she came from the grave much graver
summer is going great so far. weather is awesome and i've even adjusted my schedule a little bit to make it more comfortable, mainly by not drinking coffee some days until the evening. Sometimes when the weather is nice even tho i want to stay inside and read things off my computer i can;t concentrate anyway so i just go outside instead. i also feed the horses just about every morning so lately i try to get some reading done before that and then spend most fo the day outside. i figure i might as well do it now because once it gets hotter that might sap a lot of my motivation. i've also been cleaning and reorganizing my bedroom in stages to make better use of the space. i've already made excellent use of the space, but things can always be fit together a little tighter or conveniently. my parents are going to Tennessee this week so i see some midnight cleaning binges going on. lately i've been reading until i'm absolutely dead tired can't understand words on the page around midnight and then getting up between 5:30 and 6 the next morning with a catch up night of 8 hours sleep once or twice a week.
rafting has been great since we pitched in and a bought a used real boat. this thing takes almost all the dangers of leaks out of the equation and the ride is much more comfortable because you're sitting up on the inflated sides. I haven't taken any pics yet because i we leave our phones in the car but i think i'll take my old school digital camera out next time. yard sales have provided almost all my rafting equipment- helmet-$2, life vest-$4, high sierra hydration backpack-$1, bike shirt-$1, op water sandals-$1, golf cooler to strap onto a thwart inside the boat-$1, big bathrobe to dry off with and change inside-$1, lucky train conductor's cap-$1
joe's shirt is very appropriate at this spot. i think josh initially found it on google maps while looking for rivers to run, drove out there and ended up talking tot he owner of the property who gave him permission to check the place out. we went back last saturday and it was awesome. it's basically one continuous waterfall about a quarter mile/half mile? long. at several points along it there are pools you can swim in a bit, about 5 feet deep. maybe like if water was running down from somewhere in the king and queen seat, but not that steep. it's constant waterfalls, ranging in drops of 3 inches to 10 feet. i've never seen anything like it. i was already in a great mood before we even walked down to the place because when we got out of the car, we hear dogs barking and 2 puppies come running up. barking in the distance continues and over the course of the next minute about 10 more puppies show up. i don't know if he breeds them or what, they didn't all look related. they were well kept and super friendly. here's a video of them again when we were coming out of the woods. there were more in the brush that my camera was too pixelated to get. i was laughing because of the crazy assortment of dogs and the dark black one had pollen all over him. a few minutes before that some baby ducks went over the drainage waterfall, which was hilarious at first when i saw ducks under the waterfall but then we realized what happened. Josh caught one and lifted him back up to his siblings but the other one disappeared under some debris.
swimming,hiking,mutts&haircuts:
the life vest wasn't necessary although it did come in handy for floating around deep parts with a lot of rocks mixed in under the water. i just brought it along to verify it would float my weight.
hiking:
these next ones are all from areas near my house, deer creek and big branch.
this first bridge is on an abandoned part of amos rd. apparently hurricane agnes washed it out except for the frame which still remains just begging to have a fort or living quarters built onto it. the water is way too shallow to jump from it. also, there is one part of the iron strut on the left near side that is missing. i used to climb around on it about 1997 but i don;t trust it like it is now. i got dropped off here and walked back to my house. it took about 5 or 6 hours but i stopped to eat, read, take pictures and collect wild strawberries. i've been seeing them around my house but just 2 or 3 at a time. along the stream i found two patches and then along the trail of the park they were everywhere so i got maybe 120 altogether. i saw a lot of blackberry bushes flowering around my house so hopefully this summer will be another good haul. i really don't remember when they all ripened last year.
this bridge is right at the end of my road and next to one of my friend's houses and i've walked it a million times. we'd go there to play sniper, fish, catch eels, smoke, paint, drink, smoke, whatever. at one point under and around the bridge was a great swimming hole and you could jump off but now it's about 3 feet deep on one side and the other side has 3 feet of str8 up mud piled up that almost comes to the water's surface. they put in all these cement bags (reinforce the bridge?) and then the beavers came and it totally altered the water flow.
Big Branch has a number of small waterfalls but the water level is genrally low and the stream is narrow enough that most trees that fall reach the other side. if you keep walking down it, it feeds into deer creek near eden mill. i used to walk it a lot in the winter right before i left for the disney tour.
deer walking in the water. i'd say the sides of the river where the grass is growing is about 6 feet above the water to give you some idea of how tiny this guy is.
this was my dog last week. whenever it is warmer than 60 degrees and sunny out she likes to plop onto the ground and just lay in the sun until she can't take it. Then she lays in the shade until she cools off and repeats the process. lately she has been getting hot as soon as she goes out. her hair was ridiculous. long, thick, she had this like back mane thing going on and as you can see a lot of it was growing in front of her eyes, too. Also, all the hair on her belly and paws gets wet constantly from rain or morning dew.
I carefully trimmed around her face and it looked pretty good but her head looked tiny for her body so i tried to cut her hair really short with scissors, intending to shave her evenly afterwards because i thought her thick clumps of hair were jamming it up...but the shaver still didn't work for crap so it looks kind of choppy but still better in my opinion. my mom keeps asking what i did to her baby but she didn't seem mad. she even gave me some a different pair of clippers to try but i think i'll wait and just use my the ones my brother does on his little puppy.
Scrappy after her haircut, younger looking, stream-lined, ready for inaction!
i got my mom to give me a crop today about as close as this. summer heat is nothing to mess around with
both of them relaxing in my bedroom
saw this baby deer ahead of me and watched it walk into a clump of tall grass, didn't think i'd even manage to get my camera turned on before it bolted but i took about 15 pictures getting nearer and moving the grass aside wih my cane before i got a little too close and it left. Its moments like this that i don't understand how hunting could possibly be challenging. so many times i've been walking in the woods, not covered in camo, no hiding my scent, not even trying to be quiet, walking the dogs and constantly calling out to them and end up within 20 yards of a deer. last winter i was riding a four wheeler in the woods for about 30 minutes and turned a corner and there were about 10 or 12 deer. they stopped grazing and looked at me but they weren't in any particular hurry to get out of shooting range. i'm still accidentally picking more weeds than i can eat so all the bambis are safe for now.
rafting has been great since we pitched in and a bought a used real boat. this thing takes almost all the dangers of leaks out of the equation and the ride is much more comfortable because you're sitting up on the inflated sides. I haven't taken any pics yet because i we leave our phones in the car but i think i'll take my old school digital camera out next time. yard sales have provided almost all my rafting equipment- helmet-$2, life vest-$4, high sierra hydration backpack-$1, bike shirt-$1, op water sandals-$1, golf cooler to strap onto a thwart inside the boat-$1, big bathrobe to dry off with and change inside-$1, lucky train conductor's cap-$1
joe's shirt is very appropriate at this spot. i think josh initially found it on google maps while looking for rivers to run, drove out there and ended up talking tot he owner of the property who gave him permission to check the place out. we went back last saturday and it was awesome. it's basically one continuous waterfall about a quarter mile/half mile? long. at several points along it there are pools you can swim in a bit, about 5 feet deep. maybe like if water was running down from somewhere in the king and queen seat, but not that steep. it's constant waterfalls, ranging in drops of 3 inches to 10 feet. i've never seen anything like it. i was already in a great mood before we even walked down to the place because when we got out of the car, we hear dogs barking and 2 puppies come running up. barking in the distance continues and over the course of the next minute about 10 more puppies show up. i don't know if he breeds them or what, they didn't all look related. they were well kept and super friendly. here's a video of them again when we were coming out of the woods. there were more in the brush that my camera was too pixelated to get. i was laughing because of the crazy assortment of dogs and the dark black one had pollen all over him. a few minutes before that some baby ducks went over the drainage waterfall, which was hilarious at first when i saw ducks under the waterfall but then we realized what happened. Josh caught one and lifted him back up to his siblings but the other one disappeared under some debris.
swimming,hiking,mutts&haircuts:
Click to viewthe life vest wasn't necessary although it did come in handy for floating around deep parts with a lot of rocks mixed in under the water. i just brought it along to verify it would float my weight.
hiking:
these next ones are all from areas near my house, deer creek and big branch.
this first bridge is on an abandoned part of amos rd. apparently hurricane agnes washed it out except for the frame which still remains just begging to have a fort or living quarters built onto it. the water is way too shallow to jump from it. also, there is one part of the iron strut on the left near side that is missing. i used to climb around on it about 1997 but i don;t trust it like it is now. i got dropped off here and walked back to my house. it took about 5 or 6 hours but i stopped to eat, read, take pictures and collect wild strawberries. i've been seeing them around my house but just 2 or 3 at a time. along the stream i found two patches and then along the trail of the park they were everywhere so i got maybe 120 altogether. i saw a lot of blackberry bushes flowering around my house so hopefully this summer will be another good haul. i really don't remember when they all ripened last year.
this bridge is right at the end of my road and next to one of my friend's houses and i've walked it a million times. we'd go there to play sniper, fish, catch eels, smoke, paint, drink, smoke, whatever. at one point under and around the bridge was a great swimming hole and you could jump off but now it's about 3 feet deep on one side and the other side has 3 feet of str8 up mud piled up that almost comes to the water's surface. they put in all these cement bags (reinforce the bridge?) and then the beavers came and it totally altered the water flow.
Big Branch has a number of small waterfalls but the water level is genrally low and the stream is narrow enough that most trees that fall reach the other side. if you keep walking down it, it feeds into deer creek near eden mill. i used to walk it a lot in the winter right before i left for the disney tour.
deer walking in the water. i'd say the sides of the river where the grass is growing is about 6 feet above the water to give you some idea of how tiny this guy is.
this was my dog last week. whenever it is warmer than 60 degrees and sunny out she likes to plop onto the ground and just lay in the sun until she can't take it. Then she lays in the shade until she cools off and repeats the process. lately she has been getting hot as soon as she goes out. her hair was ridiculous. long, thick, she had this like back mane thing going on and as you can see a lot of it was growing in front of her eyes, too. Also, all the hair on her belly and paws gets wet constantly from rain or morning dew.
I carefully trimmed around her face and it looked pretty good but her head looked tiny for her body so i tried to cut her hair really short with scissors, intending to shave her evenly afterwards because i thought her thick clumps of hair were jamming it up...but the shaver still didn't work for crap so it looks kind of choppy but still better in my opinion. my mom keeps asking what i did to her baby but she didn't seem mad. she even gave me some a different pair of clippers to try but i think i'll wait and just use my the ones my brother does on his little puppy.
Scrappy after her haircut, younger looking, stream-lined, ready for inaction!
i got my mom to give me a crop today about as close as this. summer heat is nothing to mess around with
both of them relaxing in my bedroom
saw this baby deer ahead of me and watched it walk into a clump of tall grass, didn't think i'd even manage to get my camera turned on before it bolted but i took about 15 pictures getting nearer and moving the grass aside wih my cane before i got a little too close and it left. Its moments like this that i don't understand how hunting could possibly be challenging. so many times i've been walking in the woods, not covered in camo, no hiding my scent, not even trying to be quiet, walking the dogs and constantly calling out to them and end up within 20 yards of a deer. last winter i was riding a four wheeler in the woods for about 30 minutes and turned a corner and there were about 10 or 12 deer. they stopped grazing and looked at me but they weren't in any particular hurry to get out of shooting range. i'm still accidentally picking more weeds than i can eat so all the bambis are safe for now.