Lucky That Way

I don't think I've ever posted twice in one day on this blog but I just had to this time.  I can't contain myself.  I found out today that I won tickets to The Antiques Roadshow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Technically, Allen won tickets, but I am going or he will suffer the consequences for the rest of his life!!  There are a few tickets available that you can buy, but they are horribly expensive.  Or, you can put your name in the drawing and if you win you get 2 tickets for free.  I registered myself of course, and then also Allen, for better odds.  They do not notify you if you win but you can go to the Antiques Roadshow website after a certain date and check to see if you won.  I checked for myself first and was crushed that I had not been picked.  I've tried for years to go to this thing.  So, I checked for Allen and sure enough, he won.
I've already picked out what we'll be taking.  A couple of the pieces are ceramics, as you might expect.  Each ticket holder gets to bring 2 items and no more.  The show I applied for is in Birmingham thankfully, so it won't be too far.  In the past I've applied as far away as Washington DC, so it was really cool to get picked for the show here.  Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!  I'm SO excited!!!!!  Can you tell?????
 I am SO excited!!!!!!!  And I've got to meet that Yankee jeweler guy.  You know, the one with the dark hair and that great New York accent.  Be neat to meet the Keno brothers too.  I am SO excited!!!!!!  I may not sleep much tonight!!!!  Eeeeekkkk!!!!!

Treasure Hunt

 Ever since I moved to this property and learned of foraging the wilds for food I have dreamed of a particular delicacy.  One that I wasn't even sure existed in this area.  I had heard rumors.  Seen photos, but yet the reality eluded me.  I hiked many a mile over my land searching and searching only to come home empty-handed.  I had come up empty so many times in fact, the idea had almost left me as something I would probably never experience.  Until today.  My normal morning walk with Chigger yielded far more this morning because I stumbled upon these.......

The holy grail of mushrooms.  True, delicious morels.  Culinary delights I had only ever heard of. 

I was stunned by how easily I happened upon these. They are truly hard to spot at first but once you see them they seem to just pop out everywhere.

  I was rather surprised that there were this large.

And yes, I checked them closely to make sure that they were true morels.  Hollow on the inside!!

It wasn't a huge haul but to find any at all was an incredible rush.  I can see now why people get so excited over these things.  I soaked them for about an hour in salty water to clean them and then drained them and covered with a damp paper towel until we were ready to cook them.

I had never had these before, and neither had Allen, so we figured we would saute half in butter and then fry the other half in a batter mix.  We also decided such a serendipitous event called for a real celebration so I took off to a decent grocery store to get us some extra goodies.

And a wondrous time was had by all!!  A wonderful feast to celebrate this beautiful spring and my first hunt!  We gorged ourselves on steak, potatoes, morels and wine!!  The morels were exquisite either way.  I think I liked them a little better battered and fried but it's hard to say.  I go hunting again tomorrow so maybe we will have the opportunity to do a little more taste testing.

Someone Out There

So...I owe ya'll the story of just how I got in to see a decent doctor....Now, if you've been reading this blog for a bit, you know I've written of some fairly, umm, serendipitous events in my life and I know that some of them might have seemed a bit far fetched.  However, I assure you that they are all true, as with this story.  I honestly don't think I could make this stuff up if I tried. 

A few days after I had announced that I would be suspending my blog, I sat here in this chair one morning with a Birmingham phone book in my lap.  My tunnel vision had opened up enough that I could see that my kidneys probably were not the issue after all.  And I know that laypersons should never try to diagnose themselves, but I had to try something.  I mean, the doctors I had seen weren't battin' any higher.  Might as well do a little research and in the course of that I thought maybe I should try a neurologist.  What the hell?  It seemed the only thing left.  I know many of you have had your own wranglings with our wonderful health system and know you don't just waltz in to see a specialist though.  A few phone calls that morning proved that once again.  I sat at the kitchen table on the verge of tears trying to think of which doctor to beg for a referral and hoping I could get in before November.  I decided to take a shower, because that always makes you feel better, and on my way past my desk I saw I had received a new e-mail.  Half-heartedly I sat down.  It looked like spam because it started with "Edifice Rex..."  Spam usually does.  I opened it anyway and read the short email. .  This is part of what it said:
" I am the head of Neuro-oncology at UAB and a neurologist.  Don't worry, I don't think you have a brain tumor but I would be happy to see you or review your records to help get direction on solving your health problems."  I guess you never can tell who might be reading your blog.  He suggested I Google him to check his background, which I did, but are you kidding me?  I would have been tickled to get in to a doctor at Brookwood or somewhere but the head of the department at UAB!!... Yeah, I'll take that.  After I was able to pick my jaw up off the floor, I replied with the requested info and within the hour a very nice assistant called me to verify an appointment 2 days later at the Kirklin Clinic no less.  Now, for those of you who don't live in Alabama, being asked to come down to Kirklin is, in the medical world, like being asked to come to Carnegie Hall.  It was a totally different experience to me.  I was treated like a person and the doctor listened to me!  For a long time!  I know it doesn't take much but my mind was boggled.  I have hope again.

So now.  Another round of blood work done, 15 minutes or so of funny exercises to see if I could touch my nose, touch my toes and Friday morning I go let them shoot dye into my veins and take pictures of my brain.  So... we'll see.  Will these new tests reveal anything? .  Either way, I know that every once in a while we encounter an individual that teaches us not to despair.  There are good people everywhere.

Dragon Days

One of my readers had asked if I could put up a panoramic view of my place so that ya'll could see the location of all these things I write about. I tried and tried to photograph the place from one or even two different locations that would give a good view of everything and have determined that it's about impossible. This shot was the best I could come up with and I've put it up many times before. At any rate, you can see the location of the garden in relation to the house and all. And to any new readers, if the house looks odd, like it's not finished, well, it's not. Ha! It's a long way off in some respects actually. There is a whole 'nuther half that should be on there. The house will eventually be a true Southern dogtrot, but that's another post.
If you look to the very far right you can see just the edge of the chicken coop. It shares a fence with the garden. This is to save material and allow the chickens into the garden at times.
Now, out of the frame and to the far left is where my metal shop and tractor shed will go. It will be hid from the house by woods. My land continues on down the valley in this direction until you come to a subdivision. If you keep walking through the woods to the right, past the chicken coop, you pass the pump house and eventually come to the spring where I get my water. Behind me, the driveway runs alongside a bubbly, clear creek as it makes it's way to the main road.

Many people have commented on the wonderful spirit that resides in this valley and it does have a very serene but lively feeling. There is something very comforting about this place to most people. I placed the house mainly by intuition, as the land was so overgrown you couldn't really see much, but it seems my intuition was correct. The following quote explains what I mean:

The ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui has defined where to locate buildings in order to create a secure sense of place. They call this location the ‘belly of the dragon’. In an ideal world, this place is midway up the north slope of a hill overlooking water at the bottom of a valley. Here you have access to the sun. You are high enough to avoid flooding and pooling cool air and low enough to avoid the winds that blow over the top of the hill. You have a view for protection against invasion and yet reasonable access to water.
Locating a place in ‘the belly of the dragon’ will naturally attract people and give them a sense of security. Protection from the wind; exposure to the sun; a place to sit and get a view; and proximity to water appeal to us on a primordial level. It creates a space where events can take place - where life can take place. Buildings designed with this in mind offer their inhabitants an intangible quality that adds to their comfort.

The house is not completely midway up the foothill but it is elevated enough to fit the description I believe. I hope to clear a little bit more land in front of the house in order to make the creek a bit more accessible also.
Now, many people would scoff at such a philosophy and I have had some people come here that were very uncomfortable. In fact, some almost refuse to come back. And no, I didn't throw rocks at them or anything. Might have crossed my mind....However, those people are ones that I believe have willingly sacrificed their connection to the earth and live life mainly for the material gain. That philosophy does not fly here. I would not be so silly as to think that this location protects me from all storms though. However, the vast majority of bad weather approaches from over the foothill behind me, so it does offer some break from the strong winds.

The land is also inundated with wonderful beneficial creatures such as the dragonflies I have named the valley after. Or snake doctors as the old people here used to call them. They are great. I love to watch them darting around, scooping up all the nasty bugs. Sometimes they will let me pick them up and get a closer look. They turn their big eyes towards me and nod. I try to encourage them with decorative likenesses. It seems to work. I have counted about 6 different types of dragonflies I think.
The plants here are also special. I find new flowers ever year and many medicinal types. I have also found about 5 or 6 different types of ferns. It seems that every type of my favorite creature or plants grow here. Many times I have thought that I wished this or that grew here only to find it's wild version the next spring. Often right outside my door. I often get a good look at the hawks and barred owls that live along the creek. I saw the owl just the other day on my morning walk and kicked myself for not having my camera. He sat up on a limb and we just stared at each other for a while. I waved to him and he cocked his head to the side as if to say, why would you do that?.

So, this is my land. I will try to get some more photos soon.

How Bizzare

I have been meaning to put this photo up for some time as I found this about a month ago. Right before Jack and I went out to Arizona, I noticed this yellow jacket nest in the ground one day as we were experimenting with putting up his tent. It seemed large as there were lots of the little buggers going in and out of the hole but thankfully, they did not bother us. I made a mental note to dispose of them when we got back because they had built right near the clothes line and it would be my luck to get them riled up just hanging out clothes. Well, after we got back I was out doing a little yard work one day and noticed this big hole in the ground. Upon investigation I surmised that armadillos had dug the nest up and eaten most of it. I don't know of any other critter that could have managed that without being stung so bad they would have run away. I had noticed in the previous months that armadillos had been digging here and there in the yard but I don't bother them. They are only after grubs, which turn into Japanese beetles among other things, so I let them have at it. Well, apparently they like grubs of all kinds because they had completely decimated this yellow jacket nest. I found pieces of it strewn all over the yard. I guess they picked it apart to get out the larvae. There were also lots of dead adult yellowjackets lying in the hole.
I know many people despise the ol' dillers but I don't mind them; same with the moles that lots of people drive themselves crazy trying to run off. They do make little holes or mounds here and there but I've never had them destroy many plants like a lot of people claim they do. An occasional veggie victim here and there but to me, the pests they eat are worth a few uprooted plants on a rare occasion. Most everyone else around me has horrible problems with Japanese beetles and such but I rarely see more than a handful around my house and I can pick them off by hand and squash them. And now that I know the 'dillers eat yellowjacket nests, well, they are greatly welcome to root around a little. I had a heckuva time trying to eradicate one nest last year the the bees had dug right in the middle of a trail I frequent to the spring. I tried several bombs and sprays and don't know that I really succeeded but these ol' possums on a half shell made short work of them it seems! Saves me money and aggravation. The only thing better would be if they would eat fire ants too! I think Nature itself will often provide for it's own control and management if we would just let it, no chemicals needed.

Jubilate Deo

I guess the title to this one could have been, 'Purple Hulls and An Old Gray Cat', but that is not a song as far as I know. I had the whole weekend off so I got to go by the farmer's market and buy a few things Saturday morning. I got this mess of purple hull peas, sold by an old, dried up codger of a man, who assured me this variety was a true heirloom and he had been growing them for over 30 years. After I shelled what I wanted for eating that day and freezing, I saved a handful of pods for planting next year. Hopefully they will produce. I put these in a slow cooker with just enough water to cover them, about a 1/2 cup of chicken broth, 1/2 finely chopped onion, two strips of bacon, one crushed glove of garlic, salt and pepper to taste and a few dashes of cumin. They were the best I've ever cooked. Maybe it was the cumin. They got raves from others too.
I had a nice relaxing weekend; I hope ya'll did too.

It was back to the work frenzy today though and I got in fairly late. Just as the last of the light was fading from the sunset, but I looked up as I walked towards the house and spied this. Well, it was so luminous it was hard not to notice. It kind of startled me actually. I took it as a good sign. A sign of reassurance that things will be okay because I had spoken to Daddy Rabbit earlier in the day and he admitted that my time to leave the job is "coming fast". I may not even make it until Friday. As I have stated in the past to my company, it is only fair to lay me off first and keep the men with children working as long as they can. We have no other work and even though this same church wants some work done now on their original building, they have provided no drawings, so we cannot start until they get some and these people are not concerned about anyone but themselves. We must be substantially finished by tomorrow night as the church is going to hold the first service in the new addition Wednesday evening. So, as I have said recently about some other things, we'll see what we'll see.

What Do You Do?

This photo has nothing to do with the post but ya'll know I like to include at least one regardless. I'm not sure what type critter this is but I suspect it is a type of hornet maybe? It was much larger than any wasp I have ever seen.

Anyway, I worked many hours last week and didn't have much time for my blog or reading any of my favorites either, so forgive me if I haven't been dropping by or commenting on any. I only had to work 8 hours today so I managed to do a little catch up reading this evening. I'm afraid my work may be finishing up even faster than what we first suspected. I had hoped to at least make it to September before being laid off again, and may yet, but it is really getting slim now.



*Lyle Lovett

Head Above Water

I have been trying for some time to get a good photo of these cows down the road from me. They have been seeking any relief they can from the heat lately and this little pond is one of their favorite tricks. It has taken me so long because I either don't have my camera with me on the days they are in or they are not there when I do have it. One other time we did sync but they jumped out about the time I got close. I think today they said the hell with it, we're staying put. Now, before anybody freaks, I've seen the little ones get in before and they always get back out okay. This is not as good a shot as what I see in my mind but it will do.

I've been thinking about that post I wrote a couple of days ago about finances and I had a few more things to say about that. First, I always feel kinda stupid writing stuff like that and here's why: I know I have several major advantages that lots of other folks would have trouble employing to build their own house and so I feel kinda silly saying, 'yeah, do this like I did!' First, I work in an industry where free material is easy to come by for us. Secondly, I am fortunate enough to be thought highly enough of by many men in higher positions so I also come by free stuff that way. The men are very generous to me. And before anybody gets all smarmy, no, I do not sleep with any of them to get it. Well, I used to sleep with Allen but that was a long time ago. Heh. Anyway, there have actually been a couple I really would have liked to have paid back that way but they really were just being nice. Thirdly, I was born with a strength advantage over many women; I know I am much stronger than a lot and this helps me build things by myself. Fourthly, I don't have the kids to pay for and this is a major thing. I can spend my money and time on whatever I want. And lastly, I just seem to have good mojo; things work out for me. One friend told me once that I was 'magic'. For instance, things just worked out that I got another acre of land that I had been wanting for $14 and I didn't even have to ask for it really. There are many more examples but for privacy reasons I can't really say, just take my word for it. I keep hoping this 'magic' will bring me a male partner (notice I did not say husband necessarily) but I think my mojo is broke in that area. Everything works out except for that! Oh well.
Anyway, I don't go around telling people how they need to live or conduct their lives but a lot of people ask me how I manage to do these things, so I will tell them in that case because I realize also that a lot of the things I have accomplished have been through sheer hard work and determination and that is something anyone can do. However, a lot of people don't want to hear that. I pains me to see how that living on borrowed money had become so ingrained in our society that the vast majority of people truly believe there is no other way. You must borrow money or you won't have anything. Now, please believe I do not look down on anyone who has a mortgage. There is nothing wrong with that if it is within your means and that's the way you want to do that. But we must relearn the fact that there is ALWAYS another way to do something. You do not have to keep doing what everyone else does. I wonder what has happened to that American spirit of enterprise and flat out gumption. A construction worker knows, there is ALWAYS a way. To be honest, a lot of it for me is this: I work way too hard for my money to give a big part of it to some filthy rich banker or corporation that wouldn't piss on my head if I were on fire. I work for Annie. That blood running down my arms some days is spilt for me and I am going to keep all of that paycheck I can to spend on things I want. Not make a payment on some CEO's Mercedes.

I also feel stupid babbling on and on about shunning some material possessions in order to focus on people and relationships. Yeah, for all the good that's done me I think sometimes I should have just been blowing my money on wine, men and song, so to speak. I've got nothing to show for all these years of trying very hard to appreciate a good partner. Hell, it's a major event if I go out on a date. I guess if nothing else I can be a warning beacon for those who are fortunate enough to have a mate. Do I sound kinda bitter? Well, sometimes I am, dammit, to be perfectly honest. I am a hell of a good woman and would treat a good man well. It kinda reminds me of the couple that most of us know. You know, the loving young couple that would make wonderful parents but by some sucking twist of fate, can't have kids. While around the corner, folks that literally should be sterilized can breed like rats. You know you've seen people like that and thought the same way. And I don't begrudge good people that have found happiness with someone, honestly I don't. I am very happy for them. I just really wonder sometimes what is wrong with me.

So, I guess that is why I don't write a lot of posts like that. I feel like a fraud on some things. I honestly believe in these things I preach but I realize nothing in my life works like most other people's do, so I wonder if I can really have anything to offer someone else, even advice.

You've Got A Friend

Sorry I've been a little lax on posting lately. I just am having trouble coming up complete enough thoughts to make a decent post or coming up with enough time to write it!
So, Friday was my birthday and I had just been bumbling through the week because usually for me, birthdays are not much of a day for excitement. I usually spend it by myself or ask a friend to go out to eat with me because I don't want to stay the evening alone. Anyway, this birthday turned out a bit better than many in the past few years. I got home from work Thursday and saw a package by the gate. I knew I had not ordered anything and couldn't believe that anyone else would have sent me something. I mean, I usually get a card from my Mom but that's about it, so unless Grendal had figured out how to order stuff online I figured it was something put there by mistake.
Turns out this little critter was inside and it was meant for me!! Isn't that the coolest thing you have ever seen. It is the beautiful work of one of my long time readers, Page Candler. You can view more of her work here. If you have the means to collect such art I believe you would be delighted with the craftsmanship and beauty of her work. She had told me a while back that she wanted to send me something that was just really me! What's funny, is that the guys would tell you that 'hands on the hips' pose is me down to a T! Especially when I get aggravated at them about something. And the way some of them skirt around me, you'd think I really did have big fangs like that. Now, the neat part is that Page didn't know it was my birthday and had actually had this guy sitting in a box for some time. I just love it and he occupies a place of honor on my shelf in the living room. I want to tell you that all of you wonderful readers, whether you've ever commented or not, help me a lot sometimes. The fact that you all are interested in what I do and all my craziness helps me to think maybe I'm not so bad after all. I am considered very odd or even kind of an outcast by many that know me in real life, even my family, and your friendship really gives me a feeling of belonging somewhere.
So, I went to work Friday in a good mood and all the guys had birthday wishes for me and one of the sweeties even bought me a king size chocolate bar! They know me pretty well. I won't say which one it was because if the others find out they'll have a fit and really rag me about it. LOL!
Then, after work I talked Allen into taking me to a Mexican restaurant and proceeded to stuff myself and get tanked on margaritas. It was a lot of fun and we went to a book store. Maybe not what my dream birthday would be but hey, it was a good time.


*James Taylor

Move On Up

I finally finished one section completely!! Wooooooohooooooo! I know it's not much but don't pee in my cornflakes, I'm over three-quarters of the way finished with the north side!! I got Allen to help me move the pick board down to the other end and am ready to finish installing the rest of that siding. It's not much; only about 6 boards high, I think. I would be working on that now but it has decided that it is monsoon season here again and is coming a real toad-strangler as I type. Tomorrow is supposed to be very nice though, so I may get to work on it then. And now I can finally take those stupid boards down that are nailed up there on the right! I really need to do a drawing of the house as it should look completely finished. I know lots of you probably think the house looks kinda weird (and it does some) but so much of it is missing it's hard to tell what it will (hopefully) look like. I can see it in my head but that doesn't help and you wouldn't want to go in there looking around, believe me.
After I do a little house cleaning, I think I'm going to try to work on the stained glass window again, since it is so rainy. I really need to get that out of the way.
I'm going to inflict one more photo of the sunflower on ya'll! I just love this thing. It's like a field of flowers suspended in the air. This is actually two separate plants. I believe they are perennial. I hope so anyway, but don't know if they spread or reproduce themselves easily or what.
And this looks like the coral mushrooms that the elusive Ron wrote about several times. Sorry for the crappy pic; it's not really in focus but by the time I discovered this it was pouring outside and, I'm sorry, but I'm not quite THAT devoted to ya'll as to get completely drenched. lol! At any rate, this one was about 3 or 4 inches across and there are a bunch of them growing right behind the house. I had not noticed them in previous years. Many sources say they are edible, and quite tasty, but when it comes to being poisoned, I'm a little on the weinie side so I won't be sampling these unless I could get a true authority to verify. Some sources I looked up said there was a similar 'shroom that was poisonous and some said nothing else looks like this. It was a little confusing. They are rather firm and not gelatinous and don't turn colors if bruised, so I think they are probably okay to consume but I think I'll wait. I would like to know however, because if they are good, I've got a freakin' mini-farm about 15 feet from my deck.


*Curtis Mayfield

Variations Of Green

Longtime readers will remember that, at times, I work on some interesting restoration projects and not always new construction. An article was published this month in a local magazine that featured one of those projects we did a few years ago. I believe the magazine is still out this month.

I am one of the featured craftspeople in the article. Which just amounted to a very small description of some of the work I did. The photos are supposed to correspond with work we each did but the chimney pot they show is not the one I worked on. That's okay though. It was nice to be mentioned anyway.

In between rain showers yesterday I managed to plant most of my garden! I tilled in a bunch of new composted manure and then set out all the seedlings I had started. Which we mostly tomatoes, peppers, squash and cantaloupe. I direct sowed okra, green beans and zucchini. I still need to plant corn and might put in some sweet potatoes.

There is just not a lot going on around here. It's raining so much (not complaining though) that I haven't really been able to get a good project started. I did get Allen to help me haul a very large rock over to a nice area of the yard so it can become the base for a sculpture I want to do.

The lavender seems to like it's new location along the drive. The cuttings I took from these plants are all still doing well. One of them is looking kinda poorly but it's still alive. I'm going to let them get bigger before putting them out though.

Happy Mother's Day to all mamas out there. Hope you have a great day! I'm off to my mother's house later today. Thankfully, she only lives about 30 minutes from me.

Tomorrow I get to go work on another job to do some welding for a new AC unit being added to the building. It's for an old buddy superintendent of mine and I am sooooo happy to get to go to another job. Anywhere, other than the one I'm on. Unfortunately, it's just for one day. I don't know what it is but I just HATE this job I'm on. I like the crew and boss but hate, hate, hate the job. I've been there 14 months and I guess I'm just sick of it. OK, so, I'm done with my complaining I guess.

Wish I had something more exciting to report but I still haven't found a big sack of money or giant gold nugget. I did however, find a big 55 gallon drum that these rains have washed down the creek and onto my land. It will be perfect for making the rolling composter that I have just been wanting and came very close to buying a while back.
Funny thing too, I have been searching for just the right wall cabinet for my bath lately and haven't been able to find what I wanted. Well, that didn't cost $600 anyway. So, I kinda put that on a back burner and yesterday a catalog showed up in the mail that has just what I want in it! Guess you just have to be thankful for all the little things too.

Lovely Day

Hey People! No, I have not abandoned or forgotten you all; I'm still here! Sorry for my lack of posting lately. I've just, well, always suspected that there was something more to life than work and I believe I'm just beginning to see what that is. I will try not to effuse about things too much but let's just say it has been a very lovely weekend. The weather has been absolutely wonderful and warm, things are blooming and sprouting. I spent the better part of yesterday cruising the open roads on the back of a motorcycle, just enjoying the countryside and not worrying about anything.

This look on Lika's face kinda says it all, lol! What you can't see is that I am scratching his side for him. He has been recovering from a little surgery (something the Man From 12 Years jokes Lika will never forgive me for) and from getting all his shots and such.

I have actually gotten some stuff done around the house. The pantry is ready to set cabinets in, if I can ever get them ordered. I completed the patch in the bathroom and repainted, hung the mirror etc. The weather is so great here today that I may work in the garden putting in some leeks and new cabbage and finishing a strawberry bed. Work on the stained glass window has not gone very far though and I have got to get that restarted.

So, hope that everyone is having a good weekend and I have not forgotten about the remaining questions that ya'll wanted me to post about. I'll try to get to the next one soon.

*Bill Withers

Food For Thought

I hate to use such an old cliched title like that but it does fit. I know a lot of you garden, growing anything from just a little to most of your own food so I thought I'd give you a little more incentive to grow more or be very glad you grow what you do. See those four layers of orange racks towards the back there with all those boxes and pallets of stuff stacked on them? If you buy much from a grocery store, that is your food. And this building is just one of it's many stops on it's way to you. This is the distribution center that I have been working on since April. We are adding two separate warehouses which, I believe but don't hold me to it, will consist of around 500,000 square feet. This is the dry storage; the freezer and cooler areas are about done. Now, despite the horrible muddy conditions you see, the areas where the food actually is stays pretty clean. We had installed some partition walls to cover the food from the elements before the roof was on but they are approaching time to pour the floors here so we took the walls down. I have never seen any rats here but we have found many snakes.

These are the tilt up panels that I foisted upon ya'll so much earlier in the year. After we stand the panels up the steel workers come in and raise the steel inside, working to our panels. Every once in a while they will put the steel up first but it is usually done this way, in my experience anyway.

You see two rows of horizontal steel here, between the columns and little dots all along the top of those beams? those little dots are 8"x 8" steel plates embedded in the panels and they weld the structural steel to those embeds. This holds the panels to the building. The embeds have little "legs" protruding into the concrete so they won't pull out.
Although the crew here is great, the conditions suck! Mud everywhere and it's cold. I have been hoping and praying something would come up to get me sent to another job; any job. It's going to be 15 degrees here Friday! That's just nuts. Oh God, why couldn't I get sent somewhere else! So, today while I was rolling around in this 5' deep ditch, trying to wrestle 3' fittings onto 16" diameter Schedule 40 PVC pipe (because our company thinks for some reason we are now plumbers) the boss comes out and tells me I'm being sent back to Red Diamond tomorrow! Glory, Hallelujah! Yes! Yes! A heated building, running silly punch list! That art degree paid off! WoooHooo!

Working Too Hard

Hey folks! I'm back! This has been a rough week to say the least. It's my second week on the new job site and I'm back to pouring footings and piers and tying rebar and I get to do it all in several inches of mud! The last couple of months at the railroad job spoiled me bad. Easy door hardware etc. and all gravel. It takes a few weeks to get accustomed to the rough stuff again and they have been pushing us hard to get a certain amount of piers poured per day and all that. This job is also a little further away and I have to go right through downtown Birmingham, so it takes longer to drive home and I am usually pretty tired by the time I get here. Perhaps after things calm down a little I can post more. Btw, that is the same pair of boots that I was showing off here back in August. They look a little rougher now. If I get 10 months out of a pair I am doing good. And these are $130 a pair Wolverines.
I have been so filthy after work that I have taken to keeping some extra clothes in my truck because I have to stop after work one day a week to buy groceries. People look at you bad enough if you go into a public place with work boots on much less dirty work boots.
One of my good buddies that was on the railroad job got transferred over to this new site this past week so that helped my feelings a lot. He is just a couple of years older than me and we have a good time working together. However, he accidentally dropped a 16' form on me so that didn't help a lot. It skipped down my leg and made a nice pattern of bruises though. Times like these make me wonder why I do this kind of work and I really don't have a good answer. I mean, we leave work a lot with our clothes torn, mud and blood caked all over us from building things that society needs (hospitals, schools etc.) and all to have people just dog you because of your profession. A craftsperson used to be respected but now we are all regarded as the dregs of society. I had one lady (?) tell me I could not drink from a public water fountain. A lot of the hospitals we work on will allow us to buy food from the cafeteria but we often have to go outside to eat. When we can eat inside we have to sit far away from everyone else and have actually been told not to look at anyone other than our fellow workers. I have never been invited to attend one church that I have helped build.
I didn't mean for this post to be a rant or anything, I have just been tossing a lot of things over in my head lately I guess. I have tried several times to find other employment but I always seem to get pulled back to construction, which is really weird, me being a woman especially. Are we destined to take certain paths in life in order for particular events to occur or to meet certain people? Is the wisest choice in life the one that you feel most drawn to or the one that makes the most practical sense? For me they rarely are the same! At times, I think I have made the biggest mistake of my life by not having another career and at other times I think I would never be able to have the life I really want if I had left it. I know I would never have been able to build this house as I did, had I not been in this industry. And seems like whenever I need something that I cannot provide myself, one of the men I work(ed) with will just appear with whatever it is that I was looking for. Is this Someone looking out for me or just the power of our unconscious minds' desire that created enough positive energy for these events to unfold? Or, is that positive energy in our minds how the Someone works? Maybe these thoughts are way too profound for a lowly construction worker.
I do know that in the next several years I will get to where I cannot do the work anymore. Parts of me hurt now that should not and may eventually require surgery. The guys are beginning to fuss more about me doing certain things and try to run me away from the harder jobs. I know I will quit when I begin to feel that I am causing more work for them. But I'm sure that when the right time comes a new door will open for me and I will start a new adventure.

*Lyle Lovett/ My Baby Don't Tolerate album

A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

And it did too! Some strong winds also as you can see from the top of that tree now laying on the ground. I'm glad to see that because that top had actually broken out of one of the trees some time back and had gotten hung up way out of reach. I could not figure how I was going to get it down but the storms yesterday took care of that for me, so now all I have to do it cut it up. The recent rains are helping quite a bit to get our water levels back up to normal but I think we are still in a "considerable drought". The dogwoods have really been opening up this past week too.
I love these trees and have been ecstatic to see how many are around here. There are lots of redbuds too but they don't show up in the photos as well. Hopefully, these rains are helping my grass seeds get started.
This is a discovery I made last year and have been meaning to post about it but just never quite got around to it. At first, I thought (hoped!) this was a witch hazel bush but finally found out it is a spicebush. Lindera Benzoin. It is over near the creek and has these little blooms that open around mid-March. I think it is native but have never seen one before. Of course, unless you happen upon it while it is blooming you would never pay much attention to it as it's summer foliage is somewhat unremarkable. It's leaves and branches do have a spicy smell and my book says it can be used to make teas. The female plants produce small red berries (this is apparently a male) that can also be used as a substitute for allspice.
The weather is still kind of crappy today so I think I will spend most of the weekend trying to clean up and organize the basement. I must get that area in order because it is also my studio and I need to start producing some more pottery. I also have several stained glass projects to do for myself and others that I must start soon. One of them is a window for the bathroom but I need to come up with a design first. It will be something abstract, maybe with vague references to the movement of the sun etc. Speaking of the sun, it has just about disappeared from the house at this time. I was hoping to see today how much was left but it is so overcast that no sunshine can be seen. The past week or two the temps have been in the mid to high 70's during the day and the house warms up to about 73 degrees. It is very comfortable and it holds this temp throughout most of the night, only dropping 4 or 5 degrees in the early morning hours. The heat has not been used more than just a few minutes in some time. I'm not sure if the warmth coming from the ground under the house and through the uninsulated floor has anything to do with this or not. I believe this will affect the temperature in the house some though and am glad now that I have not insulated the floor. Next winter when I have the wood burning stove in the basement it will help warm the house also through radiant heat. I believe I will install some vents in the floor also which will facilitate the cool air from the basement coming in during the summer and the warm air (from the stove) in the winter. Of course, these vents can be closed so to help regulate things also. It's sort of like the house and earth is telling me what to do next if I will listen to it. OK, I'm not weirding out on you but from just observing what happens when I build a certain thing, you can learn a lot. Everything is working it's self out, even the perceived catastrophes have shown me which direction to go next.
A favorite quote of mine from the writing's of Joseph Campbell is, " We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
Now, that is not to say that I don't believe in any planning of life (I think you really need to plan a house well) but we shouldn't hold on so tightly to our little life plan that we strangle any serendipitous fortune that comes out way. It seems sometimes when I quit trying so hard to do something a certain way that a much more simple and elegant way just presents itself. Some would chalk this up to good karma or luck or the will of God but, Go with the flow, dude...ya know?

*Bob Dylan

I Fall To Pieces

These are a couple of the more interesting things we have found in our little creek. Mostly we pick out trash that washes down after a big rain but one day I was standing up on a high part of the bank and saw something unusually round in the water. I thought at first it was a large nut off of a bolt but when I got down there I was ecstatic to see it was the top of this old hand thrown jug. As a potter I took it as a very good sign and the fact that it probably held whiskey made it even better!
I love the fact that you can still see and feel the potter's throwing lines on the inside. I wonder how old it is and what the person was like who made it. Judging by how consistant the thickness of the walls are, I think he was probably a pretty good potter. And I guess it was a he; I don't think there were too many women potters awhile back.
This is just a little piece of a teacup in the Blue Willow pattern. That's very popular here in the South. Both pieces had been in the creek so long that all the edges were worn very smooth. Allen keeps hoping that one of us will stumble upon or over a large gold nugget in the creek. I would settle for a big emerald or ruby too.