Saturday, January 23, 2010

Different People

A couple of the comments from that last post kinda took me by surprise. That is to say, I guess I've been doing what I've been doing for so long, that I find myself just thinking of it as commonplace. It's not until I get around new people or a group of just women and we start talking about our lives that I see that I'm a little unusual and that, to those people, running a backhoe all day wouldn't be boring. Or pouring concrete or something along those lines.

I've been amused several times to come across the blogs of other women that proclaim they are so odd and unusual and then when I start reading, what these women usually write about is raising kids, cooking, gardening, sewing etc. Now, I'm in no way belittling these women or making fun; I'm not. I just think it's kinda funny. They see themselves as so 'not normal' because they can the foods they grow or like goth music and I guess to some that is odd but to me, they sound pretty normal. Now, I'm interested in cooking and growing food, but I need to know what snacks can I stash in my nail apron because we are pouring 300 yards of concrete today and probably won't get to stop for lunch. And I'm interested in cleaning methods and such but because I need to know how to get dried blood and concrete out of denim. Or hydraulic fluid. Now, I do like shopping! Buying that shiny, new pair of steel toes really gives me a rush. I just love that new leather smell!

I'm also sure there are a number of readers that just stop by because of that same urge that makes some people slow down to see a car wreck. They can read about my life and say, well, at least I'm not as stupid/bizarre/mislead/ such and such as this woman and that's okay really. If it makes somebody feel better to laugh at me then that's fine. But I'm sitting on almost 20 acres with a house and it's all paid for, so I'm laughing too.
So, I won't be afraid I'm boring ya'll anymore and I will answer those couple of questions that I did get in the comments.

The great progress I was making at the first of the week crashed and burned about halfway. I have been having a little health problem for over a week and it finally got the best of me a couple of days ago, so I just crashed and slept a lot due to some meds I had to take. It was nothing major, and nothing with my heart, so I'm doing better now but I have not accomplished anything with the house since my last postings. So much for my new goals! I was going to work today but this morning I discovered a water problem again and spent the afternoon fixing that. As soon as I get a good break in the weather I'm going to have to do a major overhaul of the spring where I get my water. Then i had to split some more firewood because this next week is going to turn cold again. If it's not one thing it's another or just the same damn thing over and over again.

So, anyway, you guys...is this a deer scrape? I found this tree down by the spring and after searching, I finally found a couple of tracks near it. I've never seen a scrape before but have heard the guys talk about them. It's not very far from the house.

This is one of the tracks and what I'm poking at with the stick is where I could see the deer's dew claws made an impression in the mud. On the other track, the main hoof print was as long as my index finger. Now, I have big hands so it was a fair size track.
I was also very happy to see this! This is the little stream that is formed from the water that overflows from my spring and it is full of watercress. My spring is an artesian well; the water boils up out of the ground and about a foot below grade, there is a little overflow outlet that runs all year around. The watercress loves this cold, pure water and right now it is really going bonkers. Yes, I do harvest this, in case you are wondering. When it's small like this, it is great in salads. If you wait until it gets a little bigger it can get kinda hot!
The past couple of days that I've been in a drugged haze, I have thought of some new things I want to post about so I'll try to get on that soon.

*No Doubt

13 comments:

Rich said...

That looks like a deer rub, a scrape is something entirely different.

If you are interested, you should be able to look around and find more rubs in the same area that will form a rub line.

A scrape is an area under an overhanging limb usually on field edges, trail 'crossroads', etc. that has been scraped to bare dirt.

MamaHen said...

Hey Rich! oh, OK! thanks for the info and yeah, I'll look around some more to see if I can another one.
I might put my game cam down there and see if I can get a pic. They come down to the spring to drink a lot.

Anonymous said...

Watercress already? Spring's a'comin' - beautiful sight it is. I can't get down to the stream for mine. Da2#%*& DOT built the banks too steep and bouldered. To avoid a broken something, I now don't eat cress.

Richard said...

That looks more like you got to close to the tree with the Bobcat...lol.

MamaHen said...

Hey Sis! yeah, i was surprised to see the watercress so abundant after such a cold spell.

Hey Richard! haha, smarty pants! ;D
let me tell you, if I get too close to a tree with a machine, it just ain't standing at all anymore!

Mo said...

I agree with Rich, it's a rub. By the looks of the tine marks on the adjacent branches looks like he might be a pretty nice Buck.

How long ago was the picture taken? Locally our Deer rut Late Oct - November, and that is when I see most of the rubs. Our Deer are starting to shed their antlers this time of year.

MamaHen said...

Hey Mo! the photo was taken yesterday and the rubbing seemed fresh. I had just been down there a couple of weeks ago and didn't notice anything like that then. A friend of mine said our deer rut around mid-Dec. and shed about late Feb. or early March.

Beau said...

Yup, deer rub... too many of them here tearing up the little trees! I'm surprised to see yours this time of year however- seems very late. Couldn't see much from that track. Love your watercress and spring... what a treasure!

MamaHen said...

Hey Beau! yeah, it is late, even for here. I think our deer go about a month behind ya'lls out there in Missouri but this is late according to guys around here too.
I'm very grateful for that spring and it's watercress; they are wonderful.

Gina said...

I cannot relate. Yes, I do try the canning thing and growing thing, but I will always be a Forester/Entomologist first and this is a male-driven field too (making me, in my own inflated opinion, abnormal). I tried fitting in the not dabbling in normal people for a while and failed miserably. I was too wierd even for that bunch (LOL!!!)

I like that you are frank and to the point.

Gina said...

Oh, and be sure to look around for the antlers before the mice get them. I found a lovely pair in my woods a couple of years ago.

Gina said...

OOPS, I meant to say "CAN relate..."

MamaHen said...

Hey Gina! well, I think that women that work in highly male dominated fields are just in a class by themselves. It's a whole 'nuther world and hard for others to understand unless you've tried it.
you know, i have looked and looked for fallen antlers and have never been able to find any. :(