Weekend of Trees

 Last weekend, the theme for DH seemed to be cutting down trees.  On Saturday, he decided it was time (more like he had finally gotten enough more pressing tasks crossed off his to do list) to cut down two standing dead trees in the north fence line.  The removal of those trees had actually been originally slated for last winter, but it wasn't urgent and he never got to them.  

Now, however, it still wasn't urgent, except for the fact that he didn't get a whole lot of wood split and stacked near the boiler for this winter's heating.  Since those trees had been dead going on two years they were nice and cured now and could be put into the wood boiler for heat.  So, he grabbed his chainsaw and the tractor and made short work of cutting down those trees and hauling them up to the vicinity of the wood boiler while I was cleaning stalls.

Some of the larger pieces will need to be split before he can fit them through the door of the wood boiler, but most of the wood just needed to be cut to length, which he did later that day.

The next day after lunch, we headed out despite the cold snowy weather and brutal wind, to a local tree farm owned by a family we know and cut down a small spruce to use for our Christmas tree.  It was kind of a now or never thing, as it was the last day this tree farm was going to be open for the season (same with several other tree farms in a 30 mile radius of this little place here), and we knew we didn't want to get a pre-cut and wrapped-tightly-before-shipping to a box store/commercial tree lot tree.  

Buying a tree this year was something that actually took a conscious decision and a bit of discussion between the two of us.  Last year, DH cut a 'wild' one from the family cabin up north near where Mother-in-Law lives.  It was 'free' if you didn't count the cost of gas to drive there and back, which he didn't since he'd been planning to go visit his mom anyway.  The two years before that, we'd cut a spruce each year from a clump of three we'd planted in the early 2000s that needed thinning now that they were 10-ish feet tall.  So, free Christmas tree those two years also.  The thought of paying $70 or more for a tree this year kinda stuck in our throats.

What we both agreed we weren't ready to do, was have a fake tree.  In terms of financials, it made sense to invest in an artificial tree now that we'd use for at least ten years.  It definitely would be cheaper than paying year after year after year for a live one.  In terms of personal aesthetics though, neither of us want an artificial tree.  We agreed we'd rather forego one in the house and just put lights and ornaments on one of the spruces lining the backyard than have a fake tree.

Anyway, we went to the tree farm owned by a family we know (where DS2 had spent a couple of days one summer in high school planting trees with his good friend and soccer teammate).  I told them were looking for a "not tall, not bushy tree that we can fit 20 people into the same room as" for our Christmas tree.  The patriarch of the family pointed us to a couple specific plots where the remaining trees had some deer damage and told us to pick out any one of those and cut it off as high up as we needed in order to make it the height we wanted.

I love that they don't try to upsell us a tree that we will take home and need to cut several feet off plus prune the branches back to make it skinny enough to fit a corner of my living room.  They immediately offered trees that would be overlooked by the person with the "must be magazine perfect" mindset, which was a win for us both.  They made a little cash off a tree that would otherwise be considered undesirable (and therefore unsaleable)  by most, and we got to take home a tree that was only as tall as we needed.

At home, DH popped it into our Christmas tree stand, then we set it on top of a wooden folding table we have, and I decorated it.  Festive, yet still lots of room for presents underneath; plus, unless you count the toybox that normally sits in that corner, no furniture needed to be moved in order to make room for the tree.  Exactly what we'd been looking for in our Christmas tree.

Such a Simple Thing

 But it made me tear up.

You see, at church on Sunday, Two-EEs handed me an envelope.  Being December, I instinctively recognized it as a Christmas card before even opening it.  And, when I did open the envelope, there was a Christmas card inside.

And inside the Christmas card was a family photograph of DS1, Two-EEs, Cowgirl, K3, Toad, Rascal, Tractor and Octavia.  That's when my eyes teared up and I almost cried right there in church.  (Being as I'm historically not a public cryer, I sucked it up, but it wasn't easy.)

You see, I've never gotten a Christmas card from DS1's household before.  And not a family picture either.  Never.  He became a 'household' in 2012 when K3 was born and he added her and K2 to himself, making him now an offshoot family unit to my nuclear household.  Prior to that, he was still included in my Christmas card signatures even though, like DS2 at the time, he was living away and not under my roof.

But that household never gave out Christmas cards.  Never took family photos, let alone gave them to others.  And I didn't see it or know it at the time, but that was because of how chaotic and unpredictable and just plain dysfunctional that household was.  K2 was huge into decorating for Christmas.  Inside, and outside.  The blow up lawn decor and everything.  But even thinking about taking a photo with her, DS1 and their children?  No, didn't happen.  And sending out Christmas cards?  Also didn't happen.  Why, I don't know.  I'll never know.  Was it because of her mental struggles?  Her chronic disorganization and inability to concentrate?  Was it because of her drug use?  Don't know.  I do know if it ever occurred to DS1 to write Christmas cards or take a family photo for remembrance, the thought was soon erased by the crisis of the moment.

Makes me sad to think, now, of how crisis mode was a constant in that home.

And now it's not.  Not a constant, daily, way of life.  Now there's calm predictability and organization. Now there's positive things to count on.  There's sharing in responsibilities.  There's group things, and joyful smiles, and family photos.

It makes me cry.  Sad tears for the years that he and his kids (and K2) didn't have that.  All the hard years.  All the lost time that could have been, should have been, happier.

But it also makes me cry joyful tears.  He, and they, have it now.  May they always have it going forward.

Happy Friday, December 12

 It's been a bit since I did a Friday post of things that made me happy that week.  Probably about time for another, eh?

> I had a birthday on Saturday.  54.  I can't quite wrap my head around that number.  Not in a "oh it's horrible, I'm so old" kind of way, just in a somewhat astonished "I'm what?" and "what does this mean?" kind of way.  When DH was 54 I spent the whole year subconsciously waiting for something bad to happen--his dad died out of the blue from a massive heart attack at 54 and DH is way more overweight than his dad ever was.  Maybe that kept me from actually observing what 54 is like at this little place here? 

But I'm 54 now, and I'm healthy and I can carry 80 pounds of water 150+ feet through the snow which means I'm in pretty darn good shape!  Not that I'm loving carrying water buckets out to the third pasture rather than having a heated water tank out there but that's what it is these wintry days.  And I'm healthy enough and strong enough to do it, one five gallon bucket full of water in each hand, in one trip!

> I found out Friday evening that a dressage barn I used to work at (that sold a few months before Covid) was hosting a used tack sale on Saturday. My interest was piqued. Partly because used tack: how can I resist driving just 12 miles to peruse a selection of discounted horse gear?!? And partly because I knew the new owner of that farm I'd been so familiar with from 2016-2019 had made lots of changes to the property and I was curious to see the farm now without being weird and trespass-y.

So after getting horses turned out on Saturday morning I drove over there. I saw pretty much all the changes, some I really approved of (finally, an outdoor riding arena!) and others I didn't (so many new paddocks, all stuffed with horses living outdoors with run-in sheds, in what used to be lovely productive hay field.)

I scored a nice synthetic--with fleece edges! with elastics! machine washable!--24" dressage girth and a black dressage saddle pad, both in lightly used condition, for a tidy sum of $30.  I've been toying with trying out a non-leather dressage girth for over a year, and when I spied this one at the sale now seemed like the perfect time to give it a whirl.

> While there, I found out two very interesting things: 

1. There's an active Pony Club in the area.  I had no idea.  Having lived in this general area (say 30 mile radius) from 1980-1991 and 1994 to current, how did I never hear this before now???  Apparently until the last few years they were not very active, but still. . . I've had horses since 1984 and I'm just now finding out We Have Pony Club?!?

2. Pony Club now has adult programs/memberships.  My initial interest in finding out more about the local Pony Club chapter was with grandkids in mind (right now, specifically K3), but when I heard adults can now do Pony Club, well, suddenly I was again that teenage girl who loved English riding and fervently wished she could be in Pony Club.  It's not too late for me!  This is going to require much more research and a great deal of soul searching because while I can see time and money outlay in joining (neither of which I have a plethora of) I can also see so much potential for networking and business (boarders!  students! training horses!) and even furthering my own riding education.  Hmmmmm.

>Faline made me a birthday card and gave it to me, along with a gift she'd picked out after having DD1 text me asking for a list of thing I like, at church on Sunday.  She turned 5 not even a month ago, is in Kindergarten, loves sounding out letters and stringing them into words and most recently has been super interested in writing.  She wrote the card all by herself, sounding out the words she wanted on it.

She dubbed me "Amma" when she was about a year and a half old, and that is what all of DD1's kids call me.  Since her writing kick started, she's been writing it out with lots of O's and M's.  Above, that's the omommo word.

I can't remember the exact phrasing of the sentiment written inside the card, but I believe it was "May your life have love" and the two pink people are me--the big one--and Faline--the small one.

>I discovered that my hair, which I had chopped off and donated in July, is finally long enough that I can get a short braid in it.  Hooray!  For me, that's a very big thing since my main ways to wear my hair are in a ponytail or a braid, and I always choose a braid when the weather is windy (because it doesn't get so tangly or in the way).  Going since July without being able to braid it has kind of been driving me nuts.

> DH did not make me a cake for my birthday.  Nor did he buy one, or any kind of dessert. Which, to him (whom I've figured out carries a lot of childhood trauma especially in regards to celebrating birthdays) is no big deal.  His brain doesn't mark birthdays as anything other than just another day.  But you know what?  To me, your birthday is special because you are special and YAY you exist!  

I tried hard to not let the lack of cake bother me.  I mean, he did make sure I had lunch (heated up leftovers) and dinner (fancy pizza joint in the next town over) that day. (Only because years ago once the kids got old enough to cook I refused to cook for other people on my birthday and I've held fast to that).  But really, it still kind of hurt that there wasn't cake or any kind of special dessert.

So on Wednesday I baked a small batch of pumpkin cupcakes!  It was a new recipe I'd seen that used 1 cup of pumpkin puree, which I happened to have on hand after cooking some of the pumpkins from this year's garden.

And that simple batch of twelve pumpkin cupcakes made me happy.  Although I do have to say they taste a whole lot like spice cake.  Which makes me think that maybe in the future if I don't happen to have pumpkin on hand I'll use my spice cake recipe to make cupcakes instead of a sheet cake.

> We have snow.  It's snowed a couple of times this week, melted a little, and snowed a little more.  Enough that DH got out the tractor and plowed the driveway.  I think there's roughly 5" on the ground currently.  I know lots of people don't like snow.  But I do.  What's the point of having cold weather if it doesn't come with snow?  Snow is so useful (skiing, sledding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, snowman-making, seeing the prints of the wild critters that were around while you were sleeping, you can eat it or melt and drink it, it insulates the plants and ground and anything else you pile it up on/against), as well as being beautiful to look at.

Those are my happy things from this past week.  How was your week?

Trash to Treasure

 DH found this hung up in the edges of a spruce tree out by the road.  At first, he thought it was a plastic bag that must have been littered or fallen out of the back of the trash collection truck (pick up day was the day before) because it was very visible and hadn't been there a few days earlier.

But when he plucked it from the spruce boughs and took a closer look, he brought it into the house for me to see.  And for me to confirm what he suspected, that it might possibly be a bird's nest. (Not made in the spruce tree, but possibly having fallen into it from a taller maple tree nearby).

Despite it's unusual coloring and materials, I knew it at once as an oriole's nest.  How exciting!  I'd suspected for a few years that we might have a nesting pair at this little place here, having spotted--and heard--a male every Spring and now and then a female, but until now I had no proof.

It is missing part of the 'hanger' at the top, but looking at it I could see the cup shaped interior that was lined with dried grasses.  Definitely a bird nest, and given that there are very few birds around here that make hanging nests like this, definitely having been made by an oriole.  Hooray!

Examining it, I could see it was made of pieces of bale wrap netting from round bales (the neighbor feeds their donkeys with round bales; apparently with the netting still on), a couple little snippets of the bright blue baling twine that my hay is tied with, the skinny plastic 'pull tab' off of a grain bag, and strands of dark tail hair most likely from the horses that reside at this little place here.  Interesting choice of materials, but apparently they did the trick.

The nest is on one hand, very inspiring as a trash to treasure making art from recycled materials type of thing.  Especially so since the materials were 'hand picked' as it were by a bird and not a human.

On the other hand, I found it rather alarming and depressing that plastic trash is so prevalent in this rural neighborhood that the oriole made the entire exterior of the nest from plastic (and tail hairs)  rather than the native grasses (and shed animal hairs) that would typically be used.  

Adapting to their environment: YAY!!

So Much Plastic: BOO!

I Don't Think I'll Do That Again

Many years ago--2012 to be exact, judging by the date of the Goodwill sticker--I found a 2500 piece puzzle while I was out thrifting.  I've long been a fan of 1000 piece puzzles, and when I found this 2500 piece one, I thought "Why not?  That would be awesome!"

And then it sat, apparently for 13 years, in the place where I store puzzles.  I'd look at it now and then when choosing what puzzle to put together on the occasions I felt I had time to devote to a puzzle, but always decided to work on a smaller (aka 1000 piece) one.

 

Just before Halloween, however, I felt the urge to get out a puzzle, looked at this one with it's Fall scene, did some mental calendar searching, and not expecting any small grandkids (little fingers to mess it up/lose pieces) or company over a meal time until Thanksgiving (requiring full use of the dinner table), I finally grabbed the 2500 piecer.  

The thought process, in a nutshell basically went "Why not?  There's lots of time between now and Thanksgiving.  A 1000 piece puzzle typically takes me 3-5 days, I can do a 2500 piece puzzle in roughly three weeks, right?"

HAHAHAHAHAHA.  NOPE!

Thankfully I didn't end up hosting family Thanksgiving, in early November DD1 volunteered for that task, because this monstrously huge puzzle took up half my dining room table--with the leaf in--for over a month!  About five weeks, if I have my beginning and ending dates right.  Let me tell you, just because it has 2.5 times the pieces does not equate to taking 2.5 times as long to put together.  

No, this was so much more difficult than that.  Because, if I look at how many days I worked on it, even a little bit, it took me more than 5 times as long to complete.  So. Many. Pieces.  

(And, oddly enough, it had every single piece plus 3 pieces that belonged to some other puzzle it's original owner must have thrown into the box--note them outside the lower right edge of the puzzle.)

Finished dimensions 28.5" x 38.25"

 It is a beautiful puzzle all put together.  But will I ever do a 2500 piece puzzle again?

No, I don't think I will.  At least, not until I'm so old I'm no longer taking care of horses or other people (or, doing my own cooking and housekeeping, LOL); just sitting and wishing I had something to do with all my free time.

December Rides

 
This winter I have a goal of not letting cold snowy weather keep me from riding.  A very long time ago (1985? 1986?) when I boarded at a place without an indoor arena I rode all winter long (well, on the days that my Mom was willing to drive me then wait around in the cold for me to ride).  It didn't hurt me then, so why can't I gut it up and do it now (other than the fact that I'm in my 50s and cold is colder than it was in my teens!)

So this past week, I was determined that as long at the footing wasn't treacherous, I would try riding the Poetess even though the temps were only in the upper teens and low 20s. (LBM's owner decided to take her out of training for the winter, so she's just hanging out and getting jealous that the Poetess got all my attention and treats). 

I made sure to layer up, putting a base layer under my thicker breeches, wearing crew socks instead of my thin boot socks, pulling my insulated winter paddock boots out of storage,  choosing heavier weight riding gloves and adding a fleece helmet cover to my riding helmet.

Let me tell you, that winter helmet cover is a game changer!  My head--and throat--stays nice and toasty. Five stars for a not super expensive 'luxury' item I bought myself late last winter and then didn't use until now.

Happy me with a warm head.

Every day that I rode, I longed the Poetess for a few minutes first, as that is our normal routine and I didn't want to change up anything since working in snow was all ready a big change from our regular MO.  

That first day, she was such a great girl, taking everything in stride as if we always worked in the cold and the 4-inch-deep snow.  We had a nice low-key ride, doing mostly walk work, and she was so calm that I felt okay taking my phone out of my pocket to grab a between the ears photo.

The second day it was a bit colder so I added a fleece quarter sheet to the ensemble to help keep her back and hindquarters warm.  (And my legs.)  

longeing in the quarter sheet

While she didn't mind the quarter sheet while longeing, or while doing walk work, she got goosey when I did rising trot, so we didn't trot much more than a half lap in each direction.  I suspect she didn't like the way the quarter sheet pulled on her with my posting, or maybe she was getting all sorts of static electric shocks with my movement (there was a ton of static cling with the quarter sheet when I went to untack her).

The third ride was a breezier day, and I wanted to again use the quarter sheet but didn't want static, so I tried spraying the underside of it with Show Sheen (as an online search suggested).  I'm not sure if that actually keeps away the static electricity though because while trotting on the longe line the breeze  flipped the quarter sheet up over her back and then it was hanging down her right side.  Which she definitely didn't like. 

After fixing it back into the proper position and having it get flipped again in the wind twice, I decided to take it off before mounting her.  I hung it over the fence on the part of the arena closest to the barn.  Which didn't bother her until the other horses, in adjoining pastures, noticed it and decided to snort and freak out about it, spooking and running.  Of course that made the Poetess convinced there was something scary bad in the arena with her that she couldn't see, and our ride just kind of went downhill.  So much for relaxation.

I had hoped she would settle down after a few more rounds, but after a spook to cantering--which I didn't want to canter on the snow because I didn't want to risk her slipping and falling with me--I had to halt, dismount, grab that quarter sheet and toss it into the barn out of sight from the other idiot horses who had continued to stand at the fence line snorting and staring into the arena.  Getting back in the saddle, the rest of the ride focused on returning the Poestess to a relaxed and listening frame of mind, then a short wander around the field on a loose rein to cool down.

Yay, outdoor winter rides, LOL.  Two steps forward, one step back.  But, if we keep it up, we'll get there.  Hopefully wearing a quarter sheet so temperatures aren't so impeding of rides. My plan for her training this winter isn't so much progressing up a level but to build more trust in each other and mostly just go walking around (and maybe some trotting) and explore the property at this little place here with her, and also not lose too much muscle tone on either of us.  Super cold air isn't the time for strenuous riding, it's the time for bonding as it were.

Snowy polo wraps at the end of the ride.

I Hunted A Lot.

The last half of November in Michigan means firearm deer season.  And that's when I go hunting, since I've never been a bow hunter and honestly am not that interested at this point in my life in becoming one (DH keeps hoping he can convince me to try a crossbow).  I have so many other things I need to be doing in October and early November than sitting in a tree stand for hours.

Late November, however, is a different story.  I still have lots of things that need my time, but I try to squeeze in deer hunting with a shotgun.  Some years I hunt much of those two weeks, and other years (like the last couple) I may only get into the woods 3 or 4 times of the possible 32 hunts available (we're talking mornings and evenings times 16 days) 

This year I got to the woods quite a bit, seeing lots of sunrises and a few sunsets; DH stayed in a couple evenings and brought horses in for me, otherwise I came in from the woods before dark so I could get horses in while there was still enough light to see by.  My vision is terrible in the dark.

Sunrise on the 16th.

Fiery looking sunrise on 11/18

a pastel sunset 11/16

walking to the pastures as the sun went down on 11/19

Crockett wanting to know why I'm late on the 23rd.

(I was "held hostage" by several deer coming in 10 minutes before I'd wanted to get out of the tree stand.)

The 'deer season' dish towel was hung on the upper oven door in late November.  Because, well, I do like to keep the towel that hangs there in theme with the seasons of the year. I'm not super into decorating, but I do have some girlish tendencies.  Full disclosure: this towel is about 10 years old, so probably no longer fashionable to any woman but me.  I guess I'm assuming any woman but me did ever think it was fashionable. Ha.

DH tagged out of bucks during bow season.  He did go buy an antlerless tag, but was in no hurry to use it during November.  So he was mostly a fair weather hunter, and mostly watching more than aiming at anything.  Which is why he was unusually interested in volunteering to bring in horses for dinner feed so that I could get a full evening hunt in. 

He was also gone for 10 days in late November to do some elk hunting in Colorado (which was a bust).  Which meant all of those evenings I had to choose to a) skip hunting or b) do an abbreviated evening hunt because *I* had to bring horses in for their dinner on time.  He's only so saintly, but he is getting better at it than he used to be, LOL.

I saw lots and lots of does and this year's fawns, but as the only one in this household still in possession of a tag that can be used on a buck, I was not going to shoot a doe in November either. There's a whole ton of antlerless hunting coming up in December and January. I did see several smallish bucks: small 6 point, a couple of 4 points, a spikehorn and a few button bucks.  Because there are so many bigger deer in our area (and because there's two 8-points in the freezer all ready), I try to never shoot any buck smaller than a six-point, so I did not do more than watch those little guys.  

While DH was a fair weather hunter when he was home, I sat in both super windy weather and sleety/ice pellet weather, not just the calm sunny days.  We did have a lot more calm sunny days than usual, and I think I went out for a total of 12 hunts.  Which is about three times as many as I did the year before.  If I hadn't been the only one home and having to deal with the internet situation and meeting technicians when they came to (not) fix things, I would have made it to the tree stand about five more times.  Oh well.

I did not get many deer photos, mostly of this button buck that wanted to be my buddy (or, rather, was clueless I existed in that great big tree) on a Sunday morning.  He hung around for well over an hour, first searching in the oak leaves for acorns to eat, then going and bedding down about 15 yards from me for a snooze.

naptime

Every year I pack a book to read during slow times in the woods.  This year I read Silas Marner.  Partly chosen because of it's slim, easy to carry size.  Partly because its a classic I had yet to read.  And partly because the colors of the cover blend in with the camouflage I wore, LOL. As a review of the book itself, I found it a little slow in the beginning, but all that made sense as necessary info about a quarter of the way in, and I was quite interested in seeing how the story turned out after that.  It's been a few years since I've read anything that is considered classic literature, and this was a nice docile break from modern fiction.  Zero swear words!  All conversations, even hostile ones, were worded so politely.  Why can't we speak that way these days??

Anyway, November wrapped up without filling my deer tag.  However, in my area of the state this year I can again go out with my shotgun during what would normally be muzzleloading season.  So I am planning on seeing if I can get a buck then.  If not, there will be late antlerless hunting until about the middle of January, so there's still the possibility of getting a doe before deer season comes to an end.
 

Oh, one last thought in relation to November's deer hunting.  This year I observed something that made me think squirrels must be made of rubber.  Or, like cats, they have nine lives.  One morning, I was watching a couple of does coming in toward my tree when out of the corner of my eye I saw what I thought was a short chunky limb fall out of a tree near one of the deer. Only, when it hit the ground it broke apart and was actually two squirrels, not a piece of wood at all!  They hit the (well padded with fallen leaves) ground, let go of each other, and scampered away as if falling 10+ feet to earth was no big deal and didn't hurt a bit. Hmm. Rubber squirrels. . .