Bear and I

The Pandemic and Isolation have made it hard to connect with friends especially now when it is cold outdoors.

I mean, sometimes I just feel lonely.

Sure there are phones, zoom, live chats, and all that. But nothing really takes place of a real hug, or sitting down with a pal and having coffee at a tiny coffee shop.

Bear decided we'd do Friend things together. 

Bear thought reading together was nice.

But I prefer Winnie the Pooh not fancy poetry.

Bear it isn't fancy poetry, it is Mary Oliver poetry.

Bear shrugged. 

I still like Winnie the Pooh. They had adventures.

Okay Bear, let's have adventures.

Making snow angels is fun. Thank you.

You are welcome.

I really like the mittens! They keep my paws warm!

I agree Bear. Mittens are pretty popular right now. 

~~~~~~~~

This is much better.

I knew when I met you

adventure was going

to happen...

Winnie the Pooh

One of those days

Ever have one of those days that it all goes to heck?

I thought it was going to be a good day after a yucky night, Wednesday. My hands were sore and so were other parts of my body, but I chalked that up to cutting down trees with a hand saw and working mostly bent over for a good part of the afternoon. Rich had a restless night too. Must be an thing for older people right? Wait? I don't feel like an older person.

I should have quit before the day started.

As the sun peeked over the trees tops, Mica the mule was laying down in her paddock and acting as if she were colicing. I went out to feed everyone and grabbed some Banamine the Vet had left me for these situations. I used my stethoscope and listened for gut sounds. They were a bit weak. Mica also has Heaves which makes her cough and fart at the same time. She often has gas and Rich always says that she should be my mule with all that 'power'!

She was terribly uncomfortable. I dosed her with some Banamine orally and put her out next to the goat in a pen against the shed. I knew she'd be pissed to be separated from Fred and would walk the fence-line. That would save me from having to walk her up and down the driveway until she passed gas or pooped. Ahhh, such is the farm life!

Mica, self exercising

Fred, doesn't care

After Rich got up he said he felt like he was struggling for air. For a week or so now his morning 02 levels are sometimes a bit low. He has 02 on his CPAP so I switched the concentrator over to a long hose for him.
Yes he was low.

He started coughing a bit yesterday which alarmed me since he hasn't had a cold or cough since he'd gone through Throat Cancer treatment.

Things seemed to be going okay. He left the 02 hose and walked over to get water and his meds.

Bam. I always use the Oximeter to see how he is doing and when he sat back down I did our morning routine. I read mine 02 and he reads his. 

His HR had skyrocketed and his 02 fell like a rock. I gave him the cannula to put on and we watched the numbers begin to balance out. Big sigh.

By lunch time I'd done the cleaning and situated his meds for the rest of the month. I'd ordered the meds that needed replacing and crossed my fingers that the postal service and UPS would come through in a timely fashion. We have not suffered like other areas have in this respect. 

Any meds requests are not urgent until after the start of the new year.

I decided to stick close and not do any woods work. Reading seemed to be a good choice. Charlie kept my lap warm and I read.

By supper Rich had a climbing fever and a nasty cough.

"Did you give me the Covid?" Oh, you know that would be the question that he'd ask.

"Not that I know of."

"I am not going to the hospital." Oh the stubborn man.

Of course immediately I thought of my last trip to the store. How long ago was it? Who did I run into? 7 days since my last trip to town. 

Friday I hiked with a friend...we distanced. And he'd had a negative Covid test recently.

But...

"I'm not going to the hospital. I'm cold." 

His fever spiked to 101. 

I stayed up most of the night. Ever try to get a cranky child to drink water?

This morning the fever is gone and he still feels crappy. 

We shall see what today brings.

And in this day and age? Is it a cold? Could it be Covid? How on earth did he get sick with all the precautions we took?

I am the only link to the outside.

Soooo...

Yet I've never felt ill.

Let's see what today brings.

PS~Mica recovered quickly from her tummy ache and is back coughing and farting up a storm once in a while. Fred is nagging her and they are bickering this morning as the sun comes up.

Perhaps this is a good sign?

The FB Portal

Gosh, there sure isn't much to talk about these days.
We received something called Facebook Portal through the Red Cross for Veterans that are pretty much stuck at home. I learned about it from the VA's Vantage Point Blog.

I was very leery of anything 'free' so I called the Caregivers folks and they said yes indeed the items were free and the promotion was free to the first 7,400 veterans that applied. I applied and then forgot about it.

I got an email from the Red Cross notifying me of a delivery date via FedEx and lo and behold, this was delivered.

It works by using contacts through Messenger on FB [yeah I don't like FB that much, but I have it]. When set up you can activate the voice and camera and ask it to call someone on your contact list.

So we talked with his daughter on Friday with the grandkids using the Portal. There is a 'smart' camera that detects motion so if one walks out of the room and back the camera sort of follows.
The sound is good and the video is excellent.

On Saturday Rich wanted to talk with Kristi from Missouri and see the boys. Kristi is like a second daughter to him. The kids showed Rich all of the lego stuff, talked about their Advent Calendar and Rich was able to see everyone.

On Sunday he wanted to do a Portal call to my oldest son. Again, lots of waving and laughter, checking out Covid Hairdos and holding up dogs to the camera.

The Portal has a slider to put over the camera to shut it off or you can manually shut it off. It will show a slide show of photos and you can connect it to Alexa through Amazon to play music or ask for the weather. 

I use it once in a while to play music while I am in the kitchen doing things. Otherwise I just unplug it and stick it off to the side.
All in all it really put a huge smile on Rich's face to be able to SEE and interact with those he loved. 

The premise behind the Red Cross effort with the VA was to put isolated veterans in touch with their friends and family. Sure most people can use zoom or a smart phone or duo...or they can be like Rich and not have a smart phone or computer. This is perfect for him.

Last night I loaded photos from my FB feed onto the Portal and let it cycle through while we ate supper. Rich enjoyed looking at the photos of old hound dogs, Morris, mules that had passed on, and the grands when they were little. 

After we 'hung' up with Eddie, he leaned back and smiled. "Boy that was fun, I sure like that a lot!"

I have read mixed reviews about the Portal and some people hate it. All I know is that it is making one Veteran very happy. And that is good enough for me.

How Covid-19 changed things for us

This is probably a moot point for so many people my age. Some are retired and live on farms or in the countryside so they can isolate a bit easier than those who would be in apartments [believe me, I had been thinking a lot about downsizing just last year!].

Grocery shopping habits have changed. No longer is it the every few days run into town to get something, or on a whim decide to eat out. We didn't do that often anyway. 

Now a grocery list is a study of strategy. I make a list and rewrite it in order of the isles in the store. I start by the milk and end by the produce. We have 3 stores in our town. Walmart, Quillians, and Viroqua Food Co-op. Walmart has the best prices on many things we like. The breakfast cereals at the other two stores are up to $2 more per item. 

Viroqua Food Co-op does offer curbside pickup. Otherwise I have to drive 30 miles one way to to a curbside pick up from the LaCrosse Walmart. 45 miles one way to get Quillians pick up. So the choices are limited. 

I spent the summer doing a 'stock up' of dry goods, beans, and non perishable items.
I can call up a lady for fresh eggs and go pick them up.
I can make up an order from the Co-op and pick the foods up. It is more pricey, but the fresh produce quality is so much better than any other store.

I can call and order the mule's Senior Feed for the elder mules. They can process the order over the phone and leave the feed on the dock for me to pick up.

I find myself planning my once a month shopping as if it was a strategic battle. Do I get bulk items at Wally World at 7am? What is on my list? 

I admit that I am cooking differently. I have made home made bread. Not too bad, I can still do it.
I made home made desserts. The cookies are good as long as I stick to chocolate chip cookies. The apple crisp was not too great, not enough apples but the topping was good!
I made home made oven cooked fries. That was actually fun and not as hard as I thought.

I'm going to try some butternut squash soup this week. I have so many squash stored in the basement and I need to eat it.

But really this is just more of reaching back as to how my grandmother cooked and made things. She didn't drive and they made a trip to town in the fall and in the spring. Mom would drive us once a month to town for groceries when we stayed at the cottage in the summer.

I grew up never needing milk as we always had dried milk. [YUCK!!!] Everything was bulk. Flour, sugar, rice, powdered milk, ... 
Most everything was home made. Maple syrup and jelly for example. Meat was purchased or butchered and put in the freezer to last the winter.

Fast food was not a thing.

I recall going down into my grandmother's cellar to get something for her and commenting that she was ready for a World War. I used to privately joke about it.

Funny. She survived the first World War, she survived the 1918 pandemic, she survived the second World War and the Great Depression. She survived food and fuel rationing.
So. Not funny.

I think about that. And now I understand why my Grandparents rarely tossed things and always repurposed items. Why they were so stingy with their money. Why they wore clothes with patches and darned their socks. I understand why they thought eating at a restaurant was a HUGE thing. A show of waste and opulence.

If Grandma Pearl was alive today she would simply say 'Humph,' and carry on. If their meat got low in the freezer, there was always critters in the woods and fish in the lake.

I'm not ready to go there. 
Yet.

But I am working on taking care.

I know there are those that think this Pandemic is no big deal. I am not going to argue that with anyone. I will deal with it my way and listen to my husband's doctors who have said to treat everyone outside of our house as an Infection.

My husband is content. I am a bit stressed and bored, but need to dig deep into my Grandmother's and mom's heritage and deal with it. 
I feel we are in a fairly good place. 
I am not working 12 hr shifts at the plant and driving 60 miles per shift like I used to 3 years ago. I have to stay home. Three years ago my choice was made for me. We made a quick adjustment to living on a lot less.

Our Holidays haven't changed. When Rich's mom could no longer get around, and when Rich stopped driving...we stopped traveling to his daughter's for a get together. One year his daughter and family did come here. Enough said.

There are those who are at work keeping our food supply chain open. These are the folks I am so grateful for. 

There are the nurses and doctors that are providing the best care they can right now. To those people too, you are my heroes. 

And that is where I am going to leave it this morning. I'm going to have a cup of tea and go do chores, wander the woods, and get on with my next project of learning something new to cook or make from what I have at hand.

Be safe and well.

Afternoon Out!

After bribing Charlie and dressing him up in a sweater and ribbons, I promised to take him for a nice long hike at Kickapoo Valley Reserve.

It only took about 2 dozen shots to get one that worked. 

Charlie was a good sport and is swiftly learning that I always have treats when we do this.

Off we headed! Charlie even trotted to the Subaru and attempted to jump in when I opened the door. That was a big first. He wanted to go for a ride which is unusual for him. Perhaps he felt he'd been cooped up at home for too long?

By the time we parked at the Star Valley access area, Charlie was beside himself. As soon as I unhooked him from his 'carseat' harness, he jumped over me and was ready to rumble.

I was pretty surprised to run into one of the KVR workers who took time to visit for a bit with us. He was removing Honeysuckle bushes from the edge of a cornfield on the KVR property. I said I was fighting Buckthorn on my own place. 

I whistled to Charlie and we were on our way again. We turned down Old 131 trail and headed towards the ponds and the river. The last time I'd hike here with Charlie, it was in the high 80's and hot. Charlie was in his element. The cooler weather agrees with him. 

We came across two muzzleloader deer hunters. Charlie greeted them and I asked how their hunt was going. Not so great. However they commented that even though their hunt was a bust, the day was beautiful. 

By now Charlie was beside himself. Tail up! He trotted along with a purpose. The smells on the sides of the trails needed his attention. He had to mark the area as we walked. That alone keeps a little dog very busy.

There was a couple sitting on the bench out on the floating deck of the east facing pond. Charlie was a-quiver! I asked if I could let Charlie come out to say hello. They were delighted. As was Charlie who immediately sat at their feet and looked back at me as if to say. "Stay there. I'm fine getting petted. Go away."

I whistled and Charlie came back. I swear he was smiling. 

My goal was to check out the closed trail and the old horse crossing that had been closed after the 2018 floods. Campsite G had been a pretty neat place to camp out with river access and I thought it would be a good time to explore it. Soon enough the cliffs above the river would be sporting ice formations.

Below is the view of where I was going taken in December of 2017.

December 4th, 2020

Interesting to see that I'd picked nearly the same exact spot 3 years later. The pile of wood and debris in the first shot is no longer anywhere around. That debris was part of a bridge from further upstream from the flash flood of 2016.
The bank has changed with soil and grasses washed away and the rock remains steadfast and strong.

We found the campsite and poked around. I found some campfire wood up on the bank but it wasn't used and it was quite aged. The Reserve has taken this site off their map, however I think canoers still stop there. 

We moved on and turned back. I'd seen what I wanted to. The ice was forming on the backwater ponds.

The only real spot of bright color was the Highbush Cranberries. Not many were left on the bush.

The couple had left the bench on the floating dock. Charlie and I stopped there for a treat for him, an apple for me.

I didn't want to get caught out too late, so we turned back towards Star Valley and hustled.

The gent that was clearing Honeysuckle was still there. He apologized for asking, but inquired if I was a local. So we struck up a conversation. Of course it was about his passion and mine. Battling invasive species of plants. We talked about cutting and bagging and cutting or cutting and using on a dab of herbicide. He wanted to know how I kept track of which stumps had which methods. I explained my crazy method of marking with spray paint.

Two large brown hounds came trotting up to Charlie and I who were sitting in the middle of the trail. Charlie was ecstatic. Big Friends!

The owner came around with his shotgun. He had been hunting pheasants.

The hunter apologized for his hounds and I waved him off telling him I'd raised plenty of hounds over the years and thought his were beautiful.

Off they went while I finished talking with the invasive species guy. His specialty is going after those nasty plants. I commented on seeing his truck this past summer and he said to stop by for a chat if I saw him next time out.

We headed back to the parking area but gave the hunter plenty of room so if his dogs did flush a pheasant, he'd be able to get one.

Charlie had other ideas. He wanted to catch up to them and play.

I reached the parking area and the hunter was just loading up. He said he didn't get a decent shot all afternoon, but it still was a good day. I agreed. 

The young hound trotted over and had to nose Charlie up and down.

The hunter called his dog.

We all loaded up and headed out.

What a great afternoon! Charlie and I got our hiking fix and got to visit safely with other humans and dogs!

It was a win-win for us.

Now hear this...

 

Yesterday was a really really long long day. So Charlie and I headed out to the Rock Fort to sit a spell and listen to the woods. I was dressed in Blaze Orange but most of the weekend hunters had left the area to go back to where ever they came from. The bottom photo is of my crochet project. I am making a new rag rug and crocheting it. I don't have a loom but I do have balls and balls of material my Grandmother painstakingly put together from old shirts and sheets. Thus...a new rag rug!

~~~~

The morning hours were spent in a long 'intake' interview. 'Intake' is what the VA calls it. Rich and I were interviewed by a gal named Jennifer via secure video connection. It was not painful or difficult, she asked questions of Rich and then asked questions of me without Rich. He was happy to go watch TV in the other room. The program is called VA Family Caregiver Assistance. 

The VA feels it may be cheaper to pay a family caregiver to care for a veteran who needs assistance in all aspects of his daily life....or Activities of Daily Living.... than find a place in a nursing home for him/her. 

I just need to say this. I care for him because I do care. I quit a very well paying job so I could be with him and take care of him. Leaving him home alone every day for hours on end was not an option. There are about 5 more steps with an exam with a nurse, and exam with an Occupational Therapist, more social workers, and even a virtual home visit I think. It takes time and I am not terribly worried. 

One of the benefits that a caregiver can get is access to ChampVA insurance along with respite care and in home assistance. Mental Health access to deal with stress is also available. 

I told Jennifer that it would be amazing to be able to talk to someone from MH just to blow off steam. Okay, I know I have friends, but truly, who wants me to ring them up and complain about how frustrating it is when the person I care for is doing things that drive me crazy? I know he can't help it because of 'brain injury' but yet... somedays having an adult toddler is insane. 

Add a Pandemic to the mix and what have you got? Rhetorical question there. 

Anyway, it was really NICE to talk with another human, even it was a social worker doing an 'intake' interview.

The latest townie news is this. Our 25 bed hospital is nearly full, there is NO more room. The ER is full most of the time. They are treating some patients that need higher quality of care but have no place to transfer them to. That is unless beds open up with deaths or discharge to a lesser unit.

The Doctors made a plea via our local paper and radio stations to PLEASE please wear masks, wash hands, and socially distance...and please do not bring people outside of your household in for Thanksgiving. 
Many of our folk really are trying hard. Others think it is still a hoax or they just don't need to follow the guidelines.

And I know in my heart that if my husband suffers a Medical Emergency, it could be the very last time I see him. 

This really got to me yesterday and that is why Charlie and I went to The Rock Fort and sat while I crocheted. Fresh air, sunlight, birds, and a kind dog helps a lot.

So this morning I decided NOT to read the news. 

I went into distraction mode and created art with Mandebulb 3D, Incendia, and Corel PaintShopPro [a program cheaper but similar to Photoshop which I cannot afford!].

Viking Terminator!

Sleeping Dragon

Have a good day. Stay safe. I'm going out to enjoy the  new snowfall.

Always learning/close to home

Regarding Covid-19. Our trauma center is asking people to stay at home as much as possible. The doctors have asked that family indoor gatherings be avoided. 

Our own county is trying to recommend that also.

I don't mind so much because I am one of the lucky ones that can stay home and I have acres and acres of woodland surrounding us to explore. However, I miss my trips to places for hiking and photography. 

I thought I'd go back through my archives and look at what has changed for me in photography.

Here is a photo I shot in August 2016 at Eau Claire Dells. At that time I was into using the longest exposure I could when photographing fast moving water. The one below is a 15 second exposure. And although pretty neat, it is also pretty dull.

Most of the time I take several shots of the same scene with different exposures and at the time I really liked the smooth look of the water.

Now? Meh. I liked some more 'action' to be seen. I found the following shot exposed at just less than a second.

This shot has a lot more umph to it. The water has a sense of flowing and reflects the colors of the trees on the opposite bank. It isn't dull looking.

What changed? My taste for different exposures and sitting and learning editing techniques. 

There is a huge argument by some against edits. And as an old user of film, I was against edits for a long time. Do it right the first time was my motto.

So I decided to work with the old 15 second photo and see if I'd learned anything. I know when I sat on the rocks in the middle of the river, I had a 'vision' of roaring water, bright leaves, and an awe of Mother Nature all bouncing around in my mind.

I was seeing this in my head:

A warm August afternoon. 

And yes, I can still hear the roaring in my mind!

There will always be that argument regarding editing. But in truth, I feel I've had the debate myself and have decided that if it is my vision, the edit works. Photography becomes more of an art form than a recording of events.

Though there sure is a reason to record events!

Think street photography, or like one of my photography classmates does...news photography. 

Or like this... the deer that wandered into the yard last night and the moon later on...

An interesting technique that I haven't tried yet is one where you blend different exposures together.

Uffdah. That requires some heavy lifting from a software program like Adobe Creative Suite or Adobe Creative Cloud. I can't afford to pay monthly fees so I stay away from the program.

There are so many programs out there! Wow!

Anyway. Last shot and then I am taking my little pocket camera and going hiking. The morning light is fantastic.

From yesterday's morning walk with Charlie.

Have a safe weekend. 

The rest of this week is going to be work, work, work. Clearing dead and living Buckthorn Trees from one section of the pasture. 
Lots of fun!

Spooky stuff or Not

I am forever the experimenter....or is it experimentor? I like the ...or spelling better but spell check doesn't.

I wanted to try something different and new. I ran across a Seasonal Tips offered by Olympus which was fun. After all I couldn't be outside mucking about in the storms we had, so I decided to clean the basement.

You know how this works. I rearranged the tubs of clothing. I sorted the hunting clothing...I needed blaze orange for the 9 day gun season. The insulated coveralls come out of the tub and light jackets go into the tub.
Restack everything and think about getting rid of things.
Put the summer stuff under the steps in the hard to get to places.
It will be months before I get out that stuff again.

Get the winter stuff out. Oops! See the Fall decorations.
Pull them out. 
Sort.
Pull out the Halloween Stuff that the neighbor kids really loved.
Hmmm.
See the decorations for Christmas. 
Put them back. Go have coffee.
Watch the rain.

Rich gets hungry. Feed Rich. 
Storm gets worse.
Rich goes for his afternoon nap.
It is dark outside.
Sort the Halloween stuff and the Fall Stuff.
Time for Tea.

Nope, can't go out to walk.
Okay.
Get out the decorations and play with the camera.
Sounds good.

Dark and dreary. Some Still Life with plastic skulls and an old jar with marbles and lights.

In the shots below I used an Art Filter to create black and white grainy shots. This is a hanging skeleton/ghosty thing. I held it by the twine string attached to the top and shot it as it slowly turned back and forth.

Just the right amount of spooky-creepy.

And then back to the skull on the table with the lights:

I tried something I'd never done before. A long exposure of 10 seconds with moving the camera slightly during the exposure [twisting it slowly on the tripod].

The result was kind of fun.

Then one with a pumpkin.

Now a lot of folks shy away from spooky creepy stuff. Be assured that is not all that is on my mind. I just like experimenting with different ways of presenting a photo. If it creeps you out, then I did my job as a photographer. I made the viewer feel something.

So if that is not your forte...here is some other Still Life photos. I am not all Creep and Scare!

And the last photo. 

To make you laugh!

I was given my Virtual WOD for CrossFit and the coach said since I didn't have a rower, I could run one portion of my workout instead. I do have to be accountable once a week and send a photo of working out to the coach.

Here is my WOD photo of the week titled: I think I need a new rowing maching!

To which the coach replied..."I think it works better IF the water is on the outside of the boat."

Stay safe.

I'll be off to find more things to have fun with. Spooky or Not.