Weekly Review January 24-31 ~ Discovering Trail Running

Another week, another Weekly Review post! 

Photo from Saturday's trail run.

The theme for this past week is definitely trail running and discovery. You can read last week's review HERE.

Fitness
No skiing this week, sadly. All our snow has melted away. It's unlikely that we'll get enough snow again this year to ski at home on the farm, but you never know. Maybe a spring snowstorm with heavy snow??? I suppose it's possible. Earlier in the week it was really icy in the yard and on the roads, so Jeff and I tried out our new YakTrax. They slip on over our shoes and provide really excellent traction on ice.

YakTrax on the ice = awesome!

We went for a light run together on Sunday evening, then I wore mine again on Monday afternoon on my first ever trail run at the new place. You can read about that in this previous post. I also had great road run on Wednesday, than another awesome trail run with Jeff on Friday morning through the pastures for five miles. Trail running out there is a great way to get to know the land in a very intimate way. Again, just super, super thankful for all this great access we have.

Looking back toward the Sweetgrass Hills.

The #RunLoveChallenge continues this week. Wendie and I pushed our distance up to 5 miles. The weekly challenge with that was to "discover" a new run, which I did out on the trails on Monday and again on Friday. So, that Friday run was a double-whammy of increased distance plus discovering a new route. Let me tell you, five miles on trails is MUCH different from five miles on the road. What I really discovered from getting into this trail running stuff is my own strength. Sure, my times are slower, but man is it a workout. One of those hurts-so-good challenges, you know? I know in the long run the trail running will make me a stronger, faster runner, and that's what I'm really going for. I want to know what I'm capable of.

Here's the weekly breakdown:
Sunday- Running 3.2 miles with Jeff
Monday- 3 mile trail run "Discovery" run
Tuesday- 1.6 mile walk, 30 min. core exercises
Wednesday- 3.4 mile HILLY road run at sunset...

The sky can be so beautiful around here! We have had a lot of good sunsets lately.

Thursday- 30 minutes of yoga after school
Friday- 5.2 mile trail run with Jeff

Jeff took this photo of me on our run. That's Sage Creek down below.
Hard to believe not that long ago we were skiing on the creek.

Saturday- 30 minutes elliptical

I guess you'd say the yoga day was my rest day, and I guess you'd call the hill workout and some of the trail running my "speedwork..."  Big week for me overall in terms of mileage and activity.

Filling in my #RunLoveChallenge calendar!

And here's YTD:
2016 Year to Date, through 1/31/16
Running: 45.35
Walking: 8.3
Yoga: 165 min 
CC-Ski: 380 min / 10.8 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17)
Alpine Ski: 2 days

Farm
This week we completed and submitted our Organic Producer application. If you remember a few posts ago, we decided to farm some land organically this year. Well, you have to apply in order to be certified organic. The application is thick and tedious. I think the powers that be will review it and then someone will come out and inspect our farm and our set-up, probably this spring or summer. Sort of exciting. It's an interesting process, for sure.

This is a photo of a poster in the FSA office. 

We also continue to feed cows daily. They typically two hay bales rolled out for them in this feeding pasture each day, plus some more hay and straw in feeders in the corrals. They can wander back and forth between the pasture and the corral as they see fit. They also have an excellent view as they munch. I wonder if they appreciate it?

Our cows graze as the Sweetgrass Hills loom in the distance

Life
We continue to work on small things around the house to make it our own and finish the moving process. We decided to forego our kitchen face lift project for now and put our money toward some much-needed furniture instead. Turns out that I find shopping for furniture online or in store to be overwhelming and stressful. You ever go to a really big lunch buffet and become so overwhelmed with all the choices that you either pile your plate with way too much, or, walk out with absolutely nothing? That's what furniture shopping is like for me. Too many choices make me frustrated and confused, so then we get nothing. But we need things... so it starts again. On and on. We'll get there.

Also, you may have noticed that I changed the name of the blog.... (it's OK, I'll take a moment while you scroll back up and look...) I've been wanting to change it for some time and finally decided on something I like, and Jeff likes, too. A friend of mine is helping with a visual overhaul of the blog, so once that's ready to be unveiled, the URL will probably change too. Don't worry, though, I'll let you all know and give you plenty of lead time before that change so that I don't lose any of you as readers!

Well, that's all for this week! Hope you're all doing well! Catch you on the flip side. :)

Harvey says see you next week!

Weekly Review January 17-23

Taking a look at the week that was, in fitness, farm, and life. If you missed last week's review, you can check it out HERE.

Sunset over the Sweetgrass Hills Friday evening while skiing.

Fitness
Jeff and I started the week on skis as we trekked over the mountains for double duty skiing on Sunday and Monday. Sunday was Nordic at the Izaak Walton in Essex, MT, where we also stayed the night in their historic hotel.

Izaak Walton Inn, Essex, MT

Sunday we hit up Whitefish for downhill skiing in thick fog. It wasn't the most fun day of skiing ever because it was a bit difficult to see, but we made it our mission to get better at moguls and I think we both definitely saw some improvement. Plus, my legs felt super strong the rest of the week after that day of skiing!

Progress continued on the #RunLoveChallenge I'm participating in through Oiselle with my teammate, Wendie. I nailed my long run on Thursday after school running "the loop" in town twice for a total of 4.7 miles. It felt pretty good to run outside and even though the roads were snow-covered, they weren't bad to run on.

Run-selfie while running "the loop" in Rudyard on Thursday.

The biggest challenge of the week was actually the "Speed Date" workout we were supposed to do. I spent most of the week stressing about the workout because, let's be honest, speedwork is pretty much neglected in the scheme of my workouts. I wrote out the times and speeds I wanted to try and planned to do it Saturday morning. By the time Saturday rolled around, Wendie had already completed the workout and I was actually sort of looking forward to the challenge and seeing what I could do. And you know what? It was hard, for sure, but it felt great! Huge confidence boost to reach speeds I've never touched before, and it ended up being my longest run of 2016 so far at 5.6 miles! It was so motivating to know that Wendie had done it and that she was cheering me on in spirit, too. Thanks Wendie!

Yes, I wrote myself a pep talk alongside the workout. I'm cool like that.

Here's how the week looked:
Sunday- 8.6 miles/120 minutes of Nordic skiing at Essex.
Monday- Downhill skiing at Whitefish.
Tuesday- 3 easy (slow) miles on the treadmill, 20 min stretching. My legs were beat after the skiing.
Wednesday- 30 min. hip strengthening exercises
Thursday- 4.7 mile run after school.

Snowy roads, but traction was good.

Friday- 2.2 miles (40 min) Nordic ski through Harry's field on our farm. **snow melting fast. May have been my last day on skis at home this year.

This is what Harvey does after going for a ski- nap time. 

Saturday- Speed Date challenge/5.6 miles running, 30 min (1.6 miles) walk with the dogs, 20 min stretching.

My #RunLoveChallenge calendar is really filling up! Half-way there!

And the YTD Stats:
2016 Year to Date, through 1/23/16
Walking: 140 min/6.7 miles
Yoga: 135 min *no yoga this week. sad face.
CC-Ski: 380 min / 10.8 miles (since I started tracking mileage on 1/17)
Alpine Ski: 2 days
Running: 30.55 miles

If you remember, my knee and hip had been a little sore last week. I rededicated myself to stretching in the evenings and it really seemed to help. No issues with it whatsoever this week, even after Jeff and I skied pretty hard at Whitefish on Monday. Stretch, stretch, stretch, people!

Farm
This week on the farm the biggest new piece of action was that Jeff sold some winter wheat to one of the local elevators and then began taking semi loads to town. It can be quite a bit of work at times to haul grain, especially when cleaning out the bottom of a grain bin. Messy, dusty, labor and time intensive. The weather was warmer this week, so Harvey spent quite a bit of time outside "helping" Jeff with this task, although he didn't appreciate being left behind when Jeff would leave in the semi headed for the elevator. Harvey is a smart dog and knows that if he sits down in the road right ahead of the vehicle in which he would like to ride, at the very least, the driver will stop and pet him...

"Guys, I'll ride now, thankyouverymuch." - Harvey
Photo by Jeff.

Harvey also likes to "help" feed the cows...

Harvey likes to lick their noses, and they let him.

And this bull was taking a peek on the action, too:


Life
This week I attended the Rudyard Commercial Club meeting (sort of like the local chamber of commerce) because they were planning to talk about a grant the community is likely to receive to either renovate our current Senior Center or build a completely new building. It was a really interesting meeting, which you can read more about in my previous blog post. I'm going to be on the committee working on the grant project and I'm really excited about it.

Also, in my sports world, my Iowa State Cyclones defeated #1 ranked Oklahoma on Monday night in Ames (college basketball). It was glorious. Here's a great game re-cap from The DesMoines Register: Iowa State Takes Down #1 Oklahoma. Tomorrow night, they'll take on the Kansas Jayhawks. I may hate the Jayhawks more than I love the Cyclones, so you can be sure I will be watching the game. Don't bother me between 7 and 9 tomorrow night because I won't answer. ;)

That's the week that was, everyone! What were the highlights of your week? 

After completing my Speed Date workout. Feeling good!

Wildlife Encounters~The Big One

Sunset over ripe winter wheat, Sweetgrass Hills standing sentinel. 

One of the best things about living in a very rural place is that we see all kinds of wildlife on a regular basis. We see deer and antelope, for example, pretty much every day. And it doesn't get old!

Lately, we've been spending a bit more time than normal driving around on crop tours, assessing how close we are to being able to cut wheat and get harvest underway. With all the extra time spent out in the field, we've been seeing even more wildlife than normal. In some cases, we've been VERY up close and personal!

This post is very photo heavy-- photos are from me and Jeff of wildlife encounters! Some of them are a bit blurry because it can be difficult to photograph an animal on the move with a cell phone camera. Enjoy!

Pronghorn Antelope grazing on a stubble field.

Starting off with antelope. Pronghorn Antelope are fairly pedestrian where we are. We live in one of the most densely populated antelope counties in Montana. It's quite possible that antelope outnumber people. We see them all the time. They're still cool.

Antelope Buck in wheat field.

They're especially cool when you see a monster buck! This is one of those blurry photos. He only stopped briefly... apologies. Hope you can still get an appreciation of his grandeur!

Mule Deer bucks in velvet.

And then there are the deer! Jeff and I spotted these while down in the creek in one of our pastures. They were easily within 100 yards of us, maybe even closer, when we first saw them. Three young (small) mule deer bucks, in velvet. Again, photo is blurry. :(  Still, very cool.

Rocky Mountain Elk in crop stubble.

Don't forget about the rare elk sighting! We do have some elk around, but as I said, they're very rare. Not this guy, though. He was just trotting through some crop stubble about a mile south of our house. Jeff got this photo on his way home from his parents' place. Probably a small cow or yearling bull. No antlers. Tom, my father-in-law, just saw two larger bull elk in his pasture yesterday, full racks in velvet. Maybe he can keep them there until hunting season starts?! Maybe there's getting to be more elk around. We don't have much for predators, so it wouldn't surprise me if elk population is on the increase.

See if you can spot the wildlife in this next photo.
I'll give you a hint: I'm not talking about Harvey!


Here's a close-up...
We were out scouting crops and decided to hand-pull a few scattered weeds. It's a really good thing I didn't just reach in and grab this kochia plant!

Actually, I did pull up the plant that was close to this one-- about three feet away. And Harvey had just been right by that same spot, you know, doing his business...

The snake waited a LONG TIME to rattle. Boy, am I glad he warned us before I reached in there to pull out his cover! Could have ended in disaster.

When he did start rattling, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Jeff told me later he was proud of the string of cusswords I spat out as I got the hell away from that rattling snake! Definitely the closest I've ever been to a snake. My hand was within two feet of him when he rattled. Yikes. Needless to say, we decided to let the weeds grow a little longer after that and went home and had a beer. You know, to calm the nerves.  Being close to a rattling snake really gets your adrenaline pumping. Holy cow.

But the summer reptilian sightings are not done, alas.

Just this morning I was out walking Harvey. He had been pointing and flushing a lot of birds and really enjoying himself on our walk. Then he pointed and held his point for a very long time. I walked up to him to see if he'd release and flush and he just held it. I looked along the trajectory of his point and there, about six feet ahead, right in line with Harvey's nose, was a GIANT rattlesnake. I'm officially naming him The Big One. You can see most of his rattle in the photo below. He's not small.

I think it's very possible that this is the same snake that bit Harvey earlier this summer. When we saw him this time, he was halfway inside a gopher hole. He had no idea we were there watching him, and we were not close enough to get bit anyway. If he had emerged from the hole, you can bet we would have high-tailed it away from him pretty damn fast. You can see he's pretty girthy. He's probably been feasting on gophers and voles all summer. I think he was eating one right as we stood there and watched.


If you look really closely in this next photo, there's some snake skin that's clearly a different color. It's darker and more brown. When The Big One would wiggle and move around (still within that hole) the darker colored part didn't move at all. I didn't get any closer to investigate, for obvious reasons, but I think it could either be a second, live snake, OR perhaps a dead snake. It definitely was not an empty, shed snakeskin. It had flesh. And it wasn't attached to The Big One, i.e. not just still part of The Big One's body.

 Maybe they're a pair snakes? Maybe they have a nest? Maybe The Big One killed that other one for encroaching on his food source? Kind of hoping it's not a nest. In any rate, I plan to drive back up there later and see if I can find the snakes again (in a safe and cautious manner). I remember exactly where they were. If they're both gone, then at least I'll know that there were two live snakes. **shudder**

I am really proud of how smart Harvey was, though. He pointed the snake as if to let me know that the snake was there. He didn't charge toward him as if he were flushing a bird, he just held his point. "Mom, there's a snake down there! Be careful!" And then he just sat down right next to me calmly. Seriously, dogs are so smart. How often do I wish they could tell us humans everything they know. Oh, what we would learn! I'm grateful to have a dog that can at least communicate with me by pointing. Pretty dang cool. :)

Harvey the Vizsla, traipsing through a field of winter wheat. 

Thankful Thursday ~ Easter Photos

Nothing too heavy on this week's Thankful Thursday post.

I decided I'd just go back through my photos from the lovely Easter weekend we had, and then I kept going through some of my more recent photos from this week. So, this post is inspired by photos, but I also noticed as I went through my photos that there was a theme. Maybe it's something about Easter, or babies, or animals, or springtime, but the definite theme of the photos and the week is gentleness.

Take a look through and see what you think.

Who remembers Benjamin? His leg is healing up nicely!

 Josh, Katie and Brandon (my nephew) were here over the weekend. Brandon was introduced to cows by his Grandpa Tom, with Uncle Jeff and the rest of us nearby. Brandon even got to pet a new calf! (Below)

I always enjoy walking among the herd. This was a cool morning and the mamas were all eating hay we had rolled out in the pasture for them. The calves romped around on the hillside. Sweetgrass Hills in the background.

Can you see the bunny that Harvey is stalking? 

We did have a snow shower or two in the past week. I got a really lovely image of snow on a lilac bud. Springtime in Montana!

Harvey and I took a walk one morning and I coaxed him into holding still for a few moments while I snapped his portrait. Not easy to get a vizsla to sit still for photos when he's on his morning walk! He sat still but he was determined NOT to look at me! ha!

Gentleness is also the Virtue of the Week with the kids I work with at school this week. We discussed how to be gentle both with our actions and our words. Then we did an activity where we blew bubbles in soapy, dyed water and used the bubbles to make a "print" on our papers. We were gentle with our breath when blowing the bubbles, gentle with our words (using manners words to share supplies), and gentle with our hands when we laid the papers on top of the bubbles. Gentleness was a great word for the younger kids especially because it was one they could easily understand and demonstrate.

"Gentleness- being gentle, not being ruf, being kind in words."

"Gentleness- to be gentle with there words, don't be mean."

So what does Gentleness have to do with Thankfulness? Well, we can certainly be thankful for the ability of ourselves and others to be gentle. I appreciate when others speak to me with gentle words and kindness.  According to the book I use at school, "People are very sensitive beings. Many things are delicate and fragile, but feelings are the most fragile of all." Gentleness is being kind and considerate, in addition to moving and acting carefully.

Gentleness is--

• holding a baby
• being around and touching animals
• not shaking snow off of a branch
• blowing bubbles
• teaching children
• being kind in words and actions
• respecting and appreciating others and ourselves

I am thankful for everything on that very short list! 

Do you think Gentleness and Thankfulness can go together?
What are you thankful for this week?

Pasture Walk

So, it's Monday and I'm not at work! WAHOO! That's one of the great things about working in a school. It's winter break! No school until January 5! :)

I've still been busy though. Busy getting ready for Christmas and the arrival of my parents and brother later this week! This has meant holiday baking, prepping casseroles for the freezer to be taken out and eaten later, putting up the tree, wrapping presents, sending holiday cards... etc. Jeff and I have also been spending some time at Tom and Carol's since Katie and Josh are there with our nephew, Brandon! What a little cutie! Shame on me for not having an photos to share. 

This morning I took a little break from cleaning house and took Harvey for a long walk out into our pasture. It's a route I don't take very often. In the summer, this is for fear of running into a rattlesnake. In the winter, well, I don't know why I don't go this way more. It's a nice 40 minute walk to go from my house out to the top of the bluff and back. Here's some photos I took from our stroll:

This is how Harvey shows me he's ready for a walk.
Who could say no to that face?

We followed an old cow trail.  This is what most of the path looked like. 

Close to the top of the bluff.
Harvey is about the same color as the old sandstone rocks that peek out through the surface of the ground.

Rusty, tawny ground and a bright blue sky with clouds.
Classic Montana.

Another dog silhouette photo. 

And then we turned around, and this was the view! Spectacular!
That's our little farmyard, then the Sweetgrass Hills in the distance.

So, I love textures found in nature. This rock was covered in dried up lichens. Pretty great!

Who doesn't love the sound that ice makes when you crunch it underfoot!?

Headed back towards home.

Not even a drop in the bucket of the energy reserves of the Vizsla.
"Fine. I'll sit for a photo. But I will NOT look at the camera!"

Well, better get back at it. I think I hear the dryer stopped and there's probably more baking to be done! Nice to enjoy a walk while it's nice, though. 

Evening Roundup

These days, the weather has been nice enough that we can graze our cows back out on the stubble of our crop fields. This is also possible because there's no snow cover on the ground. It's great that they can graze because then we don't burn through as much hay, and there's plenty of stuff for them to munch on out there. 

Because the only water this time of year is back in the corrals, the cows have to be driven back in each evening. They go out during the day to graze, then back to the yard for overnight water access. Those of you who follow my blog and read regularly, will remember me discussing this a few weeks ago when I had the task of letting the cows out in the morning to their day grazing. Yesterday, I got to ride along with Jeff for the evening portion of this twice a day chore. 

But first, I took Harvey and Abby for a nice little three mile run! We did a short out and back route from Tom and Carol's house and had a great time. Here are a few photos from our little jaunt:

View of the Sweetgrass Hills from about a mile north of Tom and Carol's house. 

My running companions, Harvey and Abby.

Looking out toward some of the cows, grazing on crop stubble and winter wheat.

Headed back up the hill toward home.
Harvey likes to run ahead, but he always turns around to make sure I'm still coming!

After our little run, Harvey, Abby and I went back to the house for a drink of water. It was about 4:00 p.m. when Jeff and I were ready to head out and start moving the cows in. Harvey came with us in the pickup and Abby stayed home. By this time of day, this time of year, the sun is just starting to set. We have been having some really beautiful skies lately, primarily in mornings and evenings. This is why they call it the Big Sky State I guess. :)

A few cows, starting to head towards home.

 By 5:15 or so, it was pretty dark. We were really having a hard time trying to see cows. And then, I saw something that looked like it was too small to be a cow and moving much too quickly... it approached the vehicle and we saw that it was Abby! She had run back out from the house to join us, even though she must have been tired from our run earlier (she's getting kinda old...)  So Jeff loaded her up into the tailgate and she joined us.

Not long after that, we heard the sounds of another dog panting outside our window. This time, we looked down and it was our neighbor's dog, Bella! You might remember her from THIS POST. Even though she lives over three miles away from where we were, she ran all the way out to see what all the commotion was about! She has BOUNDLESS energy. Harvey and Abby, not to be outdone, had to get out and run around with her!

So, we continued on with our cattle roundup, driving them towards home, with the three dogs "helping" us out!

Can you see three dogs and one cow in our headlights?

I know it might seem silly to wait until dark to get the cows in, so here's a bit more explanation. We like to maximize the time the cows can graze during the day before driving them back into the corrals. This time of year, the days are really short, and especially when you live as far north as we do. Typically, we do start during daylight hours, but sunsets seem to not last very long either sometimes and it's dark before you know it! This particular evening, the herd was really spread out, too, so it took us longer than normal to get them back in. 

After we got the cows in, we left Abby and Tom and Carol's, then dropped Bella back off at our neighbor's place. She's quite the country traveller! Who knows who we'll have next time we bring the cows in?!