Hootin' Holler Musings

Thread Painting Project

2010-12-30T23:35:00.005-05:00

I finally completed a quilting project I've been working on for several months - a quilted wall hanging done via a technique called "thread painting," or "thread play," that I did from a photograph of my cat, Angel Kitty. This is a technique I learned at the Quiltfest I attended in July in Jonesborough, TN. It is my first art quilt. I hand embroidered her whiskers at her nose, to make them stand out against her white fur, and I used Angelina fibers to make the highlights in her eyes. Also, in the grass underneath her is a little mouse!

Nice & Icy

2010-12-19T18:38:00.006-05:00

Mother Nature decided to thwart our shopping plans the other day by delivering a storm that coated the driveway, the road, and the trees, grasses and bushes with a layer of ice, keeping us from taking our morning walk, let alone drive to town! And so I spent the day inside, trying as best I could to get some good pictures from the front deck.

We were fortunate that we only had one small cedar fall on our lane. The memory of last year when we had 22 trees down on our lane after a snowstorm around this same time, made us forgiving of this one!

The ice on the trees gave the woods an "other world"ly look. Mother Nature showed off her handiwork when the icy covering on the boughs and limbs brought out details previously unnoticed.

A hawk spent several hours perched on top of a frosty limb, waiting for lunch to fly by!

Christmas Angel (Kitty)

2010-12-09T22:27:00.002-05:00

Angel Kitty has found another place she loves to sleep -- under the tree. We went "simple" this year with our tree. The only decorations on it are lights and garland.

Mokkah and the Fireplace

2010-12-07T15:49:00.007-05:00

Mokkah is fascinated by the flickering flames and cinders of our propane fireplace. We have to watch her to be sure she doesn't try to crawl in behind the "logs," as she at first wanted to do.

After awhile, however, she realizes how cozy it is and she falls asleep.

Mokkah

2010-11-23T16:14:00.005-05:00

I'm sitting in a Chick-fil-a restaurant and marveling at the speed of my laptop when using their wifi.

Last December a stray kitten showed up at our house, limping and hobbling with a bad leg. After several days of coaxing her to the porch (it didn't take that much effort; she was hungry!), we convinced her we wanted to be her friend. Finally she agreed to come inside and after that we were hooked on her and she on us. She even tolerated Angel Kitty hissing at her and chasing her.

Mokkah is now a joyful part of our family. The leg was broken but has since healed and you can hardly see a limp at all. Angel and her aren't good friends, but every month they get a little chummier! Mokkah won't let Angel keep her from TRYING to be a good friend.

When we got her, she was 15 months old per the vet, and she was all black with a brown tail. I named her "Mokkah" to be another way of saying "Mocha" because of her black/brown coloring. Since then the brown has disappeared and she is mostly black with a wisp of white on her belly. We know that she is part Siamese because we saw an adult Siamese cat hanging around at the time she showed up, plus she has Siamese eyes. Her brother was around at the time also, and he still comes around from time to time to get a free hand-out. He is identical to her except that he's bigger with more white.

I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving!

I'm Back! Well . . . sort of

2010-11-21T18:30:00.001-05:00

Hello all of my loyal followers! Thanks for keeping me on your list of blogs that you read! I hope you are all healthy and happy!

In case somebody hasn't noticed, it has been over a year since I wrote in this blog! One reason - the main reason - is that it is so time-consuming to upload pictures since we only have dial-up and aren't inclined to spend the money to get satellite (DSL not available in our area). We finally broke down and bought a laptop computer and so . . . I can take it downtown to where they have wifi and upload pictures quickly.

Now, "downtown" is a half hour away, so bear with me. I'll be writing periodically but still not as much as I was in 2009. I have so many other projects that occupy my time. I find it frustrating to start the upload on a picture, go and do something else, only to come back and find that it stopped in the middle of the upload. That was happening quite a bit.

Stay tuned . . .

Happy Thanksgiving!

Aleta

Baby Raccoon

2009-07-27T12:31:00.002-04:00

We have a couple of mama raccoons who are bringing their babies around. Here is a shot I caught of one climbing the tree.

Learning to Quilt

2009-07-27T12:23:00.005-04:00

I attended the Quiltfest from July 16-18 in Jonesborough, Tennessee. What a lot of fun it was! I took three classes in machine quilting and learned a lot! There was so much talent and creativity there and oh so much inspiration! I've been working on the quilt that I started in one of my classes, but when I lay it out on the bed, Angel Kitty is right there on top of it and she even tries to help!
Little scraps of fabric are just too tempting for kitty. No, Angel, that doesn't go there! Yikes! Watch those hind claws!I'm almost done with it and when I finish it, I'll post a picture here.

Angel Kitty and the Bunnies

2009-07-27T11:25:00.006-04:00

What a busy summer it has been! With all of the gardening, freezing and canning the garden produce, sewing (I'm learning to machine quilt), having the grandchildren for a week, and other activities, I have been neglecting my blogging.

Our local bunnies tease Angel Kitty when we tie her out on her line. They run all around her, just out of her reach, and even jump right over her as they play tag with each other. Perhaps they are hoping she'll join in! One evening I had my camera ready and caught a few shots of the encounter.
And this guy looks at me as if to say - "What?? I didn't do nothing!"

Lucky Shots

2009-05-25T14:11:00.003-04:00

(PS - I have no idea why that blank box above is in this posting!)

Once in awhile I get lucky and get some fairly interesting pictures.

Here is the bluebird flying into his house. If you click on the picture, you can see him better.

Angel Kitty doesn't like her picture taken and usually turns her head away, but here she was rolling around in the gravel and didn't notice that I was pursuing her with the camera until it was too late!

Last year this cardinal hammered at our truck, so we had to cover it. This year it is the same problem. We assume he has a nest nearby.

Wildlife in Unexpected Places

2009-05-21T12:57:00.002-04:00

On our trip to the Smokies, we saw lots of turkey, deer, and even bear. We were also surprised to see these:

This tree swallow was an added attraction in one of the old homes at Cable Mill.This duck was showing off her little ones to the patrons of a restaurant we visited in Gatlinburg. We were concerned when she ventured too close to the roadway and seemed oblivious to the traffic. Fortunately, she directed them back to the stream and they remained safe and sound. We wonder how many ducklings she started out with!

Elijah Oliver Place in Cades Cove

2009-05-21T11:38:00.005-04:00

I am finally getting around to posting some more from our trip to the Smokies. I have been very busy and not able to keep up with my blogging as I would like to be able to do. These pictures are from the Elijah Oliver Place in Cades Cove. To get to this property, you have to hike a trail 1/2 mile back into the woods. What a beautiful and peaceful place! When I visit a place like this, far from the maddening crowds, I become nostalgic for the old ways. It is very peaceful where we live too, but this was even more so, with the only access by foot. Here is what the information brochure has to say about this site:

"Elijah Oliver . . . was born in the Cove in 1824. After he married, he and his family moved out of the Cove before the Civil War. After the war, he bought this property and moved back in. In the time and place of this family, more buildings were required for living than now. With no refrigerator or freezer, they needed the springhouse to keep milk and butter cool. They needed the smokehouse to store and preserve hams, shoulders, and side meat for an entire year. They ate mostly pork because it was easier to preserve than other meats. They needed the corn crib to store enough corn for grinding into meal to last until the next harvest. Having no automobile or motorized farm equipment, they needed horses or mules to pull plows, harrows, buggies, sldes and wagons. And they needed a barn to shelter these animals, along with the cows that provided milk. Hay to feed them was stored in the barn loft. Water for drinking, cooking, bathing and laundry had to be carried from the spring. No easy task. Much later than the time of Oliver, just one family in the Cove had wate piped from a spring into the house to a homemade kitchen sink. Two or three other families piped water from springs to faucets just outside their houses. . . . Buildings were of log construction until the 1870's because there was no nearby sawmill to saw logs into lumber."

Doug at a side door.

The fireplaces in the house.
I see a girl's face in this fireplace, complete with eyes & eyebrows, hair, nose, cheeks and mouth. She is looking to her right, our left. Does anybody else see it? Now that I've seen it, I can't NOT see it when I look at this picture! She reminds me of the girl on Norton salt containers.

An outbuilding
The barn

Me on the front porch

The springhouse

A peek inside the springhouse shows how the water in the stream is directed to a trough where they kept their milk.

A kind fellow visitor took our picture.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

2009-05-09T13:07:00.007-04:00

We moved to our home here in Tennessee in 2004, and we have been talking about visiting the Smokies ever since. We are only two hours' drive away! We finally did it. Knowing that we wanted to beat the tourist season, last week we took a couple of days' mini-vacation and drove to the Smokies.

We stayed overnight in Gatlinburg, then ventured out during the day to the park, where we did lots of hiking. We took a 3-mile hike (round trip) back to Laural Falls the evening that we arrived.Me at Laural Falls

The falls were beautiful and on our drive back, I spotted a black bear not far into the woods on the side of the road. We turned around and went back. It was a mama bear with her cub in the tree above her. It would have been a perfect photo opportunity, but as luck would have it, my camera was in the trunk and when other people noticed and stopped, the bear got nervous and moved farther back into the woods, leaving her cub safe up in the tree. Lesson learned: when traveling in the Smokies, always have your camera at hand! You just never know when a photo opportunity will present itself.

On Thursday we visited Cades Cove. What a beautiful area nestled among the mountains!

Panoramic view taken at Cades Cove.

Me at Cades Cove

What is Cades Cove? It is a relatively flat valley between the mountains and ridges of the Smokies. It started with a handful of families in 1821 and was accessible only via indian trails. By 1850, this farming community had grown to 132 families. Some of the original log homes still stand, as well as churches, to include a Primitive Baptist Church that was established in 1827. Today a part of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the cove has trails for hiking, and the narrow one-way paved road that loops the cove is excellent for bicyclists. Those not inclined to enjoy the sports opportunities the Cove offers can take the auto tour and visit each of the 18 sites. There's something for everyone to enjoy!

We took a 5-mile hike (round trip) back to Abrams Falls in Cades Cove.
Me at Abrams Falls

Doug & I along the trail back from Abrams Falls. We found a log that made a perfect "tripod" that we used to take a picture using the camera's timer.

Cades Cove has a large population of black bear, as does the entire park (two for every square mile!) We saw six of them as we were driving out of the Cove; three in one field and three in another, but they were too far away for my camera to take decent pictures.

I'll have more pictures of our mini-vacation in a later post!

How to Give Your Cat a Pill

2009-05-01T10:41:00.004-04:00

In light of what Doug and I go through each morning giving Angel Kitty her two pills for her urinary tract infection, I thought I'd share these humorous instructions that I found on the internet about how to give a cat a pill:

How to Give Your Cat a Pill

(I particularly like the note at the bottom on how to give your DOG a pill.)

Actually, we have the procedure down pretty good, with the help of a pill giving gadget thingie we got from the vet's. I have to wrap her good in a towel and hold on tight while Doug does the administering. Usually the pills go down but not every time. Sometimes it takes more than one try.

And when it is all done, Angel gets her "special food" treat - a bit of Fancy Feast canned food that she loves.

Bella Award

2009-04-29T13:15:00.003-04:00

Jo , a Brit in Tennessee, gave me this Bella Award. Thank you, Jo! I am honored to accept it!

Jo has a wonderful blog. Her pictures and stories are a daily delight! Check her out; you'll be glad you did!

And here are other blogs that I thoroughly enjoy and am passing this award on to:

Phyllis's View
Adirondack View
Joyful Reflections
Doreen's Miniatures and Memoires
Nature Knitter

As I understand it, the rule is that if you receive the award, you are to pass it along to five other recently discovered blogs. I must admit I cheated a bit -- I have been following a couple of these blogs for awhile (they aren't recently discovered). But I want them to share the award so that others will be encouraged to give them a look-see!

Backyard Birding Secrets

2009-04-27T12:14:00.004-04:00

I won this wonderful book in a caption contest on the Nature Knitter blog. Thank you, Ruthie! This book contains a lot of great information for attracting birds to your property such as what flowers to plant for specific birds, and other ideas such as for keeping bees away from the hummingbird feeder, rub a little bit of cooking oil around each of the feeding ports. I'll definitely try that one!

Stop over and visit the Nature Knitter blog. There are loads of interesting bird stories and information, and awesome pictures!

Angel Kitty's Lion Cut 2009

2009-04-25T14:01:00.005-04:00

Angel Kitty has her new summer "do" - the lion's cut. We have it done at our vet's office and they give her a sedative. That makes it easier for her, and THEM!

Before:

After:

Isn't she cute?

Woops - maybe she needs a bra! (click on the above picture to enlarge it, and you'll see what I mean!)

She was a bit groggy when she got home, but she insisted on going outside on her line. When she got out there, however, she was just too sleepy to do her usual exploring. She couldn't even keep her eyes open.

I normally wouldn't do this; I would prefer to let her hair be natural. We tried it two years ago, however, and by July Doug and I were breathing, eating, and constantly brushing off her hair! It was intolerable, so we went back to giving her the cut. Plus, this gives her a break from ingesting so much long hair and having hairballs.

It is after this cut that I realize how tiny she is. My little beauty, at least for a few months, becomes my little cutie pie!

Guest River Gorge Trail

2009-04-25T12:34:00.004-04:00

Two days ago Doug and I took our bicycles to Guest River Gorge Trail, in the Jefferson National Forest, near Coeburn, Virginia. It was a perfect day weather-wise, and we wanted to take our bikes somewhere other than just our lane where we usually ride. The scenic, 5.8-mile long Guest River Gorge Trail follows the path of the old Southern railway.

As you travel down the trail, you can view small waterfalls and rock cliffs on your left . . .and the Guest River on your right.

Along the way, there were adjustments to be made.

Don't make fun of my "turtle head" helmet!

I'm so prone to falling that I felt more comfortable wearing protection. In fact, I DID fall - one time when I was dismounting! Thank goodness the bike was not moving, but I sure did! I lay on the bridge, my bike on top of me, and laughed at myself. (no picture of that here!)

Look at the house up on the cliff in the next picture. Can you imagine living there? What a gorgeous view those folks have!! I'm sure they are used to people taking pictures of their lovely abode. We never noticed it before, but we visited the trail in the summer when the leaves were on the trees.

We did a "self portrait," which is mostly a silhouette of us. There were few people on the trail that day so we had nobody to ask to take our picture for us.The trail ends at a bridge over the Guest River.

When we were all done, our legs felt like lead and spaghetti at the same time! We decided that we deserved a treat, so we stopped at the newly renovated Red Stone Drive-In, located outside of the Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield, Virginia, and enjoyed a meal, followed by sundaes! Thus I replaced all of the calories that I burned on the bike ride!
We plan to take another bicycle ride at a park in the near future; BUT - we will make sure that the trail is nice and level! No more uphills for us!

What is this Bush?

2009-04-25T12:28:00.002-04:00

We have lived here for five years come October, and we still don't know what this bush is. It kind of looks like a honeysuckle, but the flowers are pink and unscented. The bees love it. Any ideas?

Balm of Gilead

2009-04-20T13:25:00.004-04:00

A few years ago we received a visit from an old timer who had lived near our property. He showed us where we have a stand of Balm of Gilead trees. (We knew something smelled nice in that area but we didn't know what it was!) He said as a child he and his friends would gather the buds in the spring and turn them into salve that they would then sell.

Balm of Gilead is a clone or hybrid of the Balsam Poplar and it spreads by way of underground shoots. A "black salve" folk remedy made from its buds is reportedly a heal-all for almost everything from aches and pains to cancer, even internal conditions! You can read some of the stories about its curative properties at the Annie Appleseed Project website. What an amazing herbal remedy!

Today when returning from my walk, I passed the Balm of Gilead stand and the intoxicating aroma drew me in. I couldn't resist plucking a few of the (very sticky!) buds and bringing them back to the house. (It would have been better had I done this earlier in the Spring, but there were still plenty to pick for my little experiment.) I then looked up a website that explains how to make an oil from the buds. The delightfully scented oil can be used for massages, as an anti-inflammatory, as an antimicrobial, and it is also analgesic. I plopped the buds into a jar and covered them with olive oil as the website suggests, then covered the jar. I have to stir the solution once a day for six weeks, then strain it and it is ready to use! I can leave it in the jar longer, even for a year! The longer, the better it is!

It is wonderful to be able to take advantage of what nature offers us. I truly believe that every affliction that plagues the body can be cured with herbs, but the drug companies don't want you to know that! I will post updates on my blog as my little experiment progresses.

Return of the Hummers!

2009-04-19T13:02:00.006-04:00

Our hummingbirds returned last Monday, April 13 -- or, at least that is the first time my husband noticed one. (I was out of town and he doesn't watch as closely as I would!) Now we have four and at least one of them is a female! There is a lot of chirping and penduluming going on around here! By summer's end, we will have 25 or 30 of them, all of the ruby throated variety. Thus it begins - the purchasing of a five-pound bag of sugar each week! I think this year may be a banner year for them, since the female is earlier than usual!

Our neighbors have a few hummingbirds, but not like we do. We aren't sure why we are so blessed. Perhaps it is the many rose of sharon bushes that we have around the house, or the huge trumpet vine, which they love. The former owner of our home (we bought it in 2004) planted lots of flowers they like all around the house, so perhaps they remember that. I do plant some, but I'm not as "green thumbish" at planting flowers as he was! We just hope they keep on coming, year after year!

Here are a few pictures from years gone by:

In the Fall of 2005 we had a rufous hummingbird come through and stay until mid-November. Members of the Hummer/Bird Study Group, Inc. (www.hummingbirdsplus.org) traveled from Alabama to our place in hopes of banding it, but as luck would have it, the rufous had moved on by the time they arrived.

A Flower's View

2009-04-17T14:59:00.005-04:00

Scattered patterns, a mosaic of rich humus, and golden colors braided with brown, dabbled in sunlight: this is where the flower lives that bows and nods in the breeze, remaining upright despite the elements that seem to conspire against her, yet in many ways are her friends. She has a lovely view from here, looking out from the rocky outcropping of her front porch to the sky and at the trees, big and tall, that tower over her little spot in the woods.

She sometimes gets a visitor. Her lovely guest with his brightly colored gossamer wings and tiny feet tickles her as he prances lightly around her head. The ferns sometimes lean over and nuzzle her and she tries to nuzzle back, but all too soon they move away and return to their position above her. Flower is mostly alone; other flowers of various colors and sizes grow nearby, but they are all so quiet, clutching their own little piece of the world.

Flower turns her face towards the sun, soaking up its warm rays. She loves her home here in this carpet of dried leaves, moss and grass. She feels joy in the wind. She absorbs love from life. She has such peace, such contentment, because all that she has to be is this flower, and she knows that. There is no striving to become what she never can - a bush, a tree, a snake, or a bird.

Sometimes she is paid a visit by a fawn who sniffs her, and she waits to be eaten, to be useful in some way to some other living creature. If that doesn't happen, or if she isn't trodden on by careless footsteps, she will return from where she came. She will display her lovely colors for awhile, for all who see her to enjoy, and then she will wither and fade and soon will drop to the forest floor, disappearing beneath the other plants and foliage that will use her abode in another season.

We have a WINNER!!

2009-04-16T08:48:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Betsy, who won the scarf in my giveaway!

Betsy, please e-mail me your home address and I'll shoot that scarf out to you pronto! Although it is probably too late to use it here in Tennessee for this year, except perhaps on cold mornings, I know you'll enjoy it come winter!

Thank you who participated in this giveaway. I'll be doing more from time to time; I have lots of scarves, and other goodies as well, to give away!

A Plug for Photobucket

2009-04-07T19:26:00.003-04:00

Because I only have dial-up (and don't expect to get anything better in the near future), it takes forever for me to upload pictures onto my blog. If I upload them directly into blogspot, it takes hours for even 2 or 3 pictures, so I have been using photobucket, which has still taken a long time, but at least it was quicker than blogspot.

The other day I discovered photobucket's bulk uploader. Now, instead of taking hours to upload pictures, it takes minutes! I am so impressed! How do they DO that? Why can't every website do that? It is great!

I just wanted to pass this along in case there are other bloggers out there with the same problem. Try photobucket and try their bulk uploader!

Birds are so much Fun!

2009-04-07T18:44:00.009-04:00

Last evening my husband called me to the kitchen window - come quick! I was amazed to see a hawk on the driveway tearing apart its prey. I felt bad for the dove - but I realize that the hawk has to eat. Far better that a hungry hawk get it rather than a domestic cat or dog, who would usually only kill it for "fun"! I believe this is a sharp-shinned hawk. We watched him for a few minutes, and then he flew with his dinner to a nearby tree.A few days ago five turkeys - four males and one female - came around to the pasture. (No hunting is permitted on our property. It is turkey hunting season here in TN, but those that squat on our land are safe!) It was obvious they were all vying for the female's attention, and four of them looked on enviously while one guy strutted his stuff!

A friend made us two new birdhouses. My husband put one up fairly close to the house and I had my doubts about anything using it. Well, thankfully I was proven wrong several days ago when the chickadees took it over. Then, a few days later, the bluebirds decided that they wanted it. It was fun to watch the battle of wills between them, but in the end the bluebirds drove the chickadees away. These pictures aren't that great; it was a foggy morning when I took them. Look closely and you can see one bluebird on top of the house and two chickadees in the bushes to the right of the birdhouse. The chickadees are planning their next move, but the bluebirds are confident that by the end of the day, they'll win, and they did. Soon we watched them bringing grasses in to build their nest.

Blueberry Pancakes w/Pure Maple Syrup!

2009-04-07T18:34:00.003-04:00

Mmmm. . . . don't they look good? And they were! Thanks to the pure maple syrup that I won on Cedar's giveaway! Thanks, Cedar!

Giveaway

2009-04-07T13:36:00.004-04:00

Is that a snowflake or a butterfly that just passed my window? Oh dear, it's a snowflake! Well, it appears that here in Eastern Tennessee, Winter is giving its (hopefully) last hoorah and in celebration of that and in memory of Winter, I'm going to give away this scarf. I have a whole bin full of scarves that I crocheted and knitted, intending to sell them, but never did. This one is crocheted with Paton's cha cha yarn. It is pale blue (so at least the color is "Springy"!), 60 inches long (so you can wrap it around your neck several times) and almost 3 inches wide. Besides being long, this scarf is also very soft.

I know that scarf season is for the most part GONE for this year - yet when I look out my window, I'm not so sure - but don't worry, it'll return next year!

I will randomly draw one name from all of the comments that I receive on this entry, by April 15. Good luck!

Our Resident Gray Fox

2009-04-04T15:38:00.004-04:00

We've had a gray fox coming around our place for a year now, eating the cat food that we had originally put out for the raccoons - but hey, whoever gets there first is welcome to it! Well, other than the fox and raccoons, we have opossums, skunks, and two particular deer that eat it. The two deer are a doe and her fawn from last year. The doe started eating the cat food, and when the fawn got bigger, it did also. And they also have their own food -- sweet feed that we put out just for them! We have quite the show to watch from our kitchen window right before dark, and even after dark when we turn the outside light on, which doesn't seem to bother the critters. Angel Kitty watches, too - safely from inside, of course!

Here was a little drama that took place out of our kitchen window last evening.

First I saw the fox approach the feeding area from the front of the house and I took his picture . . .

Oops! I think he saw me!
Isn't he beautiful? Must be all that cat food he eats . . .

Well, NOW who's watching him?

Oh, of course - that deer again! He's keeping his eyes on him! (note the deer in the right hand side of the picture)
Okay, now the deer's on the move. Just a few more quick bites . . .

Time to skedaddle!

And Up the hill he goes. Long after he's gone, the deer continue to maintain a vigil.

Last year I got a video of the deer chasing the fox away from the bird feeder area where we used to put out the cat food. The fox kept sneaking back and the deer kept chasing him away. This went on for some time and it became obvious that it was just a fun game for them to see who's faster and smarter - fox or deer. Although the deer were pretty quick and I know those hooves could do some harm, the fox was pretty sly when he slinked down behind the trees and crept up to the food! I wish I could upload the video, but my dial-up internet makes it time-prohibitive!

Some trivia about the Gray Fox: It is primarily nocturnal, but can sometimes been seen foraging by day in brush, thick foliage, or timber. It is the only American canid (canine) with tree climbing ability, and it occasionally forages in trees and frequently takes refuge in them, especially in leaning or thickly branched ones. It favors den sites in woodlands and among boulders on the slopes of rocky ridges. Well, that explains why we have gray foxes here, with all of the rocky ridges we have -- and caves, too!

A Great Place to Write

2009-03-29T18:39:00.003-04:00

This morning I climbed (and I do mean "climbed"!) up to the top of our ridge, wearing my backpack laden with camera and other assorted necessities (i.e., walkie talkie, compass), and found a comfy log where I spread out my indian blanket and sat for awhile to write. Unfortunately, the wind was howling, making me uneasy with all of those creaking, swaying trees around me, and it became so COLD that I could barely hold my pen! But it was fun to be in the woods for a change, after a long winter of staying indoors for the most part. I startled a deer that snorted but never revealed itself. Vultures soared over my head, making strange calls as though laughing at me: "Look at that fool!"

One reason I went up was to see if there are any morel mushrooms yet. I didn't find any, which doesn't mean anything since I usually can't find them, but our neighbor went up yesterday and he didn't find any either which means they aren't out yet since he always finds them! I guess it is a bit too early.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the challenging climb and the commune with nature. It looked like the sun was shining behind the mountains in the distance (it wasn't shining here!), and the shimmering glow was pretty to view.

Great Author - Barbara Kingsolver

2009-03-27T13:03:00.005-04:00

I am reading Barbara Kingsolver's book, Small Wonder - Essays, and as usual, I am impressed. I have read most of her novels (The Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer, The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, and others), and am never disappointed. She writes with such clarity and sensitivity that I find her books difficult to put down once I start reading. Her descriptions of characters and locations in her books are lively, colorful, and intriguing. I can't say I have a favorite - I love all of them that I've read - but Prodigal Summer is dear to my heart because it takes place in southern Appalachia and, as the back of the book describes, is a "hymn to wilderness that celebrates the prodigal spirit of human nature, and of nature itself." I also love her novels that take place in the desert. Having visited there, I know how despite its dry barrenness, the southwestern desert holds a special allure for those of us who are romantic dreamers. Her books on the desert capture my heart and provide inspiration.

In Small Wonder - Essays, she tells the true story of a baby in Iran who became lost but was found safe and sound, being fed and cared for by a black bear. She also writes about a young bobcat that came up to her window one day where she was sitting writing in Arizona, and stared into her eyes for several moments before turning away. She writes movingly about our country and its policies and how we are shaping our own destiny by our attitudes. To quote the flap of the book: . . . "these essays are grounded in the author's belief that our largest problems have grown from the earth's remotest corners as well as our own backyards, and that answers may lie in those places too."

Barbara Kingsolver and her family divide their time between a home in Tucson, Arizona, and a farm in southern Appalachia, where, as she describes in Small Wonder, they reside in a log home built of chestnut logs in the late 1930's. Her descriptions of their old tobacco barn and the surrounding countryside remind me of the area around where I live.

Her latest book - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - is based on "you are what you eat." It is the story of her back-to-the-land living with her family in Appalachia. I am ordering a copy today!

Men at Work/I Just Had to Have It

2009-03-27T12:53:00.004-04:00

Okay, I don't get fixated on much, but I saw this bathroom faucet in a friend's house and it just stuck in my mind until finally I said, I just have to have one too! It is rustic pewter and fits right in with our rustic-style home. The old faucet (I forgot to take a picture of it) was also a rustic style, but silver and, unbeknownst to us, the previous owner of this home had painted it gold. We discovered that when the paint started to fleck off. It looked awful and we didn't want to keep on painting it. It was still functional but when the men took it off, it literally fell apart so it is a good thing we replaced it! Well, that's what I tell Doug, who was not enthused about the idea. See, he and plumbing jobs don't get along very well. Our neighbor, Al, luckily, did that kind of work for a living so he came over and they worked on it together. The directions made it sound so easy and that all you need are a mere four tools; isn't that what they always say? Al, who is familiar with such things, brought his entire toolbox anyway and lucky he did because three hours later, they got it put together after using most of the tools in his box! We bought the faucet at Lowe's. They had some at Home Depot that were similar, but the color wasn't quite the same and I like this one better.

I bet I'm the only person in the whole world who is blogging about their bathroom faucet! :)

Penelope the Bunny has a New Home

2009-03-27T12:34:00.005-04:00

I won this adorable bunny and vintage apron from Phillis' giveaway on her blog at Phyllis' View! Isn't the bunny adorable? Don't you love her whiskers? Her name is Penelope and she has a special place to sit on my vintage barrel chair! She smells so sweet, too! And the apron is so cute!

Thank you, Phyllis, for your generosity and sharing your wonderful crafting talents! I never win anything and Penelope is truly special!

Busy Pussy Willow Bush

2009-03-23T15:47:00.005-04:00

Spring has definitely sprung in our neck of the woods! Today the temperature surged to 71! The pussy willow bush was loaded with honeybees. It was fun to watch them flying about, sacks of pollen sticking to their legs. I wish I knew where their hive is, but it is probably a farmer's field on the other side of the ridge. I know that honeybees travel far and wide to gather their pollen. Two zebra swallowtail butterflies (presumably male and female) also flitted about the bush and actually landed together so that I could get a family portrait!

Rainbow

2009-02-12T18:38:00.002-05:00

We can usually count on being gifted with the sight of a beautiful rainbow arching across the ridges of our property after a storm. Yesterday was no different. I was greeted by this beauty when I stepped out onto my front porch. Even part of a double rainbow!

I also love the way the sky turns pink and fiery after a storm.

A Walk on the Beach

2009-02-09T10:26:00.005-05:00

A WALK ON THE BEACH

Sand like velvet ribbon
Flowing between my toes;
Shells - pink, gold, white, jewels;
Some pure, some marred;
Many scarred from endless lulling about
The ocean’s playground; many cracked, broken.

The briny air, sticky sweet,
Caresses my arms like an anxious lover,
Sighing, restless;
The sky a blue curtain,
A print of cloud, like bunched up sheets,
Resting on the horizon bed.

Tender, cool waves lap at my legs
Then dart away, roll out of sight.
A cool breeze holds back the sun that,
Like an anchor,
Wants to drop me to my knees;
Dawn turns dusk,
The sky darkens,
I become a shadow in retreat.

Copyright 1997 Aleta

Aren't each of us walking on the beach of our own ocean that makes up our life?

This poem will become part of my memoir. I also write poetry and it was the first poem that I shared with my husband when we first met and began to compare interests.

I can't help but marvel at the diversity of the experiences that nature makes available to us for our enjoyment: woodlands, seasides, canyons, deserts, waterfalls, and many many more. There's something for everyone!

Is it Spring Yet?

2009-02-08T14:27:00.007-05:00

What a gorgeous day! A day that feels like spring in the air! A day to be outside doing things! Wash the vehicles! Paint those new bluebird houses our friend gave us! Repot some houseplants in the potting shed! Such a nice break from the freezing temps we've had for the past few weeks. Just three days ago it was 10 degrees in the morning. This morning it was 42, and now it is 65.

I appreciate this warm weather, but -- it isn't natural. This is a symptom of global warming - the extremes in temperatures, the chaotic shift in weather patterns across the country. Yet, I will enjoy this warm weather while it lasts.

A hawk has been spending a lot of time on top of our martin house for the past month or so. It makes a great vantage point from which he can easily spot prey scurrying around on the ground below.

These aren't the greatest pics, but thought I'd take a break from my writing and put them on my blog. I have discovered that pictures upload quicker on photo bucket than they do on here, so I upload them to photo bucket and then simply copy and past the direct link.

Snowy Woods

2009-02-02T13:42:00.013-05:00

I know how it goes here: look outside the window and witness a beautiful snow floating from the sky like feathery angels, mounds of white piling in stark contrast on the blackish-green boughs of the cedars. Wait a half hour and look again and the snow has melted, everything reverting back to drab winter brown! I wanted to capture the snow we're having today before it went away, so I ventured out with my camera (in a plastic bag to keep it dry!) to some wooded paths on our property. I know it will be awhile before we see a snow like this again. We've gotten a little more than an inch so far, but we don't expect much more.

Nothing compares to the experience of standing in the woods with snow falling peacefully all around me. I forget that I'm cold, forget that I'm getting wet, and tilt my head back to catch snowflakes on my tongue, entertaining memories of bygone days in my Pennsylvania childhood home, of retreating inside to warm kitchens and enjoying hot chocolate with my friends.

Snow!

2009-02-02T12:20:00.006-05:00

I'm violating my "blogger Thursday" rule, but it is SNOWING now and I just had to take a break from my writing to put a few pictures on here. There is even more snow on the trees now as I write this than there is in these pictures.

To be honest, I'm ready for spring, but it is nice to see such a beautiful snow covering the cedars and pines, almost covering the grass! That is unusual here. Khan, the neighbor's Black Lab, was at our house again this morning. He is such a nice dog - so friendly and craves attention. He followed us from his house on our walk, at which time it was raining, but he didn't seem to mind. He then followed us home and we have him tied in the garage to keep him from wandering into the woods, and so that Doug can take him home and give him some training on the way. He worked with him for 20 minutes the other day when he followed us home, and Khan learned quickly. By the time Doug took him back to his owner, Khan was sitting when told to do so - well, almost! Since the owner doesn't seem to have much interest in training him, and since he follows us home a lot, we will work with him and try to get him to at least obey the word "stay" so that maybe we can keep him from following us on our walks. I believe a trained dog is a happy dog. A dog wants nothing more than to please its owner, and the only way it can do that is if it knows what its owner wants!

Only the Beginning

2009-01-31T14:09:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd share the start of my memoir. This is probably the only part of my memoir that I'll share on here. I've been working on it heavily, and the more I write, the more I find that I NEED to write in order to explain exactly what happened!

The decorations, the lights, and the piped- in carols that were meant to gladden the heart, brighten the spirit, and create a festive atmosphere, seemed to be making mockery of my inner pain and confusion. I sat on a bench that was hard and unforgiving, pressing into my aching back; exhaustion turned my bones to lead. Christmas shoppers, usually in groups of two or more, passed me by, smiling and talking with one another, seemingly happy and content. They barely gave me a glance. Was I really even there? Then, in a panic, I suddenly realized that I didn’t know where I was - what town, what state? I knew I was in a mall, but what mall and how did I get there? Where was my car? How would I find my way home, wherever home was? My heart raced in my chest that seemed gripped in a vice closing tighter and tighter. I felt that I would either suffocate or have a heart attack. I began to shake uncontrollably and tears blurred my vision and coursed down my face.

That was a few weeks before Christmas 2001. My life was in chaos and my future uncertain. I had willingly taken on so many changes in my life - divorce, a new job, a move to an apartment in a new city and state, where I knew absolutely nobody - and I was lonely, overwhelmed, and on the verge of a breakdown. There was no undoing the changes I had made in my life. I couldn’t go back, didn’t want to go back. This was the journey that I needed to take, whatever valleys lay before me or dark-shadowed mountains stood waiting for me to scale, and whatever the ultimate outcome might be.

This is a story of choices that we sometimes make in order to move away from the darkness, forced down a path of turmoil and uncertainty, in order that we can embrace the light. In some ways it is an appalling story, in many ways romantic, but in all ways it is mine.

Thank you, my blogger friends, for letting me share this!

What are these Birds?

2009-01-23T10:48:00.003-05:00

I know that there are some goldfinch among them, but what are the other birds? Pine siskins? House finches? Purple finches?

Ah, Bluebirds!

2009-01-22T13:11:00.008-05:00

Aren't bluebirds lovely? Their voice is so cheery and their presence in the winter time lends a bit of color to a drab landscape! The bluebirds in the last picture came around the other day. There are two couples. Can you see all four birds in the trumpet vine arbor? Maybe they're doing some house hunting. We have four bluebird houses and the bluebirds use two of them for nesting and when they are done, the tree swallows and chickadees move in. The other two houses aren't used at all from what we can tell, so this year we plan to move them to a more desirable location! Gotta keep the birds happy! The other pictures were taken in the spring and summer, last year and previous years.

Writing Memoir

2009-01-15T13:57:00.004-05:00

In September, Doug and I attended the AARP National Event Convention in Washington, D.C., and we had the privilege of meeting Abigail Thomas, the author of her memoir A Three Dog Life, which was named Best Book of 2006 by the Washington Post. Ms. Thomas held a workshop on writing memoir at the convention and presented her book Thinking About Memoir for sale. At her book signing, Doug and I briefly told her about the unique situation that brought us together and how we first met. Her response was "Oh, you HAVE to write that!" And I agree. So -- I am writing it.

I tend to lose focus in my writing and in everything I do, actually, and so I have several writing projects started, to include two novels, several stories, and one memoir. The memoir has been waiting for me to get back to it and I have decided that it is time I did. I plan to get this done and published, even if I go with self publishing.

Abigail Thomas' website is http://www.abigailthomas.net.
For those of you who are AARP members (or maybe you don't even have to be a member), she has a group about writing memoir on the Online Community section of their website.

No matter how mundane we believe our lives to be, we all have a story to share - about growing up, coming into adulthood, marital ups and downs. These stories are great fodder for developing memoirs that are interesting, satisfying, and inspiring! A few of the memoirs and non-fiction accounts of people's lives that I have read and enjoyed are:

Private Front and Center by William Fletcher (this was a memoir written by a soldier who fought in the Civil War)
Light is the Color of Suffering, by Melissa Green
The Glass Castle, by Jennifer Walls
The Bookseller of Kabul, by Asne Seierstad (this is not a memoir, but a journalist's account of the day-to-day life of an Afghani family that she lived with)

Has any of you written a memoir, and if so, can you offer any advice or suggestions for the writing and publishing process?

Scattered

2009-01-15T13:49:00.004-05:00

I guess you could call me the stereotypical scatter-brain. I put something down, then totally forget where it is. I am constantly searching for things that I know I have in the house - somewhere: books, knitting needles, needle cases, pens, etc. I am also scattered in my interests. I love to do SO many things: read, write, sew, felt, crochet, knit, garden . . . and the list goes on and on.

I am retired and so I have nothing but TIME on my hands. Yet, time does run out! If I don't get focused soon, I will not reach my goals, and my computer is not cooperating with me in this. For some reason, it is getting slower and slower. Perhaps I need a new one. Perhaps I have too much on it. I've been removing pictures and will next go to my favorites and delete those that I don't want anymore, but that's another problem - EVERYTHING is a favorite!! Hopefully deleting these items will speed things up, but I believe that, in order to get some other projects done, I will have to limit my time on line.

In light of my new resolve, I will now only be blogging on Thursdays. I will still be checking the blogs on my list for updates and will occasionally post to my own blog, but probably not as many pictures - unless I have something awesome that I MUST share (we only have dial-up, so uploading pictures takes up an enormous amount of my time) - but all activity will be on Thursdays!

Thankful Thursday, as Fiona says! I'm so thankful for you all of you who take the time to read my blog! I just wanted to make you aware of my new blogging schedule in case you wonder about my"silence"!

See my next entry to see how I'll be making use of my extra time!

Cedar Waxwings

2009-01-10T11:17:00.004-05:00

The Cedar Waxwings are here today in flock, eating the blue berries from their namesake, the Eastern Red Cedar trees. These elegant birds are beautiful to behold, with the mix of green, bluish gray, yellow, and a spot of red on their wings and a black mask across their eyes, but I find them difficult to photograph because they just won't sit STILL, and they are here one moment, gone the next! This is the only time of the year when we are blessed with their presence, when the berries on the cedars must be at their yummiest. Occasionally we see one in the summer.

Appalachian Quilt Trail

2009-01-09T17:28:00.003-05:00

The area of Tennessee in which we live (Hancock County) is rich in cultural history, ecological treasures, and crafting skills that are celebrated by the Appalachian Quilt Trail. Bledsoe's Barn s located near us and is one of the many "quilts" displayed on the sides of barns throughout the area. You can view Bledsoe's Barn and the other quilts by clicking on this link.

Snowy Ridge

2009-01-09T16:42:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we awoke to snowfall and looked out to see the trees on the ridge adorned with snowy robes!

More Old Structures

2009-01-09T16:09:00.010-05:00

When we drove around the other day, we passed a charming old house that had a flag on the wall outside the door. It was the only shock of color against the weary white of the old siding and the barren winter landscape. There are many homes like this in our "authentic Appalachia" area, passed down from generation to generation, still being used, as this one is.

On our way out from the waterfall, we visited the barn which is owned by Inky Bear's owners. Although the barn is old, someone installed concrete blocks under it and thus helped to preserve the siding boards against rotting away into the damp earth. The log supports in this barn are hand-hewn.

Waterfall Revisited

2009-01-09T14:49:00.007-05:00

Two days ago we hiked back to the waterfall that I wrote about in my December 11 entry, to see the effects of our abundance of rain. It was gushing like crazy, and the little streams around it that are usually just a trickle, were high and difficult to navigate. To get back to the waterfall we had to cross a raggedy bridge that I'm sure one of these days will fall into the creek. A neighbor's dog, Inky Bear, came with us. Sadly, poor Inky Bear gets left alone a lot - for days, weeks, and months at a time - and he loves to be with people. He had a blast swimming in the pond that we passed along the way, splashing in the little pool below the falls, and then running out to shake himself near us, jumping around gaily at our shouts of protest! He just ate up the attention!

Water, water - everywhere!

2009-01-08T10:45:00.018-05:00

We have been dumped on with rain the past few days and yesterday Doug & I decided to check out the Clinch River. It was up 6-8 feet and the steps that we use to walk down to the river where we swim in the summer, are underwater, between the two trees to the left of Doug in the first picture. It was blustery and cold and sleeted a bit during our excursion. We drove around on a back road and then out to the highway where we were surprised at the amount of flooding along the road. Where there once was a stream that you couldn't even see, now for as far as you can see, it looks like a lake or river! One of the effects of global warming is the extremes in weather: we have been in severe drought conditions for the past few summers and now we are getting inundated!

Tracking Precipitation

2009-01-06T11:03:00.004-05:00

Betsy had a post about weather on her blog and it inspired me to share information about the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (COCORHAS), a "grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities. " We read about COCORHAS in the Tennessee Magazine, a monthly magazine that our power company puts out. We've been participating in COCORHAS for 13 months now. We purchased the special rain gauge from COCORHAS, as required, and every morning at 8:00 Doug goes on line to report the amount of precipitation that we had in our guage. We can look on the map and see how much rain fell in other parts of the state, or in the country if we choose. Right now we are the only station in our county. Up until a few months ago there were two of us but the other guy must have stopped doing it. Other than the purchase of their special rain gauge (and hail pad if you choose, but we chose not to since we seldom receive hail), to keep things standard, there is no cost, and it is fun! COCORHAS also has a blog.

Ground Pine; Old Barn

2009-01-03T22:26:00.008-05:00

Still at the top of the ridge, we take a path through ground pine and visit the old barn that seems to be deteriorating more each time we see it. Now it is too unsafe to go inside and view the names, initials and dates that for decades visitors have carved into the logs of the pen in the middle. It is intriguing to read the scratchings and wonder about them -- who wrote them, where were they from, what are they doing today? The barn was built in the 1940's and for many years served the owners well when the ridge was used for farming tobacco and for pasturing cows. It is hard to believe that there was once a garden there by the barn, and the story goes that the woman of the household hiked up that ridge everyday to hoe and weed it. This barn goes with the old house in my posting of November 19. It is sad to see what was once a strong, useful structure, neglected and falling down to its knees.

At the Top; Virginia

2009-01-03T21:09:00.008-05:00

Finally our struggle paid off -- we made it to the top of the ridge. On the other side of our ridge is Lee County in the state of Virginia. (We live in Tennessee.) Many "no hunting" signs remained on the trees where Doug posted them last year, but some have to be replaced.

Up to the Top; Lost in the Woods

2009-01-02T11:46:00.014-05:00

Yesterday we decided to climb up to the top of one of our ridges - definitely a challenge! At 2,000 feet elevation, the top of the ridge is 600 feet above our house. Heart pumping, legs screaming for relief, sweat dripping down despite the cold, we made it to the top.
We wanted to make certain that our "no hunting" signs were still up, and put markings on the trees at a particular "trail" to make it easier to find the best way up and down the ridge.

We make good use of our hiking sticks. My name means "little winged one" in Spanish, and so when my DH made my stick, he carved the word "hummingbird" on it. His name (Douglas) means "dark waters" and that is what he carved on his stick.

In some of these pictures, you can see our house down at the bottom of the ridge. At the point when we took those pictures, we were still a good ways from the very top.

Now and then I go up there by myself. That ridge is one of my favorite spots on our property, although I have favorite spots all over our property! On warm days, I love to find a "comfortable" rock up on the ridge and read, write, and meditate, surrounded by nature. The only problem is that I have a terrible sense of direction. Last Spring I went up there hunting morel mushrooms. I know that we have tons of them but I seldom get any; our neighbor is good at locating them and I think he gets most of them, or maybe I just don't see them, but either way its okay because it is more the hunting of them that I enjoy than the eating of them, although they ARE good... At any rate, on that particular spring day last year, almost as soon as I got up there, my walkie talkie fell out of my bag and I had to retrace my steps to find it! Through the woods, through the leaves, around the trees - as I looked, I figured it was lost forever, but miraculously there it was wedged against a log. That should have been my first intuition that maybe I ought to give up and go on home for the day. The walkie talkie is the way that my DH and I communicate when one of us is out on the property and the other at home. But I pressed on. Moving about looking for morels, after awhile I realized that I didn't know which side of the ridge was to the north (Virginia side) or south (where our house is). Every direction looked the same. All of the trees looked alike! It was around 4:00 p.m., but I couldn't use the sun for direction because clouds had moved in and completely covered the sky. There was a flock of buzzards flying around above me (NOT a good sign if you use old westerns as a reference!). I figured if I got on my walkie talkie and told my DH to look out the window and at those buzzards, he could tell me which way to walk to get home. To my great distress, my walkie talkie had died! Panic began to set in. No longer was I looking for morel mushrooms (I hadn't found any anyway!), but now I was looking for the right way to just go down! The day was waning as quickly as I was becoming too tired to walk. I sat myself down on a rock and closed my eyes, breathing in, out, calming myself, using my internal Eye to guide me. Finally after a few moments I ignored the darkening sky, ignored my weary legs, ignored my "poor sense of direction" and just went home. That's all I had to do - just go home. Don't think that you don't know the way; you do. That's what I told myself, and I made it.

My DH gave me a compass for Christmas.

Christmas Lights in Rogersville, Tennessee, #4

2008-12-27T10:20:00.004-05:00

Here is my last "installment" of the Rogersville Christmas lights.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Lights in Rogersville, Tennessee, #3

2008-12-26T12:50:00.003-05:00

Installment number 3 of the Rogersville Christmas lights! It takes forever because I only have dial-up. I'm putting the pictures on in groups of four. After this, there'll be one more. Thanks to you all who are checking them out!

Christmas Lights in Rogersville, Tennessee, #2

2008-12-24T19:17:00.003-05:00

My favorite is the caterpillar!

Christmas Lights in Rogersville, Tennessee

2008-12-24T18:43:00.002-05:00

On our way back from shopping last evening, we drove to Rogersville, Tennessee, and outside of town there was a home that had really nice Christmas lights decorating their front lawn. It wasn't quite dark yet, so the pictures I took don't do it justice. Then we drove through the Rogersville, Tennessee, park. They have most of the children's play areas decorated with lights, and lights wrapped around the tree trunks. It was a beautiful sight and I took some pictures. (That dark shadow blocking part of the stocking is my DH.)

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Wild Critters in Our Woods

2008-12-20T13:20:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I took a walk to the back of our property. I noticed a lot of scat on the ground, evidence of the wild critters that roam in our woods. I thought oh how nice it would be to see one while I'm walking, but we never do. Yet, we know they are there. We have proof. We "see" them with a Wildview camera. Last year during hunting season we found a dead deer on our property, presumably shot and made it to our woods to die. We put the carcass in the back of our property and set up the Wildview Camera to see what would come around. We also found a dead deer alongside the lane, hit by a car, and put it back there also. In addition to foxes, we caught these shots of a bobcat and coyote coming to feed on them. Aren't they beautiful? The bobcat reminds me of Garfield with its glowing eyes! Eventually something dragged the carcasses away and they disappeared. I've also included a picture of a coyote that we got, without "bait," during the daytime, with the Wildview Camera. That camera is great and I highly recommend it for viewing those elusive wild critters. It has a motion sensor and takes three pictures at a time, and with automatic flash. You can also set it on video. You can set the date and time, but ours wasn't set properly so the date and time are incorrect on these photos.

Wood Spirit

2008-12-13T11:51:00.006-05:00

My DH is good at carving, and a few years ago he carved this wood spirit on the trellis that he made to support our trumpet vine that was growing into the garage. We needed to get the vine away from the garage because it would eventually damage it, but we didn't want to dig it up. It is way too big to do that anyway, and we were afraid we would kill it. The hummingbirds love the flowers in the summer and the goldfinch and other birds go for the seeds in the fall. So this is the wood spirit he put in the middle of the trellis. We had to use the tractor to get it up there. It is carved out of a poplar tree log, and then stained/sealed with Sikkens Cetol brand wood sealant (the best sealant there is, in our opinion). Its eyes are turned so that it looks as though it is looking at anyone who is approaching our house from our lane. We should put reflectors on the eyes - wouldn't that freak someone out!!

Money, Money, Money, Money . . . MONEY!

2008-12-12T19:53:00.005-05:00

This was what we did today: we emptied our piggy bank (water bottle) and counted our coins. It took most of the day and we are really tired, and sore from sitting on the floor and leaning over the pile! We got a grand total of $490 and some odd change. We've been collecting it since around 2002. Most of the money was what we found. When we lived in Maryland, he worked as a grounds foreman for the community and while out and about, he found change on a daily basis. I found some on my commute to work on the metro. We would keep track on the calendar how much we found each month. The summer months were the best. We retired and moved here in 2004 and since then we've tossed coins in sporadically. We will take it to the bank, but not wrapped in the papers because our bank teller said they have to count it out by hand anyway so not to bother wrapping it. We wanted to know what we have before dropping it off at the bank. I know there are those machines in the grocery stores that count it for you, but they charge about 10% to do that and anyways we'd miss out on all of this FUN!! We had some old "wheat" pennies in the stash that we're not sure are worth anything but we're keeping them and checking them out. We also had some Susan B. Anthony dollars that we'll keep. Of course we also had some foreign coins, especially Canadian ones that we will add to our stash of Canadian money that we've been holding onto for years. Does anybody know where to go to get Canadian money converted into American, without traveling to the border? I just checked it out and Canadian money is still worth less than American, but not by much!

More Country Dolls

2008-12-11T15:12:00.003-05:00

These are a couple of dolls I made previously. They are showing off their bloomers. I never know how their faces will turn out. My palms get sweaty when I'm about to paint or stitch the face on. On the last doll I made - see previous post - I actually messed up the face and was dismayed until I realized that I had painted it on the BACK of her head!! So all that I had to do was stitch her hair over it and try again on the front side. I wanted a sweeter expression for that one, but these dolls seem to have a mind of their own. Their personalities are reflected in their expressions.

Country Dolls

2008-12-11T14:16:00.004-05:00

I like to make cloth country dolls. Here is my latest one that I made for my niece. I've never kept any for myself. I prefer the more primitive style. I crocheted the edging on the dress.

Cave & Waterfall

2008-12-11T13:16:00.006-05:00

We have had a lot of rain in the past few days and all of the streams and small waterfalls are gushing. It made me think of the waterfall that is near to our house and that we can hike to. I dug out some pictures that I took a few years back. There are two caves under the waterfall. The story is that a moonshiner used to hide his goods in the caves. The waterfall is in a bowl-like formation on the ridge and is fed by a stream that comes down from the top. It isn't that impressive as far as waterfalls go, I guess, but it is in a wonderful location. It is in a secluded area and so peaceful with the only sound being that of the waterfall and stream and birds. Although the climb up to the caves is difficult, it is worth the effort. These pics aren't that good but you can get the idea. There was one bat in the cave when we were there. I think that now, with all of the rain we have, that waterfall is probably gushing much more than in these pictures.

Your Rainbow

2008-12-10T19:28:00.001-05:00

I took this quiz to find out my rainbow colors. What are yours? Click on the link to find out.

Your rainbow is strongly shaded violet.

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

My Mother's Purse

2008-12-08T21:34:00.005-05:00

I finally got a purse completed that I was sewing for my mother. It is a pattern from www.creativethimble.com, and it is called the "as you like it" purse. You can make a different flap for each season or your mood - as you like it! I made her a Christmas flap and an everyday one. She had asked me to make her this purse (she saw mine and loved it), so it won't be a surprise, but I'm glad I got it done before Christmas. Oh, so much to do . . .

Christmas Angel

2008-12-08T21:22:00.004-05:00

My DH and I "hide" the gifts we get for each other in certain corners of the house and we agree not to peek. This corner is where his gifts are, under the quilt. I was surprised to find Angel sleeping there today. It must have been that last package I threw up there today that made it comfy enough for her. Actually, I'm not sure how stable the stack is! Hope she doesn't move around too much. It doesn't look as if there's any danger of that happening!

Country Birthday Party #3 & Last One - Jethro

2008-12-08T21:05:00.005-05:00

Jethro is an Old English Sheepdog who was at the party. I couldn't get a picture of his face because he bounced around too much. He just wanted to GO, GO GO!! and have FUN, FUN, FUN!

Country Birthday Party #2 -Pickin' & Grinnin' with East Kentucky Tyme

2008-12-06T18:25:00.005-05:00

If you like bluegrass music - heck, even if you DON'T like bluegrass music - you should check out these guys. They played at the birthday party and they were great. They have a lot of bookings in the area. They are from Kentucky but go all over. One band member played the steel guitar AND the banjo. What a great group. Here is their website. They had their CDs for sale at the party but we didn't bring any money so I may just have to get on their website and get me one.

www.eastkytyme.com

Country Birthday Party #1

2008-12-06T17:16:00.008-05:00

Today we attended a birthday party that our neighbor's wife, Cathy, threw for his (Mike's) 55th birthday. It was held at the recently renovated Clinch River Conservation Center & Retreat- actually, an old farmhouse added onto, located about three miles from our house. The retreat center is spacious; it has NINE bathrooms and SEVEN bedrooms, and a kitchen, dining room, meeting room. The rooms are rented out at affordable prices (the website is www.clinchriverecotourism.com), so if you're ever in this area and need a place to stay, keep it in mind! The party was loads of fun and we met a lot of wonderful people. They even had a bluegrass band - East Kentucky Tyme - playing in the living room. Then it began to snow and some of the attendees, coming from farther south, do not get to enjoy snow very often, so they had a blast throwing snowballs at each other. I have some pictures to share from the party and I'll post them in several entries. Here are some pics of Mike, the birthday boy, and his wife Cathy, and pics of the retreat center where the party was held.

Feeding Time

2008-12-05T19:56:00.006-05:00

Every evening at about 6:00, my DH puts out sweet feed for the deer and cat food for the fox/raccoon/cat/skunk/possum/whatever else might wander by. There is one doe that eats the cat food! The deer know when it is "feeding time" and they come around and watch for him, then hang around close while he's putting it down. When he's done, they come running up to the food. We are sure the deer aren't as friendly with people other than right here and right at feeding time because we've seen them in our woods and they run away.

Christmas at Our House

2008-12-05T19:00:00.004-05:00

We don't get TOO carried away with decorating for Christmas, but we put up a tree and decorate the fireplace and some other areas. This year we only used the TOP part of our fake tree and put it on a table, so that we don't need to move the TV, plus it was a lot less work putting it up and decorating it! We didn't have a tree topper so we used an ornament with our grandchild's picture on it that she gave us two years ago.

I am done Christmas shopping - yippee!! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Exotic Hunting Preserve

2008-12-05T18:47:00.003-05:00

Take a look at this story in the link below. It is appalling to me that anyone would do this, and I can't believe they are ALLOWED to do this! Zebras? Come ON! The latest update, which my husband read about in the library today, is that the citizens in the community have managed to pass a ruling forbidding it, but this man is grandfathered in and so he can continue with his business of killing exotic animals on this preserve. We are near the Clinch Mountain but not near this, thank goodness. I can't imagine having to drive past it everyday. Yet, just knowing about it just sickens me.

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=8771188

Angel Kitty - again

2008-11-23T17:56:00.004-05:00

I couldn't resist getting Angel Kitty again when she lay down on my lap desk this morning. In the mornings I sit on HER chair to write. She looks for opportunities to get me back (smarty cat!), like when I put my lap desk on the bed turned cushion side up or even desk side up. Sometimes I forget what's mine and what's hers!

Angel Kitty

2008-11-23T16:28:00.004-05:00

I've been holding back. I love to take pictures of my Angel Kitty, even though she HATES to have her picture taken. I got her last evening on the couch. She was awake but didn't see it coming and, judging by the indignant look on her face, she did not appreciate it. She immediately jumped off of the couch and went to my (her?) basket in the corner where she tried to hide. Later, when she thought the camera was safely put away, she returned to the couch and fell asleep all scrunched in the corner. Of course I just couldn't resist getting yet another picture!

Munching Doe

2008-11-22T13:01:00.003-05:00

Just another deer picture. They love to browse on the vines and bushes down in back of our house.

Snowy Day

2008-11-21T10:13:00.007-05:00

Not enough snow for our preference but we'll take what we can get! The snow seems to be flying back up into the clouds before much of it hits the ground. The patio table at the gazebo looks out of its realm all covered with snow. That is where I spend many warm days reading and writing. My two lavender plants in the rock garden bloomed this summer for the first time. The oregano looks pretty with a touch of snow on it.

Khan

2008-11-20T15:18:00.005-05:00

Khan is our neighbor's black Lab. He is full-blooded. He is six months old and 60+ pounds. He'll be huge when he grows up. His owners let him run around and sometimes he follows us home when we are on our walks. In order to keep him from going into our woods and getting lost or hurt (he was a very expensive dog), we tie him and then take him home a little while later when we get the chance. Today he was content (for awhile) with a bone we gave him.

Baby Squirrels

2008-11-19T16:36:00.005-05:00

Our closest "neighbor" is an old (built 1939) rundown house which is about a football field distance away from our house down our lane. The owners, who live in another state, visit it once in awhile. It has no plumbing or heat. Note the outhouse to the right of the house. It has a root cellar in the hill to the left of the house.

At least two baby squirrels are living under its metal roof and when we take our walk, they look out at us. Sometimes they both peek out at the same time, but I managed to get the picture of one of them checking us out.

Pets

2008-11-19T14:48:00.006-05:00

Inky Bear, a black (actually he's rather brown) lab mix, is a neighbor's dog. He's very friendly. Nacho, the donkey, belongs to another neighbor. He loves our morning treat of apple or carrot. He is lonely, though, since his horse companion Early Girl left, and needs a friend. We're hoping the owners, who don't live here full-time, will get another donkey or horse to keep him company. My DH tried to get him to smile by tickling his nose . . . oooh, watch that finger!! Angel is my calico cat who is an indoor cat but I walk her on a leash and she is tied out on the line when she wants to go out (when I don't). She doesn't like it too cold, though, and in this picture she was patiently waiting for me to let her in.

Winter Garden

2008-11-19T14:15:00.003-05:00

The winter rye grass we planted in the garden is a thick and luscious carpet of green. I took a picture one morning of a heavy frost on it and one several days later with snow. I'm wondering if we could plant the winter rye grass in the spring around our vegetables to keep the weeds down, or will it only grow in the winter?

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

2008-11-13T09:58:00.003-05:00

We have wonderful neighbors who are always ready to provide a helping hand. My husband is doing some work on the supporting structure of our open-faced garage and neighbor Al came over to help. In the pic, my husband is on the right and Al is on the left.

Assassin Bug

2008-10-20T11:50:00.003-04:00

This insect was on the kitchen screen yesterday. After looking through the book, I believe it is a form of assassin bug. It was at least one inch long. I love the "gold leaf" wing on his back!

The Ladybugs are Back!

2008-10-10T16:50:00.008-04:00

It happens every year. The Asian ladybugs come out of the woods and the trees and try to find a place to hibernate for the winter, inside our home. They like warm, sunny, light-colored surfaces. They usually come the end of October, but they are early this year. What does that mean? I don't know, other than that we didn't get around to putting the cloth sprayed with bug spray around the back door where they come in the most, and it also means that we'll probably have to have our get together that we had planned to have outside on Sunday, inside. The ladybugs are a nuisance and they fly at you when you are outside, occasionally pinching you (they don't bite). If you kill them, they make a bad stain and a disgusting odor. Seeing them all over the house and on the windows reminds me of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

We moved here in September of 2004, before the emergence of the ladybugs. I'm glad we didn't see the ladybug problem when we looked at the house or we might have passed it up, and we love it here! When the ladybugs came, it was a bad year for them, and our roof was a metal roof and had no vapor barrier underneath it! We had not only ladybugs, but all kinds of other critters getting inside. So the following year we put a shingle roof on with the help of our kind neighbors, and we included the necessary vapor barrier and now we don't have the ladybugs and other bugs in our house, other than a few that do get in. Being in the south, we have to expect some bugs!

These aren't the cute little red and black ladybugs I saw as a child. These are from Asia and they are orange in color. They were imported to the USA to help control the aphid population, which they do and I'm glad they are of SOME use! We have no aphids in our garden. But in the USA they generally have no natural predators so their population grew out of control, although I did read somewhere that the braconid wasp is a predator they have here in the USA. They can be found in some areas of the country more than in others.

They come, they stay for about a month, then when it gets cold, they disappear once again. A good website for reading about them is: www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef416.asp

Panoramic View of Hottin' Holler

2008-10-08T09:40:00.003-04:00

I was fooling around with my camera the other day and took this panoramic picture of the holler. The locals called it "Hottin' Holler" and we figure it might be because we have a lot of barred owls and they get rather vocal at night! Or it could be the coyotes (but then it would be called "Howlin' Holler"!). The picture is slightly distorted because it is panoramic, but gives the general idea. I was hoping the leaves were more turned but they never do get real, real bright here like they do up north and we have been in a drought which caused them to start turning earlier in the summer and not look as nice.

Old Cemetary

2008-10-06T16:52:00.007-04:00

We have an old cemetery on our property. I don't know how old it actually is. Only two of the graves have markers. Those graves are for an infant and a two-year-old. The rest of the markers are field stones turned on their sides and in some cases, a larger field stone for the head and a smaller one for the foot of the grave. We know that our neighbor's little sister, who died at the age of 5 or so about 70 years ago, is buried there, but we don't know which marker it is. The cemetery could date back to Civil War times. I go up there once in awhile. It is so peaceful there among the pines. I never go up when it is windy, and the picture of the fallen tree shows why!

Cross Orb Weaver

2008-10-01T12:26:00.004-04:00

This guy (or gal) built its web by the side of our back door the other day. Now he's moved it to in front of the rear deck hummingbird feeder (we haven't seen a hummingbird there all day so the one that occupied that feeder may have moved on now.), although it may be a different spider (but same species) than the other one. This is a Cross Orb Weaver. The spider's name is explained by its puzzling method of making its web. It makes an irregular orb, crossing back between the spokes, as though it frequently changes its mind as to which direction it wants to go! Very interesting critter.

More Sights on Trip to Spring

2008-10-01T11:32:00.002-04:00

(see previous posts) When we hike up to the spring, we are always relieved to see that the reservoir is full, despite us being in a drought and about 4 inches below normal on our yearly precipitation! We are also relieved when we finally get down to our lane and head to the house. Going up there is a tiring activity, especially for us old folks!

Sights Along the Way to the Spring

2008-09-28T17:11:00.009-04:00

(See previous posts.) Just a few shots of things we see on the way to and from our spring. We have numerous caves on our property and most are unable to be explored because of their location - up HIGH! We are certain that the coyotes and bobcats occupy them and they are probably thankful that humans can't access them. I'll put more pics of more caves on next time I get up that way where I can get a good shot of them.

Cave Spring (continued)

2008-09-28T15:54:00.004-04:00

Here's how the spring works: The water comes from the spring in the cave and flows out into a small reservoir at the mouth of the cave. The black pipe is attached to the reservoir and at the top end of that pipe we have a valve that we can adjust as needed. The black pipe meanders through the woods down the side of the ridge about 300 feet, into a 1,000-gallon holding tank that is on the hill near our house. From the holding tank the water goes, as needed, into underground pipe to the house, where there is a small pump to give it a little bit more pressure for when we draw it. Also, attached to the 1,000-gallon holding tank is an overflow pipe for when the tank is full. The overflow pipe goes into another, smaller, tank that we use as a reservoir for watering our garden. We have a garden hose from that tank down to the garden. That tank has an overflow pipe for when IT is full, and the birds love to drink from that water flow.

Our spring has no filters other than a screen over the end of the pipe. It is good, clean water - no chemicals, no pollutants, and it tastes great!

The last picture above is a view looking up when standing at the edge of the "cliff" where the spring reservoir is located.

Cave Spring

2008-09-28T15:00:00.004-04:00

We get our water from a spring that is 300 feet above us on a ridge on our property. Occasionally we have to check it to make sure nothing (leaves, usually) has blocked the pipe. We did the check today.
It is a steep and treacherous climb to get up to the spring. The trees along the path are marked with blue paint. Once we arrive at the cave, which has a narrow entrance that is basically inside a cliff, my husband has to lift himself up the steep rock ledge in order to access the reservoir from which the water flows down to our house. Thank goodness he has long legs! I can't get up there without help, but he does it with the use of his walking stick.

Baltimore Oriole

2008-09-25T10:41:00.006-04:00

A female Baltimore Oriole has been coming to our hummingbird feeders! We took the lid off of one feeder to provide her with easier access. She's been here for three days.

Garden Clean-up

2008-09-22T15:50:00.006-04:00

Well, summer has passed and today is the first day of Fall. I LOVE fall. It is my favorite time of the year. This morning we did some clean-up of the garden -- took out the black cloth we had used as mulch, etc. We plan to plant winter rye grass. After winter, you till it in. Hope it isn't too late to plant it, but I don't think so. Our winter doesn't really start until December here, and then it only lasts until mid-March.

The asparagus and strawberries did great for us. Next year we will be able to harvest the strawberries, and perhaps the asparagus. The asparagus we planted was "two year" asparagus, meaning you can pick it the second year. We'll see. The leeks are still growing. They'll stay in until right at frost. The tomato plants have about had it. There are mammoth sunflower plants still in the garden, the heads drying, and miniature sized birdhouse gourds.

Farewell, garden 2008!

Yellow Jacket Hover Fly

2008-09-22T15:34:00.003-04:00

This morning when my husband and I were cleaning up the garden, this big guy kept buzzing me and landing on my leg. He looked like a hornet, sounded like a hornet, so of course I thought, "Hornet!" and ran to my husband's side for protection. Later, when I was walking up to the gazebo, here it came again (well, not the same ONE), and this time I had my camera. After it chased me away, it landed on a plant so I snuck back and took a picture, then looked it up on the internet. It is NOT a hornet! It is a Yellow Jacket Hover Fly, and if you can get one to land on your finger, it is considered good luck. (Does a LEG work???) It is also called the Virginia Flower Fly or the "news bee" because when one hovers in front of your face, folklore says it is bringing you good news. Hmmmm. . . wonder what good news I can be expecting?

Pennsylvania Leather-wing

2008-09-22T14:52:00.005-04:00

I finally took the time to find out what this insect is. It is a Pennsylvania Leather-wing. I see them all over the place lately and they seem particularly attracted to the Crown Beard and Goldenrod plants. This is a GOOD BUG! Do not kill! According to what I read on the internet, it may control the corn ear worm, and it eats cucumber beetles, caterpillar eggs and other things you don't want around if you have a garden. These guys are mating and making more good bugs! :)

Flying Squirrel

2008-09-22T13:29:00.005-04:00

I spend a lot of time at our gazebo, reading and writing. We have a gourd hanging on the gazebo that we hoped a bird would nest in. Something chewed the hole open larger and when I was up there during the day, I'd notice the gourd bobbing and moving and would hear a scratching sound coming from it. There was matted nesting material inside, but we couldn't see whatever was in there. Since it never seemed to emerge during the day, we figured it was something nocturnal. My husband and I sat up there for two hours before dark the other night to see what came out. As it got darker and darker, the thing would be moving around more. (My husband said it has as much trouble as I do getting out of bed!) Anyway, finally it emerged when it was so dark we could only see its silhouette. It was a flying squirrel. It hung its head out and looked right down at us. About then my husband sneezed and it went back inside. We had hoped to see it fly, but that will have to wait for another night. At least now my curiosity is satisfied and I know what's in that gourd.

Great Spangled Fritillary

2008-08-24T15:15:00.004-04:00

Two thistle plants grew up next to the front porch this summer. We didn't pull them out as we (and most people) would normally do because we know the goldfinch love the seeds. We are hoping to get some good photos of the goldfinch when they come close to the porch for the seeds. A bonus to having the thistle there is that the Great Spangled Fritillary loves the thistle nectar and has been frequenting these plants. I finally grabbed the camera and took some pictures.

Young Turkeys

2008-08-23T13:51:00.002-04:00

This year's young turkeys are now coming to the bird feeder. We've seen as many as 20, counting the mama turkeys that come along. In these pictures, there were 7 or 8. The mamas certainly keep a keen eye out for any danger while the little ones eat! They are fun to watch!

Fawn & Family

2008-08-12T12:29:00.004-04:00

Okay, I know I'm overdoing the fawn pictures but I can't help it. It is so beautiful!! I love the pic with the mama, the young buck and the fawn. It looks as though they are protecting the fawn.

Raccoon Family

2008-08-12T11:48:00.003-04:00

Mama brings her two babies to the feeder. She comes early sometimes - before dark - because if she doesn't, the food will be eaten by another racoon mama that has three babies.

Perseid Meteor Shower

2008-08-12T11:18:00.004-04:00

Last night/this morning was the Perseid meteor shower. I set my alarm for 3:45 a.m. this morning and went outside with my blanket and pillow. My husband had set up the ladder so I could climb up on the garage roof (with the warning, 'Don't wake ME up!'). When I first went out, there was a mama raccoon and her little ones in our open-front garage, banging around. This unnerved me so I sat on the front porch for awhile until I knew they were gone. Then I went up on the roof. I laid back and watched the heavens. I saw 12 meteors, but I would have probably seen more if I hadn't been keeping an eye out for the raccoon family! I didn't want mama getting upset with me and climbing up after me! Although the likelihood of that happening was slim. I heard the coyotes howling and the barred owl hooting. I was outside for almost an hour and would have stayed longer, but, even though I was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, I got cold. The sky was rather bright, probably because of the light from the setting moon. Some nights here when the sky is black and the stars are out, you feel like you can reach up and pull one down. But last night was still beautiful, and awe-inspiring to be up that high under the stars.

I didn't take pictures because unless you have a special camera that shows the whole sky, any picture wouldn't have caught the fast-moving meteors.