Time in the Woods

So the other day I said to myself, "hey Lis, you got through the first 3 1/2 months of your new retirement....whoo hoo, you made it!!!  I always said I would NOT retire in the winter....but I did and I survived.  What was my survival tip?  Do not sit around in the house during the winter months and hibernate.  Learn to love winter, the cold temperatures, the cold sunshine and the beautiful outdoor scenery.

So, now that it is officially spring, Bike man and our friend Caryn went out looking for morel mushrooms the other day.  I know it's a little early, but we just decided to take a look.  After an hour and a half of walking through the woods, we found nothing.  The walk through the woods however was heavenly!

Look what we found!  A leopard frog down by the water....and we also saw a blue bird, sorry no photo.

My most exciting find of the day was mother nature's terrarium, or otherwise known as an old bottle in the woods.  I found this old soda bottle in the gully of my friends wooded land.  But look, the moss has little ferns growing inside the bottle!  This bottle is so interesting, that I decided to bring it home and cap the bottle with a wine cork.  Now, I will just watch mother nature's terrarium just grow naturally.   

Late Afternoon Observations

A late afternoon hike today in the enchanted forest.  With the breezy conditions, the trees were singing, or maybe they were groaning!  Whatever they were doing, it was a pleasant sound to my ears.

So, I just realized today that there is a second muskrat house down by the water.  I had seen this stick

mound along the lake bank during the winter months, but now after seeing this new hole on top, I realized it's home to a muskrat family!  I spotted the muskrat by the other house today, but it's really hard for me to get a photo of him/her.  Ironically, muskrats are eaten by many predators like mink!  I never knew that until I attended a furbears workshop.  Muskrats also raise lots of young and are considered aquatic rodents!!!

 

Even though I always try to be quiet on my hike when I reach the mouth of the Hay River, the water fowl always senses my presences.  These two geese are obviously guarding a nest with eggs or youngins just born.  This pair scolded me the whole time I stood by the water's edge.   I didn't stay long this afternoon by the water because I didn't want to upset this mom and pop goose habitat.  My late afternoon hike was productive and much needed.  Thirty-seven degrees and 20 mph wind gusts did NOT stop me from enjoying the outdoors.  Take that Mother Nature!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Switching modes here.  I discovered a new salad mix purchased at Woodman's in Altoona, WI.  Woodman's is a new employee-own grocery store chain that opened in the fall of 2015.  I'm absolutely loving this new crunchy salad mix...and it's reasonably priced too.  It contains no traditional lettuce, however.  To make this salad a complete meal, I panfried a black bean burger and added it to my salad. Delicious....

This salad actually comes as a kit containing kale, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, radicchio, chickory, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds and poppyseed dressing.  It's distributed by Apio, Inc. and I can only find this at Woodman's. If you can't find this mix, then I guess you could make your own!

Another tip:  Bike man decided this would be a good veggie combination to add to a batch of fried rice.  Add a little Asian peanut sauce and sautéed tofu, and you have a delicious meal.

Spring Can't Come Fast Enough

Such a beautiful day and nothing like yesterday with wet snow and 40 mph wind gusts.  The weatherman just mentioned on the news that the snow and wind will return in a couple days.  Darn! 

Bike man and I returned home yesterday after attending a 3 1/2 day lakes/streams conference in Stevens Point.  Apparently, I crossed paths with someone that had Strep, and guess what?  I came down with strep throat during the later part of the conference.  I wasn't actually diagnosed until I went to Urgent Care this morning with swollen glands, achy neck and a throat that felt like it was on fire.  Never thought I'd pick strep at my age....very weird.  I came home with a prescription of Amoxicillin for the next ten days, so that should do the trick. 

I've been feeling restless with being sick and sleeping a lot, so I went outside today with my camera to look for spring surprises.  Hey, my rhubarb is coming up....yippee!

And, our garlic is sprouting too.  Despite the wet snow and blustery conditions returning soon, spring is just around the corner.  Here in Western Wisconsin, we just have to be patient.

Solo Hike

Did a quiet solo hike today at Menomin Park.  Only saw one person out there on the trails.  Quiet was good..... 

Meatless Friday

Quinoa Kale Burgers

Bike man and I are trying to cut our animal meat consumption for health and other reasons.  So, I've been on the lookout for vegetarian recipes that will provide us with antioxidants and lots of vegetable/grain protein.  I just happen to find this quinoa kale burger recipe on a Facebook page, so I gave it a try tonight.  Wow, very tasty my friends.  Please allow yourself a couple hours of prep time and actual cooking time, but it's really worth the extra work involved.

The burgers freeze well too.  Want the recipe?  Take a look in my Turtle Recipes in the top menu.  Enjoy.

I Will Truly Miss Its Presents

I can't believe I was in the right place at the right time yesterday.  After being gone most of the day, we arrived home and I decided to go look at the lake ice around the back of our house.  Ironically, I just stood there for like 30 seconds gazing out over the lake when I heard a weird noise down by the lake bank.  I thought it was a big bird in the tree.  And then I heard a big CRACK!  The next thing I know, the big old, dead pine tree decides to fall down to the lake ice.....with a big bang.  I stood there with my mouth open.  OMG, this tree just dropped in front of me.  Now we're talking about a ton of weight that falls on the lake ice.  I watched the tree fall, but it never made a dent in the ice.  Wow!

This was a picture of the lake ice yesterday, but today with our gusty winds, the lake ice is completely gone.  And the tree?  It sank to the lake bottom.  We received over two inches of rain yesterday, so our lake bank was saturated and I'm positive that's why the dead pine tree finally fell.  It's not often you witness a tree fall right in front of you, but I had a special attraction to that tree.  I can't explain it.  All I know is that I've been watching that tree for almost three years now and I knew it's time was limited.

It was a good tree my friends.  It was a friendly tree to many king fishers and woodpeckers.  I think I was meant to see it go down.....it served a good life!

Observations

No rain today, even though it was forecasted to rain.  Took my hike through the woods in afternoon.....55 degrees, wow!  Look at this perfectly round bird hole.

There is always something new to look for in the woods.  The lichens I found today were brown, but mostly I see are white lichens. 

Every couple days I find something new in the woods.  It just proves to me that wildlife is alive and well.  Visitors are coming and going....some survive and some don't.  Found some turkey feathers down by the water.  Of course I had to take them home for my big cat Aiden.  Aiden loves big bird feathers, in fact, he even knows the word "feather."!!!  I guess I have to admit my cats get REAL cat toys!

Spent some time this afternoon picking up trash along our road.  There is lots of trash!  Two other neighbor couples picked up trash as well, so we have a nice collaborative thing going on here.

Ironically, I found someone's social security card and their medical insurance card along the roadside....weird!