We're finally able to go outside!!!

It's been bitterly cold here in NE Arkansas.  Ice and snow on the ground, driveway frozen over... and overnight temperatures in the mid-teens!  Dang, this is the SOUTH!

We finally had a chance to get out onto the highway last Sunday for the first time in 10 days.  It's not that we NEEDED to go to the grocery store... but you have to replace what you consumed at some point.  So, when it got up to 30 degrees and the sun was shining we decided to make a trip to the grocery store (14 miles round trip).

What kind of things did we need?  Milk, half & half, dog and cat food, frozen burritos, potatoes, a beef roast, coke (for my hubby...), flour, juice, ice cream.  What we call "consumables".  Could we have gone another week without going to the store?  Sure.  Do I like putting canned milk in my coffee?  Not really.  I could.  But I'd rather have half & half.  Sure, I'm spoiled.  I admit it.

We're in the process of forming a Co-op group, to place an order for dried fruits, grains and such from Country Life Natural Foods.  Country Life Natural Foods  If you're reading this and live in our local area, let me know if you want to be involved.

I finally got a chance to take Cricket for a walk yesterday.  We walked down to the bottom of the hollow, on the north end of the property.  She really loves her long walks.

It was exactly 40F when we left the house at 4:15 PM.  We made it to the stream and back before sunset.  By the time we got back to the house, it was 35F.  The low last night was 34, the first night above freezing since 1/31.  That is really odd for Arkansas.  And now, it's supposed to warm up to 60 by Monday.  Very odd!

This morning, it's 36F and we're having drizzle.  I won't be going outside to play in the woods this morning!

I've been crocheting an afghan for my stepdaughter's partner.  It's going well.  I've got 3 more blocks to crochet.  Then I get to sew all the pieces together.  Fun!  I've been posting my progress on Ravelry, if you're interested... Circle Dance afghan crochet-along

Property boundaries and more winter weather.

The weather on Saturday, February 1st, was very nice.  Cricket and I went for 2 long walks.  Our first walk took us to the eastern property edge where we've been working on our little spring.

I worked on the last 2 pools for about 2 hours.  I won't know until it rains/thaws if the all the pools are holding water.  But, I've got the little dams all built and have the clay over them.  Now I'll just have to wait and see what's happening with them.

Here's what they're looking like.

Cricket the rock loving dog! 

Some water is holding... now to see how the whole complex holds up.

On our second walk, later in the day, we ventured down into the hollow on the north end of the property.  This area has 4 little springs that turn into one seasonal stream.  It has some really nice features!

Still loving rocks!

The western most spring in the hollow.

Looking down hill.  Not a good place to trip.

Interesting rocks by the 2nd spring in the northern hollow.

The "main" spring, source of the seasonal stream.

When I say, down in the "holler"; I do mean DOWN!  Our house is on the south end of the property, the hollow on the north.  The difference is about 400 feet.  The house is one the highest point on Walker Ridge, every other direction is down.

Sawmill hollow is down hill off the south-eastern boundary of the property (it's owned by River View Farms our hunt club friends), south of us is our friend Jennifer's hunting cabin and her 2 acres (and more River View Farms property), our west boundary is with Mr. Hunter George. Our northern property belongs to Mr. Bill Vance.  The E & L Cypress clock shop is to the east (Cochrane property).  Here's an interesting map I found posted on the wall in the grocery store, next to the freezer section!  Interesting place to find a property map.

Sorry for the poor image quality.

The red line on this map is US 62/63/412. Here's an interactive topographical map of the same area.  Walker Ridge, AR

Our house is located at the small dot near the I in "Ridge".

Our property on Google maps

The 5th spring is on the south side of the property, not far from Jennifer's cabin.  I'm not sure I want to try and enhance this spring much (or at all).  It's down hill from our well and I don't want to effect our water quality.  Our well is over 400 feet deep.  And this little spring and it's associated run off area aren't any where near that level.  So I could probably try to make a few small pools there.  We'll just see how much time and energy I have....

The last spring is on the west side of the property, near some cool large rocks.  There's a deep bowl there already.  I could probably dam it up a bit and have a pool there without any problem.  Some idiot left at 20 gallon propane tank lying right there that I've got to deal with.... Stupid people!

So, after spending so much time out side on Saturday the weather took a turn yesterday.  It was 33F when I got up and it was 24 when I went to bed at 9:30.  We had 5 inches of snow on the ground.  And icecicles on the eves.

Outside the south door.

I see we also had an orb visiting while I was photographing.

The south walkway.

Spending time indoors

The weather has been cold the past few days.  Since I'm spending all my time indoors, I'm working on finishing some of my knitting and crochet projects.

I finally finished my Year in Temperature scarf on Monday 1/19/14.  That was a project I'll never do again!  Too many ends!  One of the colors I picked ran out before I was done.  It was discontinued.  So I had to find a replacement - not easy!  The color I picked was very close to a color I was already using... and not to the one I needed.  Frustrating.  But, I finished the darn thing anyway.  I gave the scarf to our friend, Jerry Friend.  He loves it!

I saw that my cousin, Terry Knorr's wife Maggie was starting a new crochet project.  It's called Circle Dance.  There's a knit along group and a blog.  Very cool.  Since I need to crochet a blanket for my stepdaughter's partner Rickey I thought this would be perfect.  So I ordered the yarn from Knit Picks.com.  Knit Picks

I posted this project on Ravelry, if you're interested in following along.  My Raverly profile.  Here's the blog for this project.  Carolyn Christmas Designs: Circle Dance

Cricket and I went for a long walk yesterday.  We hadn't been walking the past few days because it was so cold.  We walked for about 2 hours.  It was only 35, but I bundled up.  She didn't seem to mind the cold, as long as we kept moving.  When I stopped, she whined and complained.  She sure is making me get in shape!

I've had Parkinson's now for 10 years...  and walking in the woods really helps!  I have to concentrate on every step.  All the rocks and downed branches/trees,  and holes make me really pay attention.  I think it's helping my gait.  I don't seem to hesitate like I was.  Or maybe it's just that moving so deliberately makes me feel less unsure.  I still can't run or jump.  But I can walk with confidence.  Once I start getting tired, I trip a lot more.  But I don't fall down like I did last summer when Ariel and I started walking in the woods.

Here's where Cricket and I have been walking.

The little pool at the bottom of the spring on the East side of the property

A cool pile of rocks on the NE side of the property

Michelle Friend, Cricket and I took a long walk on Monday morning.  Then our 2 families piled up in the living room, watched TV/You tube,  enjoyed food and conversation. I really like it when they come and visit.

Permaculture

I've been doing some studying, learning about permaculture.  I have been walking around on our property with Cricket.  I think it's important to know my own land.  So far, I've found 5 different little springs.  I'm fairly sure they're "wet weather" springs, but I still want to do some improvements on them.  So, I've been digging... removing rocks, lining the "spring" with clay.  I've made 7 little pools in the closest spring so far.  Here's what I've accomplished in 3 3-hour work sessions.

It's been a week since we had rain.  So, the water you see is what is seeping out of the hill. 

For some reason, the picture of the deepest pool at the top of the hill where the spring starts didn't come out.  I'll post a one next time I'm down there.

Arctic vortex! AHHHHHHH!

It's cold out side, no doubt about it.  And the weatherman is the most popular TV personality right now.  But, guess what people!!  It's WINTER!!!

Makes me think of that line from one of my favorite TV shows - Game of Thrones.

I remember, when I was a kid, the climate scientists were all saying we were headed for another Ice Age.  I also remember snow that was 40 inches deep - out there in rural NE PA.  Yep.  When I fell through the ice crust, I couldn't touch the ground!  And I have a 31 inch inseam!  That's damn deep!  I remember thinking, "I'm moving somewhere that's not so damn cold!"

I lived in Newport, RI from 1979 until 1985.  My husband Curt and I got snowed in at a resort hotel on the coast one January.  I believe there was 36 inches of snow.  We were the only guests... we got to use the hot tub, have room service... watch HBO.  It was great!  I had to call in to my Senior Chief and tell him "I'm trapped in this hotel we were visiting and can't get back!"  He laughed!

When I lived in Japan from 1985 until 1988, we had a snow storm with 26 inches of snow.  I can't remember exactly how cold it got there, but I do remember it was the worst storm in however many years.  It reminded me of some of those old Japanese wood cuts with all the snow...

Once we left Japan, we got stationed at Whidbey Island, WA.  We bought a house in Mount Vernon, which is where I lived for 17 years.  I do remember one particular storm when we got over 15 inches of snow and then it started raining.  I noticed the snow on the roofs was turning blue.  Curt and I got up on the roof and started shoveling.  The neighbors came out and asked what we were doing.  We explained that when the snow turns blue like that, it's very heavy and can destroy buildings.  They kinda  chuckled at us crazy Northerners...(Curt is from Bangor Maine, and he also lived in Fairbanks as a young boy).  Then on the news we saw footage of the Marina sinking from all the snow.  Funny, the neighbors were up on their roofs too!
Barns were falling down.  The wind was awful.

We're not having anything like that right now.  It's cold.  Sure.  But it's not snowing or raining.  We might have some rain/ice later today though.  Oh boy!  I can hardly wait!

Our wood pile isn't as big as I'd like.  Josh has been keeping it well stocked.  But he's also using it.  We have lots of wood down though, so I know we're not going to run out any time soon.  The weather should be warm and in the 50's by this weekend, so I guess we'll be cutting, splitting and stacking wood.

We've got plenty of propane.  We get our propane from Thayer Gas, and use their "pre-buy" program.  We paid for over 300 gallons back in May, so we're not paying for it during the time of year when we have so many other expenses.

We also have a full freezer and lots of home canned and dehydrated food stored.  That's just how we did it back in rural PA.  My husband John laughs about my "chipmunk genes", but we never go hungry!

I finished the crochet afghan for my granddaughter.  I plan on washing/drying it today so I can get it into the mail.  I hope it keeps her nice and warm. Here's how it came out.

Happy New Year!

Well, it looks like we survived 2013!  Hurray!

We had a nice holiday season.  We didn't make our usual trek to Georgia to see family.  My husband John just isn't up to that trip any more....

But, our daughter Tammy skyped us on Christmas morning.  Grand-daughter Ariel was chomping at the bit to get those presents open!  She's 11 now, so it's not quite as exciting as it was those first couple of years.  She got all her presents opened without incident.  I had knitted her a pair of fair-isle fingerless gloves.  She really liked them.

I also knitted a mosaic blanket for Tammy and Rickey, and that was a hit too.

Now I'm crocheting a matching ripple afghan with the yarn leftovers.  It's coming out nice.  I hope to have it done in the next week.

After the nice skype call, we had a quiet ham dinner with just the 3 of us.  John, Josh and I had already decided NOT to buy each other gifts this year.  We really didn't have any wants or needs.....

I found a retailer on line who could send 25 pound bags of coal via UPS.  It just so happened that I got in touch with them on the 23rd, so they offered to overnight the bags.  "No, that's NOT necessary", I told them.  "My son wants to learn blacksmithing, and we now have a coal cook stove in the summer kitchen.  I just need a source for coal..."  They thought the coal was a joke Christmas present!  I guess I hadn't considered that when I contacted them.  Anyway, the coal came on Monday.  The guys haven't even opened the package yet.  John's really under the weather with back pain, so Josh is just waiting until John's feeling better.

I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions.  I try to make changes in my life when I realize I need to, not based on the calendar.

I did get a lot of things on my to-do list accomplished this past year.  Highlights included:

- enjoying the time I have with my family and friends
- paying off the farm loan (7 YEARS early!!!)
- painting the porch and pump house
- getting the soffets replaced/repaired
- learning to make other kinds of cheese
- surgery on my elbow
- getting John new dentures
- surgery on John's neck to alleviate some of his pain
- having Ariel spend the summer with us again
- putting a roof on the chicken enclosure
- getting a puppy

- teaching some of my skills to others
-knitting hats for Children's Hospital in Little Rock

My goals for the upcoming year include:

- replacing the windows on our house (these are 30+ years old!)
-volunteering with the AARP/IRS program to help with taxes.  I'm studying the materials right now and will be taking the required tests this month.
- building a pond
- replacing the flooring in the living room with tile

I'm sure other projects and adventures will crop up as the year progresses.  Has ANY year EVER gone as planned?  Hum... not that I remember!

I made a lot of changes in my life back in 2005.  I'm glad I did.  They were the right step for me, in the direction I needed to go.  Sometimes I regret, that in order to make the changes that were best for me I had to let go of some of the connections that were important to me. But change is never without consequences.  I'm where I am today, who I am today because of those changes.  It was the right move to make.

I really enjoy living here in Arkansas.  I love my husband, my (step) children, grand child, friends and acquaintances.  Life is good.

If you are finding yourself needed to make some changes this year, have to courage to GO FOR IT! 

If you're interested in following my knitting and crochet projects through the year, I'm on Ravelry.  My user name is: PennyTeem

Snowy, cold weather

We've been having our share of cold snowy weather.  On Tuesday, last week it was 68 degrees!  Amazing.  By Thursday, it was raining and 34.  Then we had sleet and freezing rain, the temperature got down to 9 degrees!  On Friday, we had 10 inches of snow!  Damn, the weather in NE Arkansas sure can change!

Here's some pictures of our place once the snow stopped.

Looking at the fence and driveway, facing NE.

Looking at the fence and workshop/chickens facing north.

Looking at the house, facing wes

My husband and son went to the mailbox on Friday afternoon.  The mailbox was frozen shut!  No mail, the highway wasn't plowed.  The only vehicle moving was a tow truck with chains.







The chickens were nice and dry, with the new roof working perfectly!  No mud.  It was still cold, but the plastic kept the wind out.  No frost bite for our feathered friends.  That's good!






Can you see the icicles?  Some of them got VERY large.  Our house doesn't have gutters on this side.  With so many trees, they just fill with leaves in the winter.  We do have gutters on the south side of the house, they were full, with icicles hanging down too.

Facing south.

Our neighbor's cabin in the background.  John walked over and checked on everything.  Things were fine.

We had plenty of food on hand.  Plenty of wood and propane.  We haven't ventured out since Thursday morning, when I made a quick trip to the post office.  I think we're going to venture out and get milk and such today.  I need to check with the farm we get our milk from first.



We weathered this storm well.  No problems.  The power never even flickered off.  It's been cold and the dogs are getting a bit of cabin fever.  Otherwise, no big deal.

The weather is supposed to warm up in the next few days.  Still below freezing at night, but mid 30's during the day.

I'm sure we'll have more snow before Spring gets here.  I don't mind.  If it's going to be cold, I like having the beautiful snow to look at.

People need to make sure they have supplies on hand, before the storm comes.  We've read about fist fights in grocery stores south of here, over bread and milk!  Get real people!  Cripes!  Buy some bread and put it in the freezer!  Don't attack another human for it!  Craziness!