Pushing through

 That is what most days are feeling like...pushing through....and I can't be the only one? I will be fine and then all of a sudden I hit a brick wall and it feels like I am sloshing through knee-high mud. Interactions with people are tense, some times feeling brutal and abusive, where complete strangers are feeling the need to bully. My physical energy will tank, I can't concentrate, no motivation. I am not used to that! I just don't understand what is happening to people and society as a whole. So I continue to choose the land and trees over humans. 

Earth Day 2026 was, of course, celebrated the way that I do each year. 

And each trip outside gave me a glimpse in to how other creatures utilize their time in this world. I was loading my car up and saw something on the ground across the yard. I thought it was a mushroom and went to look, but it was this feather (don't worry, I left it!).

On my way back to my car, I looked up and saw this terrified squirrel! Whatever dropped that feather was likely still close by and I just couldn't see it. Speaking of, we saw our first owl at the land! Drove right under it and didn't notice it, got out of the car and heard birds raising a ruckus, and it took off through the forest! I saw a video last night of a group of people getting attacked by a beaver (they were fishing too close to its den and it was defending its territory), but turns out that it had rabies and I am thinking about that Woodchuck at our land that we have unknowingly come too close to a couple of times, and I am gonna be EXTRA cautious moving forward and making sure I am limber enough to run....because have you seen them run?! They are chubby and adorable little flubbers, but they are fast!

My sister and her family recently came home for an overnight visit, so I went to my moms to see them and for us all to celebrate the birthday of my mom, my sister, and my sister's husband, as well a little Mothers Day thrown in there. Some of the fields along the highway were planted with a brilliant yellow plant! The picture doesn't do the color justice! I read an article later in the day where the farmer planted cover crops on thousands of acres.

Woodchuck continues working on the bathroom on his own. On the occasion that I stop at our sons house, I get my own eyes on the project and take pictures and ask him if he meant to do something the way he did or leave it how it is. 😂But we are reaching the home stretch! 

Woodchuck picked out crown moulding to go around the top (came home last night after trying to cut and install it and said it was garbage and that he has to go pick something else out.) I am waiting for him to wrap this project up so that we can rent a dumpster and get a move on clearing out some of the big stuff from our house. Plus, this project has been going on in stages since October 2025.(lighting the fire under his ass but also giving him some vitamins to help with focus 😂

 

A friend and I recently did a two-day indoor rummage at an American Legion. This place was nostalgic for me because it was in the town I grew up in, my grandfather was a member of the legion, and my aunt had her wedding reception there. It has not changed at all, and there's a tray in the bathroom with bottles of perfume from back in the day, and Aqua Net hair spray.

A quick tromp in the tree line here at home and I see what I thought was Sweet Sicily from a distance, but realize that the leaves are different. Turns out I have another native plant now enjoying less invasive plants! Aniseroot. Now, I cannot STAND the taste of licorice, but I realize how beneficial it is, and it was a favorite flavor of my grandmother. I would like to try transplanting some of these to the land, but am right at the cusp of when it's a good time to. They also don't seem to transplant well, mainly due to the long taproot. Worth a shot, I think! 

There is also more and more Solomon's Seal each year!

On a quick trip to the land, we decided to try and plant some cuttings from our established grapevines here at home. Once again, we were *just* outside of the ideal window to do this, but figured it was worth a shot! The thought of not having grapes at the land made us sad, and to be able to grow from our existing ones felt so sentimental! We have one row of the red/purple and one of the green/white.

They will be too far away from the area that was left to let the jewelweed grow! The sprouts are getting bigger now!

And the woodpeckers continue to use the rotting wood around there as well.

On a recent walk to put some things in the shipping container, I split from Woodchuck to check out a tree with some showy, drooping, flower racimes. Turns out it was a black cherry tree! I don't know yet if this ours or a neighbor a couple of doors down. It is right on the edge of the classified forest and our prairie. We do own a small corner of the classified forest, but haven't been able to get in there yet to clean out and check out property lines. I was all excited about this tree, thinking maybe I could make some juice and some jam, but in talking with others I found out that the berries are small with a big pit. It would takes lots and lots to get anything from them, and of course, with the trees height, they would be hard to reach. So that tells me to leave it for the wildlife. One person mentioned that Blue Birds love these! 

We have dozens and dozens of Ash saplings really growing up in the front forest! (I am beginning to think that the issue isn't with my picture program, but with Blogger. My phone took and loaded a full picture into my computer, but once I went to load it here, it cuts half of it off.)

And violets every where, at the land and at home! I keep picturing what it might look like with all violets as a ground cover instead of grass. 

We had fun with more mushies! I did not go a good job of weighing them out this year, but probably 4-5 pounds from all of our foraging. I did give some to a friend and Woodchuck took some to his co-workers.

I stepped into the barn and found this Carpenter Bee on its back and thought it had passed. It could be cold and dehydrated, maybe even stunned if Woodchuck didn't see it and kicked it. I went to touch it, and its legs slowly moved. So I gently took it outside and placed it under a white pine tree. It was going to get windy and storm, and I was hoping to keep it safe until it was able to fly again. I checked the spot the next time we went back and it wasn't there.

Back at home, the metal roof over the workshop has been fixed (hopefully) for the second time in a year.

And I am trying to get us taking more walks, especially after dinner, but that is proving to be difficult with our schedules. We came across this flowering dogwood and it was gorgeous! 

I also made another batch of soaps by myself. I don't feel like these turned out as well as the other batches, but it traced well. The fun part about soap making is that it's Science! The hard part about soap making is that it's Science, and if any one variable is slightly off, it doesn't look or turn out right. 

I spent Mayday at home, enjoying myself, and the weather! 

I went through the trail cam cards and saw more wild friends. Like this bird butt 😂

A couple of deer IN the pond.

Some deer playing.

And a fox squaring off with an opossum. I had a better photo of the fox, but it loaded half cut off.

The mornings are starting out chilly and some nights have gotten down towards freezing. This was the house one especially chilly morning.

            And it was warmer in the workshop! So I spent most of the day in there and outside! 

There was another auction locally and there were some things I wanted to bid on, so Woodchuck and I went and looked around. It's funny how I can have a couple of dozen things to look at, might take a couple off once I've seen them in person, and then the list gets smaller and smaller as the bidding starts and the prices go higher, lol. I did win some cushioned floor mats and five bottles of unopened natural spray cleaner. (Note to self, look up the next auction).

Back to the land to utilize every damn moment we can, I already feel so far behind! I missed the last week of mushroom hunting, but remind myself that I have more than enough. The non-native/invasive plants that I am removing are fighting back.

But there are some that go quietly. European Field Pansy. I think I always find one each year. Interestingly enough, they are being studied in their chemical compounds to fight cancer.

This one is most likely a good guy.... possibly Treacle.

We are focusing on removing Autumn Olive today (AO), but stop to admire the pond on the way to our work spot for the day.

We had some big ones!

But I found another cocoon and I am just so fascinated by them! I don't know what they will turn into.

                     It's a beautiful day to be out there fighting for a healthy, native, eco-system!

I've made some spiders very angry at cutting down these invasives that they seem to have been living under. I tried to move this Nursery Web spider and she kept attacking the stick I was laying next to her to climb on to.

We also found a huge Multiflora rose that we went ahead and took down while we were out there.

Somewhere along the way, I ran across this fantastic moss!

And these golden ragwort (native). The first picture is of the base leaves, which comes out as a rosette and then the flowers/stems/stalks shoot up from there.

We have so many baby/juvenile poplars too!

I'm sure Woodchuck gets irritated that I keep stopping work to look at the clouds, but I can't help it! So we took a moment when we were done to sit on the bench and look at them together. 

                                                       So much new growth everywhere! 

                                And the bugs have come back to town for the nice weather 😂

And the mosquitoes? I am going to start charging them rent! With all of the standing water, they are even worse than usual. Once I get my car parked, they start bouncing off of the windows, and when you open the door to get out of the car, they swarm. Unfortunately, we have a lot of the Asian Tiger Striped mosquito. A non-native/invasive species that can carry diseases and are known to be persistent biters. I am still debating on the mosquito dunks. "Harmless to most wildlife" just isn't clear enough for me to feel comfortable using them, and I need to do more research. I may also need to bump up the installation of bat houses out there!

Nothing new about the new house, or that process, to share. Still packing, selling, giving away/donating stuff. Our youngest son is supposed to move out next week, so we will be helping him with that. I am also having another procedure next week. But it's great to be alive and to be able to have these adventures! Thank you for being here with us! 💚