July 4th One mule Parade

Well that is supposed to occur in a few hours.

We are enjoying a few days without rain and since today is one of those, I am getting saddled up and going for my 'All One Mule 4th of July Parade' in Folsom Wisconsin.

I am the Parade Master of Ceremony along with...
Parade Leader, Organizer, and Participant.

In the past Badger has always done the honors.  

He is gone now and Opal will take his place this year.  I still need to work on some confidence building with Siera.

I guess I don't need to say that I will never find another mule quite like Badger.

But I can sure try.

Opal will be doing the honors.
She will wear Badger's flag blanket.  She will wear Cheyanne's silver heart breast color...[Cheyanne did two 4th of July parades many years ago].

Opal will wear ribbons and a necklace with brass bells.
I'm looking forward to this year.

I miss my sometimes riding partner for this, but hopefully we can do one again together.

Anyway...
Have a wonderful day and stay safe.

 

Butt Puckering Ride and Flat Tire

Now you are asking how those two things relate.  Give me a minute or so.

First I saddled up Opal determined to get a ride in.  I wanted to see if the 'mule' trail I had through the woods was damaged or grown over.  I'd walked part of it the day before.

In hindsight.  I should have walked 'the second half' of that little trail to the creek before trying to ride it.

Oh well, hindsight is 20-20 right?

Let's also say thank you to Opal [don't mind the mangled mane, I cut it with scissors...].
Opal the experienced mule.
Opal who knows where the 'short' cut is supposed to be even if it is so overgrown that you cannot see it below her hooves.

Thank you to Opal for soldiering on through the mud, slop, and stuff she encountered.  How she delicately picked her way over fallen branches that were hidden in the undergrowth.

Thank you to Opal for peering over the washout bank and looking down...when my butt puckered in the saddle..
and she just put her hooves on the bank and slid straight down.  Without batting an eye she scrambled up the other side.
Just when I thought all was good we came to the last washout crossing.

She stopped and looked.  She dropped her head and seemed to be peering down.  Where there used to be a trail was a huge dropoff.  I saw it from the saddle and tried to see a way around it.
This was our old trail that led to the creek.  Normally a cake walk.
From the creek we had access to 100's of acres of forest.

She slowly backed away and sighed.  I sighed.
We turned and decided not to give up but go onward up the hill and around the hillside to where it meets the camp road.  Not an easy ride on a dry day.

We ducked tree branches, stepped over logs, followed deer trails, and eventually made our way above the camp road.

Down.
Down through brambles, ferns, limbs, and slippery footing underneath.  I gave her her head and let her pick the way.  It was steep enough that the crouper was tight on her tail.  She concentrated on keeping her feet underneath her and me on top.

Next thing I know the woods literally exploded with noise.  Two hen Turkeys erupted from the underbrush a few feet away.  I felt my insides quiver and my butt pucker once more.

Opal sighed and continued as if my spook was but a mere nuisance.

We safely made it to the camp road and the rest was easy.
Now there are no photos of the butt puckering part.
I think you should know that I was just concentrating on staying calm and collected.

I was concentrating on where we were going and what we were doing.  So many things have changed on the old logging trails.  They are nothing but single foot trails now.  Mother Nature is taking the woods back.
I rode above the 'back valley'.  You could see where the water had blazed through the bottom.
I left that exploration by Mule Back for another time when I had another person with me.
No sense in taking risks alone right?

The rest of our ride was rather uneventful.
How is it that a mule can have horrid terrain and not spook one bit?  Give them an open easy field and a track to follow...and even the weeds begin to look suspicious.
Or maybe it is just Opal.

Anyway. It was a great ride.

When I got home I put the ol' girl away and hopped on the riding mower.  My second ride of the day.  I wanted to help my husband out who was clipping The Merry Meadow.

I made one pass and looked down.
Flat Tire.

Huh.
So ended my day of riding.

But all in all it was a great day.

More Wild Weather

From this....
to this
in one day...

I keep waiting for the weather to break so I can get some riding in or some training with Siera, Eddie, and Niki in...
much to my dismay...
the weather is not co-operating.

However, some of the flowers are very happy with this weather.  
50% chance of rain off and on today.  
This means that I will simply wear some raingear while working on my shady flower garden...or while hiking in the woods.

I'm beginning to expect rain every day.  It has become the norm around here...just as the dry weather from last year was.

I have also learned to appreciate those beautiful days when the sun does shine.

I think I could go riding if I could figure out how to waterproof my saddles.
Perhaps I'll just take my synthetic saddle ... I'm sure water won't hurt that.

Have a great weekend.

Rocks...rocks

I found rocks...iron concretions.
They seemed to jump right out at me yesterday on my walk.

I found about 12 of them in a small area.  Probably because they were churned up by the flash floods.

They look rather ugly, but are very unique in shape and are very heavy for their size. I've even found almost perfectly round ones that are larger than a big marble.

Of course, there was Morris to help me find them...the Rock Hound.
Well okay, he doesn't care a bit about Rocks.  But he loves hiking with me and stands patiently by while I look in the creek bed for unique shapes that catch my eye.

I must say, Morris and I do love going on adventures together.  
I found 12 rocks this outing!

Getting Lost in the Woods

Oh I really didn't get 'lost' lost.  I just told hubby that I'd go out to the creek and check things out with the tripod because...it was overcast and late in the day.
Somewhere I think about 5pm.  I figured I'd only be gone a little while you know?

But something happens when you get down in the creek and begin to wander around, listening the the music of the water.

Time stops.  Or, worse, you stop thinking about time like I do and begin to immerse yourself in water, rocks, sounds, bird song...and get wrapped up in it so badly, that you lose track of time.

Literally.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that it was 7pm!
My excuse was ... well there are rarely times when the creek is so full of flood water that is still draining off the ridges...
It was shoot now...or 
miss
it.

So I went for the NOW and kept looking and looking.

I found a portion of a broken glass pitcher on a rock.

I wonder where that came from?



Oh and then there was the parked car...well some of the years of dirt had washed off from it and this time it was more visible.

 

I found another spot that intrigued me ... and then I realized that if I moved away from the running water, I could hear some thundering in the distance.
I stopped and looked at my watch.

OH crap.
It was 7pm, where had the time gone?

I set up for one final shot.

And of course there is a shot of me taking a photo of some water on the rocks.
Yes, I am wearing a head net. 
The gnats were so awful that if I hadn't worn it, I'd never have enjoyed a moment in the bottom.

I packed up and raced home.  Only to find that my husband had finished the work that I had volunteered to help him with.
We watched the storm head south of us with our blessings...
and had a beautiful supper together.

This morning I am brewing a wonderful pot of Kona Coffee brought to me by my daughter in law.
It has only improved my resolve to go back next year.

It smells delicious.

Wedding Photos and such...

I've been working hard on these photos from the wedding.

It is a labor of love.

It isn't easy figuring out which photos you know the bride and groom are going to want.
I'm in the process of sorting and creating artsy stuff for the Wedding Book.

I used PicMonkey for creating collages.  It was great fun to do and consolidates pictures that are worth having, but not as full page spreads.



 I have so many favorites that it is hard to choose!






Well, I must be off, I've got laundry to do aside from working on the editing of the shots.

Full view of the gallery can be seen at:
Jer and Sam's Wedding

Too wet to ride...so I may as well do this!

Toads! Frogs? Tree Toads?

Saw these crossing an empty pasture that has been flooded.

No idea what they are!

They appear to be different colors ... and the tree toads that I couldn't see were singing up a storm, loud enough to hurt my ears!

Here is a close up shot of these two.  

A black one just like these two came out from under the water tank and jumped on them...after a bit of a frackus, it went away.

I wish I knew what these were.
Toads?
Tree Toads?
Frogs?

Anyway life is always exciting here.

2.5" of rain again last night.
More expected.

Roads closed due to washouts and mudslides.
Stay safe.