Blind shooting!

This is what my cool weather 'gear' looks like. I have over the glasses snow goggles which really have been so helpful protecting my eyes against the white glare of the snow.

Unfortunately on a hard long hike, eventually my glasses fog up inside. This is caused by me pulling the goggles up to peer through the camera viewfinder and then settling the goggles back down.

Since I can't see distance well anyway, but can tell where I am putting my feet, I took my glasses off on Sunday morning and stuffed them in a case in my backpack. 

I had to take the battery out of my Olympus camera and put it in my mitten to keep it warm enough to hold a charge. My small camera pocket which is water proof was stuck in my inner breast pocket.

It was convenient to use, pull out, use Auto Focus/Snow Scene and squint to see a blurry landscape and press the button. 

View of a row of pines on the ridge top.

This is the snowmobile trail where it cuts through the neighbor's land and drops through the woods into a steep valley.

The light was beyond enchanting. The sun is so low in the sky that everything had an eerie glow to it. Add the ice/snow coating and everything also glistened.

As I went deeper and deeper into the valley, it got significantly colder. I navigated along the creek towards my goal of the Big Spring. When there is a sudden cold spell, the Big Spring will produce some of the most fascinating frost on the mossy rocks that are in the spring. The warm water from the spring [something like 45 degrees F] causes a steam affect when the warm air above meets the frigid air.

Sunny side of the valley along
the creek.

Shaded side of the valley along the creek.

I find it interesting that I took these two shots only minutes apart, yet the camera read the white balance so differently in the bright sunlight vs. the cool shade. Or...my yellowed cataract eyes just can't really see what the true colors are. I did try and run this through a simple program that I could 'click' on the white part of the snow and 'get' the proper white balance. 

And the difference in temperature from one side of the valley to the other was about 5 degrees and noticeably much colder.

The going was very difficult because the long tall weeds, brush, and trees were all bent over. I had to duck, weave, and push through places I didn't normally walk to follow the creek.

Getting to the Big Spring on a good day is quite the effort. Getting to in this terrain was a bit more difficult. However, I finally made it.

The Big Spring

I was facing the sunny side of the valley while taking this shot. I don't know if you can see it or not, but there is a slight fog above the water towards the middle of the photo above --- near the bent over trees.
Normally I can walk in under those trees and walk along the edge of the spring. 

There was no good way back out so I had to backtrack when I turned around to go home. I'd used up my allotted time away from the house and needed to get back.

Going home along the creek was an adventure on its own as all the usual trails up the valley were blocked by snowy foliage, bent limbs, and in some cases tree tops that had come down because of the heavy snow/ice.

I found one of my routes blocked by an oak tree top so I had to do some creek leaping to get around it. Finally I decided to brush bust and follow a faint deer trail up the valley wall.

The light was so amazing at times I just stood and looked at it. Even with no glasses and poor vision, the colors and light was incredible.

I got into the open meadow and headed on home.

My tracks across the Meadow.

I was really surprised at how well my little point and shoot
camera did and how well I sort of
was able to compose things even without
my glasses. Mother Nature

did the work. I just tried to 
record some of it.

I do truly love snow and winter. I am sometimes torn between snowshoeing, hiking, or cross country skiing. Generally I will pick the snow shoes as they do not limit where I can go. 

We are supposed to get a storm starting Wednesday evening, so I will have plenty of snow to enjoy. The roads and the winds will get nasty.

But we have food, shelter, and a full tank of LP. 

I'll just squint through my goggles and enjoy it.

Meanwhile back in Lego land....

MOC

...it stands for Make your Own Creation. 

I'm not good at this. But I keep looking at the bricks and pieces and after making the last build of the Elf Clubhouse...

I thought, wouldn't it be fun to make my own thing?

I'm not brave enough quite yet to start a big tear down and rebuild. However...

I am not adverse to changing things up with my Lego minifigs [minifigures lingo!]

I mix sets and minifigs without sticking to the sets. I trade heads to get expression that I want.

Back in the Christmas Village some things started to happen....

First was a Baby Blue Velociraptor showing up for breakfast at the Elves house! What do you do? Offer it tea of course!

This woman showed up at the Elf place with a box of...OH No! It looks like she brought a case of...wine??? And a Christmas Office Party ensued at the workshop.

She may be a bad influence on Santa and the Elves? 
or....
is she taking over at the North Pole?

Maybe Santa needed a new CEO. She certainly looks like she is taking charge.

Perhaps she is saving Christmas? 
Looks like she sure is organizing things.

It even looks like she will be refitting the sleigh with afterburners....

I built this workshop from other bricks I had on hand just for using in photography. I had fun figuring out how to 'shoot' through doorways and windows. 
What did I want to appear behind the characters? 

Some of the items are from other sets, I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to Legos. I'll mix and match to make a story fit to where my 

imagination

takes me....

Oh wait. Hubby says the guys in the white coats are coming....

yeah....

Ornaments~

So Shirley from Ride a Good Horse challenged those who read her blog to talk about unique ornaments.

Sounds like fun. 

I have a few very unique ornaments that some may not even consider to be a typical ornament. 

Nine years ago a little girl who used to be my 'upstairs' neighbor came to go for a walk in the woods with Morris and I just before Christmas. She was 9. She handed me a gift she had made. It was a piece of yarn with a bell tied to it. She explained that she had made an ornament to hang on my tree.

Each year, I sort through things and end up holding that little loop of yarn and the tiny bell...I think of all of the hikes in the woods we had together and smile. The memories are fond. 

I have fancy beautiful horse ornaments and shiny glittery ornaments, but this one always gets a special spot where I can walk by and ring it.

That little girl is preparing to go to college next year. She is no longer a little girl. She is tall, poised, and confident in what she wants to do in her life. And she even has time to text me once in a while about her interests.

Of all the beautiful things I have, this one means the most to me.

Nothing like a little bell to ring as I walk by it. Here was a young girl who thought enough to make me a small gift to hang on my tree.

Another ornament that actually doesn't get hung on a tree is the Morris Ornament. I commissioned an artist in 2009 to make me 3 ornaments of Mr. Morris. This guy comes out of the hutch each year and graces a special spot in the living room.

Thanks Shirley for this suggestion!

Can I say this?

 Love thy neighbor.

It happens here in my little rural area. On our 1 mile ridge road, I have 3 neighbors. 

Yesterday I cancelled my gym workout. I can't see clearly past 20 or so feet. Let's add blowing snow and roads that are not defined well on the ridge and are hard to see on good winter days. Add snow, ice, drifts, and poor vision.

You get that right? 

However, I also know how folks that can't see well do get around. If you have traveled the same roads for 30 years, you know exactly where the signs are and intersections are. Actually, you can fake it pretty well. I told that to the eye doctor. But I won't risk that behavior as I am the only driver left in our house.

A few days ago one of the neighbors walked down the driveway. I was outside and I was totally startled when I realized that the only way I knew who they were was by how they walked and the size of the little human with the taller human.

Olive texted me again to ask where I got my Feed and was there a closer place to get it? I told her where and then she asked if I wanted to go with, she knew I was running low but cancelled my driving today because of the blowing snow and poor back roads.

She said she'd pick me up and we'd go get feed for the old mule and she could get chicken feed and bedding.

Wow, was that a trip! She is a brave woman to drive through the bad weather. However she was our rural mail person for a couple of years, so she has some great experience with bad roads and weather.

We took the back roads which were the only way to the closest feed store. We actually laughed and ohhhed and ahhhed at the little drifts and icy patches we found. 

My driveway had been plowed and in the time we went and came back the hill was nearly all ice. Olive giggled and said..."Hey, we are okay! We are sledding down your hill!" And yep, her ABS's were cranking away as we drifted down.

She was able to drive right up and out. Thank goodness for her Subaru. 

I took Charlie out for a walk in the afternoon in the woods as the winds were whipping on the ridges and causing lots of drifting snow.

Charlie loved the snow.

I watched him hunt mice for about 15 minutes. He is so funny!

Must be mice in there!

Dig dig dig!

Sniff sniff, dig, shake...

and then...

What????

I headed back out to go check fences and found two trees down across the summer pasture fence from the heavy snow. The plastic insulators broke so it will be easy enough to fix come spring. A hand saw should do the rest.

Last night I got a text from the brand new neighbors on the ridge.

You are invited! Sledding party at our house at 10AM. Bring your own sled or we will provide you with one.

Gosh! How much more fun can it be? 

Lucky me -- to have such good people on our ridge. My two new neighbors include me even though I don't have kids and I am old enough to be their parents. How cool is that? 

A fun snow day ~ Great neighbors

Text: Hey, that snow looks awesome. Wish we could hike today but I'm afraid of widowmaker trees falling down on us in the woods. [because so many trees and branches had fallen down]

My reply: Why don't we walk around the field then? 

Her reply: Okay, meet me at noon on the dot!

My reply: 👍😁

As the noon whistle blew in Readstown over 3 miles away, I stepped into her mud room.

She opened the door and we decided to walk up the road and then come back through the fields. The air was fresh and cold and we headed out.

This is a view across the cropland on the ridge looking west from the cropland we were going to walk on next to the woods.

Charlie wasn't with us. When we walk from her house, we take her husband's dog Barnes, when we hike from my house, we take Charlie. We hope eventually that we can have both dogs with us but Charlie is a bit intimidated by the big brawny cattle dog mix at this time.

The view along our road. When it is cold and windy, this is not the place to be! I prefer the valleys and the deep woods. But this will give you an idea of what our roads look like. Anything that isn't dark brown, is pretty much compacted snow and under that, Ice.

We entered the fields and started to wade through the fresh wet snow and of course it was just two women walking and talking. Yak, Yak, Yak about nothing in particular. Kids, eyes, cross country skis, the snow, and the amazing views.

Over the past week, my new neighbors have walked down twice to say hello and once delivered a plate of cookies! Olive brought cookies too! Talk about a nice place to live with new folks on our ridge.

We are spread out, but our mixed age of folks are all super nice folks.

I was lucky enough to catch this shot of Barnes as he ran towards us through a small trail in the tree line....

Right after I took this photo, he stopped and rolled in something divinely nasty. I guess he was getting a bath after our walk!

My cell phone rang and it was Rich. He was in a snit. Frank was at our place plowing the driveway, WHERE was I? And I needed to be there right now.

I was 1 mile away in a field next to the woods. I just told Rich that I'd text or call Frank and deal with paying him for plowing, not to worry.

As it happened, when we came back up by Olive's house, Frank was coming from our place and I ran out on the road and flagged him down. Frank said our place would be about 11 or noon on his schedule when plowing needed to be done and we worked out pricing and payment. We are sort of neighbors as the crow flies. Another great neighbor.

I got my fresh eggs, and headed home to a nicely plowed hill driveway and Frank also did the turn arounds!

I thought about how living in the city would compare to what I'd just experienced in the past year. And since I haven't lived in a city or town in since 1996, it was hard to imagine.

This morning's text was: 
Hey, hubby is away for 2 days. You want to make a trail for cross country skiing? We can pull Aiden in a sled! 

If nothing else, my younger and very adventurous neighbors will help keep me active won't they?

Todays jobs? Check out the newly fallen snow and hopefully get to town for my gym session and old mule feed. Start a pot of chicken soup, and by late afternoon, go snowshoeing. That sounds okay in my book.

Life in the Slow Lane.

I like it.

Snow mules:

Weather, what else is there?

 Yesterday's weather was rain, rain, rain....

It rained so much that it melted all of the snow off the roof and off the land. We had small streams of water running through the pastures. Rain and fog.

I took my morning walk through the woods and enjoyed a bit of the moisture.

Water clung to everything. 

Moss on the side of a tree trunk.

Water droplets clinging to thorns.

This morning we awoke to heavy wet snow. I spent an hour just clearing branches and whatnot from an oak the let loose a huge branch down on the driveway. I texted my neighbor at the top of the driveway -- I saw he was already gone that I'd get Frank to do our hill and plowing when the weather settled down.

When daylight broke I saw that I needed to clear the hot wire that was drooping and that yesterday's stream was now 3 inch slush. Wow, not good for when the temps drop tonight and make that area pure ice.

Here they were waiting for breakfast the dark beige area to the left on the photo is slush that is deep. 

I may have to move the smaller water tank and plug it in where the mules can reach it. They will not walk on ice.

Apparently we are very lucky so far. Olive texted me to say that her drive to drop off her son took over and hour and she had to re-route because of down trees and large branches in the road. She said the power at her house went off a few times.

Yuck. Once more I am fortunate enough not to have to make the 30 mile journey down the treacherous highway that dips into steep valleys to go to work.

Instead I can go out an admire it.

Pre dawn:

Getting the mail:

It is a wonder land and I love it. I'm not doing housework today, but going out and enjoying this beautiful scenery.

Weather, Birds, and the Bionic Eyes

 

The big storm is hitting our area. We are experiencing a slew of rain and sleet mixed in together. The winds on the ridge according to my neighbor sounds like heavy machinery sitting outside their house.

Yesterday we had a regular feeding Frenzy at the bird feeders. It was nuts!
I made a short 20 second video with a program called ClipChamp, but since I am not experienced at these things, it isn't very great. I also hate that Windows Movie Maker is no longer free and requires a subscription.

However, you can see the birds as they came and basically chased each other around.

The Downy or Hairy Woodpecker was NOT fazed by the intimidating female blackbird that swooped in and landed on the feeder!

The Titmouse flew in and ran off the Nuthatch...

While I was waiting for my 4th eye appointment this year...due to changes in vision, I took a lot of shots out the window. I use the ProCapture mode which cycles photos in the memory but won't save them until you press the button down. Then it takes up to 10 shots pre push and up to 10 shots when you push the shutter.

That is how I got these action shots. I am not quick enough otherwise to get them.

The Eye Appointment.

The tech tested my vision. She asked me: What brings you in today?
My answer in a bullet list form:
Cannot see anything in the distance beyond 10 feet unless it is blurry.
Up close is okay.
Light causes me to squint.
Halos around lights.
Headaches from eyestrain.
No Medication List.
No Change in Health.
Need sunglasses on dark days to dim the snow.

She did the vision test and kept asking...1 or 2? 3 or 4? 

I said none of the above.
She finished her exam and set me in a little waiting room.

Pretty soon the young and handsome Dr. Williamson came to get me [Yeah, he is young, handsome, and married. Gosh, give an old lady a break, right?]

Damn! He asked how my KVR Trail Challenge went! How could he recall that? We did some small talk about photography and after about 10 minutes we got down to it. [Guys! I must live in a very doctor friendly area. The doctors here actually take an interest in YOU!]

My vision has deteriorated in my right eye a lot [I had Strabismus surgery in 1961 -- that surgery will cause cataracts to develop more rapidly. And that eye always sucked anyway]. Doc said he couldn't fix it with a new prescription.

He also said he could only improve it slightly in the left eye...so... it was time to consider the next step.

Surgery. Cataract Surgery. It is a rather Routine Surgery, however with any surgery, things can go sideways.

He explained in detail how they do the surgery. Replacing the cloudy lens -- much like a cloudy lens on an old headlight. He said I should see colors much better.

Then he talked about new technology. Did you know that there is an option for an intra ocular lens replacement that can 'fix' astigmatism? 

I could be a candidate for a Multifocal/Extended Depth of Focus Lens placement in each eye.

Could be.
That means for a pretty hefty price, I could essentially toss my glasses for most of the rest of my life.

It would be like them surgically putting my glasses as replacement to the clouded cataract lenses.

Yeah. I asked him for bionic eyes and he laughed. "We are not quite there yet!"

I talked this over with Rich regarding the expense. Rich and I checked our finances and if I qualify, I am going for the lenses.

I am the CareGiver and the driver and the everything doer here on the farm. 

Basically I want to see, I am a very visual person as you may have guessed.

Here is another surprise. I will see the surgeon in 4 weeks and they  can do the procedure in our little town at the local hospital.