sunday stills ~ patterns

 

Prickly Pear growing in our Cactus Cove

We named our ranch (Hidden Cactus Ranch) after these hidden WI gems. They are growing literally everywhere the ground has not been disturbed, other than the heavily shaded woods. As much of nature, they have patterns of growth. What you see on growing on the left of the large pad are flower buds, they will start blooming soon. The beautiful yellow flowers last 2-3 weeks. The growth on the right side are three more pads. Click to see the cool pattern on those.

Pines in our Enchanted Forest

Nature offers patterns everywhere, if you let your mind do the wondering.


more ~ ~ Sunday Stills ~ ~ patterns

from woolies to windbreakers

For some reason my wordiness is not flowing. I am falling behind on blogging and processing photos. I have updates I want to document, and horse photos to share!! It happens when all I want to do is be outside. Everything else falls by the wayside, including housework. Perhaps because I was stuck inside for too long during the extended cold front?

My snowshoes have been put to good use lately. Five days of snow shoeing in a row is a record for me. My first day out was cold and solo, but ever since then the dogs have come with me. They live for our hikes. Me too.

Some days our time outside is longer than others, but who's counting. I do occasionally set the stop watch on my phone and track my hiking time just out of curiosity, but I definitely don't set time goals. That would defeat my purpose, which is to be among nature and absorb its magnificent qualities.
  
I do like that snow shoeing takes longer than hiking, and I linger more. I have to carefully watch both feet placement, and pole placements and two dogs (especially Jameson) while absorbing my surrounding. It is a wonder I don't face plant!

I try to go to different areas of our property each time I head out, to keep things interesting. We are significantly warmer, and sadly our snow is melting. To walk the pines, I decided my boots would be a better option. In hindsight, a combo would have been ideal. While I am getting better at putting snowshoes on/off, the idea of doing it twice a hike doesn't thrill me. So I put my foot brace on and hoofed it all...it goes something like this:

Step on top of snow (yes!) step and sink in snow (ugh!) step and slide (wobble like a drunken sailer) and repeat. Every single step. I try to use old step indentations so the snow walking is less daunting comical, now that I have some. 

I hoofed multiple paths yesterday and let me tell you yesterdays walk-a-bout kicked my butt!! It was soooo nice out, we just kept trudging along. I wore a windbreaker, and had to take it off because I was too hot! I should be used to going from woolies to windbreakers, but when our weather swings so drastically it catches me by surprise.

Some views of my recent hikes that caused me to pause:

lower pasture path draws me into the trees
I love walking this area!

Once you take the bend, the path Brad (and deer) made gently weaves.
Most of the trees are understated, but it is very quiet and more remote than other areas of our property. Someday, I am going to spend time down there and draw or paint...it calls to me.



we only own a few rows of the pines that border our pastures
but those woods are quiet and rarely used

the light that filters through these pines is magnificent
with a southern sky that is ever changing

these pines are frequently in my photos


our pine woods morph into very different terrain
we under utilized this area, but have plans for it...

I stick to the top path loop with the dogs

looks like a coyote den

evidence of woodpeckers on the lower pine path

most trees have bounced back up on our main trail


except for these trees, they are further down the trail

I thought of Val and her love for lichens
when this papery growth caught my eye
no clue what they are

close-up of what I assume is fungi


woodpeckers are still digging the latest tree 


I can't climb the short steep hill (when it's slippery) to get out of the lower woods so I took a by-pass loop for the first time, it dips down into a valley
I have to backtrack, but that is okay - more time in the woods!

it connects to the Y path

how have I never noticed these little red berries
and why has no wildlife eaten them?

close-up

yesterdays sunset filled me with wonder

snow monster

After just shy of two weeks, we made it up to 19F!! I left three not so happy dogs inside (our Tank & two grands) strapped on my snowshoes and texted my hubby that I was heading to the pines for a solo hike. I quickly found out it would be slow going. 

The snow was light and deep on the way down to the pines.  Knees up, waay up...again and again. One step at a time. I could barely clear the snow. The closer I got to the pines, the less snow there was and it was more compacted from previous treks.

I was surprised to see not all of the drooping snow covered trees on our main trail had sprung back up. I pushed past them and continued on towards our spooky tree trail. I am happy to say I found no additional evidence of human trespassers. There were however more wild animal tracks than I have ever seen before. In every direction, sometimes crossing. It looked like the wild ones had a running party in our woods!! 

The stumps and uneven terrain were buried in snow. I was able to snowshoe the entire upper pine loop. I usually hike it in my boots.

spooky tree trail
(mostly old domestic tracks)

I couldn't believe my eyes when I noticed another large pine tree being used for feeding. We have left many standing (and ground) dead trees intentionally for wildlife to forage. I guess the birds want the insects/sap from the live trees. I googled and found out the woodpecker holes themselves do not kill pine trees, but they do make them more susceptible to disease.

the holes are huge

I headed out of the pines and took the connecting path towards the lower end of our property. Another wooded path usually traveled in boots. I saw two wabbits running for cover, near coyote junction. 

something was on a full run, crossing onto neighboring fields
grouped tracks are very far apart (likely coyote)

snow monster alert
(Harmony & Nemo on guard)

Nemo trying to round up his defense team

18 second video of the snow monster approaching
my mohawk boy knows it is his mom

Snow crunching picks up so loud on my phone! Excuse my heavy breathing in the background. The home stretch of my hikes are always a gradual heart pumping incline. I had my hands full with two poles and extra glove in one hand, while trying to navigate phone videoing Nemo's ridiculousness on snowshoes. At least I wasn't also carrying Leo. Too cold and deep for him to venture far from the barn.

horse eating snow monster

The wind had picked up, my face was starting to get cold. Time to go warm up, and get ready to bring horses in. I was getting too warm earlier in my trek, and had taken my balaclava off. In frigid weather I wear it as a neck guard where it is easy to pull up incase needed. 

I was out late afternoon for over 50 min, between 4-5pm. It was brisk, even with the sun shining. A much needed, welcomed outdoor workout that was sooo refreshing!! 

hanging on by a snowflake

In the midst of our last snow storm I strapped on my snowshoes and took the two labs for a walk to the pines. The same day they poured the arena walls. Notice I said "to the pines". Have you ever had pine trees throwing "snowballs" at you? Well, let me tell you the trees always win!! Not the best time to be walking in woods, just like high winds. 

18 seconds of our main trail entrance

our main trail normally looks like this in Winter

Jameson waiting for me in the distance
February 2, 2021

We hiked one very short loop near the entrance to check for tracks near an opening trespassers are/were using. I think our method of discouraging them finally worked?! I did however notice this for the first time on what looks like a healthy pine. Or was a healthy pine.

huge woodpecker holes

Guessing the holes were made by a hungry pileated woodpecker. Haven't seen one in many years. I used to get an occasional pileated at my feeders at our old place. The birds are elusive on this property. No clue why, other than they have a lot of places to hide. 

Sadly that was our last walk before the endless bitter good for nothing cold arrived. And stayed. One whole week later, the cold front is still hanging around. We won't be above freezing, but should be warmer next week. Our dogs back legs freeze up just walking running around on the way to the barn. Mostly because I can't keep them out of the snow. It doesn't normally bother their legs, except for when it is deep and frigid. 

Six seconds of our non-stop jack rabbit

(Tank, January 2021)

Side note: the buildings & equipment in the video are our neighbors. Funny how close they look. We are two fields away.

I can't wait for our arena be done. Next Winter the arena will for sure get put to good use. For more than just riding. I could be using it daily, tossing toys and doing some agility with our dogs. They are as bummed as I am that we can't enjoy being outside. I live for being outside. I have the gear to safely enjoy a frigid hike, but feel bad leaving the dogs behind all cooped up. 

Our horses are still being turned out, for shorter days. However this weekend, I don't think we will even get above 0F. They might only get to stretch their legs outside while we clean stalls. They just aren't conditioned to elements like they were when they lived outside full time. 

I truly love Winter, but this year has been harder to enjoy for many reasons. Let's just say I am hanging on by a snowflake. 

build-a-barn ~ fresh air

Well, it got me. I had been surrounded by sick people with every kind of symptom since before Christmas. I got some kind of stomach virus. After day four of being glued to the recliner, I couldn't take the lack of stimulation anymore. I knew I shouldn't, but Brad was working out at the land alone. Who was I going to contaminate out there? He was already exposed. So I got ready & loaded up the grand dog. It just about wiped me out. But I headed out anyways. Perhaps, some fresh air would do me some good...

When I arrived, Brad was:

working on the saloon & bathroom doors

he got the electrical sides of the paneling done on the bathroom walls

Sorry for the strange perspective. I only took one photo. Looks like the bathroom door is on the floor, weird! What can I say, I wasn't feeling well. That's my story & I'm sticking to it! 

We also measured the bars. That photo didn't work very well either lol. The bars are round, and I couldn't get the tape measure in between the small space. When I held the tape measure in front of the bars, the photo made it look like it measured out to wider then it did. You'll just have to take my word for it.

To answer Shirley & Lorie's question on my last post about the distance of our stall bars, the bottom bars are little less then 1.5" apart. Mini foals might be a concern, but we won't have any. We might temporarily board the bottom up anyways, just for peace of mind and so a little one doesn't bonk their head into metal until they get their legs.

After a closer look, the bars are slightly different widths on the top vs bottom. Top stall bars & window grate distance between each bar is 1.75" 

Jameson helping Brad check the bathroom door swing

I used to walk our woods several times a week, but for whatever reason I haven't made it out to our woods in forever. I asked Brad if he would be willing to take a break, and go for a slow walk with me. I wanted to feel & see what the woods look like again.

We walked around the horse pasture, and changed cards in our game cameras...

it's fun getting muddy

I had to stop for a break a couple times. I zoomed in from the bottom of the pasture, looking at the barn and wishing the horses were here. You must be sick of seeing barn pictures, and I miss our horses!! I was in no shape to ride, and didn't want to get everyone at the barn sick. After this week, we will get back to a regular horse schedule. I hope.

winter barn view

It was unseasonably warm, close to 50F. We almost turned back, but what I longed for was our pines...

feel the wonder

Taking that walk and getting fresh air did help. It took a few more days of laying low, but I am completely better now. Being sick sure reminds a person to be grateful for healthier days. 

Wishing you all good health!! It is truly the key component to everything else in life.