Playing with Sticks; Part 1

Husband is much more talented at this game than I am. I seem to get more penalties, have more times outs for rough handling and high sticking. It's ok though, I am gradually getting better at it and keeping my attitude under control. Refs don't like attitude.

Husband creates master pieces.

While mine leaves a lot to the imagination of the onlooker. 

However my mini versions are the talk of the town. 

Fog settles on top of us overnight, sinking down and becoming dew so thick it is on the verge of being declared rain. Burning is difficult. Even using an accelerant doesn't help matters much. But these piles and piles of downed limbs have to be incinerated or used in some sort of art project. 

We have copperheads in the area, Small Farm Girl showed me a picture of one her Hubby killed at the top of my ridge. And these stacks, even the log stacks, is a nice place for them to stay warm in. With my boys around, always into something, I need to eliminate as much warm cover for the snakes as possible.

One awesome thing about spotting that large black snake, is that they eat poisonous snakes. We let him be, knowing that he will also eat eggs, chicks and our future rabbits. We will just have to be preemptive on that front. 

I play with sticks daily (minds out of gutters ladies).  It is very repetitious. But this is just one of the boring, painful chores that must be taken care of in a quick manner, if only I was able to burn. . . We take over the shop in town in less than a week, and I will have to do that as well. The more I can get done here in a timely manner, the less stressed I will feel about the shop. 

This and That

I drive the boys out of the holler every morning, except weekends, to wait for the bus. It's very dark. And now the sun is rising later and later. I have gotten use to the driveway. But remember how I felt the first time I saw it. And then seen it in the dark!

Looks like you have three choices here, into the hill, off a ridge or into trees. Icey conditions bother me a bit, as you have to ride your brakes on good days, and there are several good turns in it. We plan on moving some of the downed dead logs to the fall off the ridge side of the drive. So at least we will be stopped a bit sooner and lessen the chances that I will go cereening, and screaming off a cliff 75 to 100 ft down, depending on where I decide to exit the driveway. 

It's also very very damp down here. Salt even clumps up. The cracker trick doesn't work, as the saltine becomes soggy as soon as the package is opened. The dampness is making it hard on me to burn. I have now become an expert at stick pyramid building. I hope that someday I will make the olylimpic team.

The leaves I have been gathering, have come for the downed trees. It's getting rather chilly here, and I want my fall garden to have a chance since I was several weeks late on planting. I realize that soon thousands upon thousands of leaves will descend, possibly smothering to death all those that I hold dear.  I am use to the leaves changing colors just as the temperature drops. Here, most is still green, and not dropping. So I gather to tuck in my cool weather veggies. 

Everything that I have planted has come up. Hopefully the first hard, killing frost is at least a month out. Cool weather veggies can handle a light frost. It actually makes some of them taste better, sweeter. But a hard frost is indeed a killing frost. However the pervious owner left a bunch of plastic, a huge roll of it. So I can at least cover the crops if need be to keep the frost off. 

I will try not to talk about the motorcycle shop too often here. If you are curious about that part of our life, I will have a Facebook link on Oct 1st, where you can follow that progress. The shop will be a huge part of my life. If I could spend the next year, or five, doing nothing but making this homestead perfect, I would. However our money is getting low, and we have to make a living. Homesteading, writing and motorcycles is what we know, what we have done for years, and motorcycles bring in the most steady of incomes. Though I will admit opening a shop at the end of riding season terrifies me. 

Medium, Small and I made banana bread last night. I forgot the baking soda! Luckily it still turned out very good. A bit dense, but yummy. 

Ms. Buckets arthritis seems to have settled deep into her hip. The poor girl is surrounded by sticks, yet unable to play fetch. She just doesn't go outside unless she has too. I know it's the dampness, and she is healthy otherwise. We knew it was coming, she is at her life expectancy age. We just keep her as comfortable as we can. She seems content to be a lay about dog now. 

The puppies are in heaven, well in the day time. Night comes and they lose their minds. Terrified of anything that makes a noise. Took Betty a few times to realize that planes were not coming down the driveway. Sprocket has taken up guard at the wash and barks at the deer moving through the brush all night long. I have to bring her in just to get some sleep sometimes. Of course my mother telling me to beware the hillbillies when I was a kid, camping, doesn't help things. Thanks mom! 

So far the only wildlife I have seen are deer, a black snake

and a squirrel with a major "mine" attitude. Haven't seen any evidence of face eating raccoons, badgers, or bobcats. We have heard red foxes and a female coyote, but she moved on weeks ago. They roam here, unlike Kansas where they tend to have a set den. And there're in smaller packs here. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. Less to deal with, but harder to find. And yes, we have seen evidence of Sasquatch as one of my readers suggested. I will have to get pictures and show you. But I have to brave the hill again. Oh, did I not tell you? Husband and I climbed up the hill behind our house to the pecan grove. It was hard on my knee on the way up, down was just plain scary but not painful. 

The sun is up now. So I guess I will let you go, I need to go build more stick pyramids. 

My morning drive to get gas.

A walk-about

Husband took me on a little trek. Apparently an old county road use to run through a part of our creek, but they shut that down years ago.

Enjoy!

TIMBER!!!

Well we got over a bit of our Lorax complex. 

This hickory was having some issues. Carpenter ants had hollowed the base out, so it needed to come down. Once we realized that, we made a decision to remove a few more scattered trees. We do have over 30 acres of trees. Plus this opens up a spot closer to the house for the solar. Actually half the distance. That saves us a bit of money, plus we have fire wood and wood to create things with. 

No worries, this is not where the teddy bears have their picnic, that's a bit higher up the hill.

Husband's saw just wasn't cutting it (pun intended), so Small Farm Girl and Hubby came to our rescue. We would have eventually got it done, but with their help, we got it done the same day.

We took 1 hickory (yes gathering nuts) 2 poplars, 2 walnuts and 1 oak. 

This poplar had barbed wire in the center. 

Don't mess with the bugs though.

No one got hurt, no property damage just a good day.

Here's some eye candy for the girls (ok maybe just me)