Archive for the ‘Chronicle’ Category
Trail Upgrade
One of the best purchases I have made since we moved here is that wood chipper that runs off the PTO of the diesel tractor. Not only has it given us a way to get rid of the never-ending accumulations of tree branches, it is also providing a treasure trove of wood chips for landscape projects and trail maintenance.
I had a large pile of chips in the back pasture last fall that didn’t get distributed before it got buried in snow, and I have wanted to get it moved ever since it reappeared this spring. The recent rains have turned areas of our trail through the woods into swamp mud and we’re hoping a covering of wood chips will make it much less messy to cross, so that is providing additional motivation.
Yesterday, I landed a perfect combination of being home during the day, while it wasn’t raining, with time available, when the ATV was in working order. I made 3 trips from the pile to the wettest spot in the woods before switching to other more time-sensitive jobs.
Like mowing the grass. It has doubled in height in the 4 days since I last cut it. With rain predicted for today, I wanted to have that mowing completed in advance, to avoid it doubling another time before I could get to it.
There’s still half a pile of chips left, so I plan to return soon to covering the muddiest sections of trail with that, until it runs out. At that point, I will need to get out the trusty chipper again and make more piles of trail cover out of the multiple collections of branches that lie in wait.
It’s definitely a win-win situation!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Sophomore Slump
I don’t think sophomore slump is necessarily the best description for what I am feeling, but it is what came to mind for me. We have had our horses for a little over a year and a half now, and that just so happens to be the same amount of time for which I have experience with most everything to do with horses.
I came to this gig as a novice and have been relying primarily on intuition as my guide on how to care for them, beyond what I have gleaned from watching and listening to Cyndie, our farrier—George, and the two equine veterinarians who have been here.
If anything, I have leaned toward growing somewhat cocky over the success I have had thus far with our herd of 4, but I am very aware of how limited my experience really is. There is a lot more left to know than the limited understanding I have acquired thus far. What I’m trying to describe is that I feel like I have gained enough experience to no longer be a novice, but not enough to confidently guide my actions beyond the simple acts of feeding and brushing them out.
Yesterday, after brushing Legacy from head to toe because he stepped up and indicated a desire for it, I set down the brushes and took off my gloves to work on a tangle in his mane. With my attention on the twisted knot, I missed any hint he might be displeased with my activity. Suddenly he nipped my pant leg and pinched some flesh.
It brought out an involuntary yell of, “Ouch!” which startled all 4 of them. I angrily backed Legacy off and cut short my attention to all of them.
I am well aware that I have neglected to effectively teach Legacy to respect my space. I find myself in a bit of limbo between mastering the art of communicating with the conscious awareness I have come to believe horses possess, and the more traditional ways of repetitive lessons to establish desired behaviors in horses.
I see it as my sophomore slump that I know a little bit, but not enough to be as effective as I would like. Something tells me that if I continue to allow the horses to be my guides, Legacy will continue to have the upper hand. It’s back to the books for me, to refresh what I already know and then expand beyond that toward a new level of skills and confidence.
In no time I will find myself into my third year with the horses, and by then I would hope a sophomore slump to be a thing of the past.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Wonderful Wetness
We have received several days of light-to-moderate precipitation which is soaking in more than running off, and the plants around here seem pretty thrilled with the conditions. The grass sure is growing fast.
Hopefully, the horses have properly adjusted to all the greenery available for grazing, as we are now leaving the gate to the back pasture open 24/7 again. They don’t seem to like the noise made by rain on the metal roof of the barn, so when precipitation is falling, they move away, either to the bottom of the paddock or way out in the pasture.
I was in the city working yesterday, and when I got home in the afternoon, Delilah was laying in the gate area of her kennel, which is beyond the tarp that covers the main area, so she was soaking wet. Silly dog.
We walked down to feed the horses, but they didn’t show any interest in coming in from the far side of the pasture. Since it was raining steadily, I didn’t wait around for them, taking Delilah on an abbreviated walk back toward the house.
After having just mowed last Saturday, there are places where it already looks like it needs cutting again, just 3 days later. On our way in, I stopped to empty the rain gauge, which had 2 inches of rain in it since Saturday.
Before going to the horses, we had stopped by the labyrinth to see that the maple tree looked okay (hard to tell exactly when the leaves are drooping from the wetness), and the trillium in the woods was looking very good.
I’m grateful for the rain not coming all at once in a gully-washing downpour, but instead has soaked in enough to help fuel growth in everything around here. It’s making things a sloppy mess in some places, but overall, it is a wonderful wetness.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Another Transplant
The woods up around our lake place are replete with the white and purple blossoms of wild trillium, which is such a beautiful sight. Just before we left to drive home yesterday, Cyndie’s nephew, Beck, helped her dig up a few of the plants for us to bring home. We hope to seed our woods for a shot at a similar magical landscape down here in a few years.
We tried to minimize the hours they were out of the ground by getting them planted as quickly as possible after we got home.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I noticed in the second picture there is a worm, which is unfortunate, since, as I recently wrote, they are not trillium’s friend, because they consume the duff layer of decaying leaves and rob the soil of nutrients. I’m hoping our situation is not that extreme yet, and the two can coexist for some time.
I was so excited about the new plantings that I forgot to go check how the recently transplanted maple tree is getting along. Now we have two areas that I will be anxiously observing for signs of success.
There is such a variety of growth that springs forth in our woods every year, we are hopeful that our attempt to add trillium to it all will be met with success and the wonderful beauties will begin propagating unassisted in years to come.
Wish us luck!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
How To
This is how you take advantage of the day after workday on the opening weekend of the summer vacation season up at the lake.
Rain started slowly and gently mid-to-late afternoon and turned the rest of the day wet, but in the hours prior, there was some basketball played, a group of very motivated and brave young adventurers went tubing behind the speedboat (that lake is still very cold), and some people took a nap.
I went for a stroll, did some observing, and visited with a few people I don’t get to see as often as I’d like anymore. I had to try several different times to stop thinking about the projects I should be working on at home, in order to pay proper attention to the here and now.
It was good to be up at my favorite getaway with Cyndie’s family again. We received messages that all is well at home. Horses, dog, and cat are getting along well with our guest caretakers. That goes a long way toward helping me relax and enjoy our time here.
Today is Memorial Day holiday in the US, when we pause to remember and honor those who have died in active military service. It appears as though I may be spending a few hours of the day in a line of cars returning to their homes, since the soaking rain continues to fall and will likely inspire folks to hit the road earlier than they otherwise might on the last day of a 3-day weekend.
If I could, I’d prefer to be spending that time curled up under a comforter in a hammock on a hill above the lake.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Frustrating Exercise
Despite my ambitious goals to accomplish many things yesterday (so I could take Cyndie up on an offer to turn my back on projects at home for a day to celebrate Memorial Day weekend with a visit to the lake) I finished far short of the plan. Now I am forced to try to get the grass mowed this morning, long before the dew has evaporated, so we can leave in the afternoon.
Complicating my efforts yesterday, and seriously hindering my progress, was a surprising and very dramatic reaction to something in the air. I started sneezing big time, and my nose began to run like a faucet. That both hindered progress and contributed to my not addressing any of the other things I had wanted to do.
On top of that, I ended up needing to make that almost obligatory return trip to Menards for supplies. I was working on patching our deck where boards have gotten soft with rot. The carpenter I called to replace them all is too busy to get to it until later, so he suggested I patch it for now. Following his simplified instructions, I quickly ran into details that required I problem solve.
It took two tries, but I figured out solutions and forged ahead, way behind schedule. Then my nose began to pour and the pry bar I used to pull nails became too worn and wouldn’t grip the nail heads. It was an exercise in managing frustration and rearranging goals. I’ll give myself a C grade for the lesson. (Mike, I needed your nail-puller and expertise!)
It was getting late, and I had all the tools spread out across the deck, so I forged ahead until after sunset to complete the task. I wanted to have one less thing left to do today, and I successfully accomplished that!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Evening Quiet
As Cyndie stepped out the door last night for Delilah’s last walk of the evening, I heard her telling me it was really nice outside. How could I resist? I hurried into my boots to join them for a stroll.
The warmth of the sunny afternoon was just beginning to slip away and darkness was making progress toward cloaking visibility. Looking back over our house to the west, the waxing crescent moon looked picture-post-card-perfect, complimented by the striking brightness of celestial bodies Venus and Jupiter, evoking a magical feeling in the moment.
It was mostly quiet, except for the odd sound that may have been a raccoon letting its presence be known. It didn’t seem to distract Delilah one bit from the rabbit scent she was ravenously exploring. The thick smoke from the neighbor’s wood burning furnace was creating a thin line in both directions, hanging low in a thermal inversion of the valley air a mile away.
I had in mind to get the gate to the arena space closed, to keep the horses out of the confined alleyways overnight. As I made my way into the paddock, Cyndie gently called Legacy to bring the herd back inside. All 4 horses obliged, with the closest two, Cayenne and Hunter, coming in to meet me before I even reached the gate I was about to close.
Legacy and Dezirea turned to come in the paddock, but Legs stopped right in the opening. Both Cyndie and I were sweet talking them with encouragement to keep them coming in our desired direction. I was trying to convey my intention to close the gate, and began moving it in that direction. Legacy took the hint and stepped far enough in to clear, and Dezirea took advantage of that opening to walk right up to me and leaned into the gate.
Dezirea in a recent daytime shot
She wanted me to scratch her itches. I wanted to grant her wish, but after I got the gate hitched. Her forwardness set me to giggling as she insistingly stood up against me in the way of my closing the gate.
I pretty much had to push her hindquarters out of the way, and there she stood, awaiting my return. With the chain clipped, I turned around and dragged my fingernails through her dusty, waxy, shedding coat.
After my week of healing from poison ivy, I know all too well of that orgasmic feeling of having itches scratched. The horses stiffen their necks and bob their heads while making funny expressions with their lips. She was loving it.
I tired quickly and glanced around at the other horses, wondering if I had started something that I wasn’t entirely prepared to fulfill. Luckily, the late hour and encroaching darkness seemed to put them all in a sleepy calm that allowed me to saunter off toward Cyndie and Delilah outside the paddock without needing to give each one a fair turn.
It was the kind of beautiful evening that had us overflowing with gratefulness for our animals and this beautiful place where we live.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Unidentified Object
This triangular slab of concrete is in our woods, far from anyplace that would seem sensible to have a slab of concrete. We have no idea where it came from, what it once was or how it ended up in this spot.
Any ideas what it might have been?
Ever since we discovered this misplaced piece of sidewalk, I have been trying to think of somewhere we might make use of it, and how in the world we would move it. It is unlikely that we would be able to get it out of these woods without killing a tree or two, but there are just some small saplings between it and open space.
Of course, it’s been two years since we stumbled upon it and nothing has happened yet, so those trees could become more of an issue if we can’t come up with a plan pretty soon.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Calorie Burning
We have tried to pay better attention to controlling how much food the horses get daily, ever since our last vet visit revealed they still need to lose more weight. It’s not as easy now as it is in the winter, when the only food they get is what we give them. Now there is more than enough grazing available, unless we lock them in the barn.
I’m not going to do that. It creates way too much mess for me to clean up. Early last week we had a cool day with wind and rain that set the herd to shivering. We put them inside overnight to dry off. Next day, since I was out of the routine of cleaning the stalls, I forgot all about it. Then I forgot the day after that. When I finally got around to it, the weather had warmed considerably and the humidity had climbed. It was nasty ripe inside the barn.
It gave me new appreciation for all the times I have had to do that chore in frozen winter temperatures. It’s much less stinky.
Back to controlling their food… our herd leader, Legacy, is rather persistent about asserting his authority over the others by way of moving them off their feed pan. If I put less out for him, he just finishes it quick and moves on to the next pan, forcing off anyone who happened to be there.
Since he seems to always get the most food, we’ve decided to balance that by getting him the most exercise in hopes of compensating. Sunday afternoon, Cyndie led Legacy to our arena space to do some longeing exercises. He is funny because it is quickly obvious that he knows the drill, and even seems to light up and enjoy proudly prancing around, but after barely finishing one circle he stops and turns toward Cyndie as if to say, “I’m done! That was great. How’d I do? Where’s my treat?”
In fairness to both of them, he and Cyndie are out of practice and it was distractingly windy. Also, the surface was wet and thus a bit slippery. She restarted him a few times, but eventually cut the session short, for his sake and hers.
Yesterday, I was walking Delilah and when we popped out of the woods, we found three of the horses on the ground, napping. It took them a bit to become aware of us, and after they did, the two chestnuts decided to get up. Our exercise-needing herd leader did not. He decided to stay on the ground.
He doesn’t seem very fired up about burning any extra calories.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Positive Identification
At the risk of belaboring this subject of my ongoing struggles with poison ivy —a topic which I would really prefer people not automatically associate me with [so why am I writing about it?]— I made some progress yesterday on learning to better identify it on our property.
I have been writing about it in my online community, Brainstorms, and one of the responses I received there bolstered my confidence that I would figure out how to positively recognize it. Armed with a fresh review of images available online for reference, I enlisted Cyndie to join me as a second set of eyes and opinions and we set out on a reconnaissance mission along our northern property line where I suspect my most recent exposure occurred.
After several cases of “See, this has the features, and also these, but not quite,” BOOM! We came upon an unsettling amount of easily recognizable 3-leaflet clusters where the back two leaves have a single notch that gives them a mitten-like appearance. The leaves were a little shinier than other plants, and the newest sprouts had a red coloring. It suddenly seemed very obvious to me.
It was a weird feeling to still have a significant rash in the process of healing, and be finally staring from a short distance away, directly at the plant that causes it. I had to resist the urge to just reach down and pull it out by the roots. All I could do was stare. I didn’t even want my boot to touch it. Heck, I didn’t even want to breathe if the wind blew past.
The longer we walked, the more plants I located. I think I liked it better when I remained oblivious.
My discussion on Brainstorms brought up the point that if I don’t take any action against the plants, they will just spread. That got my attention. I’ve been operating as though my efforts to ignore it might somehow make it go away.
See why I don’t want to be remembered for this?
Anyway, since I prefer to avoid the extreme option of attacking it with a harsh chemical herbicide like Roundup, I looked up natural ways to kill the poison ivy plant.
Number one option: goats.
Hmmm. But how do I get them to eat around the desirable plants? Actually, although Cyndie said she thought poison ivy was on a list of things a horse shouldn’t eat, I found information that horses can graze on it. That would be nice. I don’t think I will walk them around encouraging them to eat the plants growing along our trails, but I think some is growing out in the fields we have designated as pasture for them, and I’d rather not have to worry about it being there.
There are also options of potions containing white vinegar, mixtures of salt and soap, and even one that uses gin and apple cider vinegar that can be sprayed on the leaves. That doesn’t seem too harsh, although I don’t know that it won’t also kill other growing things in the same vicinity. I’d prefer that it not end up looking like we just poured Roundup on it.
Regardless what method we employ, it requires that I be able to identify the culprit, and I am now finally feeling confident I can pick it out among the myriad other innocuous and desirable flora carpeting our glorious acres. It’s been a rude awakening.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
