Bella Award

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

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

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

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?

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

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!

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.