Evening Rides with Sunshine

Sunshine, after we came out of the woods. Riding the woods is so much nicer than riding the fields and back roads. 

No traffic. No surprise coyotes running in front of you. No gaggles of turkeys or deer leaping out of fields of corn.

It seems these girls are happier in rough terrain with deep woods surrounding them. Of course, the footing can be difficult, there are logs, rocks, and dry washes to navigate so it requires most of their brain cells.

Yes, she wears a trammel. I could probably get by with a snaffle these days however this is what she has worn since her first run-away with me 21 years ago.

She wore a snaffle at 4 yrs old. Did you know that because a mule has a wide set of eyes, that you can pull their head to your knee and they can still canter in a line of their choosing? 

The second time I tried a 'one rein stop', her head was pulled to my knee and she galloped through trees and jumped a creek. I survived the run off by steering her with all my strength into a brier patch. We got scratched up but survived.

We put this bit on her and it can be very gentle with gentle hands. I set her up for another run away. We rode up the gravel road and when one of the neighbor's came by with her tractor, Sunshine tensed and then bolted. I let her bolt 3 steps and then lifted the reins so the bar would touch her nose.

She screeched to a stop. Mules love their noses and don't like pressure on that spot.

In the following 21 years of riding, she has never offered to bolt. She will spin at crazy spooky Zombie Deer that spring out of the corn field, or aggressive dogs. But she no longer takes me on a wild and crazy ride.

With that said, our wood rides are so relaxing. We drop down steep hills and negotiate old trails and deer trails. She knows the way since she helps me maintain the trail. Here is a choppy, crappy video of our last ride. I'm not good at holding a cell phone to try and capture video. Usually I don't even try.

I have a pocket camera which I normally take.

This is our last deep ravine to cross to go back home. I make a huge circle [about a mile loop] through the neighbor's woods. 

The mules wear breast collars and either cruppers or britchens which keep the saddles from sliding around in this steep stuff.

There is a 3 mile loop, but I haven't done it lately because I don't like going that far off by myself. I will see if my neighbor would like to do it with me one of these days if he has the time. [He was raised on a Quarter horse farm]

Sorry for all the creaking and whatnot. But I like that noise! She also wears a bell if you can hear it.

The first part is a long descent on a very steep hillside, so she tippy toes down the trail. Again, forgive my crappy video, but there it is.

1:34 seconds....

 

Deer oh Deer

The weather has been so Hot--> Humid---> and miserable that I've had to put off all that riding on my pretty little mules that I had planned.

I put off my hiking at KVR too.  I've decided to just go with my favorite trails and explore the off trails the rest of this year. I've done all the trails and know which ones are my favorite spots to visit with cool things to find.

So, I have been walking the gravel road just an hour before sunset and enjoying some different scenery.

Last night I was rewarded with some deer play. Two young bucks were playing in the alfalfa and oats. I was slightly below them on an incline so they didn't see me for quite a while. 

The video is 30 seconds long.

Eventually they noticed me. 

and....

they took off. 

On my way home I noticed what I think it High Bush Cranberry. Not sure, so I didn't taste it. But I did grab some wild grapes and chew on them while walking home.

Looking up the driveway after I got back, I saw someone else is enjoying the new road.

Time to get my butt moving in the mornings again as we are getting some nice views on the ridge for sunrises.

August through October usually has some stunning skies and fog.

Rain, we got rain!

 Thank goodness! We have had two rainfalls this week!

Rejoice!

This morning we received an inch of rain! Delightful!

It looks like I can get out in the forest and look for awesome cool fungi!

Things have been so dry ...

See photo below, this is what our meadow looked like last week. There is nothing left there and I am keeping the mules out of it. 

Today we had an inch of rain so far and more is falling this afternoon! There are times when I don't get too excited about rain but not this year. Any rain is appreciated.

An inch of rain meant that we'd have some water in the creek for a little while at least.

The total rainfall for the whole day ended up being an inch and 1/10th. Whoo Hoo!

It is too late in the growing season for hay fields to rebound except for perhaps one last cutting. I see that the price of hay has gone through the roof figuratively. It may become a very harsh winter with the food source being scarce and very expensive.

Okay, enough of that.

The flowers are enjoying the rainfall as well as the grass. We may get to mow the yard this month!

Cosmos with an Ambush Bug waiting for breakfast...

Cosmos in the morning light.

The morning glories are finally blooming and  adding color to the old Wagon Wheel I have out in the yard. 

I think the variety of poppies that I got in the wild flower seed packets are my favorites this year. They are so stunning in their pinks and reds.

I'm going to collect their seed heads for next year and see if they sprout!

The Nasturtiums are in their glory and spreading their vines like crazy.

With the humidity and the rain along with some hot weather this weekend, the fungi, slime molds, and mushrooms ought to be bursting forth!

Bolete from before the rain.

Way to go Fani Willis!

The Barbie Movie

 Well I love how this movie has caused so much angst with some politicians. For what? Culture wars?

I'm not going to go into any of that. The movie was fun and thought provoking and a real look at ourselves as humans. The world is not perfect, we are not perfect even if we want to be. 

The most telling scene is with the old lady at the bus stop. Barbie turns to her and says, "You're beautiful!"

The older woman turns to Barbie and breaks into a great smile and replies, "I AM beautiful!"

The scene is short and touching at the same time. How many 91 year old people ever get that sort of compliment? 

I am me. I am beautiful but not to Barbie Doll standards. 
I may have wrinkles [yes so many!] but they belong to me. What is even better? There isn't anyone else quite like me.

Too often we judge others just by looks? 

Gloria's monologue got to me. When I got home I had to look it up and reread what I'd heard. I will leave it at that.

My favorite character was Weird Barbie. I would have preferred a Weird Barbie to the perfect one I had. The definition of a Weird Barbie is one that has experienced overzealous play. She definitely fit the bill.

I had one Barbie as a kid. A friend of my parents gave one to my sister and I. We did terrible things to our Barbies and often they'd end up in the arms of our full sized G.I. Joes.

Years later, Barbies forgotten, my neighbor's boy decided to take one of his Barbies and create a likeness of me.

They called her Val-Barbie. I suppose a version of Weird Barbie.

After I admired and had a lot of fun with Val-Barbie, along came Rich-Ken.

What can I say?

These for sure are originals!

And they still are around today.

I still find them hanging out together.

I guess I can say I have a one of a kind Weird Barbie and a one of a kind Weird Ken!

Excuse me while I go out to play with my dolls...

See you later!

Tracking a Package from USPS

This package started in Madison, WI. 

It went to 

Oak Creek, WI for two days to be processed.

Then to...

Milwaukee, WI

then back to

Madison, WI

then to

Minneapolis, MN

then to

St. Paul, MN

then to

Duluth, MN

then back to 

St. Paul, MN

then to

LaCrosse, WI

then to

our local post office.

This was a package with medications in it sent from the Veteran's Administration that started its travel on the 8th. I have found that with packages like this, I now sign into USPS and get updates on tracking the package. I've followed packages before and watched while they spent a few days in a distribution center.

I can't imagine what the postal system is like. I mean how do they figure where the package is going and keep it all straight?

It almost seems that when I track it, the package actually travels to its destination quickly once I sign up for all the notifications that are sent. 

Or perhaps it is all my imagination.

That said, it sure seems like that package took the longest and most inefficient route to our post office and then home. It was mailed from a place that is a 2 hour drive from our place.

Make you wonder right?

I'm a Winger!

I like making things up as I go along. I wing it when being creative. I don't plan, I do. Sometimes it is a fail, and sometimes it is a Win.

I decided to watch tutorials about 'making' terrain for sets and dioramas, most of the artists or creators drew up plans.

One fella who was using Junk he found around the house just 'winged' it.

That is my style. Take stuff and put it together to see what works and what doesn't work.

So, armed with old hair ties, a CPAP machine, tubing, garden mulch, cardboard, glue, spray paint, and paint...

I winged it....

I won't bore you with a ton of shots. I will offer 55 seconds of a series of photos with titles for what I did.

I discovered that I enjoyed working with cardboard more than the other materials. Cardboard is easy to cut into shapes that I want and when I am done with using it, I have no issue in recycling it.

Using the old CPAP machine was a great challenge. I cut apart the old and outdated hoses and enjoyed 'making' space junk out of them. Using mulch and chunks of wood as 'rocks' was fun also. I kept many of them loose so I could reuse them in different scenes. Of course I can toss the wood back into the flower beds too.

The process was a learning experience. 

I even used a screen grab of a wrecked spaceship to add a digital background to a shot.

The Lego Droid sort of gets lost in this shot, but photos that don't turn out perfect are how we learn.

Original:

This one almost feels too busy. A focus just on the little droids would have worked much better. But by trying this over and over, I will eventually come up with something decent.

I do like the detail of the background though, it looks rusty and very much like a space junkyard!

I did put a little balloon light inside the container that was bright blue.

My first photo of the morning was taken on the porch. It ended up being my favorite. It isn't just a shot of toys. He just looks so SAD!

Battle Weary Droid

This was the cardboard design I made. I think I like this little 'scene' best right now for a background.

I may make more of them with certain themes or ideas in mind.

I cannot image trying to 'make' this scene out of Legos. Besides, I like to mess around with paints and try new things all of the time.

I did watch videos on making terrain for wargaming sets. They were pretty interesting. I mostly was interested in those videos that used things that most people would have on hand.

Oh boy. I have a lot of boxes!!!

 

Hair Attitude.

 Hah! Fooled yah!

 

I like wash and wear stuff.

My Selfie while waiting for a to go order at Culvers. 

Hey, I think hair is overrated by the beauty industry. I think men are made to believe that women, all women should have glorious locks of flowing hair. Well, some do! And some don't. Personally, I wear a baseball cap most of the time when doing anything outside.

Over the many many years of life, I've had many do's.

The colors have changed, from dark lustrous hair to some brownish stuff with lots of glistening silvers that really shine when I am in the sunlight.

But in the end, there I am, that person that wanders through the woods with a baseball cap or a winter hat.

My hair is there, it can be a bother, a hinderance, or a royal pain in the tush.

The girl that does my hair knows that I'll go home and put on an old baseball cap and wander out into the woods. 

What was hubby's reaction? I brought him a Mushroom Swiss Burger with fries and a soda. He grabbed the food with delight and then stopped and casually said...

"It looks nice."

Hair? It really doesn't matter to me that much because in the end...I'm the one who always ...

Prefers Hats!