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Thursday December 18th

Home Sweet Frozen Home

Looks like snow - but it's not. It's frozen sleet. When you walk on it, you walk ON it and don't even leave a footprint.

Icy!

Tux wants to play.

We were supposed to thaw out yesterday - and didn't. Today it's just starting to thaw into a nice muddy mess. Ha.

Nothing else new to report, lots of projects on hold till the weather clears up.

Sunday December 7th

A couple more pics from the yard. The turkeys were last monday, the deer about 3 weeks ago.

Forgot to mention in yesterdays post how nice it was to have Men Who Do Things around for a few days. They inspected my roof, put up a shelf, fried a turkey (yum!), fixed the trailer tongue, installed a bamboo shade on the porch, fried shrimp and frog legs (yum!), cleaned a deer, and assorted other handy things I can't remember offhand.

Saturday December 6th

Brandi on Pulpit Rock

Sorry about the lack of posts in the last 4 weeks. It's been hunting season. I managed a doe for freezer meat, that's all. (Still have the Christmas hunt dec 26, 27, and 28 to look for the big buck). Besides that I haven't had any new pictures and besides that I was getting ready for company for Thanksgiving. I had six people for five days. Monique, her husband Roy, daughter Brandi, mom Velma, brother Russell, and his wife Cynthia. Of course I forgot to take pics except when we hiked saturday afternoon.

Monique, Brandi & Roy

Brandi went hunting with me thursday and friday and really surprised me with how quiet and patient she could be. Even though we didn't see anything, she didn't get discouraged. Saturday she hunted with uncle Russell and they got a small buck so that was great. Wouldn't you know it, the BIG buck was seen from the living room window by the non hunters friday afternoon! Ha!

We had tons of fun, tons of food, and a great time. The weather had been miserable, cold, windy, and rainy but cleared up for the visit with sunny 55-60 degree days. It's back to cold and windy now. Ugh. Yesterday the HIGH was 38.

Dena & Tux

Saturday November 8th

Opening morning of hunting season.

I had a hectic and frustrating week so didn't have my gear together to go out hunting this morning. I'll go later today. Looks like the view from the house was better anyway - I had 3 deer right outside the window! (A doe and 2 babies) Yesterday evening there were 8, also does and babies, but it was too dark to get any pics.

Saturday November 1st

Fall view from the back yard

Nothing new to report, just thought I'd check in because it's been over a week. We had our first freeze already, last monday and tuesday nights. But weather is gorgeous now with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. Lots of does and yearling deer coming to the yard feeder, sometimes they come right into the yard. Yesterday morning one was about 10 feet from the living room window!

Tuesday October 21st

I got tired of carrying enough water for both me and Tux when we're hiking, so I bought him his own backpack. I was afraid he wouldn't wear it but he LOVES it. He's so proud and important now. Ha. So far it's survived 2 hikes and he already gets excited when he sees it.

Spent the weekend cleaning house and working on trails and deerstands. Deer season starts Nov. 8th.

It's definitely fall now, leaves are falling and the temps have been in the 40s the last few nights. Brrr. Time to get the winter clothes and blankets out.

Friday October 17th

Paula, Aunt Sue and Me

Oct. 17th 2003

Another old picture. This one from my birthday in New Orleans five years ago. I sure look more than 5 years older than that pic now. Today I turned 50, my big excitement for the day was getting my drivers license renewed. Ha.
I've been kinda cranky about it, then I think about Mike and how he barely made 45 and it puts things in perspective. I'd give anything if HE could've seen his 50th birthday.

Thursday October 16th

My laptop crashed and I lost all my recent photos so I was digging around on desktop and found this pic of Cheyenne and Tux from 2004. What a difference a few years makes! Tux is a big as Cheyenne now and Cheyenne is aged, deaf, and barely getting around.

Not much going on since last post except I've been doing lots of running around. Today I'm going to Conway for the THIRD time this week. Normally I go there once every month or two. Or less. Tomorrow I have to go to Clinton (in the opposite direction).

Mom comes back from France today - Welcome Home Mom!

Monday October 13th

This is how my house has been looking lately. Mom wanted me to have flooring for my birthday (50th, ick - But Thanks Mom!). Before the flooring though, I had to have the ceiling painted. The ceiling starts at 10 feet and goes to almost 20 feet so it's something I couldn't do myself. Scaffolding and lack of fear of heights required!

They did a great job trimming, caulking, and painting the ceiling.

Below you can see my Lovely New Floor! I just love it! Woo Hoo!
I haven't put the furniture back yet, I'm adding a wood floor sealer and finish first. Looked for it thursday all over Clinton, no luck. I'll have to go to Lowes in Conway, probably today.

Tuesday September 30th

Mama and baby deer at the yard feeder from about 3 weeks ago. Since then they've split up and the baby has lost all it's spots. They still come around, just not together.

We've been having gorgeous fall weather - highs in the low 80s and lows in the 50s. Today the high was 76 and for the rest of the week lows in the 40s! Winter is on the way already.

I've been trying to get ready for deer season - I don't want to eat store bought meat again this year. I'm spoiled on good meat, home grown beef and pork from the farm and now wild turkey and deer, the grocery store version of meat really turns my stomach. Ick.

Tuesday September 23rd

Can you find the deerstand?

Sunday I helped my neighbor make a shortcut across the creek and through the woods to his deerstand. It seemed far getting there (we found a few dead ends) but was just a short hike coming back on the nice new trail. Even Tux was worn out. He usually leaps onto the 4wheeler from 5 feet away but when it was time to go home he barely crawled onto it. Ha.

I've been getting the garden ready to plant the rye grass seed - don't want the deer going hungry over the winter. Today I worked in the shop all day. Nothing interesting.

Saturday September 20th

Well, the storm came last saturday night. Electric was out for about 12 hours (till sunday afternoon). The yard was completely covered in branches and tree debris and a huge tree fell in front of the house. Thank God it didn't fall on the house or shop - which it would have if it had fallen in either of those directions. It side-swiped the pump house and wiped out the roof of the wood shed but other than that, no damage. My neighbor came over sunday and helped me cut up the tree. We made firewood and hauled off the big pieces with the front end loader on his tractor.

I think I've had enough excitement for this year! Sheesh!

Saturday September 13th

Looks like a fairy pool

Nothing interesting to report except I had a nice hike with my neighbor sunday. We went to the NE corner of the property on the creek. Most of my pics didn't turn out because the lens kept fogging up. Then me and Tux spent the next 3 days itching and scratching chigger bites. I know better than to sit on the ground in the woods but did it anyway when we took a break.

The weather's been overcast and gloomy, haven't seen the sun in I don't know how long except a little peek yesterday.

Hurricane Ike is headed here and it looks like it'll be a scary night with tornado possibilities. Hopefully by this time tomorrow it'll be gone.

Friday September 5th

The storms are gone, whew. No damage here but Little Rock got pounded pretty bad. Everything's flooded and news reported 100,000 without power in the state.

In other news, I sold the Boat and Jeep and bought a few pieces of furniture for my new spot. A bench, table, 2 chairs and 2 counter stools. Found the bench and table at an internet site - CSN Stores - Excellent prices, Huge selection, and Free Shipping. The table is WAY cool because it's small but flips open to a full size dining table.

Tuesday September 2nd

The good news is the storm wasn't as bad as predicted. The bad news is it's headed here. Weather forecast shows storms all week long and possibly 5 - 10 inches of rain. The outer bands are just starting to reach here now. Wind has picked up and it's starting to rain so I thought I'd check in while I can, satelite doesn't work in bad weather. Also, local news said all of our electric workers went to help out in Louisiana so if the power goes out it might be slow to be restored.

Sunday August 31st

I've been keeping an eye on the hurricane and now it looks like it's headed straight for all of my friends and family in Louisiana. Y'all stay safe and if anyone needs a place to go, come here!

Thursday August 28th

Look what I found all over the ground yesterday. Wild Plums. I knew the tree was there but hadn't seen any fruit in the last couple of years so I wasn't paying attention to it this year. Now I have to decide whether to make jelly or wine. Grin.

Cheyenne is back to normal again and walking around fine. She must have just been having a sore day.

And the weather is back to summer sunshine and 90s so that's great.

Monday August 25th

The view from the porch for most of the last week. Rain, rain, and more rain. And cool - it's been feeling like fall lately.

Cheyenne isn't doing too well. She's showing her age (15) more every day. She hasn't been going on our walks lately and last night when it was time to come in I had to carry her into the house. She went outside on her own this morning but hasn't left the porch all day.

Sunday August 17th

I've barely had an internet connection since last sunday so no pic today. Don't want to push my luck - I'm surprised I was even able to log in to Blogger. If anyone is wondering why I haven't answered email, I can't even get into my mailbox! I'll try calling customer service tomorrow, haven't done it yet because until this morning I still had an earache and just the thought of being on hold for an hour with the phone stuck to my ear makes me cranky.

So, that's my news....down with an earache, non-working internet, Tuesday was my anniversary, and Wednesday was the first anniversary of Mike's death.

All in all a pretty sucky and non productive week. Glad it's over.

Sunday August 10th

Nothing new to report, I've been down with a virus all week. Thought I was just tired from company but I caught on when I woke up wednesday with an earache, sore throat and aching bones. Feeling better today except the lingering earache. Hopefully I'll get back to busy starting tomorrow.
The good news is the heat finally broke. It's been low 90s the last few days and today it's RAINING! We desperately needed it, all the trees were wilting and even the grass was turning crispy.

Tuesday August 5th

Velma, Brandy & Monique

I had company from Louisiana last friday until monday (yesterday). Mike's cousin Monique, her mom Velma, and her daughter Brandy. The weather is still in the 100s everyday so we decided to get cool. Saturday we went to Greers Ferry Lake and sunday we went to the Buffalo river.

The lake is about 10 miles from me, the river 50.

Brandy on the lake

Monique & Brandy floating in the Buffalo River

Mawmaw (Velma) keeping cool.

More floaters.

We had a great time! But I can't remember the last time I tried to keep up with an eight year old.

I'm worn out. Ha.

Thursday July 31st

For being such a reluctant gardener, my garden is doing surprisingly well. I picked the 1st zucchini this morning. Lots of tomatoes coming but none ripe yet. Pepper plants at the far end are still small. The garden bed is long and narrow because I built it for blueberry bushes - which I never could get to grow, even though right down the hill they thrive. The other half (not in the pic) has thornless blackberries, green onion, shallots, garlic, and a few eggplants.

Wednesday July 30th

It's not too often you can get two hummingbirds to sit still for a photo! They like hanging out on the fence of the dog pen right outside the living room window.

I'm trying to remember what I've been doing since last post. Ha.
The usual yard stuff and I started cleaning up the middle woods (again). Went to my storeroom to see whats what in there and brought home 5! boxes of kitchen stuff. Got all that sorted, washed, put away. Got my jeep all cleaned up and running - then sold it monday. Boo hoo. Saturday morning I was cleaning out my garden shed and got stung by wasps so I took benadryl and ended up napping my way through the rest of the weekend.

It's super hot and dry right now, 100 degrees every day with heat indices 105-110 so not too much mid-day outdoor activity going on. Two jakes (young male turkeys) came out yesterday but I only managed a pic of one.

Today is Mike's birthday, he would have been 46.

Sunday July 20th

This deer came right into the yard in broad daylight friday.

Since last post I've picked and put up more berries, made banana-blueberry bread, yum, made more banana-blueberry bread, hauled all my non-burnable construction debris to the dump, burned the burnable, got the tractor running, started cleaning up the jeep to get IT running (needs a battery), ran some errands, weedeated, weeded, mowed, etc....

Today my neighbor Jim and I (and Tux) hiked down to the creek with machetes and reclaimed my trail. Yay! Once down there realized my trail is exactly across the creek from the trail we were on on the deer lease last time. Puts it in much better perspective. AND easier access from both sides. Way cool.

Wednesday July 16th

Happy Birthday Mom!

Tuesday July 15th

Last thursday I picked a HUGE amount of blueberries, today I picked more. Eeeek! I've made 3 batches of jam, a couple of batches of blueberry muffins, lots of freezer packs and tonight I'll make some banana-blueberry bread. I've been waiting forever for the bananas to ripen so I can try this recipe. Also picked blackberries. As of today I had enough for a batch of jam (which I made this afternoon). While I was elbow deep in canning and freezing I decided to go to the veggie stand in Greenbriar and picked up some awesome fresh corn and purple hulls and put those up.

Besides all that and having to put the mower in the shop, we had rain most of last week so I've been trying to beat the yard back into submission. Weeding, weedeating, mowing, etc.... I'm still not caught up.

Sunday I took off and had a great hike with my neighbor all over the deer lease (after we put up my new mailbox, the old one dissapeared in the tornado). Saw some gorgeous views up top and great creekside spots on the bottom. I remembered to bring my camera but forgot to take pics. Ha.

Thursday July 10th

Yesterday I was going to log in and post this pic of the pretty little yearling that came to the feeder around 5 tuesday evening. But it stormed all yesterday morning and then I was busy in the afternoon. Then last night around 7 I looked out the back window and saw a couple of deer on the hillside of the clear cut behind me . Looked through the binoculars and saw they were nice bucks. Kept looking and more and more came out! At one point I think there were eight but I managed to get a decent pic of SIX in one shot. You might have to click the picture for full size to get a good look.

Saturday July 5th

After the storms this morning I had a visitor. A nice little doe deer.
Notice all the corn on the ground? That's NOT normal, the feeder scatters a bit but not nearly that much or all in one place. The racoons must have been at it again. I saw one a couple of weeks ago - it climbed the nearest tree, jumped onto the top of the feeder, shook it to get more corn out, jumped back on the ground to eat. Back up the tree, onto the feeder, etc.........

Friday July 4th

Rainy day today. Puttered around the kitchen, read a bit, and took an afternoon nap. I didn't even go outside until it was "Take The Dogs For A Walk" time.

I was at the edge of the yard and saw something in the Bluebird house. Thought it was a spiderweb or something. Went for a closer look and a Flying Squirrel popped out! First time I've ever seen one in daylight so I left Tux to guard the tree and went and got my camera. When I was uploading the pics I saw it looks like a pregnant female. (check out that fat belly) When I came back in the house I looked out the window and she's back in the Bluebird house. I guess she's made a nest in there. No wonder I haven't seen the Bluebirds!