Take a walk with me

Last blooms



Doug built this chair for a Christmas gift to me a couple of years ago.

The bird bath I bought in memory of mother.

Coleus I allowed to run wild

perspective

another view

steps fashioned from local limestone

everyone calls her the baby

the old man

the best chicken, ever - Ms Ella Fitzgerald

Doug built this years ago

heads bowed

property across the road

property across the road

at the end of our drive

When I walked out to my car, after work tonight, you could feel the winds of change blowing.  I walked about the property this evening, taking these photos, with temperatures of warm 83 degrees. We are expecting thunderstorms tonight which will take the temps down to 66 degrees. They are predicting an overnight low of 37 degrees on Saturday. The temps have been as low as 40 thus far, but we haven't hit the 30s, yet. Soon the fall rains will begin and with them, the leaves will come down. I hope we have some time to enjoy the changing colors before that happens.
In the summer, we are mostly outdoors. When we are in the house, we never go into the family room which we refer to as the fireplace room. We only use the fireplace room during the months we have fires going. I need to get to work cleaning the fireplace room as we may be in there soon. Before I do that, Doug will need to clean the chimney. When I sat down to write this post he walked in and said "time to batten down the hatches, right?" Usually we don't light the first fire until mid to late October. If it is cold enough to turn on the heat, we usually have a fire going. Our fireplace has an insert in it with a blower, but often we sit in the fireplace room with the door open basking in the heat.
Certain things ruin you. I've had a sunroof in my car for years now and can't imagine not having a sunroof. The same with a fireplace. I just can't imagine winter without being able to sit in front of the fire. In winter, evening after evening, Doug and I sit in there, surrounded by our two cats and our Corgi. Doug is usually dozing. I read or get on my laptop. As long as I don't have to be out on icy roads, I don't mind winter. I have a friend who teases me, but I always stock up the larder. She started teasing me about this years ago when I lived across the road from a grocery - telling me if I did run out of something, I could just walk to the grocery to fetch it. She loved to say "this isn't Little House on the Prairie!" Even so, I like the idea of stocking up - of being secure in knowing if I'm snowed in I can bake bread or a pie or cookies or make chili and all of the ingredients are at hand. I need to get to work laying in the food supplies for winter.  
We are considering finding new homes for the chickens. We are both tired of caring for them. We've kept chickens for four years now and this past year, we didn't get new chicks in the spring. I made the mistake of naming a few of my first batch - my Barred Rock, Ella Fitzgerald, my speckled Sussex, Marvella and my California white, Jenny-O. These girls probably don't even lay any longer, but it is hard to let them go. But neither of us want to hike out into the snow and break the ice or make certain the water heater is working.
October is my favorite month of the year and we've only just begun, so we aren't quite ready for snow. I love crisp leaves crunching underfoot, football games droning in the background, sweatshirts, warm cups in cold hands.
I hope you enjoyed walking with me about the property.

Bloomington, IN - 10.5 inches of snow, or more!

At one point in my life I had a great desire to move to Alaska to teach.

Alaska?

Everyone was incredulous at the mention of this desire.

I am able to romanticize about most any situation and my dream to moving to Alaska was no different. I imagined a cabin in the woods with a big four-poster bed, piled high with quilts, candles burning, a pot bubbling on the stove, perhaps an Alaskan man to cuddle with.

 

Today, I got a little taste of what that dream might have been like. Winter storm Cleon hit us hard. Last night we had freezing rain and hail. Then it began to snow. I love storms. I think storms are exciting. They make me feel alive. Last night we built a fire, I lit some candles and we scurried around locating flash lights. Fortunately, we never lost out electricity.

 

At some point in the night the snow ceased. Today, it started to snow again around 7:30 a.m. I woke to the sound of shoveling. I waited until this morning to make a decision as to whether or not I would go to the office this morning. The university was open, and I understand, because most of the students are on campus. But  it was not too convenient for those of us who do not live on campus. The roads were extremely slick. Only one of my colleagues made it to the office. I exchanged a couple of texts with him and he declared the situation a mess.

 

Around 2:30 this afternoon I bundled up to take Chelsea for a walk. I took my Nikon along. A heavy, wet snow was falling. It was difficult to keep my camera dry and to keep my lens from fogging. And, my trigger finger about froze off of my hand.

 

When we have freezing rain, I worry about the big pine out front falling on the house. The pine towers over the house. I'm certain it has an elaborate root system, but if it was to fall, it would demolish the house - not a very romantic notion.

Like a student, I greatly enjoyed this unexpected snow day.

The drive looking towards the road



Woodpile & Canoe

Our road - heading towards town



The road heading past our house towards Herrodsburg -
no one lives on the curve, but if you notice, a car is parked off of the road.



No paper today. I tried to see if there was mail,
 but the mailbox was frozen shut

The big pine out front -
the one I do not want to fall on the house

 Rolled hay made me think of loaves of cinnamon bread with icing

Looking towards our place from the road out behind the property

My Welsh Pembroke Corgi, Chelsea Kabob
She loves the snow - hops like a bunny and snuffles her nose in it

Pampas grass & small pine

Clothesline & the small chicken barn

Hurray for the snowplow

Heavy boughs on the big pine

Drive up to the house - shoveled at 8 a.m.
This photo was taken around 2:30 p.m.

I love this tree - the big Sycamore on the other side of the drive

Burning bush

Sundial in the garden

Bench with watering can in the garden

Welcome Spring?

Image courtesy of: http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org/

First of all, why should we take the word of a rodent?

The first day of Spring in Southern, IN:
As I write this it is 26 degrees and we are expecting a low of 18, tonight.

Shortly before lunch we had snow flurries.

On campus, some of the students recognize Spring by wearing shorts. With their parkas.

We have had a bitterly cold wind blowing. I'm wearing my gloves again still.

We did have some sunshine and my spirits were lifted a bit by that.

Tell me what the first day of Spring was like for you in your state.

Thar he blows

Old man winter is bearing down on something terrible in the Hoosier state tonight.  I was out earlier and it was sleeting/snowing and blowing hard. It is blowing so hard that the blinds over our sliding glass door to the patio are rattling with each burst. I saw on the weather on my phone we may have blasts up to 55 mph.  So far our electricity is holding on.  We do have the fireplace if we need it.  If Doug was home a fire would probably be roaring, but I am home alone tonight.
The wind is blowing like a chorus of muttering old men, low whispering voices sing their song.  I like it. I took Chelsea out to potty earlier and the wind gave us a hug and swooped down and whispered in my ear.
I went out and ran around and did my crazy pre-Christmas shopping thing.  Do you do this?  I think I need to buy more, but I can't exactly say for whom and I go to this store and that just looking. I bought one more gift for the Bee tonight.  Lawsy, she has plenty of gifts from this Grandma, that is for sure.
I work tomorrow and our office party is tomorrow night and then on Saturday morning I will head out bright and early.
First I will drive to Durham, NC to see my son and his girlfriend and her family and my dear friend since high school - Laura P. Then on the 26th I will drive on up to Baltimore to see the Bee and her Mama/Mommy.  I will stay with them until Sunday and then head home.  A lot of driving, but I'm o.k. with it.  I'm going alone because we couldn't find anyone to babysit this farm and the two cats, Corgi and 23 chickens.
I'm about ready to kiss this old year good riddance - are you? It has been a tough year on one hand and on another hand the blessings have been bountiful.  I am sad to see the year of Paris end. (And be on the last page of my Paris calendar.)
2013 will be a better year, I'm sure of it.  Lucky 2013.
I'm hauling my laptop along, so who knows?  Maybe you'll hear from me while I'm on the road. Stay warm, stay dry and count your blessings.  Take a tip from the wind and hug your loved ones a little tighter. xo

Hiking at Turkey Run State Park

Today my friend Jennifer and I decided to hike one of my favorite state parks in Indiana, Turkey Run.  Jennifer's birthday is at the end of July, but I decided to give her an early gift- a book about hiking.  I read Wild by Cheryl Strayed and it is currently one of my favorite books.  (Oprah loved it, too.)  While I was reading the book, I kept thinking about Jennifer and how much I thought she would enjoy it.  Jennifer and I both love nature.  We love analyzing relationships.  And we are both into self-improvement and personal growth.

Then we got into the car and took off.
One of the reasons we went to Turkey Run was because of the ladders trail. 
From the trail description: 
*3. VERY RUGGED (1.7 miles)—The ladders trail. Unusual hiking between the steep walls of both Rocky and Bear hollows. Be careful. Portions may be impassable during high water.

Jennifer

me

While we were hiking we had some rain-   but most of the time the canopy overhead was so thick that the rain never reached us.  It was lovely.  Indiana is in a drought this summer and we long for rain and will take it whenever we can get it.
In this park you are often hiking in deep canyons and it is damp and the rocks are slick. 
There were some high school football players- all wearing bandannas and different ones carrying flags.  As they rushed by us I said "Survivor?"  One of the guys said "Amazing Race."  These guys were really kind of dangerous  to others and Jennifer told them so.   As you can expect, her chastisement had little effect on them. 
Later on the trail, an especially wet, slippery portion, when I was faced with the possibility of falling on rocks or scooting on my rear and getting wet, I was rescued by a gallant Latino man who observed my predicament and offered his hand to me.  It was nice to be near a gentleman when I needed one.

This park is beautiful with huge rocks everywhere. 

Ferns spilling down over the edge of the rocks.

 Sunlight peeking through.

Moss kissed canyon wall.

 Trees grow from the edge.

 We found this huge wedge of a rock and I asked Jennifer to give us some perspective.

dwarfed

 After leaving the park we stopped to peruse this interesting looking farmhouse filled with antiques.

 Two outbuildings, as well.

 First thing, I hit the restroom and learned you can shop in there, as well.

 looking at the hallway and bathroom door

 Second story porch

We rummaged about and Jennifer found an old suitcase and some vintage aprons that looked like something off of Mad Men.  I found what we referred to as a "foot"- a wooden form probably used to make shoes. 
Another stop closer to home- Cataract Falls. I was able to capture some perfect light and amazing sky.
Because of the drought, leaves are down, the grass is brown and it looks more like fall than July.

We decided this might be a pleasant spot for a picnic in the fall.  It isn't too far from the town that we both live in.

Jennifer and I both work full time at the university.  At one point in time we worked together in the same office- that is how we met and became friends.  It was wonderful to get  away- to be out in nature, to hike for three hours, to do some exploring, and have lots of time to talk.
You can visit her at Bess Wess.