everyone is talking...

...about the weather. It is a hot topic right now. WI weather has been severe for extended days, with more to come. Heavy rain downpours, thunder storms, strong winds and tornado's have placed WI under a State of Emergency. We finally bought a generator. I will sleep better once it is installed.

Weather affects everyone differently. Many not far from us have lost roofing, had building damage and giant trees uprooted. The WI river is above flood stage. Dangerously causing flooding and damage along all the connected water ways. I feel for those evacuating to safety.

You cannot tell we have had severe weather by looking at our land. So far, our trees/woods remain unscathed. Rain quickly soaks into our sandy soil. There are some benefits to living in sand country. It has turned our fields lush and green. The photo below was taken before this week's deluge of water falling from the sky.

4.13.26

Along with all the moisture, we have already had several hot and humid (yuck) days. Spring is springing on rapid fire!! 

hyacinths return in a variety of colors

I continue adding a few bare root trilliums to our Enchanted Forest area each year. I hope someday to see them bloom!

returning trilliums

My garden daffodils are blooming fast. I cut some stalks that heavy rain bent. Naturalized blooms are just starting to share their cheery color and delightful scent throughout our land. 

my daffy bouquet smells wonderful!

Scenes from the road:

fields and hills of gold
4.14.26

I marveled at these yellow magnolia trees. They can be finicky, but apparently not this Spring.

4.15.26

different days

Heat. Humidity. Storms. Hardly different. Unless you have not had storms for a while and they show up full force. In what feels like an endless string. Tomorrow they are predicting heat indices of 108F ~ ugh!! So far today, it has been raining stupid hard. Nonstop for hours. There will no doubt be local flooding. 

wish I could send some of this rain out West

Harmony was ouchie off/on for a few days last week. We found no heat, or sign of an abscess. She is prone to them, especially when barefoot. Our old girl is a very intuitive self regulator and does much better turned out.

I happened to be standing right next to the shed when the horses came running up Friday. Multiple horse flies were after them. The %#$@ flies are just awful this year!! I can hardly tolerate the gazillion black biting ones. I watched Harmony come up last, slower than normal. She seemed to be moving okay. Although, after she reached down towards her rear left foot (as if to itch a fly) she didn't want to put that foot back down flat. Ruh Roh. Harmony was obviously in pain, hobbling on her hoof tip. I messaged Brad & our daughter, then brought her in. Poor girl. She hobbled uphill to the barn, with nostrils flaring. I could tell Harmony was in pain, just by the expression on her face. She was not happy with me bringing her in.

Our daughter is good with equine care, especially with Harmony's history. It is nice having her home when problems arise. Harmony seemed to calm down after getting a bath and some attention from her girl. We stalled her the rest of the weekend, with hand walks/grazing.

Harmony is better, and bearing weight on her left rear. The little walking she has done appears normal. This may or may not have resolved itself. With the endless rain, we have yet to turn her out and see how she really is. I worry about turning her out with unfavorable conditions. Lately the herd comes barreling up to the shed willy-nilly, multiple times a day. As you can see in the above video, our dry lot is far from dry.

Nemo and Cierra frequently called to her throughout the weekend. After a brief turnout, Koda chose to stay inside next to her on Saturday. I offered turnout three more times. He clearly wanted to stay in until Sunday. Hmm, very different. However, Koda was content with his decision. I would like to think he stayed in to keep Harmony company, but it was more likely about the weather/flies and perhaps getting a break from Nemo's incessant herding. 

Koda & Harmony water cooler talk

All day Saturday, the other two horses wanted to come in and out. Sheez. I pretty much cleaned stalls off/on all day lol. If we left them out, all hell would break loose. If we brought them in, we would not get a drop. We don't normally cater to our herds every whim, but the weather threat was real.

Sunday's weather was a little better, by nighttime we were back to storms. Much to Harmony's unhappiness the rest of the herd stayed out all Sunday. It was a different weekend. We watched for inclement weather, and for signs. 

weather forecaster

If you want an accurate weather forecast, observe Nemo. Unlike our human weather forecasters, he isn't wrong on a daily basis. Nemo is the first to let us know when Spring is coming, and feels weather before it happens.

Just yesterday, I was getting ready to leave for a photo shoot at our trainers barn when Nemo started running. I thought it was odd. It was starting to cloud over, but the birds were chirping and it was warm. Rain wasn't forecasted until overnight. I caught a small part of the warning round-up on my phone:

Shortly after I took the video, the thunder rolled. By the time I got out to the barn it started raining, hard. It looked partly sunny where I was headed, but called the photo shoot off anyways. Glad I did, tornado warnings were added to the general area shortly after. I was surprised to hear there was a touch down in the town where I was heading. Nothing major, just down trees. I am far from a storm chaser and prefer to enjoy their mysteriousness from the comfort of my home, altho it could have made for interesting equine photos.

Thank you Nemo, for always keeping a watchful eye.

I sure do love Brad's special heart horse!