Stunned...

 Below is a place we call PeeWee's Dump. I thought it would be a great place to explore with some of my characters. 

Yeah...
that didn't work out well....

That gaping hole in the earth that is surrounded by metal, plastic, old bottles and shredded unidentifiable things made Charlie very nervous.
It is a perfect place for 'possum and perhaps other critters to hang out. 

However, it is close to home and it is a perfect spot for some toy shots that would include the MiniBots and perhaps some evil Lego characters or other nefarious toys.

I've used the partial milk can more than once in some photo 'shoots'. Getting to this spot in the summer is really difficult because of the brush. I always seem attracted to junk piles when the forest is resting itself..

Last January I fell in love with this spot.

Well, that was a wash, so I moved on and followed Charlie down the gravel road.

That lead me to these shots...

I had a productive walk. I went in by the fire number for this land and discovered another tennis shoe, barbed wire, bent t-posts, and a rusted bucket. 

I couldn't help but investigate the possibilities of the rusted bucket.

The day was heavily overcast and rather dull looking, but the air was fresh and felt nice. We walked out onto the cropland and looked over the ridge. I hope Linda [the farmer that rents this land] will plant soybeans on this field this spring. It is easier to enjoy all year long when walking out to watch the sun come up.

When I got home I was floored by more dreadful news. 

Who let Musk into the Treasury and what are they stealing? This should strike fear into everyone.

Catching up

Monday was my day for a lesson in how to administer a shot with the Osteoporosis medicine. 

First, let me say that the very idea of giving myself a shot daily was really not my idea of any kind of fun. I used to be deathly afraid of needles, but bearing children cured me of that.

So onward I bravely went to my appointment. Just about when I got there my Tire Pressure thingy went off with a little ding. I read the pressure on the tires and was alarmed to see 9 pounds difference in my front tires. 

Compound the stress of thinking about a shot and having to park in an underground garage that reminded me of all those movies ... where either a monster comes out or guys with blazing guns blow stuff up. Ewww.

My tire looked a bit low. So I decided that after the appointment I'd drive the half mile over to the dealer and get it looked at.

The nurses asked if I was nervous and I said "Not as nervous as I am regarding the low tire pressure!" 

The needle is so tiny! It is a micro needle and the hardest part of the whole thing was using the alcohol swab to clean my tummy. 

I left the dark, scary underground garage and pulled into the dealership. The service guy was nice and explained that there would be a wait for the lift. Next he told me [an hour later after watching the Drew Barrymore show 👎 ] that I had a faulty Tire Valve. In fact all of them were faulty but not bad. 

I smiled and asked him if it was the same valves as we replaced about 6 months ago. 

That through him for a loop. But I have to give the kid credit. He was polite and took care of replacing the faulty leaky one right away. I told him my appointment for 36K miles was next Monday and we'd address all the issues with the TPM system. 

I had to stop at the grocery store to pick up some pizza and milk on the way home. 
Jeeze. Don't you know it? Someone bumped into my front right bumper and bent the heavy rubber plastic around the fog light. 

Smacking forehead...

Tuesday was so bright and full of sunshine, but cold. I had to finish cleaning up the indoor pony pen and eeeks...drive the skid steer with its bucket full and dump it!

I braved that and then decided to get the old 4 wheeler out of winter storage. I put in the battery and got the old bird started. I noted that the front tires were soft.

I got out the Air Stick Thingy and tested the tires! No pressure! I got it to the Air Filler Up Thingy ... lo and behold. I got the tires filled correctly.

There was no stopping me now! It is pictured below just before I washed it. I filled the cart up twice with sticks and branches from the yard and drove it out to my brush piles.

I looked around at finding a UTV and I decided to forget it. I could replace my Subaru Outback for the cost of one right now and everywhere I looked the used ones were very pricey and new ones were all on back order.

After we were done with the yard work, I unhooked the cart and took Charlie for a nice little ride out back and around. He loves riding the 4 Wheeler. We go slow and enjoy ourselves.

Our CrossFit gym is doing a special summer class for Mobility and Balance. I sent off a message to get information on it. I do much better with daily exercise if I am with others. I do fine hiking on my own, but social exercise is a bonus for me.

Tires and engines. I really don't like them very much. But I feel that I accomplished a lot by driving the skid steer and getting the 4 wheeler ready for spring. Next up? I suppose the rider mower? EEEEKS!

Things in 3's

Really do things happen in threes??? 3's? Threez?

I had made an appointment with the Subaru dealer to update my Starlink on the vehicle. Over the weekend I noted that the NEW tires on the front end were not holding air like they should be. I decided to complain to my man Seth at the Dealership.

He again assured me that um, that happens. I said 'You said that 3 months ago. Every 4 weeks I am having issues.'

I mildly asked if he wanted me to go all Karen on him. [Internet Slang...I think...] His eyes widened behind his mask and then he sighed and said he'd take care of it.

I calmly explained that we'd been dealing with a 'tire' issue for 3 months and I was frankly looking to figure it out. I'd bought new tires as he advised me to...and yet here we were again.

My upgrade happened. 

4 hours later, Seth came to me with the paperwork. 

"Your tire stems were bad," he said, "but I took care of the cost of replacing them."

He couldn't see my Karen smirk behind my mask. Both Seth and I knew that I'd raise holy hell after 3 months of him telling me 'it just happens' and replacing the tire stems. OH Wait! I had said this exact thing 3 months ago! I gently reminded him that the TPS was under warranty.

This morning I popped open the laptop and....got...

Eternal spinning dots...updates then a message

We couldn't update your computer so we are removing the updates.

 4 hours later [I did chores while the little dots spun, I took Charlie for a walk, I made coffee...I danced in the morning dew, I emptied the rain gauge, and did laundry....

I resisted the insane urge to throw the laptop out through a window...

I found a frame and glued my pressed flowers into place...

Finally I got the laptop working again and paused all updates since this had happened last week also.

Nifty. I was on a roll!

Until I wasn't.

I went to the basement to get some bacon out to thaw for our special spaghetti dinner.

The freezer door was open.
Wait. What?

Holy crap! All that meat I'd gotten at the butcher for the next 3 months? 
Soft and mushy. 

I would have made a sailor blush with my cursing. I'm sure somehow that I alone....had been the culprit as the other half never goes down the basement. Ever.

They say, make hay while the sun shines, right?

I retrieved some plastic tubs and said to hubby as I walked out the door with the messy drippy stuff and threw it in the yard.....

Gosh I sure wanted to defrost that freezer downstairs! Guess today IS the day!

And then I laughed as I piled the messy crap in the little cart attached to the 4 wheeler.

Hubby came to watch me. What's up?

Me: Oh nothing much, just doing a little defrosting. 

He looks at the melted bloody meat and says: Surely you are not throwing that out?

Me: Of course not. I'm going to feed Shirley the coyote.

He shrugged  and headed back to the kitchen table to watch out the window and drink coffee.

And I thought to myself that at least he was unaware of what really happened and it doesn't even bother or faze him. The old hubby would have been yelling and screaming his bloody head off.

Sometimes issues with the thought process are a blessing.

The 'yotes will eat well. Flavored brats, cracked pepper seasoned hamburger, a few steaks and lots of old Tough Bart. I had been thinking of getting rid of that old Tough Bull meat. 

I know. A waste of food. 

It was.

However, the newish freezer will be brand spanking clean and totally defrosted.

I 

am 

so 

done

with 

threes!

Skidsteers, Charlie, Mules oh my

We had a nice snow fall. The NOAA said we were going to have a Winter Storm Warning with blowing snow and then dangerously cold temperatures.

The snow started early Friday and we'd had a couple of inches by chore time.

The mules and 15 waited in the woods for supper with their snow blankets on.

One may think that they would be cold.
However, if you were to stick your hand under that snow, you would find a warm fluffy layer of their winter coat and their skin is warm. I do take my hands and run it up under the snow-coat just to be sure.

By morning we'd had about Charlie Chin High Snow. This is our new measure. How high is the snow on Charlie?

Here Charlie plows through the snow while assisting with chores.
I fueled up the skidsteer and plugged in the engine block to warm it up as I went in the shed to get my sled of hay.

The mules follow me along the fenceline with little grunts and sometimes a little braying. If they hear the sled on snow or on grass, they are coming at the trot.
I used to use this sled to lead our cattle from one paddock to another.

Feed. Animals always follow feed.

Mica has been moved to her own little paddock with Lil' Richard. She eats so slowly that the other mules were limiting her intake of food.
Anyway, Charlie quickly decided that sitting on the porch was wiser. He could watch me walk in the deep snow and he could sit in the sun.

Here is the view from the porch. The heated water tank is to the right outside of the photo and in the wooded area. The one nice thing about living in a hollow is that the cold winds can be dodged just by moving around most of the time.
The mules by noon were taking naps in the sunlight right there were I had fed them.

I started up the skidsteer and everything went very well. I was almost finished when I thought I'd take one more swipe by the house and make it easier to park by the kitchen door to unload groceries. This is a tight area and normally I scoop up snow and back out.
I decided to make a tight turn instead.

[Truth be told, skid steers do make tight turns all of the time, that is the beauty of having one.]
For whatever reason I heard a loud PFFFFT and immediately shut it down. I climbed out and saw that a tire came off the rim. Uh...Oh.

Rich was upset. He got that quiet tone with me and told me how much I messed up in no uncertain terms. He went on and on citing multiple issues about how difficult things were now. How I'd left it in a bad place, how I'd messed up.

In some ways I knew it may have been his frustration in knowing that he couldn't get out there and 'fix' the problem. He went on to tell me that I'd ruined a tire and that it could cost $150 just for a tire. I thought that was odd since that sum of money was not an issue.
I was driven to tears and then I got angry.
Nope. He couldn't be nice.

So I walked out of the house and called my neighbor's cell phone and left a message.
When I came back in Rich demanded to know what was for lunch. I wanted to knock my Halo off and tell him to figure it out. I wanted to tell him off. Instead I took out the dish I'd prepared for him the night before and set it on the counter.

Let him figure out how to warm it up while I figure out how to solve the skidsteer issue.

I must admit. I'd done a pretty good job so far.

And the problem could most likely be solved. Yes it was cold and yes I may have damaged the tire. But these things can be fixed and it was not gloom and doom. Nor was the world going to end because the tire came off the rim.

I went out with a scoop shovel and waited for Justin to arrive.

The issue became this. How to get the metal tracks off with the bucket in the way. Okay we used the boom lock out.

Then we used the bucket to pick up the front of the skidsteer and blocked it to keep it in place with the tracks folded out of the way.

After we figured out all the logistics, we were able to take off the tire and the rim. The bead was broken on the outside of the tire but not the inside.
Justin attributed it to low tire pressure and me turning over and over again.

These are things I wouldn't really know as a novice skidsteer driver. He was calm and explained everything he was doing and his reasoning behind it.
He also told me that I should think of this as a learning experience...he did.

By dark we had the tire off.
We'd spent 2 hrs in the cold working together.

By supper it seemed Rich was no longer upset, in fact he seemed to have forgotten the incident.

Charlie? He was content in bringing peace to the house by snuggling up to the Grumpy Guy and dropping a tennis ball at his feet.

So it goes.

Today it is frigid.
So I think I'll go for a nice long walk down the valley out of the wind.

After all, I have the gear for it and I can't stand to sit inside all day.

Tomorrow I'll take the tire into the shop and hopefully Justin and I can put things back together. I will learn more than I need to know about skidsteers.

Plus this spring I will have the implement company we bought it from come out and get it. It needs an overhaul/maintenance job. I'm not really prepared to learn all about changing filters and fuses, hydraulic fluids, and other things...not yet.

Angry Subaru and knees

My new Subaru has TPM. Tire Pressure Monitors. Last Thursday night we had a 'snow' event that made the roads pure ice under the snow on the black top roads. Our county road was a piece of wicked winter work.

The gravel road wasn't too bad either. The new 'Ru also lets me know that the temperature outside is cold enough to produce slick spots. Thank you vehicle, as if I didn't understand that 20 degrees means there could be ice on the roads.
Well, it is a safety feature just like the TPM.

I checked the air pressure and it was a bit low in the tires, but apparently my gauge must not be quite accurate.
I called the dealership wondering what I should do and they asked me to bring it in.

I didn't like driving it with all of those warning lights on. I just kept hearing a little tiny voice in the back of my head "Warning Will Rodgers! Warning! Danger!"

I also skipped my 6 AM class because the thought of suddenly being stranded at 5:30 on a country road didn't sound so great in 20 degree weather.

The Service Rep was so kind to explain to me that when there was a sudden huge drop in temperatures this sort of thing occurred in most all tires and vehicles unless I kept it in a warm garage. Seems to me I recall my husband checking tires on the old vehicles in the cold months and adding air.

These are Nitrogen filled tires. Um. Yep. But you can put regular air in them.
Oh this new technical world! I also have the Starlink activated. Since I transport both my husband and my MIL who have medical issues, it is nice to know that an ambulance can be dispatched to my location if one of my passengers have a medical emergency. I can also push the other button and get roadside assistance.
Nifty but strange.

Anyway. Back to the tires. I was filled at no charge, they checked the tires and sensors for issues and all was fine.

I'm sure the service rep thought I was kind of a twit for not knowing about cold temps and tires, but hey Rich was my go to guy and he said he didn't know what caused it. Well I learned something new.

All the tires are happy now and filled properly. And I am headed off to CrossFit and then the store. All my errands in town should be done by 8:30 am. That is a nice feeling.

It will leave me some time today to go look for ice formations. No dogs allowed on this little adventure. I want to concentrate on some quiet time for me after spending the day at the VA yesterday.

Oncology was happy that there is no sign of cancer returning. We spent hours though getting someone to see his swollen knee cap again. A referral to Ortho is weeks out yet. It doesn't seem that anyone wants to really deal with it. I explained that it hurt him so bad that he could barely get in and out of our car not to mention getting around the house.

I also explained to the nurse the importance of mobility for his mental health and well being.

It did not fall on deaf ears, but those ears were extremely sympathetic.

I fixed the Subaru easily, it is happy now.
I can't fix Rich's knee, it is very unhappy now. In fact at 3AM he said it hurt like a son of.....

He told me to go to work out and he'd be fine sleeping until I got back.

This and That...

My drive home from work was more than interesting to say the least on Monday.
Maybe I just forget from year to year how treacherous some of our roads can get.

There are twisted roads that have steep grades and fairly sharp curves up the sides of the steep valleys near the Mississippi River.

I didn't dare stop and take any shots of the curves or the hills on Monday.  It was just a concentration effort to make sure that I actually stayed on the road.

There were many 'fall offs' that I passed attesting to the fact that the roads were indeed really quite bad.
Rain, fog, and warm temps changed quite quickly into snow and freezing temperatures.
Thus the ice under the slimy snow was created for Monday morning's commute.

Yesterday was brilliant though, quite beautiful with clear blue skies and pure white snow.

I had to go to town to get Lasagna fixings for our Thanksgiving supper.
I also had a oil change and tire rotation coming on the Subaru.

While at the shop I talked to the owner who I've know since 1996.  I asked about snow tires for the Subaru. Some may think that is overkill and that I could easily get all weather tires.

But I asked.  Jeff pointed out the tires he put on his wife's car ... he said "If you get stuck, Val, with those tires on your Subaru, call me and I'll come get you."

Sold.
He had to order two more as he had two on hand.  With AWD you don't want to have different treads on front and back, not if you travel like I do.  I put 23K miles on this Subaru last year.

I'm tickled pink.  Yes, the tires are not cheap, but it is an investment in my winter driving and all year 'round driving.  As is with the other continued maintenance that I do on my vehicles.

This morning my hubby headed out to the woods early to 'get' his deer.
I am taking the house apart, cooking up the rest of the squash to freeze, and doing the chores too.

I need to hang out my laundry and finish up the watering for the cattle.

I will be most happy when Gun Deer Season ends.  I can then walk in the woods again.