Ice Cave Trail

There is no doubt in my mind.
Winter is a wonderful time of year.  Of course there are those who dislike the cold and the snow...oh, and the ice too.

But there are no bugs, no annoying plants like stinging nettles, and the landscape is open for all to see.  No leaves block the view of beautiful vistas or interesting rock formations.

On a whim, I did something I never do.  I posted a question on Facebook, "Who would like to go on and adventure to Wildcat Mountain with me? Hiking, snowshoeing, and perhaps the Ice Cave?"

Friends replied and I even got a phone call from some friends on the other side of our state.  They couldn't make it, they wanted to.  But could we get together like last year and do a weekend in Baraboo, WI and explore some great hiking places again?  Yes! Sure! And we made arrangements.

The next morning I had a comment that asked, "We'd love to go but don't want to cramp your style, we have 3 little people."  This was from our neighbors at the top of our hill.

I was ecstatic and we made arrangements to go check out the Ice Cave Trail at Wildcat Mountain.

We did hike directly there and the scene was beautiful.

The kids took a look at it and thought it was very cool, but they were more intrigued by the little frozen run off created by the water coming over the ice cave wall.

And this started our true adventure.  What is more inviting?  A slippery frozen stream of water?
Or a nice trail?

Oh the frozen water of course!

There was hill climbing.

Ice crawling.

Adventures with Doe, Stinky, Dino, and Rex.

And, lots of adventures.

We eventually made our way back to Billings Creek and admired the formations of ice on the bluffs.
And the upside to all of this adventuring and hiking?  The little people got worn out ... as did this older person!

Where most people that come to the Ice Cave trail simply walk the 1/2 mile trail to the 'cave' and then back to the car...they miss all of the fun and beauty in between.

During the winter, there is so much more to see in my opinion.

Although this trail is unique and would be fantastic to walk on in April when the Spring Beauties, Trillium, and Blood Roots are coming to life.

I hope to go back in a week or so to check out another trail that is much longer.  I took that trail this summer and loved it.  In the winter it becomes a snow shoe trail.

Old Settler's Trail, is next on my winter list.

Still Life B&W

So I enjoyed my recent experiment with still life and am looking forward to week two.
But the day was gloomy and with chores done, I decided to stay in the house and do a little editing on those shots from last week that I didn't use.

I thought, maybe these would look much better in black and white.

For the 'table' I used a wicker chair.  I took an old pillow case that had a design on it and tossed in the dried up flower, the putty knife and some crinkled wall paper.  I couldn't find my large paint brush so I used a very small one.
After all, I will be repainting after the house remodel.

I overlayed a photo of rose wall paper and used some 'grunge' brushes in CS 2.  I also used a nifty little filter called AAAFotoFrame, which I can't seem to find anywhere on the internet.

Here is the wicker chair with a whiteboard as backing.  The same pieces are in this shot.  I again used a texture from Mercurycode at deviantart.  I used Overlay to blend it and then took out what I didn't need.

I took some more shots today and will start lesson #2 this week. I had to take advantage of having no one else around while I messed with objects and textures.

This was fun and a great inside distraction when the weather is not so great outside.
Even an old chair can be used to arrange still life.

Today though I had Morris's help, he kept nudging things with his nose and getting in my way.
I finally took the hint and took him for a nice little hike.

Be Still Week One

I did something I didn't think I'd ever do at all...

Take a photography course.
Something about Kim Klassen's work has always had me intrigued.  I have followed her blog for quite some time now.  She used to make textures and I used to admire her beautiful still life work and the textures she used.

So, I signed up for a class.  Be Still 52.
And yes I am going to work at it.  Still Life has never been anything that interested me so I figured, why not?

Why not reach out of my photography comfort zone and ... do something different?

And so I begin.

Be Still And Be...

or with the words added...not sure if I like the words added.

I picked this shot today because of what we are going through and have gone through in the past year.
Everything was put on hold last year due to Rich's diagnosis with Throat Cancer and we are now forging through with a house remodel.

Patience is something I am learning.  I am pulling wall paper with a vengeance and it is a messy awful job.
When the job is finished I imagine we'll have taken a sow's ear and made into something lovely.

I took a series of shots.  My makeshift studio included a white foam board, a south facing window, an old chair, an old white sheet, coffee cup, shredded wall paper, beads, chain, and of course the scraper.

The day was overcast so the light was very subdued and I tried to go for the high key sort of look.

The second shot I liked was with a carnation bud, a dried up amaryllis flower that I'd kept for some reason, the white sheet, cup and well, there it is.

I took time just looking and from my first week's lesson.
Breathing. Pausing. Relaxing.

I practiced a some Tai Chi and then got to work on this thing I was certain I could not pull off.

Old and New

I have one very similar to this shot that doesn't cut off the petals on the top of the flower.  I need to look it over a few more times to decide which of the three shots I like the best.

That is it for now.  I'm looking forward to working with this.

Be Still.

It is something I often do in the woods, to hear the nature around me and to appreciate the sounds of the forest.

Now I can practice this in a different sense.

But He is a Velcro-rapper!

Today finds Doe with Dino again.

He asks her if she would like to go on a Spa Date with him.
Doe says she doesn't know what a Spa is.

Dino takes her to the fresh spring along the creek bottom.  He jumps into the water and takes a dip.

He tells Doe to come on in, the water feels wonderful.

Doe jumps in and is surprised at how refreshing it is.  She tells Dino that her forest friends just call this 'taking a dip'.

He explains that Velociraptors are much classier and they take Spas, not dips.

Oh.

Stinky comes along and is horrified to find Doe in the water with a Dinosaur.  He begs her to get out right away.

Doe can't understand why Stinky is so upset.  She takes Dino and decides to find Bo and introduce her new friend.

Doe introduces Dino to her forest friends.  Bo gets upset and tells Doe that she shouldn't be making friends with strangers!  Especially a Velociraptor Dinosaur that eats meat.

Doe flicks her tail and tells Stinky and Bo not to worry, Dino and she had lunch of moss the other day and besides, "He is a Velcro-rapper, not whatever it was you said!"

And thus Doe has made a new friend in the forest.

Will Doe ever learn?
Or does Doe have a point?  Sometimes we can trust strangers!  And Dino does have big teeth and looks fearsome.  Perhaps he can protect her.

Time for a Toy Story

Let me begin by saying that this is an on and off again thing I have fun doing with my Grand daughter Ariel.  The Toy Story that revolves around the little toy deer that I have called Doe. Doe always takes off in crazy directions and does insane things, like trying to live in an ice cave.  Or trying to live in a parking lot.  Or wandering off and getting lost.

I carry Doe in my camera bag. And sometimes I carry other toys too and I always look for someplace interesting to photograph them and then make a short photo story of it.

Well the other day, I added a toy to my collection.

Thus the story.

Doe wandered off down the creek.  Her friend Bo that she met during hunting season had gone with Stinky to find another home for her. They said she needed a nice place to stay come early this Spring.  
She didn't know why, she preferred wandering much better than just finding a home.

Bo and Stinky tell Doe they will look for a new home for her.

Well, she was going to show them!  She just wanted to take a walk by herself. She liked the creek in any season, it was always so interesting.

Wait!
What did she hear?  Was that growling?

Doe looked up the rock wall where an ice cave had been forming.
What on earth was that???

Doe ran up to it and introduced herself. 
[Oh what would Bo and Stinky think right now?]

The creature had huge teeth and tiny eyes and funny looking hooves.  He said he was a Dinosaur and a Velociraptor.
Doe certainly didn't know what that was but she was hungry so she asked the Dinosaur if he was hungry.

Dino said yes he was very VERY hungry.  

Doe said she knew of a nice place where they could 'do' lunch.

And off they went.

Doe noticed that Dino had some very big teeth, but he was very polite and ate the moss with her at the sunny ice cave. Doe liked her new friend and couldn't wait to introduce him to Bo and Stinky.
She wondered what her pony friends would think of him too?

We can only assume that Doe's complete lack of fear and total innocence can work in her favor.  How often does one meet a Velociraptor and 'do' lunch?

House Remodeling Stinks ~ by Morris

They are messing up the house and calling it Remodeling preparation.  

She took the pictures off the wall and started taking Wall Paper down.  She pulls, strips, and goes up and down the stool thing. I watch her and it makes me tired.

Every day I have to guess where my water bowl is going to end up because She has been moving my dishes around so She can work. I hope she finishes up soon!

But then He started to work on my most ever favorite place.  That most wonderful excellent spot in front of the heater blower.

I take my toys there and lay down in front of the heater every time it turns on when it is cold outside.

How dare He?

I should have seen the signs. 

Invaded by tools.

When He uses the pounder thing, I don't like it much.  I climb that step stool thingy where She is working and hide between her legs.

Especially when He starts the Thing He calls the Shop Vac.  

I wasn't really scared.  I just wanted to make sure They knew that They were disturbing my place.

I just wanted to lay in the sunshine on the couch with my favorite toy and enjoy the afternoon. 

But NO.  

Pound, pound, pound.  Noisy Vac Thingy.  Scary, nasty, dusty, and noisy.  I kept climbing the foot stool and making Her laugh.  She had to stop pulling wallpaper and comfort me. I think I'll make a big fuss every time He brings out those tools. I learned a good trick, she gave me a treat and held me.  I like that.

I didn't even want anything to do with my comfy corner of the couch or the heater.

Before the work:

After yesterday's pounding noisy session:

It is just not nearly as nice.  

I have lived here my entire life and saw absolutely nothing wrong with the house what so ever. And now I find out that They are going to change things around.

Finally They quit making a mess of things and cleaned things up.  I finally was able to grab a little quiet time on my corner of the couch.  

They talk like this Remodel is going to be a great thing.  I don't think so, not if it is going to disrupt my life.

I may just run away from home.

Or...

Sleep on the couch with my Angry Bird Toy.

Or...I could hide the remote on Them and see how They like that!

Remodeling stinks.  And that is my opinion on the matter.

Busy Busy

I've been working on a project inside the house.  Removing the wallpaper from the walls and ...ewww, one of my worst nightmares.

Washing ceilings also.

Refer to my The Little House Remodel for what I have done for the past few days.