Archive for the ‘Chronicle’ Category
Lots Done
Sometimes I don’t accomplish very much by the end of a day. Other times –I don’t know why– I find myself checking off one thing after another on my list of tasks deserving attention. Yesterday was one of those days when Cyndie and I got a lot done, due in no small part to Asher being off to an all-day “Fit-Dog” session with a canine coach.
Cyndie kicked off the day by putting up a simple fence around my manure compost piles, hoping to dissuade Asher from rolling in them.
Before we started anything else, we decided to give the horses time to come inside the barn again to receive a snack in the stalls. Despite it requiring extra effort to convince Swings to come back out, we agreed it was another successful session. Once they were back outside, they moved out to the hay field which enabled us to close gates behind them so we could put fresh lime screenings under the overhang.
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The horses got a little testy about being locked out of the paddock while we worked and took out their frustration by racing around, which was a treat for us to watch. It looks like Mix is unsure of what to think about the changes we were making.
While I had the tractor in the paddock, I mowed some weeds on one end and then used the bucket to drag washed-out lime screenings back up to fill the area I was doing by hand the day before.
From there, it was just a few gate openings and closings and I was free to mow the back pasture.
Keeping the momentum going, I slipped out the back gate when I was done and made a pass up and down the drainage ditch along our southern border.
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On my way back to the garage, I took a couple of passes with the loader bucket along the gravel drive in front of the hay shed to see if that would be an easy way to tear out the massive weed infestation. Earlier, while moving loads of lime screenings into the paddock, I had forgotten to lift the bucket high enough to clear the ground on the way out one time and it carved off a layer of turf. That revealed a nice-looking patch of the fresh gravel that was underneath which inspired me to try doing that intentionally on the rest of the loop.
The results were promising but if I’m going to clean up the gravel, I might as well put the back-blade on and use that for the purpose it is intended.
With energy to spare, I decided to hop on the zero-turn after parking the diesel and made my way into the round pen to mow down the growth in there.
Almost as good as a putting green, and with sand traps to boot.
We got a lot done yesterday and it sounded like Asher had a good play date at his “Fit-Dog” session. I’d say that qualifies as a double bonus of accomplishments.
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Changing Landscapes
As I so often do, I ended up choosing hand tools over the diesel tractor for reclaiming some of the lime screenings that have washed into the drainage swale in the field beyond the paddocks.
It was just a lot easier to start the task when the moment presented itself, I have way more control over what I am doing, and I could work without bothering to isolate the horses.
The washout isn’t all that dramatic in the picture above, where I had already dumped several loads back on top, but the erosion was beginning to get a lot worse with each batch of heavy rainfall we had been getting. I’d like to interrupt the pattern of increasingly greater washouts as early as possible.
It would be grand to add something like a grid or fabric to hold soil in place but hoof traffic through that space tends to destroy that kind of thing. We’ve got some thick rubber mats under the overhang where we place feed pans and the horses’ hooves do a surprisingly good job of tearing them up.
They have been stomping their feet to knock biting flies off their legs and that tends to bust up their hooves a bit. I spotted a big rock that had recently surfaced on a slope of one paddock. It appeared to have scuff marks on it so I asked Cyndie if it should come out. Her response was, yes, because it can be bad for their hooves.
When I finally pried it out, it fell into two pieces. I think a horse had already broken it by stomping.
I took “before and after” pictures of a different project yesterday afternoon.
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We cleared out this path along our northern property border last year to create our newest walking trail. Everywhere I had cut a tree, new shoots sprouted with a vengeance from the stumps. I hadn’t given this any attention since spring and the weeds and tree shoots were taking over. Now the path is much more inviting.
This coming weekend we are hosting a Hays family gathering that will include a scavenger hunt for one of the events. I now have one more trail where I can think about sending hunters in search of some unique item or landmark.
Cyndie and I have already agreed that no clues will require digging, moving anything large, looking under manure piles, or climbing trees to find designated items.
The scavenger hunt beat out my idea of a treasure hunt where increasingly helpful clues would be provided each time a task is completed. What kind of tasks? I was thinking of things like splitting some firewood, filling in erosion ruts, hauling hay bales, or turning compost piles. The treasure was going to be a seat in our reclining easy chair and a glass of ice-cold lemonade.
See ya this weekend, Hays siblings and offspring!
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Continuing Progress
After lunch yesterday, Cyndie suggested we try giving the horses another opportunity to wander into the barn for the second day in a row. I think it was great timing and resulted in another good experience for all. Even the surprise leap of Asher suddenly popping his face over the half-door to observe didn’t disturb the horses lingering nearby.
The horses milled about calmly and eventually, each one stepped into a stall to nibble the snack we had placed out for them.
The longer the horses linger in the barn without incident the greater incentive we begin to feel to successfully end the exercise on a pleasant note. Ideally, that means letting them make their way back outside of their own accord. Too bad ideals happen less often than we seek.
Something I’ve witnessed with our horses is a very common behavior of ‘almost’ moving all the way through a gate or door when we invite them to and then pausing for [usually] an extended time to look around and take in all the available scenery, apparently undecided about whether or not they truly want to comply with our desires.
As we began to verbally encourage the horses to move back out into the fresh air while all was calm, Swings decided to turn around and take one more look around. I was able to pull the gates closed so the other three wouldn’t change their minds and go back in as well but that led to an imbalance that Mix and Light were unhappy about.
It took the added persuasion from Cyndie who’d stepped inside the barn to convince Swings to join the rest of the herd again. Maybe the anxious whinnying from the two horses outside would have done the trick but I suspect Swings likes having the others fret sometimes and was just fine taking her merry sweet time.
We are optimistic about the horses being fine going into the stalls for the vet appointment in a little over a week and intend to give them even more free time inside before that day arrives to improve the odds.
In another area of continued progress yesterday, Cyndie had Asher off-leash while moving around the property down to the labyrinth where she intended to do some weeding and he did well with it.
I was very happy to find the maple tree we transplanted to the center of the labyrinth was casting enough of a shadow that Asher was able to take refuge from the hot sunshine by pausing (however briefly) beneath it.
Asher also did his darnedest to help Cyndie with her weed-pulling.
Take that image of dirt digging and multiply it by seven or eight and you can imagine how much Cyndie was appreciating his “help.”
It’s progress, but is it good?
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New Visitors
This morning we found evidence of new life arriving overnight down under the overhang.
At least two recently opened eggshells were on the ground beneath the horses. I won’t be the least bit surprised if the many barn pigeons have expanded their numbers. They will share a close birthday with the new robin hatchlings nesting in the branches of the spruce tree just outside our sunroom windows.
Yesterday we spotted the momma bird hopping up branches of the tree with a worm in her mouth and the little heads soon appeared with mouths opened wide.
We also enjoyed a visit from a new connection made at the Tour of Minnesota bike week. After several years of seeing each other on the tour, Scott Skaja overheard me mention having horses and quickly showed interest in bringing his family to see the place one day.
Yesterday was our opportunity before his oldest leaves for college in Florida and we were graced with a beautiful day to roam the property and mingle with the horses while also giving Asher plenty of attention.
The Skaja family was able to witness our experiment with refamiliarizing the horses with the inside of the barn. A vet appointment on the calendar in early August will require the horses to be in the stalls, so we will be offering them multiple opportunities to grow comfortable doing so.
We tried this last year but when Cyndie shattered her ankle in November it interrupted the process and the horses ended up making it through the winter without ever needing to be brought in.
Moving them one at a time when they aren’t sure about coming inside was a challenge I did not want to deal with all alone.
Scott and his wife and daughters stood outside the half-doors to observe how the four horses made their way inside and sniffed around every nook and cranny before eventually finding pans of feed to snack on inside each stall. Cyndie and I felt as though the horses showed evidence of remembering the visits last year and seemed pleasingly comfortable being inside.
It was a great chance to let the Skajas watch the horses explore new things and behave like the big, beautiful creatures they are, including pooping in the barn. Daughter, Bella graciously volunteered to do the scooping up afterward. I took advantage of that momentum to show off my manure composting process.
Not very impressive compared to Cyndie serving up freshly baked scones, a variety of incredibly delicious cold salads for lunch, topped off with a peach pie she baked earlier.
Obviously, Cyndie and I have different areas of expertise.
It will be tough to beat the fun we had yesterday, once again confirming our impressions that hosting visitors is truly what brings our paradise to its fullest splendor.
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Home Happy
I’m still thoroughly enjoying being home again but last night’s dinner of grilled pork chops left over from one of our fantastic meals up at the lake gave me a moment of hesitation as I mentally revisited the greatness of those days.
It’s a rough comparison since my day yesterday was spent sweating over pulling weeds, running the power trimmer, and mowing grass in the tropical heat wave of the hottest July on record. Who wouldn’t prefer to be back up at the lake?
Well, I’m pretty happy being able to sleep in our usual bed with the conveniences of a bedside table. I really like our shower. I’m spoiled by how much room there is, allowing for soaping up just beyond the spray of water. My regular routine of charging my phone and laptop works best with my home setup.
I like having the manure compost under daily control. Once every week or week and a half is just too much work all at once to get piles cooking efficiently again. Getting grass mowed before it gets too long is also a preference.
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After dinner, we walked the trash and recycle bins down to the road with Asher at our sides, making it back with time to spare before the first wave of thunderstorms arrived overhead. That weather came in with an ominous-looking cloud line and a dramatic burst of tree-bending wind.
The brief duration of the heavy downpour was a bit anti-climatic when that ended up being all that happened.
Not that I was looking for weather trouble. Quite the contrary. We already have the makings of a small canyon in the paddocks where draining rainfall has washed away the lime screenings into the main drainage swale. The battle against gravity and moving water is never ending in my quest to best manage runoff.
I’m afraid it’s time to extricate the back blade from the depths of the shop garage for attaching to the diesel tractor to scrape gravel back “upstream.” I was relatively successful the last time I tried doing that but the exercise remains on the fringe of skills I have acquired on the big tractor. It always feels like I am on the verge of making things a lot worse instead of better.
Regardless, we are home and that is making me as happy as it always does.
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Great Greeting
When you haven’t seen your dog for a week, it’s hard to contain your excitement when you arrive home and see his sweet face again. If we get too amped up, so will he, and that’s not a behavior we want to encourage.
It was lucky timing that Cyndie walked in the door in the middle of Asher eating his serving of dinner because that made for a perfect distraction. He stopped eating long enough to check on Cyndie and then got right back to finish his food.
No overexcited jumping involved.
After he finished eating there was plenty of time for Asher to say hello to Cyndie’s mom and lean up against me for a massive dose of scratching, but he was perfectly well-behaved throughout all the greetings to a degree that has us feeling really pleased.
We took him for a short walk in the heat to check on the horses and found things in satisfactory order and the herd calmly spread out around the fence under the overhang.
They were spaced apart as if in an attempt to keep away from each other’s body heat. Their reaction to our return wasn’t so much a greeting as an acceptance of the realization their caregivers were changing back to the usual people.
When we stopped in Hayward to fill Marie’s car with gas before the drive home, Cyndie spontaneously hustled into our favorite pizza place right next door (Coop’s [though under new management]) and quickly grabbed a couple of frozen ones to go.
The pepperoni pizza dinner last night at home felt a little like we were still up at the lake, despite the lack of a lake.
Gee, but it’s great to be back home.
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Heat Remedies
Does anyone know when the climate crisis will become a crisis? I have no idea. Be careful to not fall down in places where the pavement is so hot it will burn flesh this week. I am very thankful we were able to spend the beginning of the week at the lake.
A breeze across the water is a wonderful gift of natural air conditioning. I spent a fair amount of time floating in the lake yesterday but I have no photos of those glorious hours. Cyndie sent me a picture from the pontoon cruise we took with some Wildwood folks and guests on Monday.
Her mom took a picture of Cyndie, Mike, Barb, and me on the deck with fancy appetizers before dinner yesterday.
I didn’t stop eating in time to offer my usual smile. Figs and Brie on toasted French bread slices. Can you blame me?
A week free of training Asher to behave has been a welcome respite. It was an unplanned bonus to have the weather be so hot the lake was the best place we could ask to be. I’m trying hard to hold a positive attitude about the fact we are leaving here today and heading home just as the heat is expected to max out for a couple of days.
I saw a headline last night that reported the seawater of South Florida was reaching hot-tub temperatures. I suspect the coral considers this a crisis already.
It won’t surprise me if Asher starts begging us to take him back up to the lake real soon. In the past, we filled a kiddie pool with water for Delilah when it got really hot but it’s not proving to be an attraction for Asher. We tried hard to coax him in there last week to wash off the fresh horse poop he smushed all over his vest and body. He chose to stand beside it instead.
Maybe today’s high temperatures will change his mind.
If not, I will probably end up being the one laying in it to experience a vague reminder of the big lake we’ve been enjoying up in Hayward for the past week.
It’s been a wonderful time but I won’t deny there’s also a part of me that will be happy to get back to my familiar routine, sweaty chores and all.
Our house has a great geothermal air conditioning feature that will be serving us well as our heat remedy in Beldenville.
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No Storms
It’s occasionally startling to get an alert on my phone about an imminent storm threat and then find out it is for home when we are at the lake, or vice versa. Yesterday we had our minds prepared for the possibility of a brief burst of stormy weather near Hayward in the afternoon but the radar showed cloudbursts appearing more to the east and we never received any precipitation, dramatic or otherwise.
Meanwhile, the warnings I was getting for Beldenville had me regularly monitoring the radar down there and though some instances looked pretty intense, it never appeared to zero in on our property. Reviewing news headlines before turning in for the night revealed stories of serious damage in Hudson with a building losing its roof, many large trees toppled, and thousands who had lost power.
The path of many storms over the years has been Hudson–River Falls–Beldenville, so I asked Cyndie to text our animal sitter, Grace, to see what she had to report. Thankfully, she wrote that a little thunder and rain was all that occurred. I’m happy we didn’t get any hail, as there were many images posted of large hail that had fallen from other storms in the area.
Thanks to the good weather we enjoyed at the lake, our day was filled with a morning walk, paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming, and a ten-person happy-hour pontoon sightseeing cruise around the many bays of Round Lake.
The last few days have been getting sequentially worse in terms of air quality but we are clinging to hopes for a predicted improvement today or tomorrow. My understanding is that the days will continue to grow hotter for the rest of the week and the chances for thunderstorms to suddenly appear remains likely.
We’ll keep an eye on the weather apps and spend most of the storm-free hours either in or on the water when not up on the deck enjoying meals and beverages to fuel our adventures.
It’s a hard life, but we will give our all to luxuriate in it to the fullest degree in honor of those who are committed to actual income-producing engagements during weekday hours.
Before the week is over we will be returning to real life and more than enough work is waiting for me at home to quickly jolt me out of my summery vacation dream life. Thus, the zeal with which I seek as much time soaking in my favorite lake as I can muster while time allows.
Storm-free hours are greatly appreciated.
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Evening Thunder
In that cabin 3 bedroom, just inches from the open window, the peals of rumbling thunder were an almost spiritual meditation lulling us into slumber last night.
After a brilliant day of pickleball and swimming followed by a nap and a fabulous dinner out, we finished the night with five of us around the table in the porch for a card game.
I had no inkling that a mellow thunderstorm was coming until a notice appeared on my phone. Cyndie had already made her way over to the little cabin and was almost asleep when I shuffled over before the rain arrived.
It didn’t show signs of getting windy so we left all the windows open wide and let the symphony of rain and thunder serenade us to sleep.
My Tour de France entertainment is over for another year, freeing up my morning hours for a return to normal routines, except for days when the Women’s World Cup soccer tournament games of primary interest happen in Australia and New Zealand during the wee hours of our local time.
Being a sports fan can be demanding sometimes. [play tiny fiddle of sympathy here.]
Company’s coming today! Our friends, Barb & Mike Wilkus are due to arrive this morning, launching a few days of added lake place bliss for us. Blessings abound and we humbly revel in the friends, family, and experiences we are able to enjoy this week.
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Different Sleep
A change of perspective is always a valuable experience for me and this weekend up at the lake we have been residing in the old cabin #3 beside the main log house above the water. It is one of the original cabins of the former fishing lodge that Cyndie’s family saved when the Wildwood Association transitioned to families owning individual lots.
The Friswolds moved cabin 3 to a new foundation farther back from the lake to make room for the new log home they had built back in the early 1980s. When our kids were young, we spent most of our time up here in the old cabin, granting people in the big house respite from the clamor of infants waking early and the occasional outbursts of either glee or angst associated with that age.
Currently, there are no young ones of the next generation in the family and cabin 3 gets used less often, primarily as overflow accommodations when attendance numbers swell for a weekend.
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Cyndie and I are really enjoying the throwback to a time when our primary experience up at the lake was from the vantage point of the old, and much smaller cabin.
I have been sleeping deeper than in recent memory and with Asher left back in Beldenville with a sitter for this visit, we have no reasons to rise early. This morning the 8 o’clock hour had arrived before we got up. I had woken early and read the whole paper in bed on my computer and then faded into a morning nap that felt rather decadent.
The small rooms and close proximity to the ground (in the big house we usually sleep in the loft) make it feel like we are almost sleeping outdoors.
The view out the back window is one I relish for the trees and forest floor I’m most attracted to for a natural environment.
It’s as if I’m forest bathing all night long as I sleep.
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Relative Something 