Eco Adventure in Wisconsin – day eight

Merry Christmas!  December 25, 2009 

A lone Christmas tree greets me on Christmas morning.

The snow plow came through about 7 p.m. last night.   Before that I was outside dreaming in the country road and listening to the wind in the trees when all of a sudden a blue car silently slipped by me.  I mean I could have been run over by the farm owner’s small vehicle.  The elder and friendly lady stopped a little ways down the hill and rolled down the window.  Upon coming closer to the blue car, she said, “Well that was almost a not so happy Christmas.”

I told her I was having a very happy time day dreaming and didn’t even hear her car.  Oh well, here I am in the middle of nowhere and still a vehicle could have claimed me.  What next!

  Sadie and her favorite cowboy boot.

Sadie and I got up this Christmas morning to open presents.   Sandy made a surprise for me.  There are 10 gifts wrapped up and I was to open one gift each day.  Today it was a lovely planter with a brass butterfly on the front.  This will be good for starting my winter greens in.  Inside the planter was a pound of fresh harvested wild rice from tribal lands.  I am thrilled for this health giving present because I am almost out of this naturally nutritious grain.

I opened up a fresh box of animal treats for Sadie.  I thought she needed a Christmas present too.  She enjoyed a treat of tuna in juice for a treat and I made lentils and a tuna sandwich.  We made apple juice with clove, orange, all spice and cinnamon spice.  It smells wonderful in our cosy nest and the spiced apple juice tastes like apple cider.

I did manage a short hike on the snowshoes this morning over to the woods across the way.  The wind was howling and I do love the sound of trees talking in the forest.   It reminds me of home.  The snow turned to sleet over night.  My down jacket was getting wet and I decided to return to the cabin and snuggle in.

Be happy readers where ever you are. 

 

On the trail of the lonesome pine.

 

 

 

 

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Eco Adventure in Wisconsin – day seven

It is Thursday. 

Wake me up!  I didn’t realize it was December 24 until five minutes ago and it is 2:31 p.m. in the afternoon.  Days just slip by when you are on retreat in the Great North Woods.

I woke up feeling lethargic.  We are in the middle of a big snow storm.  It has been snowing all day and perhaps last night also.  Snow fall was over my boots this morning and about covered Sadie when we were outside.  I did put out bird seed this morning.

Squirrels eating sunflower seeds.

  The squirrels were totally covered in the snow with only their faces peeking through and their faces were white.  Still they came for the sunflower seed.  It looks like 12 inches so far.  The weather report says it could go to 16″.  No snow plow has come through to plow the country road and mail was not delivered.  Who cares!

I only hope that the electricity, phone and heat stays on.  It is a damp cold today.  Sadie and I are wrapped up in quilts.  I haven’t really ventured out today outside of taking Sadie outside three times a day for her daily constitutional.

No wonder we saw hundreds of birds two days ago.  They knew a storm was coming and they needed to store up on fat stores.  This will help them get through a few days while we are clobbered with the storm. 

Bird house laden with snow

It is Christmas.  Isn’t that a beautiful thought.  The forest is covered in snow. 

This morning I worked on the newsletter but didn’t feel inspired to write.  I finished a draft on the Harris checkerspot butterfly.  In the afternoon we took to the bedroom where there is a large window that looks out on the woods I am exploring across the road.  It felt so comforting to just watch it snow, snow, snow.  I finished reading Finding Noel by Richard Paul Evans.  It was a good Christmas story.

I am getting tired of my soup and salad diet.  Still haven’t lost a pound.  Today I made lentils, onions and carrots and that tasted good.  The organic eggs were boiled before I came to the cabin and the egg salad sandwiches on nut whole grain bread are delicious.  Even the tea spiced with shiitake mushroom and orange and lemon peel tastes good.  I forgot to tell you that my friend owns a dairy and gift shop (My Favorite Things) in downtown Shell Lake.  She gave me some cheese curds that are made from their dairy before I came away on this trip.  Now that is something and I enjoyed every morsel.  Talk about eating local and organic. 

I hope you enjoy a very happy Christmas Eve.

Be happy readers where ever you are.

Clip art source:  paranormal.today.com/…/2008/12/santa-claus.jpg

Other photos copyright by Mary Ellen Ryall.

Eco Adventure in Wisconsin – day one by Mary Ellen Ryall

Happy Tonics husband and wife team left today for Costa Rica.  They are staying at Rancho Margot, a self-supporting working ranch in Central America. 

Our first walk

 I am staying at their cabin in the woods with Sadie the dog for the next ten days.

Before the storm.

The first thing I notice when I look out the windows is that there are little woodpeckers and chick-a-dees flying to the porch and window boxes.  Then I see the nut-hatch climbing down the tree backwards.  It’s a winter wonderland of little birds.  All of a sudden I am transported into the silence of winter.

A slow cook pot is on.  Within the pot are lentils, organic onions and carrots, potatoes and cabbage.  I added lots of cumin, a medicinal spice used for indigestion and a dash of smart balance for some fat.  A teaspoon of powdered Turkey tail mushroom was added.  It is a medicinal mushroom that has been researched as a  cancer treatment.

After Sadie had her walk and a roll in the fresh snow, we headed back to the cabin for a good brush on the porch.  She is a corgi and in winter Sadie sheds. 

Even with the beauty of winter and being isolated in my retreat setting, there was a sad moment.  Earlier I noticed a sweet little mole in the kitchen.  When I went over to it I saw that it was barely alive.  His little leg was broken.  There appeared to be a few punctures in the little creature’s neck.  I wrapped him up in some cabbage leaves and carried him out to the porch.  I knew the cold temperatures would help end his life more quickly than letting Sadie experiment with her little pet.

When I went out to the porch to check on the little dear, it had already walked on.  I already had my snowshoes on so I gathered oak leaves from the woods and picked him up while I sang him an honor song.  There was a nice wood pile with a sheltered opening and I placed the little mole in a bed of oak leaves.  I put down tobacco leaves to honor his life and to thank him for the gift he was giving me.

He may be preparing me for an experience that will call me into grief at some point.  I felt stronger for knowing that we must all pass through different stages of life and each stage should be honored.

The road less traveled

  I photographed deer trails that wander along the woodland path.

Blue berries on red stem.

 I saw blue berries hanging from red stems and cotton soft down covering flower seed that wafts on the wind. 

The sun was setting to the west.  This is a little journal of my days in the woods.  I thought you might enjoy reading about Sadie and my eco adventure in the Great North Woods of Wisconsin.  Talk with you tomorrow afternoon.

Stay happy readers wherever you are.