Sunshine and Forest

Sunshine still likes to ride on trails.

According to an internet search 28 years old is like being 83-87 years old in human years. I hope to be in as good of shape as she is when I get to 87!

Right now she is showing off her glossy red summer coat and in a few weeks, she'll be starting to grow her winter coat.

I'm able to ride her a couple of times a week and our rides are not difficult or demanding. 

The next shot is of Sunshine's new pasture mate, Willow. Willow is half Halflinger. 

Willow is beautiful! She is also the same height as Sunshine. If I were to have a horse, it would be Willow. 

Sunshine gets along with her just fine. When Cash sees Sunshine though, he does whinny and carry on. Equine are so funny with their attachments.

Sunshine is getting a pedicure from my farrier this weekend. Kristi is going to have Danny [my farrier who learned from his dad Dan] trim her horses and probably shoe Willow on her fronts.

I decided after a busy week of doing 'stuff' and exploring, that we'd have a quiet day. How much quieter can it get than an afternoon in the forest with a good book? Nothing but birdsong and the whisper of a breeze to keep us company.

Oh. And both dogs did get up in the hammock with me while I read. I think I feel asleep in the gentlest of ways and took a short and deep nap.

We went back after supper and hung out watching for wildlife and enjoying more quiet

Apparently, they both believe they can fit in my lap at the same time.

I do live in a quiet area and do have a nice porch to sit on.

But in the forest, there are no walls and almost no cell service which eliminates the clutter of the modern world.

Happy Friday.

Huh

Well from the lack of noise today, it seems either the deer are not moving or everyone got what they wanted yesterday.

The sounds of shots in the forest where I walk rang out early yesterday from predawn to about 8am. Then.

Silence.

I played loud music so Charlie couldn't hear the distant shooting waaay off. We can feel the concussion of shots that are within half/quarter of a mile. But that pretty much dropped off by midday.
Sunday on that land is usually pretty quiet as the hunters are mostly hung over and tired from the first day out.

I actually LOVED a day in PJ's [I wear coveralls for chores]. Charlie and I hung out together and had a lazy day of building, 

Figured it out yet?? 😋

Practicing indoor photography, 

Reading,

and listening to music. 

I got the stare from Charlie when some happy and lovely music came on when I broke into a jig and sang along. I'm sure my singing was horrid as was my jig. But I thought. Why not? 

I moved about from one thing to another doing exactly what I felt like doing at any given moment.

Oddly enough, that felt incredibly wonderful. I'd walk into the kitchen to get a drink of water and pause at the Medieval Village and think of a brilliant idea.

It seems that the Ivar and his Barbarians were simply looking for some rooms!

Sadie, who runs the Inn with her husband Mack get busy in the kitchen. Feeding Barbarians can be quite the chore.

Late in the day, just before dusk, a stranger rides into town.

[I don't know about you, but I am sensing a Clint Eastwood sort of theme going on here. 

I keep hearing the theme song to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

And it feels pretty fun. I love it when the toys dictate the story.

Yuck

Well there it is. I've officially gotten the first cold in years. At least 12 years to be exact. It pretty much took me down and out of commission for a few days.

Interestingly enough, I never had a fever, just a throat that felt like I'd swallowed glass. I felt like someone ran over me with a dump truck. 

I was able to do chores, so I must have been doing pretty okay.

I spent time sleeping in the spare room and reading books. 

I think I got enough sleep over the last few days that I won't need to sleep for at least a month now.

I felt better today, the sore throat was gone the head wasn't quite as stuffy, but the body still felt a bit slow and worn out. Which meant more reading. 

Tomorrow the heater dude is supposed to come and replace the intake fan motor. I've surveyed the driveway and figure he can turn his van around in one spot and thankfully, the ice melted off the driveway this afternoon.

I hope it all goes well. Thursday night there is a snow storm predicted of 6 to 10 inches. No problem as long as I can get to town and grab a few items.

I still feel yuck-y. But my voice has returned and evening chores were not a big deal, I just hauled hay and water slowly.

I know I'm not up to par as I haven't even picked up my camera since Saturday! [I did though this afternoon...]

I've been having a blast with the light box.

Below, 

Manny the Mannequin adopts a bunch of wooden animals....

Manny now realizes that he will 
have to feed his menagerie!

 A ring holder?

A St. Clair Pear glass paper weight.

During my resty-sleepy-nappy-time, I watched some tutorials on Toy Photography I really enjoyed the videos by a person that goes by SirDork. He explained how to to 'action' shots with still toys and I decided to try it. 

I also watched videos of other Toy Photographers who made huge elaborate sets for their toys.

Some were toy collectors and their ages surprised me.

What better thing to do with toys when you collect them, than to make sets and enjoy playing again?

This was my first try at a very simple set up. A snowball fight between cast off toys that a neighbor kid gave me long ago... I did it this evening after chores.

Now back to chillin' and resting.

Can't wait to get to full steam ahead!

slow down...

So while talking to some of my CrossFit friends one of the other gals turned to me and said.

"Well, maybe this is a sign you should slow down a bit."
So I thought about that for a moment.

She was right. I had been taking on everything with a whirlwind mindset. Summer had been busy with projects that had me going in several different directions at once.

This would be a forced slow down. So I mulled things over in my mind. The winter hay was ordered to be delivered. The yard was under control, I'd taken more than one truckload of junk to the dump this summer. Rebuilt the fence in the woods, and had been taking Rich on the average of 3 to 4 days a week to appointments or PT. I visit MIL in the home at least 3 times a week too.

I was ready for a breather of sorts.

But I argued with myself that winter is for that. The slow down part, right? Who was I kidding. I loved winter especially snow when I could use my snowshoes.

Time to take a breather. Well indeed, that is easy but after 5 days I don't really like the 'sitting' around.  Getting in and out of the car took some effort and was pretty uncomfortable.

I've done a lot of stretching and walking outside on the flat. I just cannot sit still unless I am reading a good book.

I've revised my lists of to do and re-organized it. Next week will be very busy with multiple appointments and drives to Madison. At least Rich's physical therapy will be in town.

Frankly I got pretty bored watching TV. The CSI program Rich is watching now has the same theme as all of the other shows. I can ID what show is coming by the theme music being used as an introduction. Interesting that the music is old rock and roll from my teen years. Oh well, it keeps Rich busy and by good luck I found this program had 15 yrs of episodes.

I'm waiting for The Last Ocean: A Journey Through Memory and Forgetting  to arrive. I was able to read the first 40 pages and was fascinated. I found a used book of poems by Mary Oliver also. Her poetry is incredible. I am not one to just casually read poetry.

In the mean time, I am watching the goldfinches dine on my sunflowers outside the kitchen window. The humming birds are dipping into the 4 o'clocks and sipping nectar from the feeder.
I miss the morning chatter of all of the other summer birds.
That makes me sad.
I guess that is the one reason I don't care for Autumn. The birds leave and it gets too quiet outside.

Slow down.
Well by this morning after days of being 'slower', I feel much better. Amazing as to how the body can heal itself. I'm going to give a nod to CrossFit and working out as to one of the reasons I am feeling better much faster.

I will however have to make sure that feeling good doesn't mean I will go out and start pounding posts or lifting heavy things.
Perhaps it means I can go out for a walk to the woods to check on the fences and pastures.

While I was practicing ... slowing down a bit... I messed around with the Incendia fractals program and came up with some Digital Art which I haven't done in such a long time.

Here is to stopping and smelling the 4 o'clocks and admiring the day.

Gone Shopping

Well, the whole idea of picking up some goofy stuff was to entertain ourselves by dressing up oddly and enjoying some time on the porch.
The last shot is my pal Daryl moving around in a 5 second exposure. I had hit the remote and told Amanda to hold still. Everyone else got blurred.
Not a perfect shot at all, but all of them still fun.

I got the leopard print shirt at the Thrift Store for .75 cents. The hat was a thrift store find from a year ago. The Teddy Bear? I think I paid .50 cents for it. One of the girls was wearing an old evening gown of mine from the 1990's.
Remember the Bumblebee Transformer Mask in the last post? Daryl is wearing that. We found it all hilarious and good fun.
Who the heck needs cable?

The rifle in the corner is a .BB gun.

I dug out some odd chairs that Rich had picked up years ago at an auction. We took those to the creek and set the beach chair at the edge of the creek. My Thrift Store teddy bears [and rabbit] looked great sitting on the 'beach'.

One of the kids put the kid's blue chair right in the middle of the creek and set a Baby Doll on it.

Saturday was another Thrift Store experience. I guess it could actually be called an Indoor Flea Market. I purchased a set of mini chickens. A Hen and Rooster.
The store is in Westby and it used to be an old Tobacco Warehouse.

On our way back through Viroqua, we stopped at Driftless Books and Music.

This was probably our best stop of the whole week. Books, books, and books. Oh yes, lots of music also.

I spent $11 dollars and bought two mysteries, a philosophical book and a book on backpacking.

I think finding odd stores and thrift stores are fun. I know I'll go back for some more books soon.