I woke this morning to the cat looking at me. She looked at me for a second and then started to clean her face. Cats are interesting animals. We humans have domesticated them and they are dependent on us, if you put a house cat out in the wild it will suffer. It takes a few generations of being in the wild for a cat to revert to the feral state. My cat will let me know when her food bowl is low. She may be a good mouser but she wants that kibble. My cat is sneaky with her affection. I will wake up with her lying quietly at the foot of the bed but as soon as she sees I am awake she leaves. She does not lye in anyone’s lap and I can only get in a few pats before she nips me. She walks around the house with attitude. She gets along well with the dogs, she even plays with them. She likes to take walks with the dogs and me but she follows us from a distance, staying along the woods line. She is a cat and unlike the dogs she does not show me that she likes me and to be honest I have no great affection for cats in general but the two of us tolerated each other and if any thing were to happen to her I would really be bummed. She is a good cat.

This is Thanksgiving week and I am sitting here at my computer drinking coffee and catching up on the morning news and my e-mail. The view out my window is beautiful. The sun is shining on the almost bare trees, birds are flying and swooping. When I step out it is noisy with their chirping. The air is a little crisp but not cold. Instead of being covered with frost my Jeep is covered in dew. We are in for another mild November day.

I have been enjoying the past three days off from work but I am tired. Today I am going to rest, kinda. I’m not leaving the property. I may do a little weed eating; it’s not something I would plan on doing this time of year but it is too mild to just sit inside and read a book or watch a movie. I have some places I want to clear off and it will be easier now than in the spring. I’m also going to start putting up some Christmas stuff, a few lights here and there, nothing much, just a little spirit.

Well things are calming down a bit. I have been off work for the past 4 days and other than today I have just been hanging around home. Today a friend and I went over to Amrhein Wine Cellars for their fall harvest soup weekend, had lunch and then took a ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Other than today I have been passing my time cleaning up around the cabin and digging a trench so I can put down conduit to run power from the cabin to the shed. I am hoping to have a mini-shop in the shed. Just a work bench and a few power tools; something to keep me busy...

My cabin in 100 years, Just kidding this is one of the cabins you can see on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Weather here has been very mild so far. During the day we have been in the upper 60’s and sunny sooo living in a house with southern facing windows I have had to keep the windows open. I guess this has been a good thing because I’m using less of the wood I have spent so much time and energy putting up for the winter. Winter will come and with it cold temps, hopefully I am ready.

Its hard to believe that October is almost over. Here in my little patch of paradise in SW Virginia there was a hard frost last night. I stayed warm and toasty thanks to my hard work earlier this fall splitting and stacking wood and my wood stove. Thing here are slowing down a bit. I have spent the last 3 days at home just hanging around. Of course I have been sick with a cold but none the less it has been nice not going any where or doing anything. Last Saturday I had a dinner party and the week before that I went on a bike ride on the Virginia Creeper Trail . My friends and I rented our bikes in Damascus VA. This is a list Bike Rentals. We were very happy with the Bike Station equipment and service. I had a great time doing both activities and I will jump at the chance to “do things” but thanks to this cold this weekend I’m staying home doing “nothing”. Well maybe not nothing but less.......

I have been off line for a while due to computer hard drive problems but son #3 fixed and I am back!!!

Speaking of back; I just got back from the Outer Banks. My brother and his wife came up from the Big Easy and we headed over to the beach where we hooked up with my sons and mom. We all spent 5 days in a 35 foot camper down in Rodanthe. We did the tourist things like checking out the light houses and shopping and I must say it was nice to see the family but it was GREAT getting home. 35 foot camper ain't big enough for 7 people!!!!

Photos to come soon.

My computer has been on the fritz for the past few weeks but #3 son has fixed it and I will have it back in the next week or so. I cant wait to get it back. I may have lost all my photos from the past 2 years soooo the moral here is back up your hard driv

Well Labor Day has come and gone and along with it summer. Now I know that summer is not officially over till September 23^rd but let’s face it, weather or not you are in school or have kids in school, when school starts summer ends. Period.

I had a good summer up here in the mountains. I can say without a doubt I did not miss the beach at all. Not one iota, not one little bit. I missed the kids (grown men actually), my mom and friends but not the traffic and heat. I did hit the beach in June; a friend wanted to go so we went, it was too damn hot but we did have a good time, sorta. I will be heading to the beach in October when the weather will be much better. I did keep a good weather eye on the Outer Banks this past week; Earl made its way up towards the coast but turned just in time. The Banks got some rain but the Labor Day weekend was nice (if you like hot)

Looking down the trail from where we had come

Rest time

I spent my weekend having mountain fun. A friend and I took a bike ride on the New River Trail State Park it was really nice. I was surprised at how many people there were from all over the country and beyond. I talked to someone who was from Chicago, someone who was from Wilmington NC, lots of people from Virginia and a person from Romania. There were people walking, running and riding bikes. Horse back riding is allowed but I did not see any of that. A lot of people were walking their dogs. I saw a beautiful Great Pyrenees, he was such a sweet dog.

Of course I went to a few out door get togethers. There is something to be said for dinner with friends and camp fires. I can’t remember my last smore and stick roasted hot dog. I had both this weekend.

I did some apple picking and I’m getting the last of the tomatoes in. Yep summer is almost over. But I LOVE fall!!!!

I can’t believe how slack I have become with the blog. I did not blog once in July but boy was I busy.

July started with the Floyd Fandango a beer and wine festival. Then I went down to Ferrum VA for a day visit. A friend and I went to the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum and to Fairy Stone State Park. My #3 son came up the last half of July and we went to the New River Valley Fair. The Pièce de résistance for the month of July was Floyd Fest

NRV fair It was Ok

At Floyd Fest we camped Friday and Saturday night. The music was suppose to stop at 2am but it continued well past that. There was very little rest to be had but who cares we went there to have a good time and we did!!@!

Our neighbors at Floyd Fest

#3 sleeping in the hammock during Floyd Fest

August started with a trip to PA for the family reunion. The rest of this month and it’s the 20^th all ready!!!! Has been spent just catching up; The grass is afoot high I am way behind on the wood cutting and all the vegetables except the water melon is ripe

pre reunion get together

I'm still here this has just been a very busy summer. There is so much to do here in Floyd and I have sooo much that needs done with the cabin and property that when I sit down its to rest not to write. Well off to work.

It’s been a busy month here in the mountains. I have been cutting grass, there is a lot of it, establishing a new raised bed garden, hauling dirt down a hill is not as easy as you might think, and working on a few building projects. I keep telling myself that it will be easier next year and I know it will but damn…….

I got this (used)

to cut this

this went

down there. There are only 5 beds next year there will be more..

some of my hard work.


This is one of the projects a dog "relief" area. My dogs are getting older and I want them to have a place to go pee when I'm not home.

How much oil has been put into the gulf thanks to this one spill? This is a little calculator I found.

How Much Oil Has Leaked Into the Gulf of Mexico? | The Rundown News Blog | PBS NewsHour | PBS

I just talked to my brother in Louisiana; things are a bit tough down there right now. He told me that work has really dried up. We got to talking about what is happening down in the gulf and he started to tell me about all that comes through Louisiana. It was an education, one that I feel needs to be shared so I found a simple leaflet that tells a lot about what is being effected by the gulf spill. This is just Louisiana, there are a total of 5 US states that boarder the gulf, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida are the other 4. we are not including the South American countries and Mexico.

A lot of people are directly affected and a lot more, we consumers in particular, are indirectly affected. This is a global catastrophe. This is going to cost ALL of us a lot. It is expensive in both monetary cost and ecological cost. There are over 6 billion people on this planet. We have no where else to go. We need to take care of the planet we have. We need to STOP the blame game and enact legislation that will forcibly change the way we treat the world. Money should not be the most important thing on this earth. It’s a bad time in the congress right now a lot of people are going to be out of a job, the tea party and other fanatics will see to that, so if you are going to lose your job anyway just do what is right. Change the laws to protect the earth and us.

Below is a simple fact sheet on Louisiana.

When I moved to Floyd County I wanted to contribute to the county so I joined EMS. This weekend I took the EVAC course thinking I was going to learn to drive an ambulance……

This is similar to what I drove.

I passed the driving test and feel confident that I passed the written but I can tell you right now I have no intention of driving a fire truck!!!!!

I woke up this morning and the Buffalo was gone

Now its back.

Today is the day my friend the master gardener says I can plant so its off to the garden. Looks like a good day to be outside!

Thought I would just post a few words today before I got into my yard work. No photos for a while. My Cannon camera started shooting pink photos turned out it was a CCD connector (what ever that is) that needed to be fixed and Cannon was doing it for free so I sent it to the shop instead of buying another. I want a better camera but I don't want to spend the money right now.

Things up here have been BUSY. I have been trying to get things in shape on the property. Just mowing the grass is a chore; I spent over three hours yesterday just weed eating the property. I have another hour of weed eating today. When the weed eating is done I have to do some mowing, I know that sounds back wards but there is more weed eating than mowing. It turns out to be more than a days work that as to be done every 10 days or so.

I am also going to clear out some barbwire "bushes" that I have been meaning to take care of. These are just big balls of wire that have formed big ball shapes and then have weeds and such growing through them. One has a nice rhubarb plant growing in the middle of it. I also HAVE to get the garden area done this week.

The weather has been so hot that I have not been able to get much done outside; I am a cold weather person. The next few days are going to be in the 60's so I should be able to get a lot done. Of course that is if I don't get distracted; I'm already going to be hiking up the Buffalo tomorrow with a friend but what is a person to do I have not seen her all winter and we want to get together!!

Well I will post again later and hopefully I will get some photos in.

I am sitting here with an upset belly and the chills. I am curled up on the couch under blankets with a small fire in the wood stove, watching movies and drinking hot tea. A friend sent her husband by with chicken noodle soup which was quite good. It has taken this stomach “flu” to slow me down. Spring has been a blur. Taking care of 4 ½ acres doesn’t seem that big a deal until you start. It is work that I love. Cutting grass on hillsides with a weed eater, building steps to the garden and to secret spots in the woods, building raised beds to garden in and having friends over to build a deck. Spring is wonderful here.

we went from this

to this....

I have GREAT friends!!

Every night on my way home from work I expect to run the deer gauntlet, I don’t expect to experience a Monty Python and the Holy Grail rabbit scene. (I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew, didn't you? Oh, it's just a harmless little bunny, isn't it?) On my way home tonight every rabbit on the 40 miles of road I traveled played chicken with me. Those bunnies better stay off the road are they won’t be around to say Happy Easter. I did not hit any of them; no thanks to them!!

first day of spring

I had fully intended to blog on Saturday, it was the first day of spring and all but it was beautiful day and I kinda hung outside. As I am writing this now it is “snowing” well more like “flurrying”. When I look up at the Buffalo I can tell that is it is much colder there than here; the trees have a white coating of snow or ice on them. What a difference from just yesterday when it was cloudy but much warmer. Spring is a turbulent time. In just the past week we have had 60 degrees and sun, torrential rain and now cold with snow.

I have been working on the cabinets I had been talking about. I want to get a coat of stain on them this morning. I have never made cabinets before, I’m glad these were to have a “rustic” look because they do look “rustic”. I have mad 3 3foot cabinets so far. I get a little better at making them as I go along so if you take a good look you can tell that each new cabinet looks better than the last. I have 1 more small cabinet and 1 pantry cabinet left to make. I am saving the pantry for last; I want it to be really good. When the cabinets and book shelves are done I can bring the stuff in boxes down from the loft and finish the loft.

I need to be getting the garden in shape. With the weather being so nice I have wanted to plant but I knew better; at the beach you can plant around tax time here you don’t plant till after May 15^th. With the nice weather we had the past week or so I was itching to plant but today is reminding me that this is not the time for me to plant. Ahhh spring.

Spring is in the air and calf's are everywhere.

Everywhere I went today I saw these small guys next to their moms or frolicking in the fields. I fully expect a shoe to drop and there to be at least a few more cold days but for now I am enjoying the warm (upper 40's) weather.

It has been quite a while since I last posted on the blog but I have been busy. We have had quiet a winter up here in the mountains, lots of snow and now…. rain. I have been cleaning up from this year weather and getting ready for next. On good days I have been getting wood ready to split so I can be warm next year. I have been cutting paths in to the hill side so that it is easier to get to the wood. Like they say, wood warms you more than once. I spend every bit of time I can out side, this year there aint been much out side time. 4 ½ acres doesn’t seem like that much but it keeps me busy. There is always something that needs to be done; First thing this morning I was down clearing debris from where the little stream I have running through my property crosses a fence; this area backs up when we get a lot of rain. I also have a bunch of wood along the drive way that I need to get down to the wood pile. I roll the logs down the hill to the driveway where I put them in my trailer and take them to the wood pile. These logs are about 18 inches long and vary in width, a few have over shot the drive way and landed near the barn. When the weather gets better I am going to finish wiring the shed, plank the deck, spread a load of gravel, plant grass, you get the point, there’s a lot to do.

Of course the weather has been very stingy with good out door days so this past while I have also been doing stuff inside. Right now I am working on cabinets and book shelves. I keep putzn along with the loft, there is a bed up there but the floor is still plywood and I need to paint the drywall and then finish the trim.

Now it hasn’t all been work I did have a dinner party that was GREAT! I love having friends over. I am also reading a series of books by Terry Goodkind, he’s not Terry Brooks or Tolkien but I have been enjoying the books. I’m on the 8^th one now. For a little change of pace and to help my mom for a few days, I took a quick trip to the beach; the weather wasn’t that great but it was nice to see mom and the boys.

Well I’m off to bed, tomorrow I have to sand and stain the cabinets and start on the cabinet doors. I also have to clean every single dog blanket and floor covering; dogs, rain and red mud a mess do make!!!