Weekend recap

Early morning hunt for eatable's in the forest with Olive.

Olive took a shot of me takin a shot
of the twisted trees...

Olive. Just as nutty as me!

Sunday morning's fog and morning walk...

Infrared IRChrome shot.
IR picks up more light and works

well on foggy scenes. IRChrome sees green

as red.

Cherry blossoms in the fog

Dandy-lions...

Multiflora Rose

Virginia Pinks

Wild Strawberries

Pheasantback mushrooms starting... I wasn't the only one interested in them!

It was warm and humid Sunday with occasional showers but I got a lot of gardening done. I hauled buckets of dirt from the old manure pile to patch up holes in the yard. I cleaned the gardens around the house and added dirt from that old manure pile to enrich the soil.

I dumped the old dirt out of my 3 containers I have for geraniums and refreshed them with new dirt. 

The mules all walked up for a grooming and I had an assembly line going. Each one walked up to me, got curried and then I tapped them on the rear end to move them along for the next in line. 

Last but not least. The first hummingbird showed up as well as the first Oriole. 

Tweet Tweet....

The Wander-er

 I have a lot of catching up to do. 

This week we had ice on Monday, snow and sleet on Wednesday. Charlie and I headed out in the morning to visit the Forest/Rock Garden. I've finally figured out that this little place is perfect for tall shade plants, but it takes a lot of work

The old Christmas Chair. I may decide to bring that back to the house for next year. The seat is split and it is very weathered, just how I like it. Right now, it is on a tiny rock bluff that overlooks the neighbor's woods west of us.

The photo below is of the Buckthorn Woods. The trees are horrible and invasive, but have been there for nearly 20 years or so. The deer love being in there. I put my trail camera back up after having it in another spot for the last few months.
It generally picks up deer napping right in front of the camera. The trail here is used by all woodland creatures.

Our neighbor and plow guy came Thursday morning and cleaned up our place. He sent another fella out to sand our hill and in front of the house. I am grateful that he agreed to plow for us this winter. It sure took a lot of worry off my mind. 

Charlie and I headed out for a mile walk. For a little dog, he has a lot of energy that needs to be spent. I'm trying to keep track of how far I hike right now just out of curiosity.

This particular day, I only hiked one mile of hills and the creek. The snow was soft and mushy and would have clumped up in ice chunks under my snowshoes. The workout was worth the effort.

Now I'm trying something a bit different and I am not exactly sure if this is the best method. I need to know from the readers if this is interesting or not....
this ends up being something like 23 seconds. It is sort of fun and funky.
I downloaded a trial of Corel Video Studio after trying several time to get MovieMaker from Microsoft which used to be free. 
Now they want a monthly fee or yearly fee. 

I have been taking a few more videos with my Olympus camera and thought this might work for mixing panorama videos of areas with some photos. Meh. I'm not too sure about it.

I don't always want to watch a video when reading blogs, but this seems to be the new-ish trend. I can see where learning the program could be fun with more creative ideas.

I did a lot more Wandering this week. I hiked back to the Lost Valley, Hidden Valley, or The Back Valley which is a 3 mile snowshoe trek on Friday. I haven't been back there in over a year.

That was a neat discovering adventure. Saturday I wandered the west bank of the Kickapoo River and found some amazing sites.

Those updates will come later. 

I am finding my winter groove in Exploring and it brings me so much peace.

Let me know how you feel about the vid. I have a LOT to learn, but during those long cold dreary days of winter, it could be a new creative skill to learn.

Have a Great Sunday.

Clean and purge. Uh oh..

So Blogger.com is angry with me? I don't get it. I can't post a photo and I've done everything possible. Message: Sorry! An unexpected error occurred while processing your selection.  Please try again later.

👀👅💣💥 however I can post emoji's ... ahem...

So what to do on a COLD and rainy day???

🌦🌧⛆

Time to purge and clean things in the house again.

I have to clear out the tiny living room so the flooring guys can rank the carpeting and put in the nice pretty flooring. I like to think far ahead and get things ready instead of waiting for the last minute.

We have to move the hutch and this huge a$$ed Trunk that Rich had packed plum or is it Plumb?... full of aged memorabilia. His High School Purple sweater from when he was 16, it was one his mom was going to attach his sport 'letters' to. No way it would fit him now.

Then there were those horrid looking teddy bears that look like something Hollywood would use in a horror movie.😱 [ no photo so use your imagination! these bears should be photographed in a scary place...hmmmmmmm...my tiny brain just got an idea]

Every baseball he ever used in high school when he was pitching. I think they were game balls or something. I set the balls out on the table. 

Geeze, I nearly said I 'set' his balls on the table.

Anyway. He was able to tell me the significance of each baseball. Then we moved to a box of photos of his family from a gazillion years ago. His father's baby photo! 
So I went through each photo and ID'd the people on the back. These are folks I have never seen and who were great grandmas, uncles, aunts, and homes from long ago. It was fun for him to tell me who the people were. 
I may pass these to his daughter eventually. 
Not the [base] balls though.

I got permission to toss the purple sweater and some magazines from over 30 years ago. He wanted to keep them and I asked 'what for'. I kept the ones that featured my photos and articles but tossed the rest. 

Old videos. Old family video tapes that were poor quality back then and re-recorded so many times that they were blurry and snowy. I imagine age has not improved them.

I'd like to get rid of the trunk as it takes up floor space that we really could use much better. Alas. He is very attached to it. The table we sit at is likewise too large to fit in our eating area, but it was a hand me down from his Grandmother. So it stays. 

After cleaning the trunk, I moved my books and other pieces of stuff upstairs. Then I sat upstairs and went through my junk. I have 3 of those reusable cloth shopping bags full of items I am tossing. I have another box packed and ready to send of to the younger grand kids with some toys.

I have one more box of Carousel Horse music boxes. I think I will see if any of my CrossFit friends have little girls that would like them. 

The strangest item I could not let go of was a rock. It was a rock I picked up in 1996. There is a long story behind that piece of rock. It stays. I will return it one day from where I took it. 

Shot #2

So some of this will be about the second Moderna Shot for hubby. He recieved it yesterday at the Madcity VA. It was a nice day and we picnicked in the car on the way home.

So we ate out and had what we referred to as a 'late lunch date'. 

Today started out with thunderstorms and downpours which really reduced the snow cover and caused a small quick run off of water. Fog moved across the landscape and it really looked eerie.
Rich said he felt okay but just tired when he got up. Tired. After he did his morning routine, he complained about feeling tired. I told him that was normal for some folks and just to go lay down while I finished doing laundry and other things.

Then it was 'quiet' time for most of the rest of the day. The third time he laid down, Charlie decided he needed to be there too. He did his grunting thing that means he wants something...and I put him on the bed next to Rich. He immediately slid under the big blanket and lay with his back against Rich's. 

The outdoor temperature got up to 62 degrees. But my job was to sit and keep an eye on hubby.

I decided to work on my photo project. Whew, I sure did.
I have a lot more but better stop here? 

If nothing else it will be fun for others to look at this when I am gone.
Hmmm. Or not. 
I must do things that cause me joy.

I decided to watch a video on composites. 

I wanted to try one then. Something simple and not to difficult. I guess it started because I saw some 'overlays' and Photoshop Actions advertised that *will make your photos stand out!*
Um.
I realized that something I've done for years with 'creating' a sun flare or creating Bokeh and overlays... is now a thing that people sell in combo packs to drop on your photos...TO make them better! 100% guar---um---teed!

Excuse me while I cough. A photo is good if you take a good photo. 

And I will be the first to admit, I love editing and having fun.

Well I had time to literally twiddle my thumbs after making cookies for Rich. [I know he doesn't feel wonderful because he didn't scarf them down.]

Challenge.
Make a composite. 

Photo one:

Photo Two:
The Bear cut out...

Photo three:
The Composite.

I was surprised by the results and rather pleased.

Well, back to keeping and eye on Hubby.
He says he kinda feels like crap. Body aches and fatigue, no fever but a bit chilled.

His comment as he drags his butt off to bed again?

Better than a ventilator I think....

Stay well.

4th of July

Once a year we turn the end of the road near the mailboxes into a Fireworks Park.

My 'upstairs' neighbor loves to put on his own fireworks show instead of heading to town to be in a huge crowd.

This year it worked well to our advantage. Their family gathered in one spot and I was able to walk down the road to find a vantage point to have some photography fun.

There was plenty of air and distance between us [yes it was hot and muggy but what would the 4th be like if it were cold?].

Justin just gets better each year at picking out fireworks and designing safe ways to set them off.

I take the time each year to learn more and more about photographing them.

The above shot was taken in the full moon light. I stood for 10 seconds in front of the camera and then walked away. I added some fireworks. 

So there were the fireworks!

It was a very different day. The morning was the graveside service for MIL and there was a small gathering of friends. Lots of masks even in the heat.

This long chapter is over now. MIL no longer is in pain. There was a sense of closure and relief even more so because until the last 3 days of her life we were not allowed to see her because of Covid-19 restrictions.

However we move on.

It rained today...all day!

...and I cleaned the house already and got supper stuff ready...
Laundry is put away...

So... Time to get out the toys and play. Here is "Creepy Baby" with his Funky Frogs imitating the Pinky and the Brain Show:

Frogs:
Whaddya wanna do tonight Creepy?
Creepy:
What we do every night! Take over the World!

[Some won't recall this show, but my kids loved it and so did I.]

....And they said Social Distancing Did NOT matter!!!

Think about it.

And this Dragon is practicing...Safe at Home.

The Unicorns didn't listen once before...but they are now.

These were shots from yesterday before I headed down the valley to look for skunk cabbage and marsh marigolds with Charlie.

 How it sometimes feels....

And lastly? I'll get around to working on my next set of Infrared Shots. I used a different filter this time and am finally getting the 'hang' of it.

Here is a teaser:

Good night all...

Just pictures

I'm just going to toss some photos in here for looking at.

Nothing special.

My favorite woods trail. Just last week before things began to 

turn green.

Heading up the very same trail a few 

days ago.

Macro shots from this 

weekend with moss. I don't 

know enough about moss to 

know if this is how moss flowers 

or not.

Sven does a charming pose with his 

red neckerchief.

King of Moss rock Easter Morning.

Charlie,

the overseer.

Snow Shoe..in'

The proper thing would have been to take skis right? It is so much easier to glide across the snow.

Well.

Not exactly.
Not when you are crossing creeks and jumping rocks or going over downed trees.

Then my backcountry snow shoes are much better. Though after crossing water, you have to get the ice/snow out of the cleats or they clog up. I carry a stick for that. I have my Kenosha pal to thank for that nice heavy walking stick he made for me.
I abuse it a lot.

Once out of the wind, it wasn't too bad. There were no tracks on the ridge or in the wide open pasture areas, but as I got closer to the creek I saw more trails.
The deer, coyote, raccoon, and all other animals were sharing the trails along the creek.

Hmmm, snow day! Schools were closed. The desk is frozen in place so I don't think I will be moving it any time soon.

I kept getting surprised at the reflections in the creek. The snow had covered all the rocks and gave the bottom a soft look.

This photo above is my favorite place of all the creek.

I walked to the snow mobile crossing and then turned around and headed home.

I think I could have spent hours walking about and just enjoying the beauty...

But we eventually have to return home and the duties that await us there....