What We Do For Fun, Part 102

This is Maggie the Mexican Pony's field. At first glance, this may seem pretty- all those dainty white flowers. And they are pretty: millions of tiny stiff asters... which Maggie won't eat. I proposed to Bob that I would mow the field and eliminate the flowers, before they set seed.

No, we don't have a huge brush hog or a tractor or even a riding lawn mower. We have a simple push mower and Bob has a weed whacker. Together, we decided to conquer the "Back Forty". For scale, here's the lawn mower in context:

That's the lawn mower, and by the time I had taken this picture, we'd mowed and whacked nearly half the field. Not an easy task but the day was pleasantly cool/warm and the bugs weren't bad. It's sort of like that classic Barbara Kruger piece, "It's a small world until you have to clean it". Things get bigger as you push equipment through it.

Right in the middle of the field, there is a mysterious area with dead grass in it. It's about the size of a large dining table and appears to have been burned. Weird. Maybe the aliens have landed here in their miniature space ship in attempt to create our very own Area 51. We may never know!
Anyway, we did about 2/3 of the pasture in two rounds this afternoon, before and after coffee. Bob weed whacked the edge of the field so that the electric fence would once more work. Here he is, again, with a helpful pink arrow pointing at him in the distance:

 You can see the area (dimly) to the right where we haven't mowed yet. Maybe tomorrow? Can't do everything in one afternoon!

That's a zoomed in version of Bob weed whacking, with a pile of fire wood waiting to be rescued. That was one of the several reasons we had for clearing the field. This pile of wood has been there since last last spring, before the tornado. We've had so many other stacks, heaps, piles and mounds of wood that this was not a big priority. But we needed to clear so that we could drive the truck down into the pasture and move the wood. I'm waiting until cooler weather so as not to disturb hornets, snakes and other varmints who may be hiding out!

Turtles, Foxes and Food Poisoning

We had many visitors this week! Some were welcome and some we were glad to see leave the premises. Beginning with the speckled turtle above. I have heard that they return to the same location every year to lay eggs and the one above seems right on schedule. I encounter a turtle every spring in just about the same place under our giant maple tree in Maggie's side field. It didn't even pull its head in, so I think he/she recognized me.
On the same day, only a few minutes later, our resident crows were throwing a hissy fit. It turned out they were chasing and harassing a fox, which ran across the bottom of our field. Hard to tell, but it's probably the same fox I saw before in Maggie's pasture. I didn't get a picture because it was further away and the drama was enacted pretty quickly but it was cool! Nice looking fox...
That same day, the farrier paid a visit to trim Maggie's feet and agreed that her hind hoof harbored the biggest abscess  he had ever seen. (One assumes he's been in contact with many of them.) He thought she'd be fine, even though her entire hoof feels sort of hollow. She's a tough old horse, and not always fond of visitors to her domain so it's a good thing that the blacksmith came before...
The vet! Horrors! Maggie hates the kind of attention that comes with doctor's visits: teeth filing, shots, intruding hands, although she does seem to like Dr. Carlson better than the evil Dr. Elwell. I request that people coming to minister to Maggie call me from the driveway so as to give me a minute to catch Maggie before she senses strangers approaching. She has been known to turn tail and gallop beautifully across the field, evading hoof trims and shots and spontaneous riding parties. For an older horse, she moves very fast.

Our hummingbirds returned recently and we now have two feeders, thanks to Sheldon and Louise and their birthday generosity to Bob. I haven't seen it, but Bob and our friend Elizabeth claim to have seen the smallest (probably an immature male) hummer they'd ever witnessed. We've already had dive bombing aerial battles.

I will not document the most recent visitor in pictures. I had a case of food poisoning last night and as I needn't remind anyone, this was not good experience. Bob and I purchased salmon burgers yesterday and we both agreed that the young man manning the fish counter was unpleasant. He was pre-occupied and terse and obviously didn't relish being elbow deep in ice, scallops, snapper and free range, wild caught, cold pressed Alaskan sock eye. The couple he waited on before us requested crab so I asked him-ironically- to change his plastic gloves as I'm highly allergic to crustaceans and can get very sick. I say ironically as several hours after consuming the very deliciously prepared salmon burger, I awoke to a nasty cramping in my stomach which required a hasty departure to the down stairs bathroom. Suffice it to say, I was unsure as to which end to attend to first as both points of exit were in dire need and would not be denied. I successfully voided any trace of the offending fishwich after a prolonged intermission in sleep and returned to tell Bob of my plight. (He suffered no ill effects.) Fortunately, I feel fine this morning but am not anticipating craving sushi any time soon.

Wholesome Outdoor Projects and Dog Harnesses

Bob and I spent several really nice days recently enlarging Maggie's horse field to include a few random corners of property (like down by the pond) that actually give her more grazing. As the fence is electric, it's pretty easy to move the posts and restring the three lines of wire; you just have to remember to disconnect the electricity first. Maggie seemed happy to have an expanded world view and more square footage to explore and chew down. We are looking at re-seeding the horse field with pasture grass, as there is a lot of moss and the grass has been eaten down.
And this certainly reinforces how lucky we are to have such a nice piece of earth to wander on and call our own. Happy Earth Day!

Strangely, there was a hawk sitting on the grass down by the new area two days ago. I just hope the hawk wasn't scoping out our mallard duck, who likes to hang out on our pond. We also have a visiting Blue Heron that enjoys the amenities of our swampy little pond. Sometimes I wish the pond wasn't there and that corner was solid ground, but then I remember how birds (and other things) call the pond home... like bull frogs and peepers and little fish.

A view back up through the trees towards our BauHaus Chicken Coop. I am admiring the slanting rays of a Spring day- a full moon and spring fever to boot! I think even our little dog (who's not such a small puppy- I call her "The Big Puppy") is experiencing spring fever...
And a new harness! Robin (somehow... don't ask!) makes me think of an astronaut, ready for adventure, when she has her new harness on. My generous sibling and her partner (aka Beatrice and John) gave Robin the Good a gift certificate to an pet store. I suspect that lil' Robin would have liked a toy (to destroy and dismember in the space of three minutes!) but I thought a harness with which to introduce her to the delights of walking together was a better investment. (Probably made her think like we would of socks for Christmas!) But it's been a hit and she doesn't strangle and choke when pulling on the leash.

(Quite the tongue!) But here's Robin the Good modeling the harness. Here's another shot:

(No, she hadn't collapsed from exhaustion; she was merely fidgeting as I tried to fit her harness on her.) Another possible use for the harness arose the other morning at breakfast when I told Bob that if Robin was very bad while I went to work, he could attach a leash to Robin's harness and hang her from a hook on the ceiling. Hahahahhaaha. Only kidding Robin!