FeBrUaRy, the Longest Short Month of the Year

~  February's first heart ~ 

May I be the first to say, Happy Valentine to you? While cleaning the porch of snow...which is to say I found the edge of the mat and pulled up...this heart was my gift.

~ January's Wolf moon was stellar! ~

The driveway had drifts of about three feet but my Ranger was able to move about albeit with some difficulty. Daniel Miller, using John Fisher's tractor and snow blower, cleared the driveway...a wonderful gift!

~ Polaris Ranger ~

Each day, the Ranger was parked next to the house, out of the worst of wind but with the nose exposed to the first rays of sun to warm the engine. Have I mentioned how often I bless Dave's name and memory for buying this work horse for me? It has never failed although the wind shield wiper no longer works...not sure what the problem is and will have to ask around for ideas.

~ white tail fawn ~

One morning I woke up to this sight...this white tail deer was asleep in the field next to the house. Fortunately, deer in this valley always eat if they find the pastures where silage is put out for cattle and hay for horses and sheep.

~ Here there be dragons ~

There resides a cast iron dragon atop the wood stove and when the stove heats up, vapor pours out of the dragon's nostrils. While it's true, it's not a lot of vapor, it's also true the dragon provides me with amusement on a daily basis. I am so easily entertained!

Thistle Cove Farm can't be seen in this picture unless you know where to look, but it doesn't subtract from the beauty, does it?

My neighbor's barn against the backdrop of Morris Knob. One site says it's 4,455 in height while another says 3,500; I suppose it's a matter of...you choose. According to this site, Morris Knob was named for Morris Griffith, part of a hunting party in 1767-1769. The hunting party was put together to encourage expansion and anyone interested being a member would be given a land grant. The names in the hunting party have heirs still in Tazewell County: James Burke (for whom Burke's Garden is named), Rees Bowen (Dave's clan), William Harmon and others.

VDOT did an outstanding job of clearing our road; it took several passes daily but they persevered and a clear road is the result. Their diligence allowed me to make a run to the grocery and feed stores, all the eaters at Thistle Cove Farm are most grateful.

How did you manage January's snow storm?

Blessings ~ clear roads ~ enough coffee, food and milk to keep the human take care of the animals ~ 

I'm So Far Behind, I Don't Know If It's Dusk or Dawn

There's been a little of this...Yellow Tail Sparkling Wine...on the front porch where I sit and sip. There's not nearly enough of this, compared to the work, but I'm getting a better handle on the proportions. I think.

Last month, I took sisters Faith and Becky to my Cherry Grove condo (Thistle Cove Cottage); neither had ever been to the beach nor seen the ocean except in photos. sigh, generational differences. Yes, as it happens that is a mobile phone in her hand...I often forget to turn mine on and she's glued to hers. Just goes to show you...she has a lot more going on outside her life than do I. I don't know that many people I want to be connected to.

Tis the season for fall festivals; this one has been happening, so says memory, for 28 years. I went because I wanted to buy 'lasses but no one had any; they had tons of apple butter which I did not buy because I've been making apple butter. Quarts and Quarts and Quarts and pints and pints and pints and half pints of the stuff. I'll just buy a 25 pound sack of flour and this winter will eat biscuits slathered with home churned butter AND apple butter. Overkill can, sometimes, be a Very Good Thing! (After leaving the Garden, I found 'lasses raised and made by Jaimie; the son of my former mail carrier. He's a delightful young man and he and his father farm...pretty much everything!)

Burkes Garden has signs for residents...you just drive around until you see who/where you want then head in that direction. Essentially, Burkes Garden is a circle; some say a thumbprint; a lot of photos here. I won't show the most famous photo because I don't have permission and consider property theft to be a very bad thing. (Local government has no such pesky conscious and regularly use other people's photos without giving compensation or credit to the owner. I've found my photos several places around the i-net from when the county used them without permission or credit.)

For a donation, the Amish would give folks a wagon ride. No, the gent you see isn't Amish, he's a passenger (just in case you were wondering).

How many remember doing this...front little girl standing on the pedals while sister sits on seat and pushes her feet on the road to propel them along. Both had pretty smiles and were having loads of fun.

I got lost decided to take a road I'd never taken that started out asphalt, quickly turned to gravel then to one lane. Fortunately, it had a (very) few pull-offs so when I met a car we'd both pass slowly. About a mile before the top of the mountain, I met a truck, no pull-offs, and decided he could hit the ditch to pass me while I hunkered in the almost middle of the road. I had my window down so I could apologize, "I'm sorry...it's been raining so much and I'm afraid of soft shoulders. I didn't want to get close to the falling off edge. Can you get around me?" He smile big and said, "Don't you worry none; we're just fine. Do you know where you're headed?" I said, "I think this might be the road to Ceres; is it?" He nodded and said, "You're about a mile from the top of the mountain; at the top, you might want to turn around and come back this side. The other side is a mite slick today."

That's exactly what I did after some folks took a picture of me standing at the Appalachian Trail.

One more reason it takes me so long to do everything...Kit and the rest of the animals all have to be a constant, immediate part of my life. And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Canada Geese came back August 1 and, every morning, just like clockwork they come to the cut corn field across the road. It's impossible to get them all in one photos; there must be hundreds!

Hunting season: hunters watching me watch them. I was impressed because they're wearing blaze orange; a lot of them don't. I left a note on their windshield letting them know; they probably think I'm crazy.

Home of the free,

Land of the brave.

Things to stay away from:

And, finally, I think this might be my new header photo.
Do you approve?

Blessings ~ Canada Geese ~ Appalachian Trail ~ my life ~ my farm ~ my animals ~ sparkling wine ~ Burkes Garden ~ the Cove ~