Sunday Distractions

 I was trying to daydream
but my mind kept wandering.

~~~~
Steven Wright

I listened to an interview of Steven Wright who apparently is a standup comedian. He wrote a book called Harold that is about a 7 year old in the 1960's. Harold has a meandering mind and wonders about things while he is in school. 

The description of Harold's mind reminds me of myself in grade school. The window of the classroom held so many secrets and it was like a continuous movie of my thoughts and imaginations. Certainly nothing in the classroom interested me.

I may just have to read Harold.

I do day dream too. I sometimes just sit quietly in the meadow or on the porch and look at nothing letting the sounds that surround me take my serious thoughts away and I am left with a brain that amuses itself. I don't have to make myself do it.

It just wanders on its own.

Maybe that's why playing has become such a relaxing thing for me to do.

After all gardening in this weather is HOT work!

The rain we got yesterday was soaked into the dry ground and still, some plants needed watering.

After all was said and done, the guys hopped into their antique cars. Farmer Bob wanted to show off his new collectable car and Grandpa wanted to take his chicken for a drive....

The girls were happy to get them out of their hair for awhile.

Around the house

I am happy that I decided to purchase fresh veggies at the local Farmer's Market and some of the local folks who raise produce this year.

Old Garden:

I have a bit more time on my hands which means I can spend more time making my flower gardens look a bit more tidy. 

As this new heat wave bears down on us, I am finding things to do on the porch outside. It stays fairly nice in the shade and generally there is a nice breeze that flows through. 

This old table was given to me a few years ago. It is in a sad state of disrepair so I cut pieces of wood and did what I could to stabilize it enough as I figure out what I am going to do with it. It sat under the pine trees for a couple of years with pots of begonias on it.

The table should be tossed. But I figure if I can brace it up enough and cut down the legs [or not], I could use it as a coffee/craft table on the porch. [What I wouldn't do for a nice gate leg table!]

The project table is on the porch along with paints. I spray painted a coffee can and a Gatorade bottle for Porch Vases. Maybe it is tacky too, but I like flowers on the porch as well as in the house. I don't like broken glass!

I've always loved the idea of a Fairy Garden. I am constantly moving little things around so that I can be amused at what I have put together.

I love this little Zen Dragon. 

I move him/her around quite often. 

Morning light on a 'Fairy Garden' made 
out of an old pie dish.
It sits on a rickety old chair I
gussied up.

My pallet garden is doing as expected. The tomatoes are doing great and I've used old fence posts and twine to stabilize the plants. I know, tacky, but it was on hand and easier than trying to use a cage. 

The plants that are coming up in the slats are doing fair too. They are coming along a bit slower than those flowers on the east side of the house. The west side has good sun but good afternoon shade too from the locust trees. I think with the heat wave, those plants will do better than the ones exposed to the sun and wind all day.

Other surprises in my garden.
There are the gargoyles who resided in the Forest Garden last year. Right now they are in the growing flower garden. They look happy there! 
Last year the raccoon kept knocking over the gargoyles! This poor fella had his wings chipped.

This fellow sits on another stump and is the Welcome Gargoyle. [Yeah, I like dragons and gargoyles and I am weird.]

This is the porch in the morning. Many of my plants are in old Maple Syrup buckets that Rich's Grandfather used. It is handy to grab the buckets and move them around. 

More Fairy/Dragon/Gardens. I keep changing things up as it suits me. 

Things are going to be hot and muggly. I hope all my friends and their animals do well for the next few days.

I let my mules out to the forest where they can get down into the creek area. I walked there this morning and it was definitely about 10 degrees cooler than in the meadow!

Stay cool!

Tidy up for Charlie....

So here is Charlie on the porch keeping an eye on things. Most of the time I don't need to tie him to the anchor as he won't go anywhere unless he sees a rabbit.

Here is Lil Richard working on the rough spot in the yard that still needs a dozer or someone with landscaping abilities to smooth it out. The tree in front of him should come down.

This section of the yard is still a left over mess from digging the addition basement and piling the stones, sand, rock willy nilly in the side yard.

There is Sven who is working on a section where I piled the hoses and the drain thingy in a spot I can only weed whack.  I hate the weed whacker. I have to wear a face shield and my clothes just get full of crap.

Easier to let the goat work on the rough areas. He does a fair job but is sort of picky. I generally walk through with a light scythe and trim it a bit further.  

If this side yard gets totally out of hand, I will run a hot wire around it and let the mules in to graze it all down. Well, that is a thought anyway.

Rich keeps saying he'll do it, I keep asking to hire someone and that's where we stand. A side yard that is kind of a mess.

[It took me nearly 5 years to convince him to replace the old carpet in the living room...so there is hope!]

I finally convinced Rich that Charlie needed a nicer area to lay on the blocks in front of the porch.

He agreed. Hmmm.

I was tired of moving those round stepping stones each time I had to mow, so I dug things up, smoothed it out, and put down landscape fabric and mulch.

It looks so much more tidier!

Here is the view of  'Charlie's' look out after putting down fabric and mulch. He alternates between the concrete rounds and the black fake stones. Of course he has his pillow out there and his blanket on the bench. The black blob is Charlie snoozing or supervising from the bench. 

I'd knocked over his water and hadn't cleaned up the stuff I had laying around before taking this shot.

I spend a lot of time on the porch so this is like my living room.

The end result was pleasing. So much nicer to look at than the dirt.

And...

I had a neat place to put my fossil rocks. Well, I think they are fossil rocks.

I have no idea what the rock below is, but I might assume that it was vegetation at some point? Anyway, I found it unique and curious so it found a place in my flower garden for a few years. Now it can be next to the porch.

The next two shots are of Stromatolites or I think they are. 

I love rocks and like to collect odd looking ones that I find while hiking. 

I have iron concretions that I am always picking up after a good gully washer comes through the dry runs and creeks.

Anyway. The porch area looks really nice. Now I have to figure out what to do for the west side of the porch. It looks rather drab after all this tidying up!

Maybe I can get more things done by hiring it out IF I can convince Rich that Charlie would benefit. You know like..."I think Charlie needs a new laptop. Or Charlie needs someone to come in with a dozer and redo the west side yard!"

One thing at a time. I think we will be replacing the old love seat this year too. The old one is worn out and was second hand when we got it 20 years ago. Besides, Charlie might like that [insert giggles here].

My Sunday was a day of rest and wandering about in the overcast and humid forest.

Look for a new funky word....coming soon.

Stay home ?

There I am in my outdoor hiking 'stuff'. I set my little red camera down on a mossy rock in the middle of the creek and was trying to fiddle with my smartphone to make it take a photo remotely.

Huh.
I guess it worked once more!

I like to sit here and just listen to the creek.

Then it was time to try one with Charlie.
It didn't turn out very well and you can barely see Charlie!
He really wasn't in the mood for selfies or photographs of any kind.

He was really into trying to chase squirrels and pesky chipmunks.

I went about the woods looking for trees that may or may not provide us with a fantastic Morel Mushroom treat!

Last year I found enough for us to eat and then plenty to dehydrate also.

I came home and started putting up the fence where I'd taken it down last fall when the folks that were going to cut down trees were going to come by.
I decided to put in a gate in a different spot and ran wire.

I created a new lane they could walk down to get into the shaded and breezy north side pasture on hot days.

I thought I'd done a pretty fair job of it and Rich had to walk up to check it out.
This in itself was huge.
Rich had not walked any further than going to the car in a year. He had to rest part of the way up the hill but he came up and looked at my job.

He pronounced the job just okay and then asked how I wired it. I had taken his lessons on electric fencing very seriously so I showed him. He nodded and said I needed to wait longer to let the mules in on grass and brush, but I don't agree.

Better to change them over slowly to pasture from hay than to put them out on tall grasses. I'll get my way.

He walked back to the house and sat on the bench.
Charlie joined him!

I considered the day a grand success and decided to call it an evening. The last of the fencing could wait for a few days.

Charlie has taken to sitting on the bench and watching the world as long as I toss his rag rug up there.
He will sit and watch the world for hours in between doggy naps.

I am meeting up with Bill again tomorrow for a Socially Distancing hike at Tainter Hollow. The Bluebells ought to be blossoming. I told Bill we could look for Morels too.
I noticed last time we were out that he still was not quite the upbeat and crazy Bill I'd known in CrossFit. I think his 'cold' was tough on him and he told me it was his routine of fitness had been so disrupted that he just didn't feel as good.

It is Bill's first year of being retired and the first time in 10 yrs that he didn't go daily to the gym.

My last note.
I've become a bit fascinated with taking some self portraits of myself during this time. I've found out that I am not as adverse to these shots as I can plan them out.

I may look sad and isolated looking out the kitchen window.
But I wasn't. The sun setting sun was reflecting off the large metal shed and I was pondering my flower garden and yard work.

Nothing serious. But I thought it would provide interesting light.

The baseball cap is a constant of mine for my always messy hair.

My hands are rough, my face is aged and time worn. But I am coming to terms with that too.
After all, we do age. Yet inside I still feel a bit like a kid.

Who else puts Dragons in their flower garden???

~~~~~

COVID-19 Day 36 since the Governor ordered Stay at Home.

But actually around 45 days since we've decided to stay home and out of the general public.


Stay well, stay safe.
We are doing well.
...and very lucky we are able to stay at home.

Life on the farm hasn't changed much...

There is the Burdock war...

And there was a way to get rid of them until the burn ban went into effect. Now I am piling them and trying to figure out how to get rid of them without breaking the ban.

After hiking and helping me with Burdock, raking leaves, cleaning up gardens, transplanting perennials and moving hostas...Charlie decides to nap on the Mulewings bench on the porch.

The bleeding hearts are emerging, along with the red sedum ....

And the green sedum!

The oregano is coming back too!

The Virgina Blue Bells are emerging!

Lil' Richard will be assuming his duties as trimmer and fertilizer along the fencelines and in different parts of the yard along with Sven as things green up.

The daffodils are about to burst forth with their yellows as the crocus flowers finish dazzling one area of the yard.

This photo, edited in a paint program....

Today Charlie and I are taking a break and will go to Kickapoo Valley Reserve and hike one of our favorite routes to Black Hawk Rock.
Today will be the only sunny and nice day until the next cold front passes and sunshine returns on Tuesday.

Back to cold for this next week!
It will slow the plants from emerging, however, that will give me a bit more time for my war on Burdock.

Stay well and safe.

Little things...

Looking for nothing ...

but seeing everything...

that is how I wander the woodlands.

Well I did get off and walk the one little trail down to the creek and back. I've been so wrapped up for months now taking Rich to all of his appointments that it seems I rarely have an opportunity to catch a bit of air for myself.
I took Charlie on a quiet 'meander' to the creek and back up to the house.

It took a long time as I was walking along just studying the light and the plants along the forest floor.

~~~~~~~~

Note this was the day before surgery while I was waiting for the 'Tree Man' and calming my nerves about the upcoming knee surgery for Rich.

His surgery should be easy and routine, but nothing may always be easy and routine when your medical history is very complicated.


I took only my little macro lens along and decided to try some different things.

The above photos were taken with the sun shining on the fleabane and the shadows behind them.

It is a fun experiment and not very technically hard but it does take quite a bit of walking and observing to find the right subject.

I think I'll do some more of this around the yard while keeping close during the first couple of days of recovery.

Tiny acorns! These were so small that I didn't notice them at first until I squatted down to look at the fleabane nearby to see if any crab spiders were on them.

The acorns are the size of my pinky fingernail!

With fences checked, I let the mules out back and then proceeded to check the zinnias near the porch.

I knew I could find bees but was surprised by the variety of insects I was able to find.

I did find a crab spider ... eating a bee!

And just a normal 'bug' shot.

A bee on my yellow cosmos. Quite boring after all the other bug drama!

In the mornings and evenings I watch the hummers, bees, and gold finches feed on my porch flowers. I can sit in the morning and have coffee and enjoy the show too.

The surgery went well.
We were home by noon and I think his pain is less now.
We were both exhausted by the long day.

Onward....
and here is
to
little
things.