Walking, mowing, and mapping

Sunday morning I made a delicious (if I say so myself) crust-less quiche for Clay's birthday breakfast. (It was crust-less because I'm on a no-carb diet.) Then I took Della and Elvis out for a hike. It was another nice day but promised to be warmer than the last few so I wanted to get out in the morning. I had walked a total of five miles in two hikes yesterday so I wasn't sure what my legs would feel like doing today. We went directly into the woods on some trails I haven't hit all summer, mostly due to mud and ticks. My legs loosened up, we were all enjoying it, and we ended up going 5.5 miles. I think even Della was tired at the end; she came home and crashed in her crate for the rest of the afternoon. 

Elvis is so cute walking next to Della. He has to move at a fast walk and take about 

three steps for every one of hers. But he had no problem keeping up.

Our route had several water crossings. I made sure they stood in the water 

for a while to cool off through their feet.

Black snake in the trail. I spotted him before the dogs did so 

I shortened up their leads and walked them around it.

No encounter is the best kind with a snake.

Elvis is a great little dog.

There's more undergrowth than usual this year,

due to all the rain we've had I'm sure.

Our 5.5 mile route.

After a shower and a little rest, I made Clay birthday muffin brownies, exclusively his, although I did eat a small piece of one that broke as I was taking it out. When it was getting close to 5:00 p.m., Della got up and insisted that it was dinner time. I fed everyone and then did some mowing, because the grass has never even slowed down with all the rain we've had this summer. I had Della, Maya, Max, and Elvis out in the yard with me and I took them on out to the pasture.

I've been wanting to make a map of the trails I've cut in the pasture and I was also needing to cut the grass on the trails, so I turned on the map app on my phone and mowed the trails. It was the first time in the pasture for Elvis and he really loved it, bouncing through the tall grass and running on the pathways. I still find myself yelling at Elvis, who is deaf, to tell him to get out of the way. It's not effective but he was pretty good about staying out of the way on his own. 

I don't know what this wildflower is called, but its seeds are filling the air like

cottonwood trees do in the spring. They are everywhere.

This is the map of my trails through the pasture. I had to double track a lot 

of it to make sure I got all the interconnecting pieces mapped.

I need to start doing short walks out here during the day after each meal.