Sunday at the Cabin

I woke up late today at 10am! I squinted my eyes and the clock seemed to do circles in my head. I got up and decided to make a delicious breakfast of avocado toast and eggs. I am a breakfast person. I think if you have a good breakfast you can start the day off right which will trickle into other parts of your day. Here is what my breakfast looked like.

After setting the table, cooking the eggs, spreading the avocado on the toast just right, my drooling self sat down to enjoy my savory breakfast only to discover that the avocados had turned bad! I was so bummed. It tasted like a weird-rubber-chemical-green-mushy-thing. So, then, upset, and annoyed I was rummaging through the fridge and way in the back like a golden nugget... I found a...frosted covered cinnamon bun! *the clouds parted* Thank goodness! I savored the sweet treat, I never eat, and downed it with 2 more cups of coffee. It was delicious! The day was back on track!

As far as the avocado icky toast I threw it to the birds! That is how I compost out here in the forest. I just throw it into the woods and the local wildlife gobbles it up. LOL! It is so different from “bougie” city eco-chic-chick composting, but it works for me.

After breakfast I took up my new obsession, blogging even though no one really knows I blog yet, so no one reads it. But that’s OK, it’s kind of nice doing something for the sake of doing something. Like art for the sake of art. Or like blogging just because it makes me happy to write, reflect and share. Anywho, I blogged for too long. My eyes went buggy and then I decided I needed to unplug so I went out into the great outdoors.

Outside I wandered in the large yard I have here at the cabin. Inspecting the trees as if they would provide me with some new information that I don’t already know. The maples send out these shoots that turn into trunks so it sometimes looks like where there was one tree, there are now two.

I was happy to find in my backyard adventure that I have a Paper birch tree. It is small, but mighty, and it has some funky mushrooms growing on it which made for a cool picture. Here it is:

Next I crept around the big oak I found on the hill and discovered I have a bunch of fuzzy fiddleheads growing! I wonder if these are the kind of fiddleheads I can eat…??? I will have to do some more research on this. Because some fiddleheads can make you sick. But, here is the photo of my cute fuzzy fiddleheads!

Once, when I was living in Minneapolis I would frequent a wine bistro/french restaurant called Tilia in Linden Hills and on this one occasion the chef Steven Brown (who, I should mention is a James Beard award winner) made me fern fiddleheads! They were so delicious I became completely obsessed. I now look in my forest on the acreage for the right fern and fiddleheads that one day I can create into a delicious Steven Brown dish. *sigh…* More research and fussing is needed first, but until then I will savor that moment again...some day. So...good!

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/05/04/three-twin-cities-chefs-nominated-for-james-beard-award

After “putzing” in the yard I decided to get down to business. I have a new technology project out here on the acreage to document wildlife. Long story short, there are these trail cameras with cell link attachments that send wildlife photos to an app on your phone so you can see if deer or turkey or whatever else walk by your camera. It’s kind of cool. I feel like I am gathering documentation for Discovery channel or National Geographic or working on some nerdy thesis for a university on the tracking of wildlife in Western Wisconsin. It's fun. Nerdy yes, interesting, yes, and well... I am into it.

Next, I checked the cameras and of course they aren’t working because I have a psychology degree and not an IT degree so I huffed and sighed at that, and then decided to complain for a bit, then off I went to identify more plant life. Which in my opinion was much more fun.

I have discovered in my day two of botany exploration out here on the acreage that I have a bunch of wild apple tree varieties that are edible. I love this! I have what is called a Paradise apple tree, which sounds so romantic. *swoon*

Here is a photo of the fresh spring buds

Paradise Apple (Malus Pumila)

I also found a cute little lone plum tree in the middle of a field. It was kind of poetic or metaphoric for me.

American Plum a species of Prunus

This plum tree blooms the most fragrant blossoms in late spring that I wish I could bottle up and take with me always. I will post more photos when the flowers bloom on this tree. They are simply gorgeous!

I also discovered the one apple tree that I have been picking apples from for years, is not really a traditional apple tree but an Oregon crabapple tree, which definitely explains why the apples are always so small. Ha! I just thought they were a bit different. Very sweet and pink and delicious nonetheless.

Here is my Oregon Crabapple tree (Malus fusca)

There are so many different types of plant species here on the acreage in Wisconsin and I love geeking out about it. I am especially excited for the apples and the plums to come in later this summer. I will try to remember to post some photos when I am harvesting.

Last year, I discovered a green apple tree that is just massive. I think I picked 3 baskets of apples and I didn’t even put a dent in the tree, meaning, there were still several hundred apples left to pick, but they were like 30 feet high and I hate heights.

I am learning so much about how plants can create eco-systems that are beneficial to local wildlife and can create a nurturing environment to humans. Humans also need habitats that aren’t concrete jungles or cramped office spaces. If you can, I highly recommend getting out in nature among the trees and the plants just to reconnect or decompress from your daily life demands. It is so wonderful.

Thanks for reading my post. I hope you enjoyed my story of my adventure today exploring new territories. Check back soon for more explorations.

Ann