Baby Got Back

 So, to continue along the line of posts that leave you at a loss for words, I give you now a giant, cast iron Butt.  Oh, the possibilities for titles of this post were just mind boggling.  Now, many of you know that all of my post titles are also song titles, so I started to go with the old hip-hop mantra, "Take Yo Big Azz Outside"; I mean, how apropos!  But, I was afraid that might be a bit too much and went with the more sublime Sir Mix-a-lot classic, "Baby Got Back" and back he does have! I mean, look at that tush!  He could crack pecans with those buns. 
Now, just in case you are not sure what you are looking at, this is the back side of Birmingham's most famous resident, Vulcan.  And no, this butt is not an editorial comment from me to you!  I've been meaning to post about this little adventure I had back in February but, just had not gotten around to it until now.  The website highlighted above gives you a very extensive history of Vulcan and all about the surrounding park, which I am proud to say, my former company completely renovated in 2002-03 and in which Vulcan was restored.  I didn't get to work on that job, as I was involved in another restoration, and had never visited the park so I took a day to go see Sweet Cheeks.  Seriously though, it is a very cool site and the accompanying museum is nice.

Vulcan was cast in 1904 (I believe) as Birmingham's entry into the St.Louis World Fair to highlight the city's rich steel and iron industry.  He was designed and built by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Moretti in 6 months! and is the largest cast iron statue in the whole world.  They have an extensive exhibit inside the museum that shows just how Vulcan was built and it is very interesting.
The concrete structure (which my company built), that sits beside Vulcan's pedestal, is an elevator that takes you up to an observation platform.  Or you can actually climb the old original stairs inside the pedestal.  It was fairly cold and windy that day so we didn't stay up there long.  It's a wonderful park in warm weather though.  Vulcan sits atop Red Mountain so that adds considerably to his height, and the cold.

 This in the view from the observation platform of downtown Birmingham.  If you enlarge the photo you may be able to see much of the UAB complex, one of the leading medical institutes of the country.  Yes, I'm proud of Alabama.  We have lots of good things here, big butts and all.

 The view looking down, obviously.  I thought the map was cool.  If you don't like heights this may be a bit of a challenge.  The platform that you stand on here is actually a stainless steel grate, so you can see straight down beneath your feet.  I am quite used to heights from working construction for so many years but I must say, it did make me just a tad uneasy.!

 I thought this was a pretty cool Louise Nevelson inspired sculpture.  The guys told me that they uncovered a number of mining artifacts during the construction and many of these went into this and other exhibits in the museum.  See, Vulcan actually sits above a large iron ore mine and many of the old tunnels and shafts are still there.

 We had fun and if you are ever in the Magic City I would suggest a visit to Mr. Vulcan.  He'll be glad to see you.

Happy Earth Day!!

In case you are having trouble reading the text it says:  “It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to a store, buy it, and bring it home is considered to be less effort than what it takes to just wash the spoon when you’re done with it.”


This says it all much better than I can.  Seriously.  Just wash the freakin' plate and fork.  I am unfortunately, often confounded by the number of people every day that croon about their love of disposables even knowing and understanding that it is crap for the environment, but who consider their "convenience" ultimately more important.  Wow.  Amazingly enough, these are often the same people who have multiple children or grandchildren, whom they claim to love unconditionally, yet are perfectly willing to let them grow up in a nasty, dying world made that way by our waste.
And yes, I used to pour hundreds of yards of concrete or weld for 10 hours a day and when I got home and had supper I washed the freakin' dishes!  Having a rough day is not an excuse.

Early Sunday Stroll

So we start our early morning walk off by going down to the creek to see what's new and if we can catch a glimpse of the big heron that comes for breakfast there.  Don't see him this morning though, darn it.

Most of the more interesting plants are back up by the house though and down in the lower valley, so we head back that way.  Feel free to pipe up if you know what these plants are.  I haven't a clue about most of them.  This is a new one that I have only noticed this year.  Each year more and more new (to me) and cool plants seem to pop up as we open up a little more woods here and there, or just cut out the underbrush a little.
 

This batch is new also.  They are about twice the size of fleabane and have the faintest blue tint.

Our native blueberries, or more likely, huckleberries.  I have often found bushes up the side of the mountain just loaded with green berries but by the time they ripen they all seem to disappear.

Some of the scads and scads of native Christmas ferns that blanket my land.  I honestly think I could make some serious side money selling these things by just potting them up.  But I hate to do that.  They seem so happy here.

Some native coral bells (behind the evergreen groundcover) that I did transplant here by the stone retaining wall.  They are one that has really enjoyed me clearing a little and the deer don't eat these but will eat the crap out of bought ones.

False Solomon's Seal??  Real Solomon's Seal??? 

The giant Trilliums that are native to this region.  They are trying to give the ferns a run for their money.

May Apples in bloom with a native Callie Apple.  I mean, Callie Cat.  She's there for scale you know.

Our native pink rhododendron, although most people just called them wild azaleas.  They also come in white.

The elusive rock climbing dog.

Little ferns on rocks.  I have lots of little ferns of all descriptions that grow on the rocks.

Not a clue on this one either.  They started popping up last year and seem to be multiplying.  I like them.

One more pass by the creek before heading home!!

How Dirty Girls Get Clean

Well, now that spring has really sprung, you all know what that means!!!  Time to CLEAN!!  Yay!!!  So, too further cement in your mind the idea that I'm bonkers, I'll admit that I love spring cleaning.  I love any excuse to clean and throw away (or repurpose, recycle etc) excess junk.  I just have to make sure that in my cleaning furor I don't throw away stuff I really need, bleach the dog or recycle all my underwear.  I've already been cleaning and reorganizing for a few weeks now and have a few big chores left so I thought I'd do a spring (green) cleaning post and give ya'll a few of my recipes and ideas for sprucing up the house for warm weather.  I think most of ya'll know I make most all of my cleaning supplies because it's cheap but mostly because it's better for our earth and I don't like washing nasty chemicals down the drain.  Plus, homemade cleaners work great.  Or at least I have found these to.  First, is the cleaner you see in the photo above.  Basically, I keep a half gallon glass jar and as I use lemons, limes, oranges or any citrus fruit like that, I toss the rinds in the jar and then fill it with plain, white vinegar.  I let this sit for about 2 weeks in the pantry and then I use to to fill my spray bottles in the bath and kitchen.  As you have new peelings just refresh the ones in the jar and add more vinegar as you fill your spray bottles.  That way you always have some ready.  If it sits for more than 2 weeks it's okay.  To clean sinks, tubs and such I dampen the surface with warm water, sprinkle some borax around the sink or whatever, spray everything good with the vinegar, scrub and rinse.  For toilets I pour about a cup of the vinegar in the bowl and then spray the seat etc.  Dump some borax in the bowl and scrub.  I let this sit for a while and then flush.  Meanwhile, wipe the toilet clean with a damp cloth where you sprayed the vinegar.  It cleans great and has a nice citrusy smell.
For tile showers I have a separate recipe but you could use this lemon vinegar in place of the plain.

Grout Cleaner:
7 cups of water
1/2 cup baking soda
1/3 cup ammonia
1/4 cup vinegar

Mix well and using a brush or sponge scrub over shower walls, let sit for a few minutes and rinse/ scrub off.  I actually have to about double this recipe for my shower but this stuff really works and the clean lasts for quite some time.  Of course, since it uses ammonia, please run your bath exhaust fan or open a window while you are doing this.  If you don't like using ammonia just leave it out.  You can also use a few drops of essential oil if you like for a nice smell.

And of course, cleaning windows are always part of the spring ritual so I thought I'd give ya'll that recipe too.  I think this recipe works great but you can adjust it a little too and I've found that you don't have to be real exact with the measurements.  I also use this to clean my stainless appliances as it doesn't streak but removes greasy fingerprints.

Glass/ Surface Cleaner:
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol

There are tons of variations and recipes all over the place though.  Just Google and you can find all kinds of stuff.
Generally, for my spring cleaning, I do all the windows and dust/ clean the trim for each all around.  I wash all my interior rugs. (I do this periodically anyway but, you know).  Clean and sort all the pantry shelves.  Clean the refrigerator.  Clean/ dust cabinet shelves and all bookcases.  Clean all vents and filters.  Clean behind/ under all furniture and probably some more stuff I'm forgetting.
We are also trying to purge a good bit this spring because we have another town yard sale coming up in May.  Even though I try not to make any frivolous purchases throughout the year, and don't really, I still manage to some up with stuff I don't need.  Now, some of it this year is stuff I found I had stored at my Mom's from way back that I had forgotten about.  It's mostly stuff from my first marriage so it has absolutely no value to me and can make me a few bucks for something I do want!  I've always read how some people get like a "shopper's high" from buying stuff and use shopping, and buying, to alleviate stress and unhappiness but I think I have just the opposite situation.  I really love to find stuff I don't need anymore and am able to sell it!!  To get rid of all that stuff and pocket some money just gives me the biggest rush!!  Woowee Babyyy!!  Of course, I also love those uber contemporary houses with like 2 pieces of furniture and a bonsai on the counter; you know, nothing else.  I love Spartan aesthetics.

EDIT:  Some people do not consider alcohol and ammonia to be "green" choices for cleaning based solely on the fact that they can be irritating to breathe, to some people's skin etc. My choice for using them comes from the fact that they are naturally produced (our own bodies produce ammonia), biodegrade easily and naturally and I use them ONLY in very small quantities.  However, read up for yourself and make your own decisions.

Back To Building

Yes, i know it's what many of you have been waiting on!!  I am back to building on the house!  It's not anything major but it is a step towards completing the living room and kitchen.  Now, what it is, is that I framed the little hearth that goes under the gas fireplace in the living room.  This will be sheathed in Durock and then tiled around the outside.  The top will be a 2 inch concrete slab, like the bath and kitchen counter tops will be.  Basically all I need to do now is put up my little edge form for the slab and pour that.  Then I can start the tile at the bottom and go up.  The tile will go all the way up the wall that the heater is installed on.  And yes, it will have some decorative parts, not just straight tile.
And just in case you see all that scribbling on the wall there, I did swap my mind on some stuff and had to lay it all out again.  I was going to make the hearth end close to the edge of the heater but Allen suggested that I extend it as far as I could so I could put a large vase or some such on either side of the heater.  I thought that would look pretty so I moved everything out.  I have to mark everything out sometimes on stuff like this because you have to account for so many layers of material; the framing, the Durock, the tile etc.  I think this is going to look pretty good when it's done, which will hopefully be soon.  BTW, that is 3/4 inch plywood on top and does have a few struts under it to support the weight of the slab.

Just more gratuitous pottery photos.  I though these leaf trays came out pretty.  I'm getting caught up in my stores, sorta.   The 4 outlets I have now do pretty good and it takes me a pretty regular schedule to keep them supplied.  If I were to take on any more stores I'd never have time to work on my house.  Hopefully my enthusiasm will hold out and I can get a lot done in these next few months.

I've had a terrible gardening bug since it has warmed up and usually take Sundays to just work on that.  And maybe some evenings after we finish with supper! ha!  I can't help it.  While I have the energy I figure I better take advantage of that.  We got some rain in the middle of the day but I still managed to backfill part of a stone wall I'm working on, plant a few flowers and then transplant about half a dozen wild hydrangeas down along the driveway.  Oh, and Chigger and I went hiking along the mountain in hopes of finding a dropped deer antler but no luck there.  I did see some beautiful wild azaleas that are blooming though.
Well, I'll be back soon hopefully with some more goings on.  Hope everybody had a nice weekend!!!

Friday Flowers

"The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of it's scent nor the daisy of it's simple charm.  If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose it's loveliness."


~ Therese of Lisieux
   

Rites Of Spring

Well, I keep telling ya'll I'm gonna change up this blog or add some stuff or blah, blah, blah and I haven't done crap!  I will one day.  There's just so much to distract me right now with this wonderfully warm weather and sunny days.  I'm soaking it up like an old, dried up sponge that got kicked under the sink and laid there for a year or so before somebody found it.  And then you throw it in some water and it poofs up!!! like a petrified blowfish!  That's me alright!  Poofed up and prickly. LOL!

And I took a good bit of this past Sunday to work on the flower bed (it's getting close) placing more stone, filling in with topsoil and moving a few plants around.  Anytime the shovel comes out ZuZu is right there beside me.  She knows what that means!  Lots of bugs and worms and she doesn't have to do the digging!  She inspects everything before I can fill any hole or place any root ball and talking up a storm the whole time.  I wonder what she says; whether she's complaining or expressing her pleasure as she must think I do this just for her.  She gets so enthusiastic I'm often afraid I'm going to chop off a toe or two (hers) when she jumps in a hole unexpectedly.  But we've been safe so far!

This is just more gratuitous blooming photos.  See how I layered the 2 blooming plants to get like, bloom overload.  The reddish blooms in the foreground are a decorative crabapple I think.  The past 2 springs have turned ugly with late frosts and got this tree before it could bloom properly but this year it made up for all that.  Just loaded with big, full blooms.  Maybe it will eventually get over 7 feet and actually be a noticeable part of the landscape.

And lookeeee!!!   the asparagus are just starting to poke their little heads up!!  I don't think I've ever been so enthused over a plant.  Hhmm, maybe I need some more excitement in my life.  Oh well.  For some reason I thought the asparagus would sprout sometimes in early March or so but after reading a little I determined that April and actually May is normal.  I also read that you should pull the heavy winter mulch off the asparagus at the first sign of warm weather.  Does anybody else do this?  I pulled about half the layer of mulch off and as I did this I discovered the few shoots coming up.
I also read that most fruit should be mulched with pine straw, so I've been working on that.  I knew it was good for strawberries and blueberries, so they got a new top coating, and also went around the border of the garden mulching the grapes, raspberries and figs with it too.  Do any of you use pine straw on your fruit or something else?

Sooo, lots of stuff going on around here and I'll have more to show before too long.  I promise I am working on some stuff in the house too, so maybe a post about that soon.

Spring!!!

Ahhhaaaahaaaaahaaaa!!  Feast your eyes, all of you still snow-bound and frozen, upon the glorious, golden warmth of the blessed South!!!!  This is one reason why we say, "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God!"  Yes!! We have Spring!!!
Well, okay, we are still having to run a fire at night but the daytime has been quite wonderful this week with highs in the 60's.  If I were not so freakin' far behind on my pottery I would spend every moment out in the garden.  As it is I am going to have to take some time, probably this weekend, to plant some more stuff in the garden, but more about that later.

I'm just bursting at the seams for all kinds of projects around here and the other day I thought, well, I'll just move this one rock down to where I want to build that new retaining wall.  (To replace those old rotten logs holding up the driveway flower bed) Aaannd, then 3 hours later I had built about 1/3 of it.  So, I've been taking a half an hour here and there to work on it when the weather is nice.  Stacking rocks is a form of meditation for me I believe.  I can't seem to get a very good photo of what I've built so far but if you enlarge it maybe it will look better.  Now I need to move a number of plants around and fill in some holes but I think it will look really good when I'm done.

I've also been working on the fruit border beds in the garden; remulching, training vines on trellises, and all that.   Moving a few things around or dividing things.  I added a pot of thyme to the bottom corner of this bed.  I have a few herbs planted amongst the fruit bushes.  I think they grow and work together well.  You can see my blueberries are loaded with blossoms again this year.

Lots of grass has been springing up also so the chooks have plenty to graze on and scratch through for bugs and all.  We leave this run open all day and one or two might go in it during the day but generally speaking,  they all wait until late afternoon to go in as a group and graze.  I have no idea why, but they have a very set routine apparently.  Chickens are so funny.

Well, I have a number of things going on around here so I'll be back soon (hopefully) with some more projects to show, maybe even some stuff going on within the house!

New Day

All my daffodils have actually faded away at this point but nothing as showy has taken their place so these are going to be my default Easter flowers.  So, Happy Easter! to those of you who celebrate it and I hope my Jewish friends had an enjoyable Passover and all.  We've had a wonderfully sunny and warm week but today is gloomy and rainy again, darn it.  I truly hate to complain about getting rain but I think most of us in this area of the world are still operating on a sunshine "deficit"!  Such a miserable winter we had; I think it's going to take many, many sunny, warm days to get everybody caught up.

Today's post isn't about much of anything, as many of my posts have fallen into the habit of lately.  Really, I just wanted to welcome a couple of new followers and to thank all of you that continue to read and comment here.  Don't anybody let the number of followers there fool ya though.  Half the people listed there never read anymore.  And yes, yes, I know all the 'just write for yourself' adages and all, and I do....write for myself that is, but I still enjoy the interaction with folks and comments.  I think one reason I have blogged for so long is the blogs being such a great avenue to talk to people from so many different places and see how other people live and think.  I really love to hear how things are for you in your part of the world and learn about people that live in a different environment than me.  I know my writing style may suggest that I am just presenting info for you and don't want feedback but that's not true by any means.  So, thank you for hanging in with me.  I know this blog is not as interesting since I retired from construction and got married, my falling statistics tell me that, but I have been wanting to kinda revamp things here anyway and I am considering some new stuff.  Nothing drastic, just maybe adding some pages with new info and stuff and maybe a new weekly listing such as the ol' Friday Food or Wordless Wednesday thing.  Anybody have any suggestions there??

And as I've mentioned a little before, the gloom, sickness and sadness of this winter has really done a number on me these past few months and I have struggled to maintain an optimistic and cheerful attitude at times.  But ya'll know that I've always had a little bit of an issue with that anyway.  I have made some progress on feeling better lately though, probably through no small coincidence of more sunny days, and plan on writing a little about that.  Some of you maybe feeling the same way and my experiences and solutions  might help a little.
So, I hope everybody is hanging in there and enjoying some better weather lately.  Hopefully Spring will be upon us all very quickly and we will all be soaking up the light and warmth of the sun and good times in no time!!  Happy Easter or just Happy Sunday!!

Doggone It!

Even though I don't write about it very often I think most of you that have read my blog for very long know pretty much how I feel about pets and livestock versus this "furkid" mentality.  I love all my animals, even my chickens, but they all have their duties here and that's the way it has to be.  We don't have the money or time to have slackers around here; everybody works in some way.  And, because I love all my animals, even my chickens, and the fact that they work and produce for me, I am very determined to give them the best life I can under the safest conditions.  Which leads me to the real subject of this post.  I have known for some time that many people do not share my attitude towards animals, preferring to look at them as 4-legged children, and this is something I have learned can turn into a very dangerous situation for all involved.  A lot of people have apparently lost all common sense also, when it comes to animals, so I felt it necessary to post a bit of explanation or cautionary tale to those not familiar with farm or country life.  Of course, I know full well that all of MY kind readers already understand all this and would never do such a thing....it's just so you can warn your friends about it.

The basic premise it this:  Do NOT, under any circumstances, bring your pets (of any species) out to someone's farm or land unless you have specifically been told it is okay.  Apparently many people believe that if a friend or acquaintance has a large tract of land that it is a free call to bring Rover out for a "play date".  We don't do play dates.  It astounds me to no end that there are people in this world who would not understand this but I have had people actually show up at my house with a car load of dogs, pet birds and other creatures.  Do not do this.  EVER.  I can assure you, just as nobody can stand a little brat kid, no one is going to think your little Spot or Snookums is anywhere as cute, smart or funny as you do and if it gets loose (or God forbid you turn it loose) on my property and it chases one of my animals, you will not be happy with the results.  My chickens provide me with food, fertilizer and companionship.  They are very valuable to me.  If your dog kills or maims one of them you have taken money from my hand.  It is not cute or funny (as I have actually heard it described by one pet owner) to see my chickens terrorized by some @#$$%#^&%& stupid dog and their owner that can't control them.  If your dog gets loose, and I catch it in the act of killing any of my animals, I WILL stop it by any means necessary. 
Secondly, my dog has a job too.  I know if you meet Chigger she is all playful and cute but she is trained to protect the other animals and she does her best.  She understands to alert us of strange animals on the property and she has been specifically trained NOT to play with other dogs so she does not see strays or neighbor dogs as "friends".  She does not need a play date either.  She has her cat to play with and we play catch and frisbee and various things with her and that's enough.  Even if you do not let your pets out of your vehicle she knows they are there and is going to be very upset.  I do not like this and she does not like it either.  Speaking of Callie Cat, who is our resident mouser and vole catcher, Chigger protects her too, just like the chickens.  If your dog tries to chase my cat, like many dogs are prone too, Chigger is not going to like this and I can just about bet you the situation is not going to end well for somebody.  It better not be me or my animals.
Your pets can also bring disease to my animals, especially bird to bird, or your animal could contract something from mine.  It's best to not even give this an opportunity to start.  If a virus is brought in that runs through my flock and kills them, you just cost me a WHOLE lot of money and heartache. 

Now, I know this is a very stern and maybe even acrimonious post but I would bet money that most all homesteaders and country folk would agree with me and ya'll know that I'm not one to really mince words anyway.  Also, from what I see around me, many people nowadays are so far removed from country life and dynamics of having livestock, poultry etc. that they can't even comprehend that their pets may not be welcome at everyone's house.  To people like this it would literally be like telling them not to bring their kids.  Well, I'm not too keen on those little ankle biters either, but I guess most of them can be tolerated to some extent. As long as they leave my animals alone.

Family Trees

Things are basically back to normal here, although we are going through yet another bad thunderstorm as I type this, so I thought I'd show ya'll a few photos of the damage from my Mom's house.  We really didn't have many trees down in our area but downed trees took out large swaths of power to the north and west of us.  My Mom's area was much harder hit although they actually had their power restored a day earlier than us.  As you can see from the photo above this very, very large oak tree just barely missed Mama's house.  I hate to say but, I secretly wished it had taken out that awful screened-in porch so I could build her a new one and let the insurance pick up the tab.  As it is I don't believe enough damage was done to warrant anything like that.  At any rate, it was heartbreaking to me to see that this old tree had gone down.  We estimate it was easily 100 years old and was a constant source of play for us when we were kids.  We had an ol' rope swing on it that we literally wore out until the rope just disintegrated.  It shaded many a family picnic, badminton game and countless hours of play for countless kids, family or not.

This is just a slightly closer view and no, that is not an actual grave by the root ball.  Well, there's a cat buried there but not a human grave.  My Mom is a little eccentric maybe and when she found this headstone of some of her kin discarded, after a new stone had been purchased for a double plot, she deemed to rescue it from the trash pile.  Since it was marble and recorded his military service she had the cemetery workers load it in her car and then coerced one of us to erect this thing in the yard.  It gets a lot of second glances and comments at any rate.

Mama spent months, literally, searching for just the right concrete bench she wanted to go under the old tree.  I personally thought she should have turned the old headstone into a bench but she didn't cotton to my idea.  So, it's mashed to pieces now.  That one end support is okay but I couldn't see the other one.  It's probably rammed about 2 feet down into the ground.

The family consensus is to try to find someone with the proper equipment, who would be willing also, to mill this trunk into slabs suitable for making tables.  The trunk is so large it would take a small crane to move it if it had to be transported, but I was hoping to find someone with portable equipment that could come to us.  I don't know if that is even possible but I'm going to check.  I hate that it had to die but I would love to commemorate the tree with a new dining room table; just to keep a part of it around as long as I could..

This is a large cedar in her front yard that also succumbed to the storm.  It was a double trunk and the other half is still standing but we'll take all of it down now.  We also wanted to save the trunks of both for some possible building project.  Cedar that large is just too nice to discard or burn.
My sister actually planted this tree about 40 years ago.  She was pretty small but dug up a teeny cedar sprout and transplanted it here, declaring as she did that "it was going to grow!"  And it did.  Quite well actually and provided a very safe and secretive home for baby birds of various species.  The birds continue to flit all around and in it even now, chirping their distress at the death of their old friend.

So, we have much work to do at Mama's now to get things back in order and cleaned up.  Need to put her in a new sidewalk too, as you can see form the photo.  Seems like it never ends but at least we are all safe tonight and unharmed.

Hopeless Wanderer

No, I'm not headed back out on the road or anything; I've just been thinking a lot lately about my wandering and traveling days.  See, I've been a bit surprised that this past year of working at home and doing as I please hasn't been a little more satisfying at times.  Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy it immensely.  I love to be here and work on my art and pottery and dig in the garden when I get the urge.  But sometimes I find myself walking down to the end of the driveway and aimlessly peering into the horizon.

I love my place...so why did I want to leave?  I pondered on this for a while and then it just kinda hit me one day, "you're just an ol' gypsy Annie".  One of those souls that just likes to Go.  I don't know why I didn't understand this earlier.  I mean, I knew I liked to travel and such but I guess not to the extent that is now evident.  After thinking more about it I should have seen that 20 years in a business that required almost constant travel should have told me something.  I guess I didn't stay in that industry just because I like to pour concrete!  We often worked on jobs for years that were basically "in town" but the job itself was always something new.  A different project every day or sometimes you would get loaned out to another job for a day, week or month.  Always a change of scenery.  If you didn't like the project you were on then just wait until tomorrow, you'd probably be doing something different or at least moving to another section of the building.  Without that constant change and stimulus I find myself getting bored and gazing down the drive. We did travel to other states too.  I worked almost a year in North Carolina.  Had I not been married to my first husband I would have really enjoyed that!  I've worked in Tennessee too and literally all over Alabama.  I could have gone even more, even to Jamaica, but they didn't often want to pay for a single carpenter to stay in a room by themselves.  (You normally had to have a roomie).  The guys were my family and missing them is part of my desire to go also.  We're so spread out now the only way to keep in touch is on Facebook.

 I limit myself to just day trips unless I get the rare opportunity like the time I worked a weekend for Daddy Rabbit in south Alabama.  Considering my family and upbringing, I often find my wanderlust a curiosity.  I think the majority of my kin are homebodies.  Perhaps I take after my departed Uncle Howard.  He was in the Army (Bronze Star from WWII), an oil field worker in Oklahoma, a wanderer and finally settled in Oregon but was always prone to road trips if it was some where he had never been before.  As a child I envied his lifestyle so much when he would come to visit us about once a year.  See, we never got to go anywhere when I was growing up.  Maybe that still spurs me on today.  My father was basically a farmer, in his heart if nothing else, and home was where he would be unless forced to go out.  Plus, we just didn't have much money so that dictates a lot.  My father had been in the Army also (Korea) and went to places I can only dream of now but his stories always ended with distaste for where he was and longing to come home.  Standing in front of the Louvre and wishing you were at home???  How can that be??  And no, my father never actually set foot in Korea or any other Asian country.  They kept his company in France or Holland the whole time eating cheese and chasing women. 
So, I grew up gazing down the road, waiting for that day when I'd be seeing that driveway in my rear view mirror and when it came I didn't look back.  Haven't ever since. 

But, now I must make a living at home.  I thought about opening a public studio back up that that really is confining.  You always have to be there to be open for the public.  I thought about going back to doing the art/ craft show circuit, and I may one day, but for now I must finish the house.  I'd never have time to do that if I went back to doing shows.  Just way too much prep time involved.
So, I'm adjusting some I guess.    I may start taking some classes at the local gym a few times a week and/ or enroll in the Master Gardeners course offered by our county extension office.
I suppose wanting to be a semi-homesteader with my personality is about the stupidest thing somebody could come up with but I never claimed to be smart or reasonable.  I'm just me and I work it out as I go!

All My Rowdy Friends

I've had a few people ask me lately about the types of chickens I keep and what they are like so I thought I'd do a little synopsis of my current flock and which ones I like the best.  Well, I like them all and their crazy personalities so I guess I should say, which ones are the best utilitarian chickens.

The ones I've had the longest are my Barred Rocks, not to be confused with Dominiques (or Domineckers as they are called here in the South), which have a rose comb.  Several breeds look a lot like the Barred Rocks but they (Barred) have the large, single comb and large wattles.  The Barred Rocks are excellent layers of big brown eggs.  Bertha, in the picture, is around 5 years old but she still lays; not nearly like the young hens but she plugs along still.  They are not particularly excitable hens but do like to announce loudly when they do lay.  Other than, that they are fairly quiet and laid back but not overly friendly.  They are very hardy, rarely have health problems and seem very cautious about predators.  Their coloration is always very consistent and they basically all look quite similar in that regard.

This is the Speckled Sussex that usually gets everybody's attention and they are very pretty birds.  If you enlarge the photo you might can see the blue spots mixed in with all the white.  Their coloration can vary quite a bit from few white spots to almost covered in white.  Generally they all have the medium single comb but size varies on those too and they mostly all have a very large upright tail, making something of a U shape from the side.  I don't know that "friendly" is the right word for this breed; maybe "demanding" is better.  They are very vocal, all the time when around people, and become spoiled very easily.  If they want treats you will hear about it loudly and often.  Zuzu, pictured above, follows me everywhere, especially if I am planting or doing gardening work because she knows I will be digging and that means bugs and worms.  They lay good albeit slightly smaller, tinted eggs and they seem somewhat more delicate with their health.  They also seem to attract predator attention due to their colorful attire.  I love my Speckles but I suspect they might be better suited to a suburban, kinda pampered environment.

Now, these are just about on the other end of the spectrum.  These are the Single Comb Brown Leghorns.  They are an excellent free-range type bird because they are naturally scared of everything and extremely fast.  They lay very, very well also.  They were the first to start laying and almost every day we get 2 large white eggs (from 2 birds).  They are NOT friendly and get upset easily.  But they lay well and are very pretty.

This is probably one of my favorite breeds, the New Hampshire, which is often mistaken for a Rhode Island Red.  The Hamps have a large, single comb like a RIR but have a distinct, fan-like black tail.  Their main coloration is a reddish brown but can vary from very dark to almost strawberry blonde and they all have black markings around their neck.  They lay large brown eggs very consistently.  I like them because they are so personable.  The Hamps I have regularly come into my studio to visit (and look for treats) and one in particular loves to sit in my lap if I will pet her.  They enjoy being around people and will talk your head off (like Missy in the photo), so, they can be a little noisy at times but not annoying.  They seem very hardy also and don't mind cold weather.

This is Little Red, our one Rhode Island at the time and she is a very reliable layer of big brown eggs as most RIRs are.  They are a fairly quiet breed also and not overly friendly but don't mind being around people.  The distinct difference in looks from the Hamps is they have black tips on their body feathers and a sorta nondescript, frazzly tail.  They are sweet, hardy birds and some people say they can be more friendly if raised in close contact with people.

This is another of my favorite breeds, the Partridge Rock.  I've never known of anybody that raised these type birds before and just got them on a whim but I love them.  They are great layers of large brown eggs and are fairly quiet and laid back also.  They are very healthy and hardy and their coloration makes it easy for them to hide from predators in the woods and such.  As far as coloration also, there is very little variation and they are all practically identical to one another.  The only way I can tell mine apart is by their comb, which is a single but fairly small.  The thing I like about them, besides their laying etc, is they have a very funny, quirky personality.  They enjoy being around people and are friendly but they don't want you to actually touch them.  If you do pet them they will usually just stand there and scold you but they won't really run away.  Cracks me up.  They are also a little bossy with the other hens but not mean.

A few other breeds that I like but don't have at the moment are Delawares, Red Stars and Buff Orpingtons.
So, there's my 2 cents worth on chicken breeds in case anybody is looking to get chickens for the first time or add to their existing flock.  Of course, there are many, many types to choose from but these are a few of the more common (or just slightly uncommon) breeds that aren't too hard to acquire.

Waiting To Spring

A friend of mine said the other day that, even though February is the shortest month, it just seemed to be dragging on and on and on this year, and I had to agree.  I think a lot of people have felt that way.  Not sure what it is exactly but March took it's time about getting here it seems and still managed to haul the cold and gloominess of winter along with it.  We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning but it has at least, turned into a beautiful sunny day and might even warm up a little more than what they are predicting.  Snow in March is not particularly unusual for the deep south, actually.  If I can find my old photos I'll show ya'll some good spring snows we have had in the past.
At any rate, I have been trying to prepare the garden for spring, in between trying to get caught up on my pottery.  I am making a little progress on both fronts.  A local store got some rhubarb roots in so I bought a pack of 3 to get a very early start with them.  So far it seems they are loving this cool, rainy weather we are having.  I know they won't make it through the summer but I thought if I planted them early enough I might could harvest enough to make it worthwhile.  One pack of roots was less than a package of stalks for cooking at the grocery store, so I figured what the heck?  I put one root in a pot and will transfer it to a very shaded area after it gets warmer, just as an experiment to see how long I can get it to last.

Most of the garden has pooped out or been harvested and we are waiting on a dry spell to till things up and get the potatoes in.  I hate to mention all the rain we have been getting because I know so many of you all are in drought.  If I could send some your way I certainly would!

I have a surplus of pine straw in the yard right now so I have been raking it up and remulching all the stuff that like an acidic environment, like the blueberries and strawberries.  I have pruned most of the raspberries but still need to remulch them and start getting them lines up on their fence.  I also need to refresh that stone path in the garden!

The blueberries are loaded with buds and ready to pop!  Hopefully this will be a good year for fruit.

I know this is a horrible photo but I was just trying to show some of the broccoli and onions I have started for spring.  This photo is about 2 weeks old so they are a bit bigger now and I also have a flat of new cabbage plants started.  This is my first time to try onions from seeds so I don't know how well that is going to go.  I'll probably order some starts shortly just to make sure something makes it!

Just more gratuitous daffodil shots.  I was afraid the snow and 20 degrees temps would kill the flowers back but they seemed okay this morning. 

I add to them each fall and would like to just have blankets of daffodils all over the front lawn.  I like all the colors and varieties.

The chickens have been getting lots of cabbage and broccoli stalks after I harvest what I want.  You can see many of the plant skeletons laying around there.  They are pretty thorough in their scavenging and eventually pick the stalks down to nothing.
I've also got a crop of new lettuce and carrots planted in the cold frame and am just waiting on that to come up.  I am very slowly getting over the bronchitis and catching up on pottery and getting a jump on some spring cleaning but this winter has left me with some severe wanderlust and cabin fever.  The sadness of this past winter still clings and leaves me with a chill that even the sunniest day or warmest fire has trouble dispelling.