More Outdoor cleaning...

Above. The shot before I started my second day of clean up around the old outhouse. 

I cleaned out the little outhouse and pulled all the buried blocks that made a walkway to it. The poor thing does have a list to it now. The cost of fixing it would be too prohibitive at this point. I thought of painting up the door and fixing the lacey curtains for one last season.

Yes, the walkway is a mishmash of different sized pieces of broken concrete pavers I found behind the garage years ago. I figured to reuse those and all of the bricks I found tossed back in that area. Putting them back down is like working with a puzzle.

I dug out the plants that had been next to the outhouse. One of the peony bushes had been there since 1997. The root ball was monstrous! Pictured is a portion of the root ball. It weighed over 25 lbs. I have two more peonies on the other side of the outhouse that explode with blossoms each spring.

I do love those flowers so I may break this up and put them in other places.

I also removed a huge root ball of Blue Flag Iris. It was huge and apparently loved the spot it was in so much that it expanded. I put a small plant there in 2016. I may break up the roots and see if any neighbor is interested in it.

Below. Done. 

Charlie is watching a hole in the wood in the corner of the outhouse. Apparently there must be mice living in the walls. He stood guard there for a good part of the day while I was digging about.

It's funny how barren this spot looks right now and how it will change in the next month or so.

This fall I'll split up the daffodils I have on the east side of the house and move some to be near this garden. I do love seeing the daffies come up each spring with their yellow cheer.

Over in my Red Shed Shady garden, the Virginia Bluebells are starting to emerge! They are not too far off the mark for showing up. Usually the don't emerge until the first week of April.

I have so many other projects to get done, but I am happy to have finished up the work I've neglected for a few years.

I know it is too early to plant flowers, but I'm already planning my zinnia garden. Yippee!

Birds and roots

 I wanted to go see if any Swans, ducks, or other birds had shown up near the KVR Ponds so Charlie and I took a little trip to walk the trails around the ponds.

We saw geese. A lot of geese! 

The water in the foreground is still frozen on this pond. 

On the large pond though, the geese were lined up on the shore where the winds weren't blowing. At first glance it looked like they were turtles all lined up.

I wished that the viewing blind that the Reserve put up wasn't facing the sun. However, it is fun to sit there with binoculars and watch these characters chatter and flap their wings. After all, I felt good getting out and enjoying the sunshine. 

The ponds were a bit of a dud but that didn't matter much. We wanted the fresh air and anytime getting off the farm feels like a bit of a vacation.

We wondered around Harrison Trail and down a little known footpath that encircles one of the smaller ponds. On a good year it is really quite wet and muddy. Only a few places required some leaping from log to log and grass clump to keep from getting my feet wet.

We found cool tree roots...of course...

Now that tree grew sideways and UP!

Charlie had the best time, he chased a family of red squirrels around and around on the base of this bluff before they took off and climbed a pine tree.

Ahhhh! We did find some birds!

I found 3 little ones hiding alongside a bluff out of the wind. I didn't know that Cardinals, Bluebirds, and Sparrows hung out together.

Snow! Snow!

 ...and more snow???

These shots are from Monday before we got snow...
Charlie and I went looking for some cool tree roots. 

This is a cottonwood tree in the creek bottom...
this tree is ancient and its roots extend 40 feet
or more along the creek.

I think this is an oak tree. It lives in the

dry run where I found the cars.
Charlie is investigating the area
under the roots.

Another grand cottonwood that
is ancient.
This one sits on the fence line
between my neighbor to the 
west and I.
The drop down to the creek here 
is about 20 feet.

This is one of my favorite spots to go to.

Next stop was further west where Charlie and I sat to watch the trout swimming back and 

forth.

It is the black dot on the terrain map is where we stopped to

watch the trout.

The elevation change between my house and the creek is

about 150 feet.

The distance is about 1/4 of a mile. I'm often asked if the creek

would ever flood our property. No it won't.

I should compile photos of this spot

over the years.

It is another 'spot' that I almost frequent every day.

The changes over the past 20 years are amazing.

Hmmm, sounds like a cool project for a subzero day!

Another curiosity. This was a
deer stand built in the meadow
in 2003. The cattle left the land
in 2005 and the forest
has reclaimed the area.

This is in the meadow east of our land.

I find it a shame that people just left their crap laying there.

This is what we woke up to on Tuesday morning.

The mules are currently eating hay out of the feeders and also browsing and digging for grass in the summer pasture. They seem to love searching in the deep snow for delightful tidbits under the snow.

The next shot is off our driveway. It is much cleaner looking this year than it was last year. Driveway maintenance is really important when your driveway is a long hill.

The hill rises 200 feet to the ridge where our mailbox is located.

We were plowed out by yesterday late morning. I'm really happy that the same guy who did the work on the driveway will also plow it for us. He knows this driveway better than anyone else.

Hubby did it for years and so did one of the former neighbors before he moved away.

When I was working odd shifts, I'd park on the ridge during a snowstorm so I could get to work. Sometimes I'd stay in town with my MIL overnight so I could be close to a plowed highway.

Everyone deals with winter in different ways. 

Charlie and I love it.

44 second video of Charlie enjoying snow and mousing!

Today, Thursday I head to town for a meeting with our Financial Advisor and an Estate Attorney to go over a few things. It is never too early to keep your ducks in a row.

We have a Winter Storm Warning just issued for tonight through Saturday. I've polished up my snow shoes and pulled my x-country skis out. We'll be ready for action.

This weekend we are expecting blowing snow and much colder temps. I am bringing out my skunk hat and my goggles. Looks like winter has finally arrived and will be making a Big Statement.

Big Big Valley

It really is just called Big Valley Trail. Probably because the trail head starts out on a dead end road called Big Valley. 

[ Charlie had opted out of this hike as we'd gone walking the day before on the gravel road and I suspect that his feet were still tender. When I walked with him to the car he simply sat and stared at me. He wouldn't move even with a nudge from my hand. When I asked "House?" He ran to the porch. ]

 

The parking is just on the side of the road next to Warner Creek.

Cross the bridge and there are two choices. Big Valley or Hoot Owl Trail. Hoot Owl goes to the right or east and Big Valley heads west. I took Hoot Owl last year with Bill and decided to explore Big Valley.

Since I had no partner with a vehicle I had to hike to the end of Big Valley at 131 and then walk back on County P creating a loop. 

What to say about this trail other than the bugs again were ferocious most of the time. I was able to tolerate them by using the headnet and not stopping taking any breaks.

I wanted to see exactly how fast I could hike this trail. 

The KVR Trail Challenge paperwork says that this Segment 49 is 2.24 miles one way. 

It is the longest segment except for a newer trail called the Wiester Creek Hiking Trail (Loop), segment 32 that is 5 miles. 

I thought a 'Trail Selfie' was in order, so here it is. 

I did not take more than this shot because stopping in this area was an invitation for a Skeeter Feast.

The trail winds through old forest canopies. This portion was full of pines.

This section was full of ancient oak trees. 

I kept hearing 'things' in the woods. Not scary noises but like someone was throwing stuff around.

I had to laugh when I realized it was acorns falling from the oaks.

When I finally got to an area where the bugs weren't so bad, I actually began to enjoy my hike and my mind wandered a bit.

This was a great hiking trail for a few reasons. It wasn't so hard that the average hiker or weekend warrior couldn't do it. It wasn't rough, it had gentle ups and downs. In two areas it did cross a couple of open fields high on a ridge for nice views.

I saw some equine tracks but almost no boot/footprints. This must not be that popular with other hikers given that it isn't a 'loop'. I saw only one tire track and wondered why, this would make a decent mountain bike ride for most people. 

Perhaps this trail is more popular on the weekends. I rarely hike on the weekends and if I do, I go as early as possible.

This would be a great trail in the winter. Winter hiking allows a person to see through the forest and discover all the hidden rock formations and see the curves of the land that are hidden by underbrush in the summer.

And I repeat. No bugs. No bugs. No bugs.

I was very surprised to find that I'd only taken an hour and 4 minutes to reach the end of the trail on Highway 131. 

I stopped at Bridge 10 for a few minutes to visit Bareass Beach [no, it is not a nudist beach] and to admire the Kickapoo River while I ate a snack.

The sunlight and shadows were so harsh that I didn't even bother trying to photograph the river and bluffs with my pocket camera. 

It came out well with the pocket IR camera though.

I took a long drink of water and turned down County P to hike back to where I'd parked.

I probably did a bit more daydreaming while I walked the road because the surface was even and I didn't have to watch out for roots and rocks. 

What surprised me was how scenic the walk along the county road was. I'd walked a small part of it years ago with Morris but had never done the walk from the Highway to Big Valley.

Cool gnarly tree roots. The trees that cling to the rocks amaze me.

Warner Creek

......

And back to where I parked. 

I liked hiking Big Valley Trail mostly because I was forced to hike along the road which I wouldn't have normally done.

A big win for me. 

have you ever wandered lonely through the wood?

and everything feels as it should

you're a part of life there, part of something good

if you've ever wandered lonely through the woods

~Brandi  Carlile
Have You Ever

Foraging for Fresh Forest Food

Yeah...
say that 4 times very fast!

I thought I'd hike back and check on the leeks...or wild ramps. They were too small to dig near the creek, so I headed towards the back of the property that was nearer to the ridge top.

Still not prime size, but I was hungry for forest food. Fresh forest food and if it took all day, I'd find some. I found enough leeks to flavor a dish and decided to come back in a few days when they were larger. I'd pick enough and leave enough so I wouldn't clean out the patch. I could dehydrate them to use next winter.

Charlie and I spent a long time looking for Wild Parsnip. Well, Charlie sniffed around and did dog stuff. I took the leeks home and cleaned them.

I was able to find one parsnip that was on the bank of the creek.

So I grabbed a long shovel and started a hike along the roadside on the ridge. I was pretty disappointed not to find any along the north south ditches. I crossed the neighbor's contoured crop land and hiked along the road side that had south exposure.

Score!

I found just enough for a good taste.

These roots are as ugly as ugly can be.

I used an old toothbrush to scrub them and cut out any spots. A peeler helps clean them up too.

And I tossed it all in a bowl with my frozen carrots and added a few morel mushrooms.

We'll see what this mixture ends up like tasting.
If nothing else it sure is colorful!

I also made Nettle Tea with the first leaves of nettles in the garden that I still need to clean up.

The warm tea tasted pretty good after wandering about foraging for forest food!