Thursday, February 27, 2020

Two Houses

What did they do to my house?!  These photos were sent by a nice lady who actually looked at the house when we had it for sale and has since bought a few items from my Etsy shop and wanted me to see the house I used to own.  Complete opposite of how I had it.  I think the most upsetting thing was to see they bulldozed the marshes down by the pasture where owls would sit in the daytime, the frogs would sing and every season had the most beautiful wildflowers.  They cut the trees and just about everything else I had grown there for 12 years :(

White, stark and bare.  They even painted all the stacked stone walls white.  It no longer blends in with nature, but sticks out like a sore thumb.

I think of the wall of hydrangeas that after years of waiting were lush with blooms, the veilchenblau rose that was enormous and smelled so wonderful that I bought from the heirloom rose farm in TX.  The giant cryptomeria I bought at 3 ft. and was at least 30 ft. tall.  All gone.

This was how it was, garden gates with small garden rooms and fountains and pebble paths outside my potting shed.  

And this is one of the many reasons I never fit in in Georgia.   It was always a fight to keep things natural and country.  I watched the neighbors with their chemical packs on their backs spray everything in sight and leaf blowers sounded all day long.  I'm sure my neighbors weren't thrilled with my pasture being three feet tall with paths, but the deer loved it, had their babies there, and I saw more birds and animals than I do where I live now because there was no other place for them to go. 

The frogs in the marsh is what I miss the most.  They sang so loudly at dusk that you had to stand at a distance, and now that too is gone.  I am so thankful I was able to get to a place I was always meant to live in, where natural is the norm and people here love nature and want to live with it, houses are quaint and unique and there is no hustle and bustle.
So today I was looking at mapquest trying to figure out what road winds back into the four acres we have across the stream.  There is a dog back there that barks all day long, I feel so sorry for him, I need to find out where he lives.  For some reason when I put in my address the original photos of the house listing popped up, and it was good to see.  I keep thinking I'm not accomplishing much of a change here, but to the contrary!


Even with all the windows, the low ceiling and curtains made this room so dark.  It now has vaulted ceilings with skylights, no curtains and lots of light!


UGH the ugly kitchen with yellow laminate!  All gone, bark on the walls, pine floors now revealed underneath the fake brick laminate floor which everyone seemed to get in the '50s!

The sunroom looked like a junk room.

The farmhouse was overgrown, gray, dirty and depressing.



Still a work in progress, but getting better!


Wednesday, February 26, 2020

SERIOUSLY?!!

Went down the wrong isle today at the grocery store and on an end cap, there they were!! Seriously? Back by popular demand?  I never knew!  Forget the cookie, just give me the stuffing!!  (Note:  all the meds in the background are for the chows, not for me from eating these!)  And I thought the Megas were a great idea.  Can't wait to dig into these this weekend with a glass of wine.  UGH, why is it only Wednesday?!!

Friday, February 21, 2020

Everything is Early!

Mindy has been keeping me posted by text on the birth of each new goat the past week or so.  The milk started to flow early, so today I went to get two gallons and meet the 16 new babies!  Goats were everywhere, even on the tables!





This little guy came right up to the camera.


Huggie took the bone I brought him to the pasture still close enough to keep his eye on the goats
The weather has been crazy.  Very warm, then cold, then wet, yesterday we thought we were getting snow, we got more rain, but it's making everything bloom on the days that are warm.  







Last week we got about four inches in one day.



Had to use the ramp so the dogs could get in and out of the house over the moat!

My friend Nancy in Montana saw my trail cam post and had to one-up me on the bear situation. She gets grizzlies in her yard!  We got to know each other when I got a senior chow from CA to her in MT.



Speaking of bears . . . this is Lola & Isabella who were left at a shelter in Indiana because their owner was moving.  They are 10 year old sisters.  I worked the past weekend and all this week to get a transport of volunteers together to get them from IN to CT and that begins tomorrow.  Sweating this one out, hope all goes smoothly.  One driver out of dozens can mess up a transport.

They are going to a wonderful adopter in VT and will live on a Christmas tree farm!  Hoping to get a hike in to Mount Mitchell this weekend, should be 60 degrees, no rain or snow!  
Added these this morning.  Off to a good start. Amanda arrived at shelter early to get the girls harnessed and into the car.  They won't make it to their overnight in Carlisle, PA until 7:00 tonight. Paws crossed all goes well!

LOLA up front and center!
ISABELLA looks pretty happy to be sprung!  


Running ahead of schedule!


Thursday, February 13, 2020

Trail Cam Fun!

Went to a lecture this week on the American Black Bear.  The room was packed.  Seems a lot of us have bear problems LOL! 

Got the trail cam to capture some bear photos since he/she is always running away when the door opens and the dogs come out. Come to find they will be in hibernation/torpor until early March.  Only way to keep them from coming, no bird feeders, no compost pile. They can smell sunflower seed from a mile away. I just can't give these things up, so I guess I will always have bears.

Lots of activity at the feeders at night.  I am surprised I don't see any deer, even though there is evidence of them being out there.  The bear won't appear until March, and I will put the cam back up.

Raccoon



Skunk


Coyote







Crows


Possum



Fox



Woodpecker


  Blue Jay