Macro Friday

Morning, all! Any one in the mood for some frosted blue berries? Before you answer, I should warn you that these are juniper berries frosted with ice, not blueberries frosted with sugar. No takers but the birds? Well, that's okay. I think they are pretty even though I don't eat them either.



Don't forget to buy your black-eyed peas for New Year's Day!
And check out

blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post!

-Susan

Macro Monday

Well, I'm back! It's been a busy, fun, hectic Christmas season. We are far from getting back to normal, but should be a bit less busy at least. Hubby still has some more time off and there are still friends in town to visit. At least I have the chance for a brief post.

These photos were taken Christmas eve before the snow began to fall.



These are berries from our cedar trees.
The Eastern Bluebirds, as well as many other birds, love to eat them.



This is my sister-in-law's beloved Husky, Alex. Okay, this is only a picture of his eye. He has beautiful blue eyes, but the light was such that the color didn't turn out right, so it's black and white. He's an amazingly beautiful dog. I think all Huskies are pretty, but Alex really is something special.



Stop by Macro Monday at Lisa's Chaos to see what others have to offer for this post-Christmas Macro Monday.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
-Susan

A day for good-byes

It was a sad day in Shakerag. Today, we said good-bye to my folk's German Shepherd/ Rottweiler mix, Bailey. She arrived with her sister at Mom and Dad's as a small puppy thirteen years ago. Having been born in the wild to a wild mother, Bailey never allowed any of us to pet her until she was about ten. By then she had arthritis and was in enough pain that she knew she needed Mom and Dad to help her. They did, and she continued to be friendly. The vet who saw her for pain said he had never seen a dog that didn't get over fear of people until old age. He said dogs either got over it as a puppy or never. Bailey was unique. She had been moving slowly for quite a while. Losing a dog never gets easier. It's always a very sad day.

We also had to say good-bye to our favorite local business, Grandmother's Clock. A shop specializing in unique children's books and gifts, it was a well-loved part of our community. Owned and run by a local grandmother, they even had story time and a tree house for good listeners. Unfortunately, there were simply too few of us who appreciated such a special store. The Grandmother of the Clock will still be around, but Stinkerbaby's favorite store won't be. Grandmother's Clock will be missed.

I'm sorry I'm not cheerful this evening. I promise I'll be in a better mood for my next blog post.

Good-bye Bailey and Grandmother's Clock.

Four-Poster Poplar

This is the story of a tree. It was a huge, lovely poplar tree, just over 100 feet tall. When I was a little girl, I wanted to build a treehouse in this tree. When Batman and I were choosing the location of our future home, I wanted to be near this tree. When our nice neighbor was clearing the land for our house, he suggested we remove this tree. I was shocked. I was horrified. Get rid of my beautiful four-poster poplar? Are you kidding? Absolutely not!

Fast forward a bit. We moved into our house, and the remnants of Hurricane Ike came through Kentucky. We had strong, sustained winds for about ten hours. We were all in fear that the poplar would bisect our house. Finally, the winds ended, and we were all glad the poplar was still standing.

That is, until the next thunderstorm. Then we worried the tree would come down on the house. But it didn't, so we were glad.

We sort of forgot the threat of the poplar for a while-
until the ice storm. For those of you who don't live in this area, you may or may not remember a story that made national news at the time. For those of us here, we will not soon forget the ice storm of 2009. The morning when it was just beginning to get bad, we cringed every time we heard a branch snap, worried that it might be the poplar. The next night, we tried to sleep, but every few seconds we heard snaps loud enough to wake us. Frequently they were followed by crashes of trees falling. I have never been more terrified in my life.

But, even after the worst ice storm in a century, the poplar still stood.

We were no longer glad. I was expecting Bonus at the time and what I wanted more than anything, other than wanting the pregnancy to go well and the baby to be okay, was for the poplar to be gone. Well, my dad granted that wish just before Bonus arrived. Dad has a small sawmill and poplar is good wood, so it was a win-win situation. The most desirable logs were quickly whisked away to the sawmill. That was about nine months ago.

Today, I completed my first woodworking project using the less desirable wood from the poplar. With the assistance of Mom, Dad, and Batman, I built a bookcase for Stinkerbaby's room. Dad sawed the lumber and cut the pieces to length. Mom kept the kids and helped me assemble the bookcase. And Batman kept the kids while Mom and I assembled it. Even Stinkerbaby helped by putting some of her books of the shelves. It's not the most amazing thing ever built, but I very happy with it. Not counting time, I figure I have about $12 in it, mostly from the wood sealer.

Before

During

After

In case you are wondering, it only took one log about seven feet long to make this entire bookcase. Since this is in a kid's room, this thing is fastened to the wall, so I don't ever have to hear a huge crash followed by, "don't look in my room, Mommy!" Ask me how I knew fastening it was a good idea.

-Susan

Enjoying Spring

I have been enjoying the spring weather lately. In the last two days, I have, with the help of my Dad, planted 11 or 12 trees on the homestead. And the best part is that the trees were free. There was a giveaway of trees locally on Earth Day. A few of the trees were pecans. I am already looking forward to enjoying my own pecans!

In the last two years we have planted quite a few trees. We now have an orchard. We might even have a few apples this year. There are several varieties of apples (the fruit Batman will eat) and two peach trees. I'd like to add some paw paws and plums in the near future. We already have persimmons, hickory nuts, and black walnuts. Planting trees is great. Planting trees that will provide food is even better.

I have always been fond of frogs and toads. Ask anyone. But I have never gotten any good pictures of the adorable things until yesterday. Admittedly, it's not a great picture, but it's the best toad picture I've taken.

Toads are just easier. From what I can tell, this is a Fowler's toad. We also have American Toads here, but they are less common in my experience. This very toad crossed my path again this morning. Yes, I recognized him. I'm just that kind of girl.



This is more like my typical frog pictures. See? That's where the frog was until I snapped the picture. It's still fun to try though. There are few things I enjoy as much as poking around our creek in search of frogs or whatever else I can find.

Here is something I found last week:
It's a bumblebee moth emerging from its chrysalis. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. I don't know what his problem was, but he never made it all the way out. I suppose that just happens sometimes. He was beautiful and I'm glad I got to see him and show my family.

Hope you all are enjoying the spring weather in your neck of the woods.