Hello world!

Charlotte and I have done absolutely nothing over the winter!  And both of our waistlines show it!! 

This has been an unbelievably looong Wisconsin winter!  It is officially Spring, and we have snow on the ground and snow in the forecast for this Sunday.  Really?? Seriously???

Charlotte's little Mexican paws just don't tolerate this cold ground.  The dachshund part of her loves to fly out the door to see if there are any Chippies to chase. (chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, etc.)  Then she remembers how cold it is!  She is so fast at doing her little numbers outside and then running for the door to come in.  Lol! 

I have been down with a really bad cold/flu thing.  Every time I go outside, my lungs go backward and fill back up with rattle-ly stuff.  Then I am confined to the house, again, with the humidifier running.  So walking is really just out of the question, till it finally starts warming up. 

So I did something different.  I got on my mini trampoline/bouncer.  And did a little bit of bouncing.  Okay, so it was probably a minute, but it seemed a lot longer than that!  And my dear Charlotte?  She sat on her chair and just watched.  You could just see her little mind wondering what on earth I was doing.   So I think that I will do a little bit of bouncing every day, just to build up a little more of my lung function, while getting used to doing more than just walking around in the house. :)

I am also waiting on more updates on my Son-in-Law, Roy.  He had a knee replacement this morning.  It was to be a partial, but might have been a full knee instead.  It would depend on what the surgeon found when he opened up the knee.  He is out of recovery, so now it is onto recovering and rehab for him.  Go, Roy!

Have a great rest of the day!

Charlotte Will Be Jealous!!

Sssshhhhhhhhh!  We won't tell her!!

   I went to breakfast with my son Jonathan.  (Only mom gets away with calling him that, otherwise he is Jon.)  We went to Cafe' on the Park.  We both enjoyed a different "Skillet".  That was a yummy way to start the day. :D

   We came back to Farmville and I showed him the floors that Aunt Deedee had redone.  He was pretty impressed!!  And he liked the work that she had done in the Grand Entranceway, too!

   Then we walked around the porch outside and admired the flower beds that his brother Jeremy made, and all the flowers that Aunt Deedee planted for me.  She had put in the last of the new flowers the night before.  When the heat breaks, Jeremy will be able to finish the beds around the other side of the house.  Slowly but surely, even with this 100+ heat, things are getting done!

   So then we headed for Camp Clark.  Jonathan was pretty impressed with the campsite and the camper that belongs to his Aunt.   To his surprise, even though the woods was so overgrown, there was a path!  Right away he started walking on it.  I told him that his brother, Jeremy, had cut that, too.  Jonathan asked if we had a pair of blades that we kept just for the path, and I told him there will be as soon as this set is taken off to be replaced!  Then we will sharpen the old beat up set, and put it back on for trimming the woods, only!

   We tried looking for fungi, but it was too dry.  They had dried up and some had fallen off the branches.  Others that Magga' and I had found were gone!  We inspected the fallen trees and he even found an apple tree with little apples on it.

   It was a good walk.  There were hardly any mosquitoes!!  The weather is just too dry for them.  That is a first for me walking in the woods during the summer.  Dave and I used to take walks back there and would almost be eaten alive! 

   That is why we aren't telling Charlotte.  I would probably be on her "no good" list, if she knew that we walked back there without her!! 

Yesterday......

All my troubles weren't so far away....


   This is a harder month for both Dave's family and myself.  David passed away this month, two years ago.  I can't believe that it has been two years.  Where have I been? 

   As I struggle to regain some sort of balance, I decided to take Charlotte for a walk down to the campsite.  I wanted the shovels for the herb garden, dirt and manure.  It was such a nice "cooler" morning, so we just kept walking.  Charlotte loved sniffing everything out.  I was missing my camera, for it was back in the house on the table. 

   It was so peaceful. 

   Yes, it is overgrown, with no horses to eat it down and walk through it.  A friend's husband suggested that I do a controlled burn.  Not during this drought, of course.  I wonder if I approach the fire dept, if they would do it as a training exercise?  Hhhmmmm.

    On this walk, I checked the milkweed plants for any Monarch crysalis.  I wanted to find one for my sister, Colleen.  I used to find them as a little girl.  I would keep them till they emerged and then I would let them loose.  Mom taught me that it wasn't good to keep something wild as a pet because it wasn't fair to them.  She also said that they would be happier being free. 

   That brings to mind that saying, “If you love something let it go free. If it doesn't come back, you never had it. If it comes back, love it forever.”  I just did a little research on that phrase.... The original phrase really is "If you love someone, set them free. If they come back they're yours; if they don't they never were."  Originally, it was derived from Richard Bach's work. Okay, I digress...

   So, I was looking for the elusive crysalis.  Colleen and I were talking about how her cousin Sue had one hatch and she was releasing it.  She may have had 3 or 4?  That would be cool to watch again, and for Colleen, I think it would be a first. :)  I wasn't able to find one, so I will have to keep searching! 

   Charlotte and I finished our walk and I grabbed the tools, and we headed back to the house.  What a pleasant way to start the day.

   Here is a pic of a Monarch that Colleen took.  It is posted on her Curb Photography page.  Enjoy!

  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=256520667781262&set=a.256518654448130.42426.214592271974102&type=3&theater#!/photo.php?fbid=256530731113589&set=a.256518654448130.42426.214592271974102&type=3&permPage=1

   Here is a picture I took of a Monarch caterpillar, on a previous walk around Farmville.

On the Road Again......



Which way do we go?
Which way do we go????

Wait!!  On the Trail Again! :)

   We did it!!  Charlotte and I went on our trail walk, today! 

   It was decided that we would have Toby join us.   He was on a mission.  His mission, should he have chose to accept it, was to stay ahead of Charlotte at all times!!  There was only a couple of times that he allowed her to walk ahead of him.  It was because there was an interesting smell that he had to go and check out.  Then he would race ahead to pass her up, then he trotted so as to show us the way to go. :)

   It was very hard to take pictures because I would stop and they didn't think that I should do that.  Once the camera even hit the dirt.  It still works, and yet, I could use a new camera!  ;)

   We walked the trail by Korth Park, and I took it towards Lake Mills for this adventure.  It wasn't long and I was at the trestle bridge.  I wanted to go down to the water's edge, but neither dog would have anything to do with that!  Toby even pulled himself out of his harness to make his point clear!  We turned around and headed back to the car.  Next time we will take the trail towards Cottage Grove.

   It was water for the puppies before we got in the car.  There I talked to a nice young man getting his gear on and his Trek bike ready for his trail ride.  We chatted about biking, snowboarding, and stuff.  Told him that my sister likes the John Muir bike trails and he told me that I was the second person to tell him about that place.  He told me that he would now have to look it up and go there!  Toby made another friend, Charlotte held back behind me.  We said our goodbyes and I headed for home.  What made this young man remarkable was this, his left arm was not fully formed, and he obviously never let it stop him or slow him down.  His personality and outlook was amazing!  I hope to run into him again and see if he ever did try the J.Muir trails. 

   After meeting such a young man with such a positive attitude and overcoming a major/minor? setback, I have to ask myself..... What is my problem?  Why do I let so many things hold me back?  From getting fit, losing weight, getting my business off the ground, getting all paperwork in order, blah, blah, blah????  My heart is just not in much of anything, except getting back into my spiritual side.  And I drag myself around everyday, just hoping to get through it and then go to bed.  Today, I talk with such a person who obviously isn't letting anything slow him down.  Okay, Kathy, you need a boot in the butt!  Wow!  This has given me more to reflect on!  I must not beat myself up tooo bad, for I did have a pretty preductive day.  Didn't get done all that I wanted to, but I got so much more done today, than I have in a long time.  Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps.......

   Here are some pictures that I did manage to take.....



Love the little details on this group of mini flowers.

This is as close as the puppies would let me get to the lake!

This is a really different flower.

Up close.

I love how the light is shining through these berries.

Beautiful butterflies that loved the milkweed flowers.

  

Ahh, Poor Charlotte!

Under the (HOT) Weather....
   Poor Charlotte.  I think that this heat has been getting to her.  Yesterday, she tossed her little cookies, twice! 
 
   Today the heat is supposed to break, so we are going to venture out of the air conditioning and go for a walk.  There is a little trail that I noticed while out driving.  She will be thrilled to go walking again.  Actually, I am looking forward to it, also.  Gets me away from Farmville, even if just for a little while. 

   I have so much work that needs to be done.  I started some Flylady Bingo and that helped to jumpstart me in the right direction.  (Charlotte is snoozing and isn't even interested in supervising me! lol!)  I am determined to just take it one completed task at a time.  I am only able to do what I am able to do.  Walking will give me a fresh outlook and some fresh air.  When we get back, maybe I will be able to turn off the A/C and open the windows. :)

Farmville 5_31_12

Farmville Lawn

  We also walked around the yard and looked at different things that are growing, such as the 2 little Rose of Sharon bushes that we can now see, since the fence has been cleared off!  We also enjoyed the Catalpa trees that are now in full bloom.  The petunias also reseeded themselves in the iron tractor rim, and are now just starting to bloom.  That brings delight.  Dave put that iron rim there just so that I could plant flowers. :)

Catalpa Tree in blossom. (The grandchildren love that tire swing!)

Catalpa blossom up close.

Charlotte taking time out to smell the flowers!

Farmville Woods 5_31_12

Ahhh, Farmville!

   My thoughtful son, Jeremy, mowed paths through our own back woods!!  He knew that my sister and I wanted to take our mother for a walk back there.  I am so happy!  Since we no longer have horses on the farm, it has become overgrown in every way.  So one day he hopped on the lawn mower and cut away!  Next he will go back there with a cutter and trim the branches and brambles that hang over the paths.  It will be wonderful in the fall, when we go hunting mushrooms, to take pics of them! 

   We found mushrooms, a couple of quick turkey hens, flowers, bugs, a monarch catapillar, old objects, plants, a fallen tree, and many other things to keep us happy taking pictures.  This will be a long post as I will be posting quite a few!

   Thank you, again, Jeremy!  What a nice way to honor Dave's woods!! :)

Now back to the house!