Destinations...

My neighbor to the west of us came over yesterday to see about cutting down the pasture/weeds that have overgrown the area in front of the house. This is also one of the only flat-ish areas we have on our land.

Gary came over with his brand new tractor and my jaw hit the driveway gravel when I saw it. What a nice machine he finally got himself. A/C, Heat, and every other nice thing you could want in any vehicle.
He has a skid steer, a bulldozer, and cool attachments for his skid steer which is huge!

He made short work of my weeds and said the 6 ft burdock plants bogged his machine down. Imagine. I thought I could go out there with a machete and cut them. Huh. Guess I was kidding myself.

The mules are finding more grasses and browsing on the cut up plants. They don't seem particularly hungry which means they are finding good stuff all over the place.

Gary then thought he'd mess around a bit in the back side or the other meadow. He brush hogged all the multiflora rose bushes I'd been fighting for years against. He made very short work of the thistle patches. 

 When he was finished, he stopped by the house and visited with Rich for a little bit. 

I'd told Gary I'd pay him and handed him the $$$ for the current going rate for brush hogging. He peeked at the cash and then started to refuse and I said, "Please take it. Running a tractor like that costs fuel and your time. Plus, do something nice ... like take Kim out to dinner."

He looked sheepish as he pocketed the money. Rich concurred. Gary then said he was going to repair our common fence on the west side. He was going to get some cattle again to keep down the brush and grasses in his acreage. He told us that now that Kim was retired, she liked to walk on their land.  Without cattle for the past 4 years, the brush and undergrowth has gotten out of hand.

His comment was: I caught hell for her not being able to hike around and look for sheds because the woods are full of crap now that we don't have cattle.

I offered to help with the fencing. We are supposed to split the cost when doing common fences between neighbors. 

Seeing as that the fence hasn't been fixed well in over 30 years, it was really time. I can help with sharing the costs, but not much in chain sawing and stringing fence as I have to be close to the house.

Today, Wednesday, is supposed to be a fishing day, but the guy I hired last year to take down 6 trees texted me last night to come out and give me an estimate on some other work I'd like done to the yard. 

He has free time to do estimates on rainy days. I do like working with him. He is young, curteous, and does good work. AND he keeps in contact with me even when he is busy and can't get out to see me right away.

 I am also hoping to have some kind of excavating --> brush cleaning to a difficult part of the 'forest' that the gals like to hang out in. I'm going to change fencing to a more limited area. After all, I only have 3 equine left and they can't keep up with all of the growth. I can build the fence, but need an area cleared to do it.

The end game is to make this place look much nicer so it doesn't look  neglected by a couple of old fools. 

When, in the future, I am ready to move off the farm, I want it the farm to look  like a charming place instead of weedy overgrown pastures and piles of 'good' junk stuff.

I'm starting now, because in a few years, I will probably move to an area where I can get public transport, groceries delivered, access to bike trails, parks, and health care close by. I realize that I eventually won't do well in a such a remote place.

I will miss my starry nights and forest trails. But I'm sure I can find happiness in just about any place I choose to live.

The conundrum is this. If I get this little farm looking exactly how I imagine it should be, then I will I leave?

Life is a process isn't it?

Any...way....

Many mornings, Charlie and I try to get out for an early walk. Sometimes, we actually make it. 

This shot of Charlie was taken a week or so ago. 

Getting out for a stroll is not always easy. I try to at night but it seems there is always something else to do. Thankfully most of the programming that we watch is rather uninteresting and I've decided not to pay for any more channels.

So evenings are spent reading, or gardening instead of staring at the TV. I often fall asleep if I do find something to watch now. The other half is getting up generally several times a night. He also is getting up between 4 and 5am. 

That used to be my quiet time, as I was the morning person and could enjoy sunrise walks along with quiet time with my coffee.

Charlie looks pretty serious here in this shot. He was just being Charlie, walking along looking for interesting smells.

Froggy Froggy...! I found this guy when I stopped to admire the fading spring phlox.

And on Wednesday morning this was the start to our walk. Whoops! This ancient oak fell over in the night. It's base was hollow and filled with carpenter ants. 

I texted this to our neighbor who lives at the top of the driveway and she sent it to her husband at work. I also sent it to Rich's pal who had planned on coming over to take Rich [and I] for a drive on Wednesday with the message that the driveway was blocked.

And then this happened.

The neighbor came home from work and made sure we could get in and out of our driveway. Steve [in the red shirt] showed up with his chainsaws and we had the drive cleaned up in no time flat.

My neighbor said he would clean up the big pieces for firewood and I said I'd clean up the little stuff and put it in a pile. 

Wednesday was another 'old' guy out day. 

I sat in back and enjoyed the ride and listened to the conversations.

Since we weren't fishing as it was so hot and humid, Steve wanted to find some wildlife for me to 'shoot' and enjoy. He had a grand time looking for turtles. Me looking for turtles amused him as he lives near a river and has turtles and snakes in his yard all of the time.

But. We did find turtles! But only in one park.

The sun did come out and the heat was on as well as the humidity and the smokey air. We drove through a park called Goose Island just outside of LaCrosse. Generally you can see deer wandering about along with a variety of birds, chipmunks, and amphibians.

We did get to see some Killdeer but they were far off as were the eagles.

I grabbed a few shots of the landscape.

It wasn't anything stellar, but I thought the shapes and contrasts were slightly interesting. 

I preferred this in black and white. In the second shot, you can see the extent of the smokey air that hovered above the Mississippi Valley.

By this time Rich was getting hungry so we elected to go back to The Bright Spot for burgers and fries. The effort of getting hubby in and out of the restaurant was the hardest part of the day, but we got it done.

I haven't had much time lately to visit the internet or even get out to play. I'm trying to figure out how to use my time more wisely when I do get Respite Care.

This week I did use most of my time to do a major grocery/supplies shopping for us. Hubby's feet are swollen enough from edema now that I had to find him wider shoes to wear.

I still have to figure out how to get 'time' to take my car into the dealer's to get the work done on it. The issue that needs to be fixed is covered under warranty. The trip to the dealer is an hour one way. So I have to find a solution to extend my 4 hour coverage.

I'll be addressing that very soon.

In the meantime, my pallet garden is producing beautiful Sweet William and an abundance of Daisies along with other flowers.

It is a pretty maintenance free little garden that produces a LOT of color and fun.

We are looking at a few days of rain so it seems I may have some time on my hands since I won't be able to mow yard and work outside.

Perhaps Charlie and I can sneak in some time hunting for fungi and fun.

My friends

Some days I get the best of jobs to do.

Two of my neighbors on the ridge were not home for part of the weekend. I got to visit with their animals and help out with them.

Rupert and Tijo belong to the neighbors at the top of our hill. They are friendly and such well behaved dogs. My neighbors sometimes take trips where they don't take their dogs [and cat] so they ask me if I don't mind helping out. I'm always happy to take care of their pets. 

They have tried to offer me money or some sort of compensation for caring for their critters. I've refused. After all, the husband has helped out by doing chores when we went to Kenosha for the weekend and when large dead oak fell down over the fence last year, he was right there to help cut it up.

Be good to your neighbors and they will generally reciprocate. 

Years ago we had folks that lived in that house that were not nice neighbors. We've had 5 different families live in that house in the past 28 years. Only once for 4 years, did we have folks we didn't get along with. I'll leave it at that. We ignored them, they ignored us.

Anyway, here is Rupert on our sunny Saturday morning walk:

Rupert is carefree, he is the essence of doggy happiness. He is joyful at all times. He bounces and just begs to be loved and show his undying love for humans.

Here is Tijo, the serious one. Although he seems reserved and aloof, he really isn't. He is a Baesenji mix. They are known for being a barkless dog. He is curious, quiet, and very affectionate. I've never seen him have the zoomies like Rupert. 

He is stunning.

Since they know I carry mini dog biscuits, I am also their best friend on our morning walks. I walk with them so I don't loose them. Since we are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmlands and forest, I don't feel comfortable just letting them out.

They walk with me along a dead end road and do their business. I give them plenty of time to sniff and explore and then shake my baggy of treats and they come running to follow me back to their home.

I think the neighbors think it is a burden for me to do this. It isn't. I enjoy their company.

My other neighbor on top of the ridge was in the hospital giving birth to their second son. Could I check on their mini cow, Doreen?
Of course!

Doreen is a tame little cross between a mini bull and a Jersey, I think.

Say hello to Doreen:

I pulled grass out of her mouth to take her portrait, but as soon as I grabbed the camera, she grabbed some more.

Well, now ... this is her nature. Eat. Eat. Eat. 
She is doing what she does best and was giving my camera the stink eye.

This was my Saturday morning in the Dairy State. A walk along a dead end road with my pals who were great company even if they had nothing to say.

Sometimes, animals can be the best pals.

Cold. Blizzardy. Neighbors. Good Place.

 Ok. It is officially Brrrr Out.

-11F is the outside temperature and on the ridge the 14mph winds are causing it to feel like -30 according to the weather app.

However! It sure was an adventurous time here on the ridge. 

Our first snowfall on Tuesday was 10 inches. Our second snowfall from Thursday night to late Friday night was 13 inches. 

My neighbor texted me early to ask if I knew of anyone who could pull his truck out of the ditch up by Riley Road and the Gilbertson Cattle Gate. I texted him back with names of other farm neighbors who had large tractors and front end loaders. One of them is also our township plow guy.

My neighbor was coming home Friday night and hit a huge drift and it sucked his large truck into the ditch. He walked home in the blizzard, got his 4 wheeler and was able to get his family's groceries and his work computer out of this truck and bring it home.

The end of the story is fascinating too. Saturday while he was out there digging out his truck, another fellow with a huge front end loader stopped by and helped him out. People helping people in a rural community with no expectations of money in exchange for assistance.

Here is a photo of our driveway before it got plowed. 

The driveway is in there and it is windblown. Frank came just before noon and deftly made quick work of it while I was on the ridge with Olive trying to make a sledding path.

Even with snow shoes on and dragging a sled with a child in it was an exercise in futility. The snow was soft and fluffy and we sank. The photo below is the trail of us just trying to get to a sledding spot.

Much to Aiden's disappointment, we gave up and decided to go to her house for a cup of decafe coffee.

There she is crossing the ridge below me heading for her house in the far distance. I was at the top of the hill on the ridge gathering my snowshoes and sled.

All this wide open space creates places for snow drifts when the winds blow. In places I walked even with snow shoes, I found myself nearly hip deep in snow. 

We had coffee and conversation and then I walked on the road to home. It was plowed and I was not in the mood to break trail through the woods.

I was going to save that for another day.

When I got home, I discovered that Frank had used his plow to make a path for me around part of the house. He obviously saw where I had been shoveling. He pushed the biggest piles of snow out of my way.

Again. 

How grateful can I be for good people? Indeed, a stranger helped my new neighbor, Frank and his magic plow looked after us, and all of us on this dead end road texted each other to make sure we are all okay.

I still like winter. If it warms up to closer to zero, I will probably go out and go for a walk. Dressed appropriately of course.

Can I say this?

 Love thy neighbor.

It happens here in my little rural area. On our 1 mile ridge road, I have 3 neighbors. 

Yesterday I cancelled my gym workout. I can't see clearly past 20 or so feet. Let's add blowing snow and roads that are not defined well on the ridge and are hard to see on good winter days. Add snow, ice, drifts, and poor vision.

You get that right? 

However, I also know how folks that can't see well do get around. If you have traveled the same roads for 30 years, you know exactly where the signs are and intersections are. Actually, you can fake it pretty well. I told that to the eye doctor. But I won't risk that behavior as I am the only driver left in our house.

A few days ago one of the neighbors walked down the driveway. I was outside and I was totally startled when I realized that the only way I knew who they were was by how they walked and the size of the little human with the taller human.

Olive texted me again to ask where I got my Feed and was there a closer place to get it? I told her where and then she asked if I wanted to go with, she knew I was running low but cancelled my driving today because of the blowing snow and poor back roads.

She said she'd pick me up and we'd go get feed for the old mule and she could get chicken feed and bedding.

Wow, was that a trip! She is a brave woman to drive through the bad weather. However she was our rural mail person for a couple of years, so she has some great experience with bad roads and weather.

We took the back roads which were the only way to the closest feed store. We actually laughed and ohhhed and ahhhed at the little drifts and icy patches we found. 

My driveway had been plowed and in the time we went and came back the hill was nearly all ice. Olive giggled and said..."Hey, we are okay! We are sledding down your hill!" And yep, her ABS's were cranking away as we drifted down.

She was able to drive right up and out. Thank goodness for her Subaru. 

I took Charlie out for a walk in the afternoon in the woods as the winds were whipping on the ridges and causing lots of drifting snow.

Charlie loved the snow.

I watched him hunt mice for about 15 minutes. He is so funny!

Must be mice in there!

Dig dig dig!

Sniff sniff, dig, shake...

and then...

What????

I headed back out to go check fences and found two trees down across the summer pasture fence from the heavy snow. The plastic insulators broke so it will be easy enough to fix come spring. A hand saw should do the rest.

Last night I got a text from the brand new neighbors on the ridge.

You are invited! Sledding party at our house at 10AM. Bring your own sled or we will provide you with one.

Gosh! How much more fun can it be? 

Lucky me -- to have such good people on our ridge. My two new neighbors include me even though I don't have kids and I am old enough to be their parents. How cool is that? 

Socks and the Eclipse

I woke up early this morning and didn't even think about the Lunar Eclipse. In fact I had a raging old headache and I was positively feeling kind of grumpy.

I'd given up even looking for the moon or driving to the ridge to watch it or photograph it. Grumpy Me.

However, I got a little text from my neighbor wayyyyy up on the ridge. The view of the Eclipse was stunning from her deck. I am jealous of her views except when the winds blow. I grabbed my long lens and walked outside in stocking feet.

I could see it!

What a goof. Instead of putting on shoes or boots, I jogged down to the mule pasture and ducked through the hot wires. I trotted up to where I could see the moon. My shots were noisy and messy because I just flipped the camera to Auto ISO. It was 28 degrees and I was in PJ's.

The pictures are not very great, but hey, I got to see it!

My neighbor to the west of us...they are half a mile away.

and then...

it was gone...as the sun rose and the moon set.

Funny thing.

My headache went away. 

So there you go.

Maybe the cold air was a good thing.

These times...

 

On Monday we had our updated Covid-19 boosters. And other than a slight ache at the injection sight we've had no ill side effects. That was actually a pretty nice surprise.

Tuesday was my 'hike or ride with Olive' day. Olive had texted me Monday evening to let me know she had found the Mother Lode of cool fungi in a forest that her husband's family owns. We decided to go at 10 AM because the heat on Tuesday afternoon was to be fierce.

She had found the Mother Lode!

Shrimp of the Woods was everywhere! She picked, and I photographed. We poured out gobs of sweat and hiked ...and brush busted through the woods getting full of stick tights and all sorts of nasty little burrs. We laughed and exclaimed how fun it was to find someone else as adventurous as we two were.

Apparently her husband is not into diving through the underbrush just to find dried up old mushrooms and exclaim OHHH! AHHH! Or to grab fungi from the dirt and marvel at their beauty. [However, he will eat what she cooks!]

I learned that Olive was indeed the adventurous type. After college, she took a year and went to New Zealand to hike a 2,000 mile trail. She said it was an epic adventure and she learned by trial and error about back packing. She learned about blisters, heat rash, and dealing with forces of nature.

I told her I was jealous, but admired her.

The arrow points to some oyster mushrooms she had 'seeded' with a slurry from other oyster mushrooms she'd picked. It worked!

We hiked and explored for about 2 hours before we hopped back into her beat up Subaru and headed home. We traveled both times with the windows down as her A/C hadn't worked since she'd beat up her car when she did a short stint as a Rural Postal Carrier. 

I'd taken a lot of photos and we'd covered a lot of ground. 

We both thought it would be fun to come back after the snow fell and snowshoe through the woods.

She dropped me off.

Two hours later she texted me with an urgent message. Her parents had Covid they'd been at their house on Saturday. She had been exposed but presented with no symptoms.

Well now. 

I'm wearing a mask in the house and doing all I can to keep separate from hubby.

This morning I received an update. Olive had to take her son to the ER last night and he tested negative, but has a full blown ear infection, teething, and a cold.

Her husband is negative too. So now we just wait and see while still practicing all the cautions I can...

Ever drink coffee with a straw? 

Interesting.

Night Out!

 

So my good friends/neighbors had an opportunity for a planned night of celebration out and an overnight in another city. Situations changed and the Grandma that was scheduled wasn't able to come and stay with the kids.

Lauren ran an idea past me and I jumped at the chance of hanging out with the kids. Their 12 yr old has been vaccinated and the other two have been following the standard Covid precautions. Lauren teaches children in Wuhan China English as a Second Language. To say that she has insight on Covid 19, is an understatement. 

Okay. I will leave the Covid issue out of it from here on in.

The result was that I agreed to come up and spend the evening and sleep over while they were gone. Having a responsible adult around? A must in our minds. And besides, Rich goes to bed early and sleeps until about 8 or 9 anyway. 

Lauren will be the one watching after Rich in a couple of weeks when I go see my son Eddie. 

First thing Allie asked was 'Can we go buggin'? I jumped at the chance and we went up the road peering at different plants looking for crab spiders, moths, and various insects.

We didn't get far before the rains came. But we did find a few insects. 

Not the best shots, but fun anyway. Always more fun with a sharp eyed youngster along.

The brown marmorated Stink Bug is below. I have no idea why it liked the bird poop. 

This was a Little Sulfur according to the common name. The scientific name is Eurema Lisa. I think that is a really cute name. It wouldn't stay still and moved a lot as the raindrops hit it. I tried to get its face which appears to be green with tiny black eyes?
It sure was a challenge.

I can imagine it having something to say in the above photo.

I brought an adult coloring book that I'd found in my MIL's belongings and the two youngest kids sat down at the counter and we proceeded to chat and to color.

The Tween wasn't into that and politely excused himself to do other things in his room. 

Eventually it stopped raining and the kids asked to go out to their playground and play. They showed me how to use Alexa to play music and I colored while they did their thing. It felt strange asking Alexa to play songs for me, eventually I just opened Pandora and let the music flow while I colored.

I viewed Allie's Bug/Insect collection and admired it. She really does love insects and hopes to become an entomologist. 

The youngest treated me to some of his practice songs on his piano. 

The pups needed more attention from me than the kids. I gave out many belly rubs and Stella was even kind enough to snooze with me on the couch.

About 4 am the storms rolled in and dumped inches of rain in a very short time. Thunder rolled and rumbled. Stella moved closer to me. My smart phone said that 4 to 6 inches was expected out of this downpour and to watch for water over the road. 

I got up and finished coloring my picture and then as the storm subsided I went back to sleep with Stella.

By 8, all the kids were up and had something to eat. The oldest handed me some Kringle and said I should take some to Rich. I texted mom and dad to let them know things were all good and was it okay for me to go down the driveway?

I'd called and talked with Rich, he was fine. But I was dying for a cup of coffee. 

The folks said I was good to go and they were on their way home.

Huh.

My big night out.

I really did have a good time!

Stella:

...and Basil...

Total rainfall in our was 2 3/4. It rained lightly on and off the rest of the day which was exactly what we needed.

Treasure Hunting

Let's face it. Being stuck at home, even in the countryside doesn't always feel very good.

I came up with an adventure for the neighbor and her kids. They have stayed at home and worked diligently on their school work along with playing in their yard and working in the garden with their folks.

I know that even a 'Social Distance' hike was not in the cards. So I devised a plan.

A treasure hunt on our wood 'ridge' road and along the creek. I devised it so they could go on their own and seek out the clues I send them via email. I'll leave all the gates they should go through open and let them have some fun.

I took a handful of toys and set them out.

1) If you find the Brown and White Pony near the green round feeder, you are on the right path!

2)  There's a Pretty Pink Pony who is stuck on an blackened old stump. She may be scared! Can you help her?

3) Watch out for the Guardian Bear who asks for the secret password to enter the woods!

[forgot a photo of him!]

4)  Don't climb the ladder. But another Bear is hiding? Can you find him?

 5)  Percy, the Flood Bear has built a shelter far from the creek so he will never get washed away again.

He built this under the Huge Maple Tree.

Can you spot him from the trail?

6) Go to the gate and help the Little Pony who is stuck in the tree next to the Elevator!

[When I had no safe way to climb into the creek after a large flood, I rigged up a rope to climb up and down the steep bank. The kids called it an Elevator when they first saw it years ago.]

Next, sign in at the desk and look for instructions for your next move!

[Yes, I have a school desk down at the creek. Inside is a notebook sealed in a bag with a pencil. Visitors can sign in and leave a note. I will bring a book to sit here and read once in a while. I can just squeeze into the chair!]

The note in the desk claims that there is Skullduggery afoot. To walk to the Orange Orb and look for the green paint on a tree. Skullduggery!

Head to the blue chair and walk upstream.

8) Walk in the creek or alongside it to find 4 large Stromatolite Fossils on a rock in the water. They have a red Christmas Ornament with them. You may take the Ornament and leave the Fossils!

9)  Find the two lost Dinosaurs. One is Orange and one is Green. They are near or around the Large Cotton Wood Tree with Big Roots. Hint, it is the largest tree in this area!

10)  Yippee! You finished! Now it is your turn!
Hide the items and write down clues when you hide them.

In three days it can be my turn!

So I ran this by the mom and she thought it was a wonderful idea. Three days in between setting out the toys and letting the air at them should be plenty of time for any 'germs' to be destroyed. We have all been staying at home and severely limiting exposures.

This could be a safe way to interact without ... interacting???

I can't wait to see what the kids come up with!