March leaving like a Lion and Supreme Court...

 

I believe that Mother Nature got a cold and is Grumpy too. She is showing her wrath by tossing rain, snow, sleet, wicked winds, and then more rain and fog our way.

I won't complain too hard though as we need the moisture badly. We will take it in any form she wishes to give us.

The weather causes some issues with our eldest mule Mica's digestive system, she does tend to get a bellyache when the weather temps change rapidly. She hasn't gotten bad but we have to keep an eye on her.

I actually tuned into the Hearing at the Supreme Court yesterday. It was surprisingly understandable as to how certain Justices were asking questions as to the way they were leaning. I don't pretend to know legalize at all. But as a woman who saw Roe V. Wade happen as a Senior in High School and saw Roe V. Wade fall two years ago, I am stunned.

I recall when women were not allowed to have their own bank accounts or allowed to have credit cards.

How far will women's rights fall?

If they rule against mifepristone? I think they should make Viagra illegal. Take away some men's rights to control their bodies and see what happens.

It was an interesting listen. Just. Wow.

Just stuff

This is our Mini horse crop out. We purchased him from a friend many years ago. His job while we were still breeding for mules was to tease the mare and get her ready.

He is an expert an not getting wrapped up in the tie out line. I've dubbed him my self propelled mower who also does fertilizing at the same time.

He may as well be out in the yard instead of his winter pen. You'd think after doing nearly 20 years of yard work, he'd pick up the pinecones for me and pile up the sticks.

Lazy pony! He just does his thing.

I took a short walk in the woods on the way to go pick up my mail. I'd ordered a skort to try out this summer. A skort is a skirt with shorts in them. My son's wife wears them and says they are super comfortable. I thought I'd give them a whirl.

I also ordered a new t shirt for myself. I thought the graphic was appropriate for me. The shirt features a compass with the words below it: "All who wander are not lost..." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

My youngest son and crew made a date to come and visit this weekend. Hmmm. More about that later or not. My eldest son predicted a Circus. He was right but I'd call it a Circus of Drama. It was not beautiful like the Cirque du Soleil but a train wreck of consequences.

It will be a very long time before I decide he and his crew can visit again.

'Nuff said.

We did take a hike and I got to see the wonderful Swans! They were so beautiful. I didn't bring my long long lens because I was herding kids like cats. But I did catch one pretty decent shot of the Swans.

A couple of my younger grand kids enjoyed floating a rubber ducky in a lazy little stream we found.

When the Duckie got stuck, they'd push him along with sticks.

The shot below is a photo of my second oldest grand daughter, Lily. She is carrying her puppy named Oakley in her jacket as he was tired and cold.

The kids enjoyed the hiking and adventures. 

Well. In other news, the weather turned frigid on Sunday and will warm up once again through Tuesday and then we are back to winter with a freezing mixture which is typical for March.

I have a 'date' to go hiking with another 19 yr old tomorrow. She was my neighbor for a few years. I've known her and her siblings and mom since she was 9 years old. I'm looking forward to that.

First I have to take some naps to get back to feeling human again after the circus came.

Time change and snows...

 This was too good not to share with others:

We had another 3 inches of beautiful snow and I know a lot of folks are wishing winter was over. I just think of this beautiful stuff as Winter's Last Hurrah for the season.
Of course I'll take a walk in it and enjoy it because soon enough, I'll be hoping again for Spring and the colors of Spring.

Mud season will appear again and make me grumpy so today I played with some colors and some AI text and came up with just a few pretty things. I like mixing a real photo with an AI text and getting something more unique than fairies and strange looking things.

I'm not impressed with some AI most people just want pretty plasticky looking models and others are really far out weird. 

I really am looking forward to daffodils and maybe even some crocus flowers appearing in the yard...then come the tulips.

The wildflowers begin to emerge by mid April in the forest and burst forth in the first few weeks of May.

Truthfully...I miss the color world right now!

I'm thinking of gobs of zinnias and mixed flowers just like last year. The zinnias provided me with a lot of color and interest with the butterflies, hummingbirds, and beautiful insects.

I'm going to plant a large swath of Nasturtiums around my porch. I did this last year and was amazed at how tolerant the plants were and how prolific they were. 

I gathered quite a few seeds this fall and will add a package of mixed colors.

The pallet garden was somewhat a failure last year so I'm going to be shade tolerant plants in the pallets this year. I forget that by June, that side of the house gets a lot of shade.

As soon as I can, I'll be moving iris plants. 

I guess I'm missing flowers!

I did take some photos of my neighbor's woods yesterday in the snowstorm. The deer really loved the fact that he has been cutting down the trees that were damaged from overgrazing with goats.

We counted 14 deer!

And just for fun.

This mornings doings around the bird feeders. 14 seconds.

Enjoy your day. I'm going to go out and admire the snow before it turns to mud.

So much, so little.

I am happy that Olive and her hubby asked us to come to their place for supper. Olive asked if we could do it Monday or Wednesday. I picked Wednesday.
This way there was more time to get hubby scrubbed up and presentable. 

For him, a shower is like running a marathon at high altitude. The effort leaves him exhausted and feeling breathless even while using his 02. He has the mobility to get in the tub and sit in the shower seat and get out.

But the rest of it has pretty much gone beyond his abilities. We've worked out a pretty good system in which I do most of the work. 

Face it as we get older, or our parents get older, this may be something we have to face. I can recall trying to get my MIL to take a shower or help her wash up and how she resisted. Think of a Donkey with their feet firmly planted and no matter what you do and how you ask, you cannot get that Donkey to step forward. You as the caregiver may as well be speaking a foreign language or gibberish. 

Not a thing in the world could convince my MIL that she needed to wash up. Eventually we solved that issue with a person from Helping Hands [a service for in home assistance]. For whatever the reason, it seemed that 'an official' -- not a family member, had more sway in these matters.

Now in the case of hubby, he puts it off and puts it off. He resists firmly in all ways that he can avoid the shower. 

Too tired.
Need a nap.
Too late in the day.
Too early in the day.
Tomorrow.
I don't like the clothes you picked out.
Too cold.
I just had one. [didn't...but that is a common one]

Last summer he had PT 3 times a week. He was motivated to clean up for the therapists and shower each week with my help so the girls saw a clean hubby.

One time I stripped the bed of everything and said there would be no sheets or bedding until he wanted a shower.
Don't laugh.
He went to bed in a flannel shirt, his jeans, but took off his shoes. He didn't care. That's what MDD does to a person and he also has damage from his stroke to his brain which also shows up as apathy.

His severe depression raises its hideous head each winter. I'm hopeful that the longer days and sunlight will help. This is the part of the year where he sits and stares at the floor or out the window at nothing.

This is what it feels like to observe him:

Where is he? What is he thinking? Where it the guy I used to know?

While visiting my mother in the nursing home for the last two years of her life, I noticed this was a a theme in so many of the rooms I passed. They didn't look like the above image, but the feeling of walking by people who sat staring off into space was uncomfortable. 
We as humans don't really know how to treat others that are in that space.

Is this what loss, despair, and depression look like? Not always, but it is tough to see.

Those who work in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living have to be angels and carry so much compassion.

And it raises the question regarding quality of life. 

If you cannot raise Hope then it feels as if all is lost.

I know that I have to keep my hope and positive disposition alive or I will easily fall into that place of darkness.
That may be a simple explanation as to why I take walks in pouring rain just to see water run over sticks in a ditch.
It gives me a sense of wonder and that gives me daily hope.

Our visit with Olive, her husband, and son went wonderfully.  I cannot recall the last time my husband went somewhere for a visit.

Three cheers for good neighbors!

Last of the Ice?

What do you see? 

I had no idea what I was looking for other than fresh cold air and getting out of the cold wind on Saturday. I didn't take Charlie with me. The snow had a hard sharp crust on it in areas of the valley and I was going to walk near two coyote dens.

I followed the creek east and just spent time enjoying the tiny ice formations that I wouldn't see again until next winter.

I spotted several places were there were trout darting back and forth under the ice. They are hard to see but yes, they were there. The trout are pretty cool, they are so sensitive to any movement so in order to watch them you have to remain absolutely still.

I eventually found myself at the far eastern edge of the valley. The one with the long ravine and tiny spring in it.

I was happy that I'd put my YakTraks on!

There is no way to travel up this ravine other than climbing the ice or the boulders.

I turned and went back to the creek to follow it home.

Cool Bubbles

Is there a face in this ice?

Layered ice near the deer trail I use to climb out of the creek.

It is supposed to get into the higher 40's today with warmer temperatures all week. So this may have been my last Ice Adventure in our creek this winter. After all Spring Solstice is but 7 days away.

Those huge ice formations will hang on for a while yet, but these little beauties will disappear. 
Sad Face.

Hmmm. The ice will melt, the birds will start migrating and landing in the open water, and I could go back to KVR and enjoy some birding time!
It all balances out!

March in like a??

I have to admit it. I am now craving color. Like the color green instead of the color mud. 

Suddenly I'm looking at the flower garden and wondering where I can plant MORE flowers. How much yard can I get away with digging up? 

But wait. March is too early to think planting, but planning is fine.

So far we've had snow/sleet/thunder/lightening/winds/warm days and cold days. So we've essentially run the gambit of March-mad-ness.

I spent some time wandering around the upper pasture and then sat for a bit under a box elder and watched the neighbor's meadow. The crows always seem to be busy out there.

Then I heard some snorting.

Why hello Miss Fifteen! She has got to be the one of the biggest busy bodies we have.
She and I generally don't see eye to eye. But she sure is a looker.

Sundance saw that I had no hay so she turned and watched out over the woods.

Her sister, Sunshine, acted bored. 

No food? Not interested! 

Behind her is the roof of our house. As I said we live in a 'bowl' or a hollow. We look up at the surrounding forest.

Only the pony has started to shed. He is always the first one. The others still have their wooly winter coats on. Soon enough the hair will be flying.

Charlie and I are going to go look for birds on Thursday and visit an ice falls before they melt away. 

The weather is cold this week and then it is supposed to be 50 on Sunday?

Oh March, make up your mind!

Of course April can always throw in a surprise or two also.

March ~ Hello!

 

Welcome March. The Mud Month. The ugly brown month.
The opposite of November Ugly month.

Already tired of the colors of brown mud and now dirty snow, I decided to brighten up the one part of the house I can change up often. Don't laugh too hard. The above is what I had designed and ordered for a shower curtain and squishy bath mat.

I'd made a photo of a stream years ago into a shower curtain that was really quite expensive to do. I decided afterwards to just purchase ones on line. I have a winter one, a fall one, and my stream one. I wanted something bright and cheery to walk by. 

These are May photos from last year. The rug is from my east garden while the bleeding hearts were blossoming. The wild geranium is on the edge of the summer pasture. I went out on a dewy spring morning with low fog and found this beauty.

My house is so tiny that this is like a huge artistic pallet. You can see this from the porch door. Don't laugh, we DO close the door when using the bathroom. But I do like it. Very cheery. 

I was very surprised at the quality. I ordered it through Walmart and it came in 5 days!

On another note. The first day of March was bone chilling cold. It never got above freezing and I should have worn YakTraks or snowshoes to hike the valley in. Thank goodness I had on my Muck Boots. I walked right in the creek and enjoyed seeing the last of the icicles hanging off from branches just above the creek.

Mr. Charlie was having an easy time of it. He walked right across the crusted snow. I was wishing I was Charlie.

We found the deer that we'd seen a month ago. The birds and other members of the clean up crew had left just bones. Nature has a way of cleaning up after herself.

I made it to the 'campground' as it was once dubbed. The Peterson family used to all camp out in this area along with the mix of cattle that ran the land. They generally all camped during the summer holidays, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day. Kids ran around and swam in the creek. Fireworks were set off and they had great cookouts and parties. 

They've all grown up and no one comes anymore except the 4 wheelers and the UTV's.

There I am on one of the banks watching Charlie.
I called and we headed home carefully. It took me twice as long to get home than normal. Stupid me for not wearing the proper foot gear!

Imagine trying to follow all of my previous boot prints. This week's high temps will melt the rest of the snow. It should be an interesting week to watch the changes in the valley.

As the snow melts, moss, lichen, and bones will show up. I smile in anticipation.

Sunny mild weekend!

The 'kids' have been really soaking up the sun lately. I was going to remove this paddock and make it into yard when I realized that this is THE most popular place on the farm in the winter.

The critters can find dry spots to sleep and soak up the sun. They can leave this paddock and wander through the open field or go into the woods, but this seems to be the 'hot' spot.
I've noticed that I need to get after everyone with a curry comb. Eeeks!

Today I am taking hubby in to see his mom. After that I think I need a wandering.

Yesterday was tough. The VA/non VA hospitalization from 2018 is still unresolved. I spoke with the VA Patient Advocate yesterday and she is as frustrated as I am. She was upset at how the new Community Care Call Center seems to have really messed things up. That is a whole different blog. I'm not sure why people who have no back round in billing and coding or understanding of how that all works ... work in a Call center for the VA? I'm sure it is contracted out.
The Patient Advocate and I may be filing a VA Congressional Complaint and calling the 'White House' hotline. Does it really have to come to that? The charges had been approved locally almost a year ago.

The next thing I find out is that our CrossFit ...is done. Kaput. There will be no more CrossFit. Worst of all, there was NO warning. Just an email.

All of the members are outraged, upset, and feel as though they were left hanging by the Wellness Center. Everyone has pledged to follow our coach if and when he has a place to open a box. Comments are like this: If I have to work out in a hayfield in the rain, I would do so with Coach Josh.

Okay. Onto the weekend.
Warm.
Sunny.
Beautiful.
It should be free of stress.

I am getting the Unicorns out along with some other pocket critters and I'll pack them along on my Wander.

I need to gather materials to make a stable for those Unicorns!
No matter what, I will find a way to enjoy this mud, melt, and sunny weather!

So it is March

I think March is more dull than any other month. The snow melts leaving the area with piles of dirty half melted snow and mud. Mud.
If it freezes overnight then I can pull up to the house. If it doesn't, well I can back down the driveway and park at the bottom of the hill.

It is 'bucket' season. I keep a bucket of water at the porch with a brush to scrub my boots off before going onto the porch. It is just how the March Protocol works.

March holds promises of something better than dreary skies and faded grasses. It is also the time to rake the yard and think about connecting up the fences again. Winter is officially over.

Yet oaks that are not in the wind still cling to their leaves.

This March has been a bit of a strange one. Birthdays, deaths, memories, forgetfulness, aging, controversy, disruption, and some sort of hope. I have hope, I always try to have it on my shoulder and never further than my back pocket.

But that is what March brings.

Mud Season

Me.
I look at the house and see the mud covered rugs and cringe. Our weather is changing back to Mud Season in March.

Him.
He sees no trace of dirt. Mud? He suggests I wait until mud season is over.

Me.
"I see muddy dog tracks on the new beautiful kitchen floor."

Him.
"Don't look at it like that. Don't look at the tracks!"

Me.
"I see them, they are there and the rugs are grey with dirt. Look at the dog tracks!"

He squints his eyes and tips his head.
"They don't seem to bother the dog much."

I sigh. It is mud season. But I like a clean floor.

Time to break out the broom, the mop and wash the kitchen floor and the rugs.

In a day or two I can repeat the process.

However I have set up the boot bucket outside with a brush to dip and wash boots before coming into the house.

Welcome March Mud Season.

Is March coming in like a Lion?

Last week I came down with a doozy of a head cold. I was in great misery.

However, things still went on around the farm. We had a visitor on Wednesday.

We actually see eagles fairly often during the winter. This one sat in the tree above the Dexter's Summer Pasture. I took a shot as well as I could with my knock about camera.

That night we had another incredible sunset. I didn't feel well enough to actually go to the ridge to take shot across the fields so I settled for some from the porch.

The clouds were moving quite fast and the colors looked warm and inviting.

About 30 minutes later I looked out the window as we finished up eating and was stunned. The colors had given way to blues and pinks.
Well, I could not pass that up even from the porch.

Who would have thought?
Since last week Wednesday we've had snow.

We've had warm weather which turned the snow to muck and the driveway into a hazard zone for cars.
Yesterday it was 64 degrees when I got home from work.

Then we had a vicious storm move in last night which dropped an inch of rain and we've had brutal high winds ever since.

However the skies for a little while this afternoon were simply amazing.

I took out my Nikon and tripod and thought I'd take some pasture/sky shots.

Well here is what I got with my little camera before I had to turn tail and scurry back to the house.

The skies to the west turned dark and threatening.

I figured we'd have rain coming in. Imagine my surprise when flurries came down in nearly a mini blizzard.

That has ended right now and the winds are blowing hard and now it is thundering.

Mother Nature is seriously confused.