Redneck Limo and Dangerous decorations

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My sister-in-law Jan is down visiting and she brought her dog, Jiggs. He is an Austrailian Shepherd, just like my two are. Jiggs loves his tire, and he carries it on the trails with him until he gets too interested in a smell and drops it. I usually carry it home in my basket. Jiggs looks just like my 'Belle."Scroll down and see..

This is Belle

This is Jiggs

This morning's run was a turtle run, as we found two new turtle's, now marked 'N' and 'O'...

Here's O......

This is one of my miniature horses, Endeavor.

This is what I found on the floor of his barn where he was eating hay we baled from our field. Apparently someone had a party with balloons, and they either were released to fly so pretty through to the heavens, or they escaped. Either way, They were baled in my hay , and I didn't see them when I fed a chunk to my mini's.I don't know if he ate any peices, but they were damp with his saliva...

PLEASE PEOPLE....

DO NOT RELEASE BALLOONS...

THEY COME DOWN SOMEWHERE...

THEY CAN BE INGESTED BY LITTLE HORSES AND OTHER CRITTERS..

THEY CAN KILL ANIMALS !!!!!!!

Ok....I had to shout that...makes me sooooooooo mad!

Jan's birthday was yesterday, so after a day outing complete with a late lunch where Bob,Jan and I ate heartily at an Olive Garden in Lynchburg and toasted her B-day,

Melissa came by in her 'Redneck Limo', aka a Rhino, picked up Jan, and they in the 'Limo', Samantha on her 4-wheeler, and Bob and I on our wheelers, ran the trails with the dogs...

Now today, Betsy Ashton came out to check out my mini's for a story she is doing for the Laker Weekly magazine..she also went and saw Sam's mini, cinnamon, who's blind..

I will blog that when it happens!!

I am starting yet ANOTHER type of antibiotic since the one I started last Monday STILL isn't working. I will miss the party at Betsy's house tomorrow, cause I feel too crappy to boat ride, drink wine or socialize, and those that know me understand that I feel pretty darn crappy to miss any kind of party!!

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Orbs? or spider webs....

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I run my 4-wheeler with a stick standing straight up from my basket on the front...
this is why..Nope, not an orb..

The trails are strung anew everyday with spider webs.
I can't tell you how many times I have run face first into one, and almost gone out of control trying to get it off my head.

My friend Amy Tate hates snakes.So does my friend Kim, and Melissa and her husband Troy may be the most scared of snakes.
I hate spiders.
But I would hate not being able to tear around my trails with my dogs because I was afraid of the spiders, so I tough it out.


I speak softly, but I carry a tall stick!


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Fungi and Snakes

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This morning seemed so perfect for finding turtles after last nights rain. I walked the trail with my 2 dogs and my camera ready, sure I would get some new pics. No turtles.
However, this black snake had no sense of humor! Penny, my youngest Aussie, had no fear, but Belle, my 3 year old, knew better. She barked and snapped, but kept her distance, and I gave this guy plenty of room!

It was a mushroom morning, with all kinds and colors showing off their stuff.

I particularly liked this big cinnamon bun looking one!

Some looked like flowers...

Some looked fake...

And some had BIG stems and little tiny heads!

These were the 'condo mushrooms'...

Reminds me of the townhouses and condo's popping up all around Smith Mountain Lake, only these fungi are prettier!!

Bob and I will take another 'day vaca' tomorrow...who knows where we will end up!

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Tur-Tell's..terrapene carolina

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Now I know why I have so many turtles!
I found these two Monday morning, it was still really wet from the rains of Sunday, and they were in the 3 acre hay field off the back trail.
The sequence names these two, "F" and "G".
Nature has its' own 'punny' way, I couldn't make that up!

This turtle was found the same morning by Penny, my Aussie. She sniffs around them alerting me to their presence. This beauty is now "H".

If you want more info on box turtles, go to a google search and put in box turtle..lots of info comes up.

This one was also found by Penny...( Good dog !)..
It is the smallest so far, and has the letter "I".

I may attach names to these letters at a later date, and maybe readers can help...

I am getting a lot of cucumbers from my garden, and today I made cucumber and onion salad that is chilling in the fridge for supper, along with some chicken breasts that are marinating...The fresh vegetables are wonderful. Last night was summer and zuchinni squash with green beans and onions steamed in wine with knorr chicken boullion...yummmmmm!

Below is a shot of the developing watermelons, and there are lots coming along...we have several canteloupes, too. This is my first year trying to grow them, so I'm hoping they will be good.

The peach tree's are overloaded!

We have been trying to keep the deer out and keep the branches braced up so they won't break!

Already have made peach compote and used it on toast and we actually put it on the pork roast last night! Really good!

Another day in the country!

Happy girl....that's me!

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Gardens and weeds

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The front of my house is a jungle. It's supposed to be a garden, but it has a mind of its' own.

Here is a sampling of what takes over.

The cone flowers are great, but I love the balloon flowers, the purple ones. If you look at the bloom before it opens, it looks like a hot air balloon..

There are so many butterfly bushes, and they seem to be multiplying yearly. There are three distinct colors varying from deep purple to light pink.

Hard to imagine looking at the jungle that it is all bare ground and brown in the winter.

Below is a spring picture this year with daffodils in bloom. The butterfly bushes look like brown sticks.

The sunflowers are the results of feeding the birds all year long. I let them come as they may, and the birds just love them!

I actually thought I could tame this when I first moved here.

Now I just enjoy it, because I realize that the birds and the butterflys are here because of the uncontrolled jumble of blooms and cover.

Tonight I went out just after sunset when the sky was still bright enough to see, and I watched the fireflys creating a fairy-like sparkling across the fields and gardens...awesome. It was too bright to see stars, but I saw several bats swooping and dipping overhead. I love to watch them, as they catch bugs. The horses have been successfully integrated...boys and girls are grazing together. Actually Red looks like the odd man out, as the girls had already 'met' Endeavor and accepted him. They have really put Red in his place today. I kinda feel sorry for the little guy.

One new turtle has appeared, 'E' is the 5th to be marked. Tonights run didn't produce turtles, but I think that it was too late for them. 'E' has a bad crack on the right rear side of the shell.

Tomorrow should prove to be a good turtle day, as today had a lot of thundershowers. The ride to the creek tonight was eerie. It looked prehistoric with all the mist. Smelled wonderfully woodsy, too. Mushrooms are popping up everywhere!

Canned 4 quarts of sweet pickles Friday evening, and Saturday we rode up the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way to the joining of the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. We had a picnic lunch along the Parkway, and stopped along the James River. We saw a doe and her fawn. I love the Parkway. Actually I love being outdoors, in the country or the woods.

My bucket list includes seeing all of our National Parks!

Get out there people! Our State and National Parks are ours...Enjoy life, this isn't a dress rehearsal!


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Turtle Tales

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I have decided to find out just how many turtles I have on my property. I see them quite often, and assumed there were lots of them. After Anita and Sherry came over and tracked, Anita found a big turtle and took pictures of him. She said that they were in decline.
It was then I got thinking whether the ones I see are the same, just at different times.
So I took my magic marker and put a letter on their shells. In one day I found 4.
This is the fourth, 'D', and she is a girl. With no camera (of course!), we came upon her laying eggs in a hole! When we first saw her, we could see the eggs (we only could see 2), so I raced home and got the camera, and when I got back she was burying them. We put rocks around the area to keep from 4-wheeling over it.
The whole time we stood near and watched, she never went in her shell!

The next morning, while running the dogs, I checked where she had laid the eggs, and its a good thing we surrounded the nest with rocks, because I never would have found it! She did a remarkable job of covering in the hole, and even put the grass clump she had dug under back on top!

While 4-wheeling alongthe trail I spotted this unfortunate turtle, or rather just his shell...so I righted it..Just looks better that way..

Now I have to do some research on box turtles to find out how long they live, what they eat ( I know they eat mushrooms) and what eats them!

Turtle obsession is on!
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