Mom ... Mom Day.... Mothers Day

So I've been thinking about Mother's Day.  Surely it is a Hallmark made up card type of day but it is a nice thing to think about.

After all you only have one Mom.

I was visiting my mom a week ago and we went to lunch.  During lunch she sort of complained about her laptop computer being slow.

I sort of chuckled and asked what was wrong with it?

She said she just couldn't get onto Facebook and into her games as fast as she used to.  It was too slow and 'Slotmania' was almost boring.
I said maybe her old laptop just wasn't working as well anymore.

I suggested a Google Chrome Book for her.  She gave me a look and inquired as to why ... don't computers last ages and ages?  
No, I told her, they really don't.

We went to her house and I looked at her computer and guided her around to her games.  She huffed a bit when the screen started and stopped while she was playing 'Texas Hold 'Em'.

*See there!* she said.  
I know her grandson had gone through the computer and made sure it was updated and there were no viruses so she was good there.

Then I had to laugh.  Mom is 80 and her laptop 'doesn't go fast enough' for her.  Plus she was a bit miffed that an old computer didn't last forever.

This from a woman that still had her ration book from World War II.

I told her to use the machine and see how it went.  If it was still not up to her standards of speed, I'd get her a speedy Chrome Book that could race through her games.

We decided that when I made my next trip down in 2 weeks, that we'd have a late Mother's Day and go shopping for jeans together.

I may just set her up with a new Chrome book too.  
After all, she is hungry for speed and power in her games.

And she wants to see what is going on in Facebook from her friends.
She rarely types a thing but loves to browse.

Yes, I have one of the most unique mom's in the world.

Hungry for Tech Savvy stuff yet she can turn around and whip up a batch of jams and jellies or some great pies without the blink of an eye.

The woman who raised me for better or worse.  After all, I think I turned okay and I definitely learned right from wrong and how not to cross the line with her.

Happy Mother's Day to a pretty neat lady.

Going Morel Hunting?

The first time my husband asked me to go hunt Morel Mushrooms, I had no idea what he was talking about.

Hunt wild mushrooms?
Little brainy looking things?


Ick.
Double ick, as I'd heard the picking mushrooms can be quite dangerous to your health.

18 years later, he doesn't have to ask any more.



Because I am out looking for them while hiking for wildflower photos.

I've also learned that you don't want the false Morels.

False Morel:

There are helpful articles on being able to tell the difference between the two.
The photos above are grey morels, usually they are not the giant ones that are found later on in the season after things really start to heat up.

Those ones are of a browner color and can get to quite a size.
I've posted this photo before on some other blog, but this happened to be the only thing I had to give the viewer an idea of the size of the morel I found.

Thank goodness you don't have to shoot them!

I know that I am looking forward to looking for morels very soon.

The runner

Last weekend I was able to go watch the Wisconsin Marathon and move around with the runners while riding a bicycle with my daughter in law.
[Thank you!]

I hadn't been to this particular race before and wasn't prepared for all the sights I saw at the start line.

People were in costumes as well as in regular very colorful running gear.

There was Waldo:

There was the cow-guy:

Brilliant colors of all sorts of running gear:

And all sorts of technical to non technical gear:

People of all sorts of shapes and sizes entered both the half marathon and the full marathon.

There were also those who wore the infamous WI Cheesehead Hats:

I found this race fun for taking street 'candids' of the runners.  
There were young and old alike taking part in both events.
Even better, was taking shots of my son while he was running.
He is the one in the middle in the Marathon Man T-shirt.

I did not sneak in any shots of his wife, I may have had a bicycle shoe tossed at me.  Believe me, it was tempting.

This fella, pictured above was sure full of energy.  I was trying to get a shot of my son with his group when he yelled 'take my picture' and spread open his arms.
I wish my elderly Nikon D40 had focused faster, it would have been a fun photo.

This is one of my favorite shots of the day.  My son looking over the running field when we first got to the Civil War Museum in Kenosha.

When my son finished he was quite pleased with the run.  I agree, a Marathon is quite an accomplishment.  It isn't something you just go out and do and it takes a lot of preparation.

And...
I was able to get a shot for my weekly assignment for 256SOG on composition and telling a story.

I really wish I could follow my son on many of his adventures for running.  I have a feeling that I'd get a lot of interesting shots and wonderful photo-stories.

Know your Equine Vitals.

If you own a mule, donkey, horse, ...
know your vitals.
Know how to spot a problem.



A week before Easter we lost Opal.  After much discussion with the vet, it was thought that simply it was her 'time' and not any disease.
She had no signs of any issues other than not eating and being tired.
Within 24 hrs of a vet's visit she had passed.

Last night I went out to brush the mules in the lot near the front of the house.
I noticed that Fred was laying down 'enjoying' the sun.
Well that is what it seemed to be.

Curious I decided to just watch him for a moment.
Next thing I did was run for my new stethoscope and a lead rope.  His sides were heaving and his breathing was rapid.

I knew Fred was not well when he allowed me to walk right up to him.
I took his vitals.
Temp:  Normal
Respiration: 60/minute  [absolutely alarming and not normal]
Heart rate: 60  [high]
Gums pink with rapid refill.

Gut noises:  very hard to hear because of the rapid breathing.

Immediately I did a rectal exam and found him full of manure.  We did an enema while we waited for the veterinarian.  His respiration dropped fairly drastically to about 40 a minute which is still very high.

When the vet came I was able to tell him exactly what had transpired since we'd called.

The vet concurred that heart rate and respiration were a bit high but we had no temp in Fred.
He was treated with some Rompum which sedates the mule enough to insert a nasal tube into the stomach and insert a gallon of mineral oil.
And then we waited.
His gut had better sounds after about an hour.  
We finally felt he was stable enough at midnight to put back in the paddock.

This morning at 6am, I woke up and saw Fred laying on the ground and though, Oh Crap, here we go again.
I went out armed with a lead rope ... but Fred was having nothing to do with that.
He kept trotting away from me and finally he got on the dirt mound where he stomped his back feet and began to grunt.

I stood and watched in no uncertain amazement as a huge ball of manure that resembled a monster egg was ejected from Fred.
Okay.
Gross.
But yes, the mule pooped out the biggest 'thing' I'd ever seen.

I grabbed it and stuck it in a plastic bag, then went back and took Fred's vitals again.
He had good gut sounds, his heart rate was normal at 40/minute, his respiration was at 24.
I called the Vet's office and the doctor wants to see the 'item' Fred removed from his bowels.

Hubby will be taking said item into the Vet's office after lunch.
Meanwhile I am on Fred watch.  
He has eaten.
He has passed all the mineral oil.
He has peed.
He finally took a huge long drink and is now standing quietly in the sunlight.

I am hoping to see a BM soon but imagine after what he passed earlier that may be a bit of an issue as in ... it may cause him some pain.

After eating all of his vitals are still within the normal range.
However I think he has some leftover pain by the occasional stomp and tail crank.

Causes?  We don't know.
But we hope to find out some clue from the 'item' he passed.
And yes, I took a photo of it because it was so unbelievable.

Not sure people on my blog would want to see a photo of such an item.

After we get some sort of feedback from the Vet, I may do that, but for now, I am on Fred watch.

PS~ You can actually learn so much just watching an animal for a whole day!

Update 1:40 PM.
Fred has done the BM thing and all systems seem normal.  Still some discomfort.  Sample is on its way to the Vet's office.

Just some things I've done for color...

On these dreary days...

Can you tell that the weather has been awful?

So you do well for your....

Hepatica

Black Tulip Fungi

Skunk Cabbage

Virginia Pinks

Wild Dutchman's Breeches

My neighbor who turned 32 this week wanted to go for a nice long hike with me...sans the children.  We've gone on short hikes because even though her three year old is a tough little hiker, I was pretty sure he wasn't going to enjoy this hard hike.

We covered about 3 miles under the canopy of more than one forest mini eco-system.

Near my place there were no flowers blossoming and just the mayflowers were beginning to poke there heads up like little torpedoes through the leaves.

She has studied plants and I have studied the forest floor.  She could give me the proper scientific names and I could ID the plant with the common name.

We headed through our land into the valley across the creek and up onto the ridge.  We took a fast walk over what we fondly call 'the velodrome' which is an open ridge.  It was farmed two years ago and no one did a thing with it last year.

As we dropped onto the trail that lead to the 'back' valley, flowers began to be noticeable in abundance.

Everywhere we looked there was beautiful hues of white, pink, purple, and blues.

The Hepatica were up ... and another plant I call Virginia Pinks which are actually Virginia Spring Beauties.

I was disappointed not to be able to find the Blood Root, but I'm pretty sure they'll come on strong as soon as the weather warms.

Well we wondered into the 'hidden' valley, crossed the creek and found skunk cabbage in all of its glory.

Then off we went while I pointed out landmarks that would soon disappear with the greening of the woods.

We went past the 'ice' cave and did some ravine exploring.

When we got back to the first valley, we crossed that creek and headed back through the old mule trail.  I did a little half step and trip but didn't fall.

I laughed and said something about one day I'd probably fall down and not be able to do this sort of hike any more.

My good young friend said, "You do so well for your..."

I could literally hear her mouth slam shut.

I laughed.  "For my age?"

"Um, no," she recovered, "most people my age couldn't keep up with you!"

Funny, I don't feel that 'aged'.  

We had a great time.

Cool Beans!

I found this cool app for Windows 8 called Music Maker Jam for Dell.  It was free and I decided why the heck not?

So I put this together as an experiment.



It was pretty darned fun.

Looks like I'll do some more monkeying around with it.