land of wonders ~ may 2026

May was a long and busy month. Storage shed building contractors came and went. We had weekly vet, along with some human appointments. Brad attended a horse show, things went well. I stayed home to take care of our animals. Gardens and containers were planted. Watering and more watering were daily activities. Just to name a few things that kept us busy in May.

As for our land itself, our wooded paths turned into green tunnels with pesky ticks and other biters. Making me wish for Winter. Hiking was enjoyed sparingly. My mosquito net saved my face a couple times. These days it is clipped onto my pants loop, just incase.

Summer's heat arrived early. Our hay fields have grown long and dry. They are scheduled to be cut next week. We are finally getting much needed rain this week!

May Snaps:

Indigo Bunting?
5.6.26

First Four Leaf Clover of the season

Chickadee Eggs in our Bluebird nesting box

Cierra & Nemo



Apple Tree Blossoms




First of many Wild Strawberries
5.7.26

Tanks Branch of the Day
5.8.26


treasured sky views
5.11.26


Leo gets a Lift
5.13.26


Remi's Daily Drop-n-Roll
5.13.26

Wild Honeysuckles in Bloom
5.14.26

Jameson joins us on a rare doggie walk

Stunning Spring Skies viewed from our deck
5.16.26

Closer-up

Heat makes gardens bloom faster. A couple transplanted Clematis remain from our previous home:

5.20.26

Fun Allium Bulbs

5.27.26

Surprise! Walk around required.
5.28.26

Every year the weather seems to foster a different type of bug invasion. 

Red Clover Mites. Everywhere.

5.30.26

Brad sent me a photo of some blooms he spotted growing in a part of our land we don't frequent as much. I was SO surprised to see these transplanted iris thriving on their own in the sandiest part of our propertyl!!

They used to grow in the front bed of my previous home. I have a much smaller garden bed now and didn't have a spot for them to live. Our son has zero interest in gardening, so we took all the beds out. I saved and gave away whatever plants I could.

It is safe to say these Iris are very hardy!

Caeser's Brothers Iris
5.31.26

We are already almost half way through June. Enjoy the turn of official Summer!!

work and play mix

A few years ago we started a new tradition for Mothers Day. A gift of help from my younger two kids. My oldest has a busy career and is a mom herself. Each year, I choose a land project for the four of us to tackle together. I love this tradition! 

One of my favorite sayings is "many hands make quick work". 

We have done things in the past like random junk removal left by others in the woods (don't get me started) and other years pulling invasive's. This year, instead of working on land projects I asked that we work on our fire pit area. Specifically, the weathered wooden rocking chairs that need restoring. Also, removing heavy real logs used as side tables and pulling endless weeds growing through rock edging.

After tightening loose wooden pieces, it quickly became obvious that sanding each chair (X8) would take an eternity. We resorted to Power Washing. Which meant unplanned drying time, followed by the need for stain to even un-sanded wood colors out. 

Let the yard work begin. With four of us, we got so much done! Oh to be younger, they moved so fast. I am grateful for our son & daughters help, who both work a lot of hours at their job/s. They gave up their entire day and spent it with me/us. After enjoying a delicious home cooked meal, we all went to bed tired that night. Including these three:

Jameson, Asher and Tank

While the guys were getting things set up, my new grand dog Asher went on his first off-leash walk. He got zapped by the pasture fence, but otherwise did good. Especially for a rescue puppy exploring a new world.

around 9 months old

Before all the work began, was some soul fulfilling play!! I finally took time to fly my new replacement kite. Brad came out to the field and helped release (and re-release) the kite. He also took photos and video. Not posting video due to audio. Wish I could figure out an easier way to replace bad audio with music. iMovie makes my head hurt.

Anywho, I have my own flutterby that floats and glimmers in the sun!

"let's go fly a kite"

5.10.26

 

finished book ~ unfinished thoughts

After taking an extended break from reading books, I finally finished reading Sacred Spaces (SS). It was an easy read, full of good self-help type of information. Cover-to-cover. Yes it is geared towards interacting with horses, but applicable to all of types of thoughtful interactions.

The last chapter "Connecting all the Pieces" is helpful to tie concepts presented throughout the book, and where to find the building blocks. Some are still hard (for me) to grasp. I have tried many times to attempt the pre-visualization thing. Our horses just look at me confused, like "what are you doing?" or more like "why are you doing that?". Apparently some type of thought is being shared. Perhaps my head is just too busy. Either way, it is an interesting way to interact.

General concepts covered in SS mirror much of what is being shared through my rekindled yoga practice. Key word practice.

What can I say, The Art of Pause is everything.

The Epilogue touched home. As I continually process love, loss and life in general. The list of suggestions are really (really) good ones to revisit over-and-over, and strive to live by. I am thankful to have this book to support my horse interactions and unfinished thoughts.

~~~

"Each being on this earth, and earth itself, is made up of energy...energy can neither be created or destroyed. It can only change form."

3.31.26

land of wonders ~ march 2026 2/2

Marching, or in Tanks case jumping, through the second half the month:

March 18 (Remi waaay ahead)

Tanks shadows!

March 19

enjoying late season snow

I was so surprised to find another isolated heart (below)!! Same path. I had stopped to snap a photo of Tank and almost stepped on the heart with my snowshoes. If I had, it would have become my broken heart.

no clue what formed this almost perfectly shaped heart (not me)

yes you blondee, get down

March 20 sunset

mother nature took a big pine down
(13 secs)

March 22 cloudy layered sunset

taking 3 dogs for a walk
March 23

(Tank, Remi and Leo the cat-dog)



everything smells better together

Tank is always watching out for me



Harmony enjoying bed and breakfast
March 24

Our round bales easily fall apart and are so messy! Brad said "we will never do round bales again". Don't know until you try.

catkins caught my eye

Google says they are from a Hazelnut. Hmm. Maybe?



Tank & Remi
March 25

naturalized grape hyacinths
March 26



calm grazing on emerging grass
March 27



are you coming?




the dogs sniff a lot in the disturbed area

Nemo & Cierra under cover

(no clue why photos are so much darker in blogger)



Tank & Rem-Rem
March 30

It is unusual for me to have all three big dogs together these days.

Remi taking a break

She will be 10 at the end of May. Bernese Mountain dogs life expectancy is 6-8 yrs. She is a medium sized Berny and doing good. Country life suits her well. She loves the woods, the barn and me.

Tank & Remi on barn watch (Leo photo bomb)
March 30

More scratches please (Hope)
March 31

Koda and friends walking
(5 secs)



Tank takes his horse job seriously

This concludes a snapshot of March happenings.

April should bring rain showers, with less weather swings. My early daffodils are about to open and many perennials are poking through the ground. It won't be long and active gardening season will take over! Unfortunately, so will the dreaded flying biters. 

Taking the good with the bad, makes us appreciate the good even more.