Hot Summer Daze

But first!

Not long ago, I got a surprise package delivered. Mary came to visit me and go on adventures. Immediately I had to follow her around to see what she would be up to.

She seems quite comfortable going on adventures and exploring. I even found her holding 'court' with my dinosaurs.

Mary doesn't look perturbed at all. She looks as though she has everything under control. It must be her sunny attitude they admire. One dino even brought her Forget-me-nots!

In 'other' non important news:

The heat has been exceptional. The dew point and humidity are some of the factors that make it feel so unbearable.

Of course the dogs wanted to be outside for a while. I was with them to make sure Charlie didn't overheat. He has a hard time with intense heat because of his Dachshund and Pekinese background.

Hannah isn't quite as bothered by the heat, she often goes out to lay on the gravel driveway in the sunshine.

I put my shallow stock tank out the day before and put water in it so it wouldn't be super cold for them. The water was actually warm, but it seems that they didn't mind. Hannah jumped in and out of the water while Charlie just stood there quietly.

I thought I'd do a little bit of 'work' with Hannah. She, like Charlie, is food driven. Unlike Charlie, she is extremely brave and curious. It took only a second for her to notice I put a dog treat in the Lego Robot's hand. 

We worked on 'wait' so I could try to get a photo of her taking the cookie from the Robot. Anything more than a two second 'wait' is a bit beyond her at this point, so I had to work fast.

Charlie wanted a treat too but he wasn't willing to push Hannah to the side to get it. He waited patiently. He was still soaking wet from his time in the stock tank.

I didn't know that Wednesday could get that much worse but it did. The humidity is worse and the breezes we had the past two days stopped. With that wonderful combination, the smoke from the Minnesota and  Canadian wildfires have descended on our area.

Just a couple of hours ago my son in Wausau sent me a photo looking down his street. It looked as if brown fog had descended down his street. It is about a 3 hr drive northeastward to where he lives. 

No wind. Smoke, humidity, and heat. Looks like another good day to read a book and work on crafty things. 

Sticks, glue, moss, and cardboard. Maybe a new 'forest house' for my Lego Minifigures. Hey the stuff is free out in the yard and forest, I just have to build it!

No night shots right now unless the mosquitoes let up a bit. Right after dark and just before dawn they are murderous. 

It isn't worth going out and trying to shoot stars when I'd get carried off by monster Skeeters.

Stay cool if you can. Doing chores this evening is going to be a soaker.

 

Huge Score at the Farmer's Market !

I went last Saturday to go pick up veggies for the week. I was able to pick up Bok Choy, Swiss Chard, Leaf Lettuce, summer squash, zucchini, and radishes. My total cost? $15 for a week's worth of great veggies.

I filled my bag up and decided to walk around the Market and found out is was Kid Vendor Day which they do once a month. Kids bring items they have made or would like to sell and set up a table. Last year, one girl was selling rocks. I could have looked for a very similar one on my own land, but she knew all the names of the types of rocks she had. In fact she could ID them better than I could.

So I purchased two from her to put in my garden.

This time around I spotted a youngster with a table full of Legos and Lego characters. I stopped by to look at what he had and made a purchase of a few items.

His mom was there and from the looks of what was on the table, the Legos were a mix of old [vintage] Legos and new Legos.

I purchased a few of the ones I'd never seen before.

When I got home I looked up this one. The camel is from an old set. Of course without the original numbers and packing, I can't prove a thing. But when I looked it up I found Rare Retired Legos: Camel 

The average price on a few sites was $48. Of course that was for ones that had never been played with.

I was pretty tickled that I got this minifigure and the camel along with some miscellaneous pieces for $3.

The Yoda figure has always been out of a sensible price range. Some of the prices for Yoda range from $33 to $80 something depending on the model. I got Yoda, Hans Solo [20 year edition] and the droid soldiers for $3.

The whole haul for $12: 

The little sun catcher was made by one of my other neighbor's children and I purchased that along with a little succulent they were selling. I got storm troopers, Darth Vader, a couple of firefighters, and a little stand that looked like a sales booth at the Farmer's Market.

I reworked the Legos and made a MOC of my friend's stand at the Farmer's Market.

He would be the person with the cowboy hat on and the Garlic Man sign behind him. He is known locally as the garlic man.

I then did a mock up of my friend Randall and his wife working at their place in this dry, hot, dusty, drought we are having.

Deb has been really stressed because of the heat, bad air quality, and the drought. She suffers from asthma. She really puts a lot of her heart and soul into her gardens and the Market. I sent these to her and she used them [with permission] on her FB page.

She and Randall have acres and acres of produce that they raise. She also makes incredible jellies and jams for sale at the market. I never miss a chance to get some of her wild grape jelly when I am not able to make my own.

During those hot hot days last weekend I sat in the A/C and created some more market scenarios just for fun. It was fun to do.

The one below is close to my friend's set up for their booth. She has shelves with all of her delicious salsas, jellies, and other goodies on shelves. Too bad Lego didn't have jars!

Eat your vegetables!

Anyway, that is what I was doing last week with all the heat and humidity along with the terrible Air.

This Saturday, it will be in the 70's and overcast. So we have a break from the awful heat we had for the first few days of July.

Pesky Rabbits!

Have a great weekend.

Well now

Let's talk about the weather! It is in all the news.

Wild Wicked Winter Weather.

What a perfect time to be without a heater! 

We saw Dan from a company called 608 Plumbing [&heating]. He said he could get a motor to fix the intake fan and inspected the heater. He says it is in excellent shape and it is too bad we got a bum fan motor. 

He presented us with another idea. I'd never heard of a Mini Split before. I knew about Heat Pumps from years ago when my mom and dad built their retirement home and had one purchased for their house. At that time I think it was brand new technology. They had a heat pump and a furnace for those very frigid winters. 

A Mini Split would probably save us gobs of Money over using our old window air conditioner that only fits upstairs in a room we don't use. We use fans on the stairs to blow cool air down on hot days. It has worked for years for us, but I've never felt it was very efficient.

However, the Mini Split would cool down the house where we actually live! And until it gets extremely cold, it would heat us too for far less than what we are paying for now.

A huge draw back is the price. However, I'm looking at rebates, efficiency, and tax credits [I am aware of the limitations on all of these--but hey, it is a selling point]. Plus this company will maintain the system. 

608 Dan looked the house over and then made said this:

"Here is what I want to do for you Rich, I want to make you comfortable in the winter AND the summer and save you money in the long run. How's that sound?"

I laughed and replied, "That is a pretty good sales pitch. Make the man of the house comfy and worry free!"

So what about the weather? It is happening all right.

A good day to make soup and cut up my fruit for snacking.

Yum! Fresh fruit on a gloomy wintery day. Turkey soup with dried wild mushrooms along with dehydrated veggies and carrots.

The space heater is actually keeping the house nice and warm.

The snow this morning was ferocious. The winds on the ridge were wicked and several times we had some blowing snow down in our hollow. Charlie and I went to get the mail. He loves snowstorms! 
As long as the snow isn't too deep for him to bound out of.

This afternoon, it has alternated between snow, sleet, and rain.

The mules have been alternating between eating at the feeders ...

and standing way down in the woods with their mule butts to the winds....

The birds have been busy at the feeders and have been taking turns sitting in the pine tree or the hickory tree.

On the ridge, it looks like this.

Our dead end road:

I'm hoping the ice/sleet/rain that is falling doesn't cause us to lose power. 

My Life in Legos

No lens envy here!

Black Tulip Fungi!

The ferns are coming up!

Time to clean up the garden!

Or stop to photograph insects!

See the Miner Bee?

Look at the arrow.
What a lucky shot!

Hostas!

Call out the 
heavy equipment to 
move rocks!

Go looking for Morels
Uh OH
Not False Morels!

Wow we found 

Pheasant Backs!

Wow, it is SO HOT

and NO breeze down here in

the Valley!

Let's just cool off.

What a marked difference from last week. It was rather cold and dreary with lots of rain.

Now? Hot and muggy! 

I don't know about any of you guys but I sure had a hard time adapting this week! 

This heat and humidity makes me feel like....

Whew! Turn off the heat and turn on the AC?

Whirlwind Activity

I like dawn. I like it even better with a pal. In this case my pal was not just a mule or one Charlie.

I took Ariel on her first 'rough' ride in the woods. This photo was after she and Siera did a mule slide into the creek. A big deal for Siera as she is pretty sure she doesn't want to do it and a big deal for Ariel who had to convince her it was okay.

Everyone survived and Ariel got to test out her 'muleman ship'. Ariel didn't seem convinced that she did fine. I was on Sunshine who is rather ho hum about mud, muck, and sliding into streams. Siera is sure it is mule-eating mud. She will do it though.

We rode two early mornings and what can I say? It is fantastic to have a riding partner. We beat the heat, got wet from dew laced leaves and got to see the fog coming off the creek into the warm air. The trails we followed were deep in the woods and along the creek. We simply followed the 4 Wheeler's trails. [Apparently they are not allowed in there!]

I rode Mica the second morning. We took the 'tough' trail out to the valley bottom and then used an old logging trail to head back home.

On a nice open trail like this Siera is the dream ride. Mica gets bored and seems to walk in her sleep.
No matter, we made two early morning rides and enjoyed them.

When I got back, I asked Dennis if he'd like to ride and brush up on his skills. He said yes. I gave him a boost to get on Siera and let him ride in the yard area.

The kids are pretty darned good riders on well behaved mules of course. I wish I had a buddy that would come ride with me often.

Morris always used to run alongside Badger and I. Later after Badger passed over the rainbow bridge, Morris would come with Siera and I. He even rode with me on Opal.

We'd had a very busy weekend. Stepdaughter's husband had wanted some wood to cut and load so he was busy during the blistering heat on Saturday. We grilled hot dogs and had a nice supper in the air conditioned house.

And...
of course Charlie makes for sweet moments. MIL thought he was so darned cute and Rich held him for her to pet.
And...
then there was this other Charlie Moment with Angel, the beagle. They grew rather fond of each other.

I've been working my fingers to the bone on the little gardens I have around the house. So much great dirt to work with! I'll catch up on that later.

Our farm friend stopped by, and yesterday I had to move the Dexters we are shipping to auction. We just can't afford to feed them and take care of them as they deserve. I kept the 'good' ones as forest foragers and they are just the right number of cattle to help keep the pastures in order.
More on that later too.

This morning I will see them off. Yesterday was an all day extravaganza of me pounding posts with a heavy post pounder, stringing electric lines and testing them.
The effort was worth it even if my hands hurt like the dickens this morning along with my arthritic sternum. The cattle are ready.

As soon as they are loaded and up the drive, it looks like I have MIL duties to tend to.

Tomorrow my Kenosha Gang will be arriving for the weekend. Charlie can get over his doldrums, I can wish that my house were clean after such a whirlwind weekend with the in laws and grands...however.
So much to do and it is delightful outside.

The locust trees are in blossom and the air around the house smells delightful.

And that is that....
Until I catch up on my garden stuff, yard stuff, ... and ... well, you get the idea!

Break Time!

Late Thursday night/early Friday morning my son Ed showed up with his dog Teslin.
Teslin and Morris have known each other since they were pups and are about the same age.

Ed wanted to come and visit and help me clear some brush back from the fence on the Merry Meadow Pasture.
He brought his brush cutter and very powerful weed wacker.

He worked on Friday from his laptop and as the day heated up, I turned the air on. What a temperature change! It went from cool and nice to HOT.

When he finished work, we went at the berry briers and multiflora rose which seems to creep in from the forest.

The dogs had gone with us. Morris wore his bell which has really helped me figure out where he is all of the time without having to look. The dogs tongues were hanging out and they kept trying to get comfortable in the shade. Teslin thought that she should dip into the thick underbrush for shade.

We stopped for a rest. I looked at what we had done in such a short time. I was impressed. Without Ed's brush cutter, I wouldn't have gotten far on my own.

I thought it was too hot to continue. Besides, it was my birthday and I'd planned a nice meal for us.

Ed and Rich visited while I made supper. I looked at the forecast for Saturday and decided that we really wouldn't do much then either. The forecast was for very hot conditions again. However the humidity would be very low.
I figured that this weather with no rain and good breezes would make the farmers very happy. A lot of farming would get done in hopes of catching up to a cold wet May.

And as expected. The heat was on for Saturday. LaCrosse, Wisconsin broke a heat record of 97 degrees.

However after breakfast Saturday we were out on the porch waiting for the neighbors to come down and visit when a red Mini Cooper drove into the yard.
Ed's wife had come to surprise us!

The look on Rich's face was priceless and I'm sure that I was surprised also. I ran across the yard and gave Joy a huge hug. She'd been on duty as a firefighter the previous 24 hours and had left work to drive up and surprise us.

Sunday came too early. Ed and Joy helped me finish up some much needed work that I hadn't attended to as I'd been too busy with doctor appointments and other errands.

Finally things were just starting to feel like they were getting pulled together.

After the kids left, Rich went to lay down and I sat on the porch and "Painted some cheer" on some of the wood blocks left over from last year's house remodel.

I pondered my upcoming week as I picked colors out and swiped them onto the wood.
Appointments, phone calls, taking the car in for maintenance work, garden, fencing, ads for sale, hay, ...
A day away from the farm would be nice too. A day hiking by myself with my camera would work out perfect.  Okay, maybe just a few hours.