Take a hike

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After a few days of staying indoors except for chores ---> which I did with my wonderful get up of goggles, mask, insulated coveralls, and insulted boots...and pasture checks in said sub freezing temps....

I decided that 18 F [-7.77 in C] was a really warm day and a good one to go exploring. Even Charlie wasn't going to let me outside without his permission.

He does have the bossy characteristics of a Dachshund when he really wants something.

Off we went. As soon as we hit the road, it started snowing. Well, I do have a Subaru and it is meant to deal with my steep driveway and poor weather, so we just continued on. 

We had ice to explore [the good kind that Mother Nature makes].

We went looking for some familiar ice formations.

I took my Infrared Camera so that I could photo the ice and it would show up better against the snowy background.

For anyone interested, this was shot in IR Chrome. Chrome was used during WWII to differentiate between camouflage and real foliage. The filter was developed to make anything with chlorophyll to show up as red or hot pink. Any 'fake' camo would show up easily.

The Infrared filters are for more creative photography. I like to use it in the winter to separate the ice formations from the snow surrounding them.

Here is the view on the last part of the trail through Hemlock trees.

Below is a glimpse of the Kickapoo River which still has a bit of open water showing. I imagine by Saturday or Sunday that will be all ice. However, the river still flows underneath. 

I've walked this trail more times than I can count. Each time I go, I seem to discover something different.

What I discovered this time is that the 'pines' I was walking through are actually Hemlocks. Frankly, I never thought of what kind of pine tree it might be until I was fascinated by the snow falling on the little needles and then the tiny pine cones that reminded me of Tamarack trees.

Chippy accompanied us, however, Charlie wouldn't sit with him at the end of the trail. He was more interested in the coyote tracks in the snow.

Still, the scene was quite beautiful with the falling snow making everything look soft.

The roads were snow covered by the time I drove home. 

Opening day blues or Let's build Legos!

Time for indoor projects.

That will include a deep cleaning of the house this coming week with washing windows and pulling off a couple of screens so I can photograph birds in the pine tree near the house when the mood strikes me.

The new Lego project was started last night. I'd purchased it last spring when I had Lego Insider Points which made it cheaper from Lego than from any other retailer.

We always started a Lego build on the eve on Deer Gun Season. It seemed to help hubby to relax and take his mind off from not being a hunter anymore.

So this is the start. I'll take progression shots as I build but I won't say what the set is. 😉

Below is my Medieval Village. This was last year's Gun Season Project along with some addition to the Christmas Village scenes.

I was excited to pull it out of the storage bin and set it up on my arts and crafts cabinet. I'm only going to have it up for a week right now. It provides some comic relief and indoor photo fun.

I took advantage of the nice weather and sanded down this chair to be my next art victim. I'm leaning towards a dark blue theme with wild colors. 

Too bad I can't practice like I did 40 years ago and add the face of a roaring lion or an elephant busting through the brush.

I had chairs like this I'd done eons ago. They were fun projects also. The kids had a huge old trunk that I repainted. The lid had my drawings of a volcano erupting [if I recall correctly and a hint of dinosaurs]. [This was in the 1980's. I also took one of their beat up dressers and dressed it up with paint was it even popular then?]

No matter, fun memories!

Pine cones are nature's gift for decorations. I'm starting to replace some of the old ones I did 20 years ago. A bit of paint and a bit of glitter glue and there you are, a basket of pretty pine cones. 

I pick them up out of the yard, let them dry and then enjoy adding colors. I need to go grab a few milkweed pods to add to a winter bouquet along with some grasses and golden rod tops.

My grandmother always gathered nature's dried gifts for her winter bouquets.

So. 

I did have to play some last night to divert my attention and enjoy some creative thinking.

King Ivar marches into town with his entourage of Barbarian warriors. You would be surprised to learn that half of his fierce warriors are female.

The Villagers watch from the Inn. 

A Bard on the street sings a song of bravery and of course, women.

 

Imagine my surprise this morning when I found that a wizard had moved from the craft cabinet to where I lit the morning candles.

Huh.

Toys can be a bit magical. I wonder what they are up too when I am sleeping.

Poor Charlie. Already he is a puppy puddle that is quivering with the first gunshots of the season. 

Music is helpful. So he is listening to music while I go out to do chores and take care of business.

Bones Bones Bones & Pine Cones

My morning started out just beautifully. The sunrise was amazing. However because I was feeling rather lazy I had coffee and watched the sky turn colors.

If I'd been really full of 'gumption' as my Grandma would have said, I'd have gone to the ridge to do a proper sunrise. It was 25 degrees out and hot coffee sure sounded like the better option.

My neighbor brought down her two youngest children to get some adult conversation after I'd done chores. I was raking the yard and picking up 'sticks'. Her kids helped a bit until they decided that looking for birds nests and collecting pine cones were more interesting.
Logan called them acorns. Allie tried to pile pine cones in a Robin's Nest she'd found from last year.

We talked and dumped some sticks into a pile and then decided to walk in the *Merry Meadow* [the summer pasture for the gals]. Logan left his ice cream bucket full of acorn-pine cones near the exit gate. Allie set down her nest with her pine cones.

We got near the spot I call 'the island'. Years ago it was an island of trees and a hollowed out shape like a bowl in the middle. Now it is mostly downed trees and brush that my husband has stacked with the skid steer.

Allie let out a howl of delight when she climbed the brush pile.
She spotted bones in the bottom of the bowl. Over the pile she went and down into the bowl. Years ago cattle used to graze here and I know that there was a horse buried there too.
Allie climbed back out with her arms full of ... bones.
Her sheer joy at finding pine cones and bones reminded me of how excited kids got over hunting for Easter Eggs.
I am guessing that pine cones and bones are much cooler.

Logan watched while sitting on a pile of sticks. Logan loves sticks and was carefully checking them out. I imagine he was looking to see if he could find the right one to carry and whack things with.

With the bucket of acorn-pine cones, the bird nest, and the bones, we headed back out of the pasture and towards the driveway where we parted company.

I finished what I was doing in the yard and put the rakes away.
My afternoon hike was to go back into the valley I'd visited last week and see if I could find that deer skull that had been frozen into the mud and dirt.

I wanted to see if I could find the trout again and take a decent shot of them.

Off I went with a shovel, my camera backpack, a bottle of water, and some determination.
I found this last week frozen in the mud and I thought it would be a good day to take a shovel back and see what was under the mud.

I walked fast and warmed up quickly even though there was a cool Northwest breeze. Once I headed back into the valley, I was out of the winds.

I was fairly surprised that the ice cave still had a nice formation. I could hear the water slowly seeping down under and over the ice.
I wished I had extra time to climb down and explore.

But I was on a mission of sorts.
And I wanted to see if the little cluster of trout were still in the place I saw them in last week.

They were and I had to sit quite still for a long time to get a shot of them.

I located the deer skull and antler. With my little shovel I carefully dug around the head.

Imagine my huge surprise when I discovered that there was a whole skeleton beneath the mud.

This Buck had been a monster. He was a 10 point buck with and 18" spread. This would have been a trophy for most hunters.
And I figured that he died in this valley during the wicked flash flood we had in September than covered this valley floor with waters rushing over 5 feet tall across the whole valley.

I sat down and brushed some dirt away from his bones, and then brushed the dirt and mud back onto them.

I created a sling out of twine and slung him over my shoulder.
It'll go into my collection of incredible 'found' skulls and things and may end up getting beautifully painted and displayed.

Nature is art and you can find that in bones, acorns, and pine cones.

Allie brought me this piece of art last night. She painted it and we placed it on my porch table.

Here is another piece of my bone artwork.

My son painted the stick for me when he was 10 years old. See? Even sticks can be art!