Snow Day

The mountain that stands between our home and town had a thin sheet of ice this morning. 

It was ever so thin, but ice nonetheless. I had to turn back and come home.

I could have spent the day catching up on house cleaning, laundry, homework, 

but I decided to enjoy my snow day by being out in the snow, or what was left of it.

Savannah and I set out to the back of our property where the cliff side meets the creek.

 The snow gently fell as we climbed and sometimes slid down to the creek. 

Our summer swimming hole. 

 Coon tracks

Lola in her winter coat. I can't wait for spring and a groomed dog.

Deck The Halls

 We cut our tree every year. The last few Christmases we've chosen a pine. I love the bright green color and the sparse heavy boughs. And of course it smells great!

 The kids weren't very interested in the choosing of our tree.

 Silas was with us again this year. He brought along with him a broken candy cane decoration from our yard. It was a sword/weapon of some sort. 

 I can't seem to locate our tree decorations. No problem, the kids made some. The above is Darth Vader. Silas asked if he could make Star Wars ornaments. Of course!

Blake's snowman. With a light saber. 

There Was an Old Spider Who Lived in a...

Here are my mowing, gardening, mud, just don't give a darn shoes. 

They've sat here on the porch railing for just a few days, drying out from my last heavy use.

Just a few days. That's all it took for a spider to take up residence.

I removed the web, unlaced the shoe and slowly stuck my hand down into the shoe. Not really. I'm not that tough. I stuck a metal file instead but came up empty. There was a small space I couldn't see at the very tip of the toe. I decided to leave it out on the railing overnight and see if my spider would rebuild it's home. I mowed barefoot instead. Not really.

Dipping in the Little Mulberry

We do this every day during the summer.

 And as best as I can remember, the kids never tire of our daily, sometimes twice daily dips. It just can’t get much better than a cool, clear swimming hole that requires no cleaning or chlorinating. 

Today we found a little friend sharing our swim.

He was stinky and after a few minutes starting snapping, true to his name. So we let him go. Someday maybe we'll see him again. Only next time he may look like the other snapping turtle we found on our way down to the creek.

Thankfully he wasn't snapping, but then again we weren't holding him. 

Livin' Out Here Ain't for Sissies

I enjoy weeding. It’s therapeutic for me. Yesterday morning as I weeded my flower garden I felt the sun, smelled the earth and listened to the birds. Suddenly my serenity was shattered by the loud squawking of several chickens. This is not unusual. The hens will squawk for a second or two just after they’ve laid an egg as they are racing back to reunite with the flock. But this was different.  It was more than one bird and it was longer and faster. So I stood up to peer in the direction of the noise. Out they burst from the canopy of the woods, running in my direction. But they brought a predator with them. A coyote was hot on their trail! You should have heard me scream. Waaahhhhhh! They were unknowingly headed straight for me.  My only defense was the noise I was making. I hoped I might scare the coyote by screaming. So I screamed louder. I was also instinctively trying to run the other way. I had to take my eyes off them as I tried to run backwards making sure I wasn’t going to fall over our rock wall. When I looked back there was a pile of white feathers and the coyote was walking back into the woods. I guess the noise worked. I walked over to the edge of the yard and peered through the brush. I could still see her walking away, but I couldn’t tell if she had a chicken in her mouth or not. We've lost 4 chickens in the past month and we are pretty sure this is the reason. 

My view, see the white feathers.

The survivor.

And then this morning Blake found this in the bathroom. 

This thing was huge. We've seen them in our pump house for years, but never in our house! I've identified them before but checked my book again and feel pretty certain it is a fishing spider.

 

As much as we hate to, we may have to spray the bathroom. 

And now we are going to pick flowers. I wonder what we might find. My camera is charged and ready.

Strawberry Surprise

I took some jars of strawberry jam down to my strawberry patch this afternoon for a “photo shoot” with my new camera. I picked a few strawberries and spent several minutes taking pictures in the plants. (Soon to appear in a making strawberry jam post) We then dug potatoes and I returned to finish picking strawberries. This is only the second year for my patch, it’s small, about 4’ X 4’. As I neared the final corner I noticed something furry hidden under the leaves. My first thought was a rat. I screamed, expecting it to jump and run, probably up my arm. But it was frozen and thankfully it was not a rat. 

This little rabbit was so still I had to look closely to make sure it was breathing. He stayed put for several minutes while I took his picture. I wanted so badly to pick him up but knew I shouldn’t. It took all my will power to just let him be.

This was the closest I got. And then finally as I picked the strawberry on the left, it shook the plant above his head and he scampered out. I hope he is back tomorrow. But then I might not be able to resist. We just might snuggle.

Strawberry Surprise

Stepping Out

Today I prescribed myself a walk outside. We've had the coldest and snowiest (is that a word?) winter since we moved here 5 1/2 years ago. I have loved it, until a week ago. So, although the temperature was hovering at 32 and the wind was biting out of the north, the skies were blue and I needed a reminder of the reasons why I love living in the Ozarks.

Because we can have free range chickens, that eat bugs, provide entertainment, and most importantly provide eggs.

Because there are four distinct seasons. Just when the current season has out lived it's charm the promises for change are found if you look carefully. 

Ice

We were very fortunate this past week. There were a few icicles, a few mornings with slick roads and we lost power for about a day and a half. Many are still without power. The above picture is of the Little Mulberry a few miles down the road. Notice the ice line on the mountain behind. We were just a few hundred feet shy of the ice.


To get to town from our home the road climbs up and over a mountain, I wish I knew the elevation, locally known as Yarbrough Mountain. Thankfully the roads were clear of ice, but the trees told a different story. It was quite a sight.
The power lines had icicles 3 and 4 inches long. Not quite as impressive as some I've seen on the news but pretty cool for this south Texas girl.
The sound of this sight was the sound of a gentle constant rain. As the ice was melting it dripped and occasionally dropped large chunks that hit the road and car. We all screamed and giggled when we would get nailed by an ice bomb.

Hiking Around

Friday I spent the day with my neighbor enjoying my last day of "retirement" (before I become a full time college student on Monday). We drove north to hike down to the King's River Falls area. Our first stop was Spokeplant school. This is one of the few one room schools around here still standing. Our 81 year old neighbor has some great stories about going to school here. It's sad to see the schools falling. Maybe one day someone will restore them and find a use for them.



We enjoyed the smooth ride of pavement for about 50 feet when we crossed over highway 16. Back on dirt, we met some curious cows. They stared and stood their ground.
The trail down to the falls has been newly constructed. It's a beautiful hike along King's River and the falls are a treat at the end. We had our lunch listening to the water. I dreamed of diving off the rock into the pool below, but I'll save that for a warm summer's day.

Copperhead Cave

Monday a group of us drove north to Copperhead Cave. The entrance is a small hole in the ground in a dry creek bed. Easy to miss if you don't know what you are looking for. Entering and exiting requires ropes. It's about a 30 foot drop once you squeeze through the opening. Inside is a stream, occasional pools and beautiful formations. We spent nearly 4 hours making our way to the end and back. Supposedly there is more to explore but it requires squeezing through about a 10 inch crevice. We didn't attempt.

Glory Hole

There is a truly magnificent place about 23 miles north of us. The Glory Hole. Dismal Creek is a small stream that gently makes is way down through the mountains. At one point the stream comes to a rock ledge. And instead off flowing over the edge it has eroded its way through the rock. The result is a round hole through the rock ledge and a waterfall that runs through it. Today my neighbors Lisa and Art joined me on a hike down to visit this unforgettable place. Water levels are low around here but a slight trickle was still flowing.