My friends

Some days I get the best of jobs to do.

Two of my neighbors on the ridge were not home for part of the weekend. I got to visit with their animals and help out with them.

Rupert and Tijo belong to the neighbors at the top of our hill. They are friendly and such well behaved dogs. My neighbors sometimes take trips where they don't take their dogs [and cat] so they ask me if I don't mind helping out. I'm always happy to take care of their pets. 

They have tried to offer me money or some sort of compensation for caring for their critters. I've refused. After all, the husband has helped out by doing chores when we went to Kenosha for the weekend and when large dead oak fell down over the fence last year, he was right there to help cut it up.

Be good to your neighbors and they will generally reciprocate. 

Years ago we had folks that lived in that house that were not nice neighbors. We've had 5 different families live in that house in the past 28 years. Only once for 4 years, did we have folks we didn't get along with. I'll leave it at that. We ignored them, they ignored us.

Anyway, here is Rupert on our sunny Saturday morning walk:

Rupert is carefree, he is the essence of doggy happiness. He is joyful at all times. He bounces and just begs to be loved and show his undying love for humans.

Here is Tijo, the serious one. Although he seems reserved and aloof, he really isn't. He is a Baesenji mix. They are known for being a barkless dog. He is curious, quiet, and very affectionate. I've never seen him have the zoomies like Rupert. 

He is stunning.

Since they know I carry mini dog biscuits, I am also their best friend on our morning walks. I walk with them so I don't loose them. Since we are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmlands and forest, I don't feel comfortable just letting them out.

They walk with me along a dead end road and do their business. I give them plenty of time to sniff and explore and then shake my baggy of treats and they come running to follow me back to their home.

I think the neighbors think it is a burden for me to do this. It isn't. I enjoy their company.

My other neighbor on top of the ridge was in the hospital giving birth to their second son. Could I check on their mini cow, Doreen?
Of course!

Doreen is a tame little cross between a mini bull and a Jersey, I think.

Say hello to Doreen:

I pulled grass out of her mouth to take her portrait, but as soon as I grabbed the camera, she grabbed some more.

Well, now ... this is her nature. Eat. Eat. Eat. 
She is doing what she does best and was giving my camera the stink eye.

This was my Saturday morning in the Dairy State. A walk along a dead end road with my pals who were great company even if they had nothing to say.

Sometimes, animals can be the best pals.

Let's Break Something

 Oh darn!

Have you ever broken a toe? We all know how fun that can be. I did when I was a kid and ran around the corner of our old 2 room cottage barefoot and split that little toe off a door frame.

I was probably only 8 at the time and I hollered and fell to the floor. Mom came along and told me to cut it out. Stop being a baby. 
I sucked up those tears. One learned never to cry in front of mom. She wasn't exactly Miss Empathy. 
That toe turned purple and I limped around for part of that summer. But oh gosh, that pain!

After being up most of the night with Fred, the mule, I decided to take a nap. I had been thoroughly chilled and thoroughly exhausted.

I was sound asleep when I heard pounding on our back door. No one pounds on our doors. No one except maybe a delivery that needs signing by UPS. But I always track packages. I burst up out of bed and flew towards our bedroom opening...

Oh, you guessed it. That same little toe decided to go up against the frame. I hopped and continued to the back door. There was the neighbors from across the ridge with their annual Christmas bag of treats. Incredible dried apple slices and some candies!

I guess I was bleary eyed with no glasses and my hair probably sticking up all over the place...

"Oh did we wake you?" I tried to smile politely. I'm sure it looked like something between a frightful grimace and a crooked sneer. 
I explained and they decided not to stick around and chat. Besides it was still below zero out.

I must have looked a fright, trying to peer at their blurry faces and be pleasant while I was really tempted to just start screaming at the fire in my little toe.

I waved goodbye with a mental reminder to text them thank you for the treats and then sat down on the kitchen floor and rocked back and forth holding my foot.

All the ruckus woke up Rich and he walked in wanting to know why the heck was I on the floor? Charlie licked my face.

I cannot believe what incredible purples a toe can turn! So pretty! 

I admired the different hues of purple and red as I iced it that evening. Putting that toe into a boot for chores was even more fun.

At least the weather was cold and I didn't have to go anywhere.

Rich was ever so helpful. He suggested I sit outside and stick my toe in the deep cold snow. Yeah baby, it was -12 F that night. 
At least he still has his wicked sense of humor.

It's the small things in life that make
you smile 
or
cry.

Creek Inspector

Here is a shot of Saturday morning's rain gauge. It rained hard off and on between 1 AM and about 3 AM. Lightening flashed non stop as did the thunder. I laid on the couch and was alerted by my weather app that there was a tornado watch, a flash flood watch, a flood warning, and a severe thunderstorm warning.
Also there was a lot of lightening strikes.

Well, I just laid there and watched the show out the south windows with the Quiver Dog who shook everytime there was a boom. He watched too. I guess Charlie was curious about the lightening.

He twice asked to go out and twice turned around and decided to cross his legs and wait until the storm stopped.

I finally slept and woke up to silence and dense fog enshrouding our hollow. As things lightened up, I pulled on the muck boots and decided to go check on how the critters faired over night. 
Lil' Richard was standing in the driveway. He did have shelter from the storm under the front of the 5th wheel flat bed. But he had been busy rolling in the gravel to do his morning ritual of grooming.

The mules were walking around eating various weeds and grazing for the short grass. They too, had covered themselves with mud. It is one of nature's finest bug repellant and apparently it feels good.

I headed towards the creek checking to make sure no more tree tops had fallen onto fence lines. As soon as I stepped into the forest, the skeeters made their appearance and I pulled on the head net. I stopped half way down the trail and listened.

The summer birds were gone. No calls from the Orioles, Catbird, Wrens, and the Bluebirds. I heard a stray Robin. But the forest was a song of crickets and water dripping. I could actually hear water running in the creek which would be a first this year.

The shot on the right shows the creek bottom on August 8th and the left one was Aug 28th. The tiny arrows point to the same rock ... sorry that the shots are not perfect as far as being exactly the same.

The there is me. I set my little pocket camera on a rock and hit the self timer.
If you look closely it may be apparent as to how wide and high the furious waters ran. It moved boulders and logs.
Never underestimate the power of water!

In places where things got jammed up and then let go the clearing of the plants is more evident.

The kids had built a rock castle out of some rather heavy rocks here. It got washed away and the rocks placed somewhere else.

I am glad the creek was cleaned out like this it sure makes rock hunting more fun and spending time listening to the water is like hearing music.

Our temperatures at least have made a turn around. It was beastly hot and humid on Saturday, but thing have settled down this week. 

I can't wait to get back down into the creek and spend some time just mucking about now that the temperatures have become a bit more livable.

Charlie can accompany me then as he can travel without getting stuck in the weeds.

If you were my Grandma...

...that would be kinda cool. 

Such a wonderful compliment from a 10 year old. I picked up my pal Briar and took him to CrossFit with me where he read a book and I worked out. We headed home and he chatted about the weather, Covid, school, insects, history, and what he was doing for the weekend.

He was going to visit his Grandparents on mom's side. 

His mom and one sister had a doctor's appointment and for these appointments I've offered to help out by taking Briar to my house so we can take a walk or he can play with my neighbor's kids. 

After all, I have a bit more leeway in my schedule than most folks. 

After the kids gathered...

As Briar has said before. "If we come to your house we always walk to the creek. Always."

Water draws doesn't it? It draws us to it.

With the drought parts of the creek are dry. The kids were discussing what to do when I suggested a castle.

A castle for Teddy Bears...

A couple of Bears just happened to be in my camera bag.

And furious building ensued. The Bears needed a grand castle with sticks as a roof. Grass, moss, and bark were layered onto the roof to make it more secure.

And Groundchalier [not my name, but the kids came up with it] was born. Named as such because it was like a beautiful chandelier but it was on the ground.

I sat and watched and stayed quiet. This was all their fun. I was there just to keep an eye out in the woods.

Plans were hatched to build future huts for the army they were going to hire to protect the castle.

They asked if I had toys they could build huts for.

As

if...

Of course!

We headed back and stopped at the Forest Garden where they re-arranged the Gargoyle, unicorns, dragons, and dinosaurs. 

All was as it should be. 

Charlie was very sad to see his new friends go.

Until next time.

The Hunt for Morels

What can I say? I like hunting for Morel Mushrooms.
There are a few things that a person really needs to be successful.
Yes.
Know your trees.
In our area, know your hillsides too!

Most of all. Do not be in a rush. You must have a lot of time.
Time to squat near a place to just let your eyes roam about to look for the pattern of the Morel.

If you find some, the advice is ... don't move. You may be stepping on them. I found that to be true enough.

Slow is better. Take time, don't hurry. Be relaxed and listen to the birds. Enjoy the fresh air.
Or the gnats and bugs when it gets warm. [Not quite as enjoyable]
Don't pick the False Morels.
I've had people tell me you can eat those reddish ones.
Nope, I don't think so. It isn't worth the risk now is it?

I found enough early Morels to make a 'mess' for us the other morning.

Homemade Bread and Morels.
What better spring treat can there be?

These were the early ones. If we get some rain, the other trees further up the hillside ought to produce...


I'd put up a trail camera near one of the trees ---- what an active place it is!

Hmmm.
The person in the photo is someone I know and I sort of figured he'd drop over and check out the big tree that produced so much last year. I missed out on a rather large crop of Morels because 'someone' had picked them!

He's a good guy really but it is a bit irritating. I don't search his property for Morels.
I am conflicted in a way. About 7 years ago he called us to ask if we liked Morels and Rich said we loved them! He told us about another tree that on our place just over his fence that he had picked nearly 10 lbs at!
He offered to bring the Morels over and we just told them to keep them.

Since he lets me walk and take photos around his creek bottom I feel compelled not to start something. After all, I know I can call him if I need his help in an emergency.

I do have a surprise waiting for him under the tree though.

Evil laugh.

No, it will not be harmful. Just curious to watch his reaction on the Trail Cam.

Those are not real Morels, they are Candles made to look like them!

:)

It's okay not to be okay....

The other day I got an email from our CrossFit coach, Josh, that was a mini read by a man named Jon Gordon. I looked him up and he is an author of what I would classify as 'Self Help' promotions and books. You can read about him at the link if you like.

But the email addressed the fact that it IS okay not to Feel Okay right now. Of course he offered words of encouragement that really struck a cord with me. I've gone back to read those words more than once in the past few days.

Because with the mounting death tolls of the Coronavirus, the politics, the demonstrations, the economic outlook, and then the possibility of staring this thing in the face for a very long time...
well, it seems that there is no more normal.
Everything I thought I had planned out for our future is no longer our future.

I texted my neighbor and CrossFit friend who I haven't seen for weeks and we met up on a back road to take a walk. A Distancing Walk with Charlie to just talk and just walk. We used to kid each other that we were the Elderly CrossFit people.

I stopped Bill and said I needed a photo of him in Tainter Land. He quipped that I'd ruin the scenery and the photo of course.

No, it didn't Bill.

We talked about our futures and ideas. He has worked for a nursing home so we have no misconceptions about aging and futures but only to try hard to stay healthy and fit. We talked about 'at what point' do we give up our homes?
In light of recent events we discussed our luck in living a rural area. At the same time rural wouldn't be so great as we aged.

We didn't talk gloom and doom our whole time. Most of the walk was spent marveling at the scenery. Bill kept commenting on how amazing Charlie was with his tiny legs and seemingly boundless energy.
Bill talked endlessly about his grand children and how much he enjoyed having them around. The things he still wanted to show them and do with them.

We discovered the 'first' violet coming up on the valley floor. We spotted Virginia Bluebells all over the valley as we walked. We marveled at how the floods in recent years had wrapped trees around other trees, changed the flow of the stream, and piled boulders and rocks in so many odd places.

I took photos with my Infrared Converted camera and explained light spectrums as best I could with some limited knowledge.

We did as two people would do. We walked ... distanced... and talked. We enjoyed the outdoors and sunshine.

Maybe in that time we learned a lesson from Charlie.

Just live in the moment for right now...

And it is okay ... not to feel okay.
But we are trying not to let it bring us down.

Of This and That

See? I've been playing with my little not Fairy Houses and the little resin squirrels and rabbits.

I wanted to give them a unique look. So I have been watching some tutorials and experimenting on my own.

I'm going to eventually figure out a work flow to make these look quasi painted and sketched as if they were from a children's' book.
~~~~~~~

In the meantime the weather is fluctuating like crazy. On Thursday the wind chills were dangerously cold. I hiked with a mask and goggles to see some of the creek's frozen beauty.

It was worth the walk. The winds were cold on the ridge, but once I got into the valley felt warm.

I followed the snowmobile trail which is also called 'the ridge road' down into the valley. The shadows were pretty neat.

The creek is always fascinating and changes often with the weather.

This will all melt away today with the temperatures soaring into the high 40's.

I'm wondering if there will be a snow melt...runoff occurring this afternoon. It'll be worth the walk down there to see.

Come Tuesday winter returns and the creek will change itself again.

Friday was a nightmare day. But I'm just going to call it that and leave it be.

A weekend break

Charlie had his first L...O...N...G car trip. At first he was nervous and did a lot of whining.
Charlie doesn't like bumpy roads. He stands up in his car seat and peers at the road and then me as if I could change the bouncing he feels.

He gets concerned over stop and go traffic too. He placed his feet on the console between us and tried to get as near to me as he could. I wasn't very nice, I pushed him back into his seat. He does have a harness and is tethered into his seat but apparently IF he really wants to he can stretch out of it.

Otherwise he was the perfect little traveler. He just gave me sleepy eyes once in a while and would 'navigate' for a bit then lay back down.

We got to my son's house and Charlie got reacquainted with Teslin. He is quick to understand that she doesn't want to play and would rather ignore him. He is fine with that.

Fun things we did:
Ikea. I loved that store and found a fake fur pillow cover for Charlie as a gift.
Rich loved the seat cushions I got!

Eating out at the Noble and meeting Amber. What a fun person!

Saturday was just as great.
I'll just let the photos do the talking....

Charlie met this young German Shephard named Shark. She is Amber's young dog who is full of boundless energy.
Charlie was pretty sure that Shark was going to eat him. Shark wanted to play with Charlie and Charlie wasn't too sure about that.

I think if Shark and Charlie had a few days to get used to each other, they'd get along just fine. Charlie loves to play but has never played with someone like Shark who is very vocal. After all, it took Charlie and Teslin about 3 days to get their pecking order figured out.

However by the time I took this photo of the fireplace, all dogs were sleepy and calm.

I had a perfect get away weekend.