Friday's Hunt v 2.8

It's Friday, so that means it's time to join in Friday's Hunt, hosted by Eden Hills.  As usual, we have 3 topics for interpretation this week:  the letter H, week's favourite, and single.

The Letter H
I'm a little bit off the beaten track with my choice today, but bear with me.  I blogged a few days ago about my visit to the Campbell Carriage Factory Museum.  When the carriage business began to decline as cars began to be available, the carriage factory added the funeral business to their services. The woodworkers who built carriages were able to build caskets instead, and other workers provided services such as transporting the deceased.  So, for the letter H, I give you, a hearse!

There were two hearses on display at the museum.  The one pictured above was for fine weather use, and the other, pictured below, was for winter use.  As you can see, the winter hearse is a sled style, designed to be used in the snow, whereas the summer one has wheels.

Both would be drawn by horse (of course).  The museum had some helpful information about horse harnesses too!

Week's Favourite
I have to say that my favourite thing this week was the fact that I finally brought my 2 sheep home again after their 2 years and 8 months in "boarding" elsewhere.  I am really excited to have them with me again, and I suspect they'll be regular blog fodder!  However, since I just blogged about them yesterday, here's another favourite - my little chipmunk friend who often amuses me.  I watch him (or her) from my home office window.  I think that at some point, this little cutie had a tail injury, but that doesn't detract from the cuteness!  I've been getting better pictures of the chipmunk now that I have the zoom lens.  I really love both these pictures.

Single
For the letter E, a few weeks ago, I shared a photograph of my Echinops ritro.  At the time, it wasn't yet blooming, but has just started to do so.  So far, only a single one of the ball-shaped flower structures has started to bloom.  You can see it in the background of this shot - it has a purple hazy look to the top of it.  All the other "flower balls" are still waiting to open.

It's just starting out - the tiny blooms open from the top down.

When I was taking the picture, I noticed that somebody was trying to photobomb my shot!  A single tiny spider wanted to be part of the action.  Look closely and you'll see it - a lime green little spider towards the bottom of the photo.

Friday's Hunt v 2.5

It's Friday, so I'm joining in the Friday's Hunt meme hosted by Eden Hills.  Today's subjects are: starts with E, week's favourite, and bounce.

Starts with E
One of the plants that is becoming interesting in the garden is the Echinops ritro.  This is an ornamental thistle species.  Eventually, these globe-shaped flower heads will open with tiny flowers, making them look blue.  They will be really pretty then, but for now, they provide an interesting shape and vertical element in the perennial garden.

I have a bonus "E" item today.  This is Eurrhypara hortulata, although because taxonomy is a difficult and ever-changing thing, sometimes it's classified as Anania hortulata.  In any event, it was a visitor to my screened-in porch, where I leave the light on overnight to attract moths for photography and cataloging purposes.  The common name of this moth is the small magpie moth.

Week's Favourite
This isn't necessarily a favourite photograph, but it depicts a favourite thing that happened this week.  I finally put up some fencing, with the help of a contractor/carpenter friend.  We put up just over 300 feet of fencing in my woodland area for the sheep and goats.  We added 2 hot wires that are at about 1 foot and 30 inches off the ground, in an attempt to keep the goats from climbing the fence, since Lucky Nickel is an expert at fence climbing.  I still need to get a grounding rod for the charger and Marc will build me a little box for the charger to keep it from getting wet until the barn gets built.  Then we can bring the gang home!

I was glad I still had a bit of fencing from Iowa.  The woven wire fence I used to be able to buy there was much better quality than what I can get here.  As you can see in the picture below, the woven wire that I brought with me from the US has a really secure twisted knot at each wire intersection, preventing the animals from expanding the holes.

By contrast, the wire I can get locally is relatively weak, and the small coiled intersections are only in one direction with no cross-wiring, meaning that they can easily be pushed aside, distorting the wire openings in the fence.  This is really not very good quality construction and lends itself to fence problems.  I'd rather pay more for well made fencing, but I just couldn't find it here.  That's another reason I decided the hot wires were needed.

Bounce
This was a tough one for me.  I've been pondering it all week.  I don't use the classic dryer sheets with this name, and most of my laundry is being line-dried these days.  I don't have a trampoline.  I don't have cute baby animals who make a habit of bouncing around the pasture.  I don't have anything in my house that bounces, except possibly a dog toy or two, but I'm not sure where they are at the moment.  I forgot to take a picture of today's bread dough "bouncing" back from a finger poke before it was baked.  It's raining today and I noticed leaves being hit by raindrops and bouncing on their stems, but I really didn't want to go out and take pictures in the rain, and being able to catch just the right leaf at the right moment was going to be a tricky endeavour.  I kept coming up blank.  And then I thought about me.  That's when I realized, maybe I'm the thing that is bouncing, or at least bouncing back from where I was a few years ago.   So I got out the tripod and used the self timer...

Just over 5 years ago, I returned to Canada after living in Iowa for 9 years.  I had joy and excitement in my heart and a whole lot of dreams to fulfill.  I thought I knew exactly how that was going to play out, and I was ready to take on the world.  Within a few short months, all those things crashed down around me as a whole house of cards built on lies and misrepresentations came tumbling to the floor. The work I thought I'd be doing, the partner I thought I had, the business I thought I'd be running, and the entire purpose for moving back - all of it dissolved in a very short time frame leaving me shaken, depressed, anxious, uncertain, and lost.  Some of those losses were, unquestionably, very good things to lose!  Some of them have been more difficult, and the financial struggles of being saddled with a crumbling heap of a farm have been almost insurmountable.

But here I am, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job at bouncing back.  Initially after the collapse, I took a miserable job for a few months before realizing that was making things even worse. I then boldly started my own business, I started to fix up the farm (it's still in progress), and I eventually decided I was ready to consider dating again, I found a wonderful partner (for real, this time!) and remarkably got married at the ripe old age of 46.

We now have a lovely home surrounded by wildlife, woodlands, and garden beds, all of which bring me joy.  My business has taken a hit from the drop in the oil and gas industry, but I am still managing to get by.  The farm heap is being renovated, slowly getting better, and will eventually be able to be put on the market.  Soon I will have my sheep and goats back with me, and that will bring me even more joy.  I no longer wake up with dread in my heart and a weight on my shoulders I can't bear.  I don't have panic attacks any more.  I don't burst into tears at the drop of a hat.  I don't feel like a burden to my friends and family.  And here I am, blogging regularly again.  So, that's my interpretation of bounce...I'm doing it, each and every day.