Trip to Wisconsin

This year Boaz and I flew to Wisconsin. Flying is expensive, however a three-day drive for a single driver was unbearable to think about, and the gas and hotels might have cost the same. So for our week, flying was a better alternative. 

Boaz and I waiting on our second attempt to fly out. The first attempt was the day Delta had computer failure and so many flights were canceled. There was no way to get out that day. So instead we left on Wednesday and had three legs: John Wayne to Salt Lake City. We were able to get some lunch and visit with my sister Debbie. Salt Lake City to Minneapolis/St Paul. And then Minneapolis/St Paul to Wausau, in Central Wisconsin. We were happy to arrive and see Karly waiting there to pick us up.

Thursday morning Boaz helped in the barn and I gathered eggs and feed the chickens. We settled into that for most the time. Boaz liked helping Uncle Tim. I didn't do as much as I have done before. Before I have been there when Tim was gone. 

I can't remember what we did every day, but I do know one day I walked the fence. I have much more respect for what that job is now. I was an idiot and wore shorts. I had to trample down thistle - a very pointy and ouchie plant. Horseflies found me and were biting my calves. I ended up grabbing the tall weeds I was pulling away from the electric line and swishing my legs pretending I had a tail. I should have taken my gloves, but I didn't pack them when I thought about it, so I was woefully under equipped for such a job. But I managed to knock down all the weeds surrounding the fense and Brenda found the break in the wire.

In the breeze way dressed for egg gathering. I guess Boaz helped did more chores than I was giving him credit for. Or maybe I should say I didn't do as many chores as I should have.

Baby chickens. I didn't get a picture of the grown hens. But these little peepers were cute.

The first day we were there, it rained. We heard about the tall corn and went and took a look. I don't even think this was the tallest corn.

The cows out enjoying a summer rain. They are happy cows. That afternoon, they didn't want to come in and get milked. Tim had to go out and get them. Silly girls.

This is Louis. He was the friendliest kitten on the farm. There were three kittens that were four months old. He ended up with a hurt paw, and we soaked his paw and tried to nurse him back to health. He has a very loud purr and is sweet. Brenda might have found him a home. 

I don't know why I like taking pictures from this angle. But I really do. I love that they were wearing shirts with the same cut. They are a really great couple. They snip at each other trying to get each other to laugh. It is very comfortable being company in their house.

We were there for the concluding stage of new car drama. We went to pick up a car that they had paperwork for and signed a contract. The "used car salesman" truely lived up to the stereotype and changed all the numbers as they came to pick the car up. He said his adding machine added up the numbers wrong and he charged for something he had previously said he would charge for. Then he looked Tim in the eye and said that he could put the broken water pump back on if he didn't want to pay the additional amount. The car wasn't even on the lot. Needless to say, the deal was off and we took the check back to the bank. On a lark, we drove through some dealerships and Brenda saw the car she wanted. The dealership was straight up and the guy was upfront on the cost. About 90 minutes later, Brenda drove this beauty off the lot.

Moral: Don't trust a used car salesman. Isn't that a cliche?

Rizo with one oh his favorite toys.

Dixie watching everybody else. (Nala is in the background.)

They hay mow. This is where the kittens hide out.

Boaz holding Nala. He didn't get Oscar to trust him enough. He tried all week though.

A full barn. Cows in new stalls. There were four calves in the outside pasture. Two calves in the back. And we moved two calves to the outside pens. The herd is looking good.

Taking a picture of Boaz for his dad.

Poor Louis with his sore foot. He got pampered while we tried to doctor him.

I saw sand cranes. I know I'm silly, but I was super excited to see the local wildlife, even among the domesticated bounty.

Brenda and I went for pedicures. Her gold toes are super cute.

Karly's new Fort Duck. Tim humored Brenda and put the pallets together. Karly wants ducks.

I worked on binding the quilt and got 3/4 of it done. It took a year, and it still isn't finished, but almost. Brenda said she could finish the rest.

Here Boaz and I are waiting for the plane to take us back home. A good trip.

We made it into MSP, but a storm shut down the ramp. We waited on the plane for about an hour waiting for the weather to clear. They wouldn't let the workers open the ramp until 10 minutes after the last lightening strick.

I remembered last year where I was stuck in MSP over night. I was a bit nervous. But we had three hours for our connection, so we still had two hours by the time we were let off.

This is a picture of the train. It reminded me of the NYC subways. We were all crowded in, because all the planes debarked at the same time. Everyone was hurrying to their connections. We had to squeeze by a wheelchair to get out. We almost missed our stop.

We got hot peach cobbler and ice cream while we waited for our flight to California. We boarded just a little late, but not bad. Then we waited on the plane, out the window we could see planes lined up. When we started moving I was relieved, but we just crossed a different runway. We still had to wait in line for our turn to take off. We were an hour late taking off.

Boaz wasn't too impressed with traveling, but later he did admit it was better than driving. He still remembers that drive from two years ago. 

We were super happy to make it back to John Wayne. It was a good trip, it was good to see Brenda, Tim and Karly. It is always nice to be back home.

Saying good bye

I had a hard time leaving the babies. I took a picture of them together to show how small Ginger is.

Theyy weren't sure they liked each other at first, but now they are friends. Ginger has calmed Millie down and Millie lets Ginger hang out.

This heifer cried all night long. Brenda says she is in heat. She was frisky as I dumped hay to her and her friends and then she got out of the pen. She was irritating, I was glad to say good bye to her.

I  was dumping out a bucket of water and saw her in front of the barn by the huge fan. Rizo was there and he helped me get her over to the gate. She didn't want to go back in until I went in. She followed me and I stepped out quick and tried to shut the gate. She was very quick and had her head part way out. I had to shove her back in and close the gate. She immediately went to the loose part of the fence and tried to get out again. I put my foot there to hold the fence to the post and tried to think of what I was going to do. Of course the answer was bailing twine. On a farm bailing twine is plentiful and useful.

At first I tied the gate closed too. I had to cut the twine and retie it. 

She is sticking her head out trying to get close. Poor cow. Brenda said she thinks her name is Taffy.

I also took a picture of all the eggs. They are beautiful. I wish I could have them in CA.

All the hay in the barn.

Brenda said they should be good for the winter. I would come up and throw down a few bails for the cows.

I didn't get a picture of the horses. Shame on me. I felt bad leaving my little babies. I felt bad about leaving my sister with all that work. Tim will be home on Wednesday. 

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. So good to see Brenda and Karly, and Tim for a minute before he had to leave.

Wisconsin

I packed fabric in my suitcase. Brenda located a sewing machine and had her own fabric. Inbetween milking and gathering eggs, we measured, cut and sewed.

We got three quilt tops completed.

A close up to see the pattern and the fabric. 

This is the biggest quilt we did.

I brought a lot of different colors. I wasn't sure what we were going to do. We ended up with this one.

A close up of the fabric.

The wind was blowing and Brenda had to hold the quilt down so we could get a picture. I think my favorite color combination is pink/red and green.

I am taking the first quilt back to sandwich and quilt. We'll figure out the other two later.

We were happy to get a little quilting in between chores.

Wisconsin trip

I have been spending time with Brenda this past week. I have been getting up and feeding the baby cows, feeding chickens, gathering eggs, and throwing hay down from the hay mow. 

Brenda milks twice a day. Tim is at his yearly 2 - week AT. Karly is here too and we have had fun reconnecting.

Karly took me to the St. Paul temple the day after I got here. It is a very cute little temple. You have to call and make an appointment. It is the same for the Newport Beach Temple in CA, but I haven't made it there yet.

A  picture of the temple and Karly. It was taken earlier in the Spring. My phone was dying and I didn't snap a picture that day.

I took some pictures of the farm.

This is Ginger. She was born the day I arrived. I have been her momma for these past ten days.

This is Millie. She is about two weeks old. I have been her momma too.

Ginger standing up. I was worried because she was so little. She was born two and half weeks early.

LIttle kitties love fresh milk daily.

The ladies that give us yummy eggs every day.

The chicken coop. The shed on the other side of the coop has all the feed and various other things.

The  cows waiting to be let in for the pre-milking grain.

Lining up to enter the barn.

The young heifers following the more mature milkers.

Sweet faces.

Stinky butts. Ya gotta love the gutter and the barn cleaner. Just scrap the poop with a square shovel and then when the time is ready you flip the switch and the chain pulls blades around the gutter and moves the poop to the manure spreader.

The poop goes up the elevator and empties into the wagon.

The wind machine that keeps the ladies cool during the hot day. It was over 80 with 80 % humidity.

Karly with her crazy socks.

Enjoying the wind. Dixie is always by her master.

Karly showed me a huge mushroom that looks like a cow pattie. We think it got its rusty color from the iron band around the trunk.

Brenda, Tim and Yellowstone

I used to live a block and a half away from my sister. We used to do Sunday dinners together. We would see each other at Church. We would go to the store together. We would just hang out.

Then I moved away. I don't get to see her very often anymore.

This past weekend, she was going to be in Yellowstone. Yellowstone is about 2 hours away from where we live now. So we loaded up the boys, Brittney, and what ever else we thought we might need and headed to see Brenda and Tim.

We met up just after 8 and headed to Old Faithful. Brenda had never been to Yellowstone, and she wanted to see the most famous geyser ever.

I snapped a picture at the beginning, but then I switched to video mode. But still, you can see the beautiful day and Old Faithful is looking good.

We stopped at a little geyser basin and got out and walked a bit.

A few pictures, these include the people.

The morning was still cold, so the steam obscured the great colors. This geyser looked to have a beautiful blue color with a nice yellow frame. The yellow indicates sulfur, so imagine the smell of eggs.

I'm going to have to teach Josh about baseball caps, in that they protect the eyes. Less squinting that way. This is a good picture to see that he is clearly taller than me. He loves that. Boaz is still stretching, but he will get there soon.

Brenda and Tim. I love these two people.

She is smiling in this one.

I liked the name of this one. But we figured out that Spasm Geyser is the hole in the front. I didn't bother to even remember the name of the pretty one behind.

An advantage of me being the photog, I get to get what ever picture that I want of other people. :) Brenda and Tim are good together.

I am happy to have Boaz follow in the footsteps of his dad and Uncle Tim.

We went into the old lodge at Old Faithful. This clock was about three stories high. I loved it. Brittney took some pictures, but I haven't gotten them from her of the inside of the Lodge. It is an amazing building. We loved it.

In this picture, if you look hard enough, you can see a little black bear wandering through the brush. He is just below the beginning of the mountain in the back ground. I wish I could circle him for you. My tablet does not have a zoom - sorry.

The last bear we saw. A kind lady lent us her binoculars so we could get a up close and personal view. He just ambled away, up the draw.

We saw four bear this trip. All in about 30 minutes. We were very excited. Bear are shy and not always obliging for the tourists.

This little group of about five buffalo decided to take a walk on the road. Cars were piled up on both sides of the road to give them room. They had no worries in the world. In Yellowstone, wild life have the right of way, always.

Just peeking out behind the big one in front you can see the little legs of the calf they were protecting. The calf was herded to the outside always. Kind of like when I am walking with my boys on the road. They are on the outside, and I am on the inside - closest to traffic. Good parents, those buffalo.

Saying goodbye to our little buffalo family -- actually, they are huge animals.

This time we went through the north eastern corner of Yellowstone. Not as much hydrothermic action, but beautiful country.

I am fascinated by Mammoth Hot Springs. They are immense! And they are growing everyday. I like to see the yellow stain of the minerals in the white.

The bright white and rust show the active spring next to the grey of the older run. The stark skeleton trees add drama.

The plants grow verdant green right next to the poisonous flow. The plants thrive until they are engulfed by the encroaching spring.

A little island not ready to submit to the poison of the caustic waters.

The terraces, brilliant white while they live.

My boys named this feature the Fountain of Youth. It looks a bit like a baptismal font -- all white with clear, blue water in the middle.

Two views of the huge terraces, cascading down the mountain. The dark tree skeletons framing the springs.

The steam rising off the almost boiling waters trickling down the steps they have created for themselves.

We rushed through Mammoth Hot Springs just before a summer thunder shower dumped on us. The boys were happy to head back for home.

Craig and I were happy to have seen bear and spend time with the Bayers - Tim and Brenda.