feels after the surgery.

We opted to find an easier way in. We found a fairly wide open looking trail and headed down it. It was much further from our destination than we planned, but it looked much easier to negotiate than a slippery boulder field that was strewn with hidden danger under the snow.

As we walked in we looked up and saw a private residence above us. Dang! Were we on private property? We we trespassing? We saw no signs but that doesn't mean that is an excuse.

Time to pass on the old school skills of The Sneaky Doodle Gang. The two adults I were with are a part of the old Sneaky Doodle Gang. SDG from here on out.
We told the kids to be quiet. Our goal as ahead of us and we didn't want to waste time going all the way around and then back down the boulder field. So we split up quietly and continued to hike.

Can you see the SDG member in the middle of this shot?
Aren't we just awesome?
So eventually we followed the trail and came out in an area where there was a picnic table and some chairs.

All right. Let me stop the presses right here.
This morning I looked up the State Natural Area through the DNR website and looked for access points for future use. I found photo of the picnic table claiming that it was part of the SNA we were looking for.
Devil's Lake State Park Visitor's Guide

Guess what.
We had not been trespassing.
The trail we were on and the one described on the website were the same. They went directly to the picnic table.

Photo by Daryl Clausen

And we found the chairs too. However, we found a surprise in them.

I always carry some toys that are given to me by kids. One of our favorite toys has been dubbed "Creepy Baby" and here is a shot of him with the sort of creepy raggedy Teddy Bears.

Oh yeah. That was just too darned Creepy!

Once we made it past the Sentinel Teddy Bears we found....

Ice.

Magnificent ice, multi colored ice. The hues ran from yellow, blue, green, white, to an almost reddish color.

This is what we had come for and had hoped to find. 

I was stunned as were my fellow SDG friends. The kids were ecstatic and slide on the creek ice that was as smooth as a skating rink. We took photos and stared at it in wonder. 
It was worth the difficult hike in.

However, we made a pact to not reveal the exact location of this place.  We'd been to Pewitt's Nest three winters ago and had admired its beauty. It became an internet sensation and by early spring of 2017 it was closed to the public because of the senseless destruction that occurred from the people. There will be viewing platforms built but I still see posts from people who sneak in past the NO Trespassing signs to take photos of the place.

I shouldn't worry too much though. This place is difficult to find, hard to hike to and even harder to climb out of.

A view from behind the ice.

I would love to go back in the early spring and in the fall to see the rock bluffs and the plants. 

Sadly, the weak sunlight began to fade quickly and we started to seek a way out of the gorge.
There is no specific trail. 

Just before dark we reached the Subaru and climbed in. 
The Sneaky Doodle Gang had done it again.

And we were happy.