First Woods Walk - this time Around~

 It was a hot & humid July morning.  It started out with cloud cover, but the sun kept burning through.  I decided I wanted to try to get the July flags hanging from the Cabin & lower corner.  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to accomplish it, but the try was there.

Start of the trail~

I'd been so exasperated, knowing the flowers were blooming & waiting to see if everything I'd transplanted last fall & earlier this spring had survived.  Butch had said that the mulch layer he & Madden had put down was thick.

Hosta's blooming~

I decided I'd take a few steps with the walker & see how I did.  I'd had Butch move the little bench we'd had at the far end of the Lowlands & put it along the trail where the hill flattens out.  Roughly half-way to the swing.

Looking north the way I'd come down ~

I was very thankful the bench was there & more than ready to sit down.  I had to be careful with the placement of the walker & be sure it was stable before I moved forward.  It was worth it!

South toward the swing & the bottom of the backyard~

I sat for several minutes, just enjoying the peace & quiet of being in the woods again.  

Tree down on the far side of the creek~

I hadn't been down here for two months!  In that time, we'd had a couple hard wind & rainstorms.  As usually happens, I find trash that's washed down the creek.  This time it's a full-size trash container!  I'm hoping Granddaughter Skyla can get it out for me when she comes to visit!  

East on Tinkle Branch trail~

I pulled out all the branches that had blown down I could reach & tossed them out on the trail.  I even waded in with my walker & pulled weeds getting 3' tall coming up through some of my favorite Hosta's.  Nothing along the trail & most of the woods hasn't been mowed.  I'd hoped the young man Butch had hired would be up to it, but he managed to break my mower the other day.  The backyard alone was enough for him on hot days.  

Thankfully Doris's neighbor across the street repairs mowers.  Bob picked it up yesterday morning & had it back to me running again & tuned up before noon!  I'm anxious to be able to mow again.  It'll take me the fall season to try to get things back to anywhere near where they were.  Until Butch retires & maybe for a while after, Troy will be doing it all.  He said he would rotate between the Marsh & Woods.  Each is time consuming even with his zero turn.  I much prefer the old-fashioned way of mowing & I think the grass looks much better.

"Mighty Chestnut daylily~

Once I was at the bottom of the hill & by the swing, I started up the east edge of the woods, where I've planted daylilies, flowers, shrubs etc.  I've been dividing the one above for several seasons now & it's a favorite.

Sharky's Revenge~

Half-way back up the hill, I was greeted with the above blooms!  Sharkey is going to be spectacular again this year.  There are enough buds there should still be blooms when Skyla arrives!  It's going to be hot & humid while she's here, but I hope she'll help me with the worst of the ever-growing weeds! 

From the front porch~

I was exhausted by the time I reached the front porch.  I didn't want to risk traversing the steep hill in the backyard yet.  Once I cooled off, I looked back at November of 2020 & realized I'd been eight weeks into healing when I'd walked the woods then!  That's the mark I reached today!  I still have a long way to go to walk unassisted, but I appreciate the small improvements as they come.

PT & Sherbondy's~

Really feeling deprived of spring - it was a relief when cooler weather & rain moved in.  This storm brought us 1-1/2 inches with many places receiving much more.  The cool down & release from the high humidity was so nice!

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Watching it rain~

I've begun Physical Therapy.  I know that sounds strange - some would ask why?  At least until you cover one eye & try to get through a day.  I bump into door jams, don't find things that are right next to me & feel dizzy & off balance when shopping.  I knocked over the cardboard display of DVD's at our local grocery.  Part of the therapy is designed to improve my Vestibulo-ocular Reflex.  This involves eye exercises & balance work on a computerized balance board.  I'm told that if I practice at home & go to therapy twice a week for a month - I will notice an improvement in my navigation skills.  :-)

Marigolds at Sherbondy's

Far from comfortable driving any distance, especially in traffic, Butch takes me & hangs out while I'm there.  After my second visit - he surprised me by stopping a nursery I'd heard a lot about - Sherbondy's.  This visit was especially nice, since I was wearing my new sunglasses!

Creative seating!

  I've worn Maui Jim sunglasses for years now, but it seems that bright light is now harder to deal with both for my good eye & the bad one.  My prescription had changed just a little too.  I called Maui Jim's to see if the frame & lens combination that I wanted was available in prescription.  Julie at Vision Specialists in Council Bluffs worked with me to place the order & could not have been more helpful.  When I called to have my prescription transferred there, it was Julie who noticed that they'd received one for my computer glasses, rather than for distance!  That would have been a costly mistake...  She also suggested the gradient lenses.

Fishy~

Maui Jim had them made & to us - in two-days!  The minute I put them on, I could feel my eye's relax!  The gray of the lens blended into my gray blobs & somehow made them easier to ignore.  At the nursery, I was seeing better than I have, since the eye went bad.

Dish Garden~

We came home with some new grasses to start on the big hill in the backyard & a Mighty Chestnut Daylily.  It's color is the perfect accent to all my marigolds that are starting to bloom!

In our wetland~

I love the Original Orange Daylily's that are growing wild in our wetland area.  The area between the higher portion of our backyard & the creek is somewhat of a wetland.  It's incredibly wet right now, but stays dry most of the time, unless we get the torrential rains that we have been.  Overrun with reed canary grass, about all I can do is keep it mowed down.

Tree down~

When I walked the creek yesterday, I couldn't miss the big tree that had pulled away from the bank & fallen into the creek.  It left a gaping hole in the hillside across from us.  Someone had put large chunks of concrete above where it grew.  I think the pressure of all that weight, contributed to the tree uprooting.  It gives you an idea of the sandy nature of the Loess Hills soil composition.

With July around the corner I have to hope for dryer weather, less humidly & some decent days to ride.