Ark building 2011- or -Turn Around, Don't Drown!

I don't know if this has been the wettest week in recent history, but the creeks have "a risen" and they're getting higher.  The TV announcer just said the dam gates have been opened so the local Army Corp of Engineer lakes don't get too far out of their banks.  Some places have recorded up to 10 inches on rain in a day.  And we're expecting rain every day this week.

We live a mile from the Finley River, and the bridge becomes impassible.  Actually the bridge is above the water, but the approach to the bridge is WAY impassable!  I took these pictures a couple years ago.  There are signs and barricades up now, but the last time it got this bad, I did have pictures of a pick-up truck that was swept away, and got caught up in a tree, lucky for the driver. The river's edge is tree-lined, and there's a bit of a valley before the river, so the truck wound up in rather shallow water, and they were not dragged down the river itself, which could have had dire consequences.

   

                                       

If you look closely, you can see the road to the bridge in the top middle of the picture.  There's a lot of water between me and the bridge.   

One phrase the weathermen have come up with in this area, as flooded roads can be all too common in the ozarks, is:  Turn Around, Don't Drown!  I guess only 6 inches of water can sweep you and or your car can send you downstream, and you never know how deep the water is going to get.  And it's very hard to open doors or windows in water, along with the fact that the electronics may not work, and you wouldn't even be able to open them manually.

And if you must stay home, it's a good time to do laundry, or clean, or just curl up and read a good book!!!

Easter Lamb

Today is Easter Sunday, and in my mother's memory, I'm going out to eat a lamb dinner. 

I (used to) hate lamb!  I always hated lamb.  The smell of it made me nauseous.  My mother used to make it quite a bit.  She was an excellent cook, so I must assume she was making it correctly.  I can only remember coming into the kitchen, smelling the smells, and saying "Are we having lamb?"  And she'd say "Just dont think about it, you'll like it!"  She must have thought I was worried about the poor little animal.  NOT!  Never even crossed my mind.

I was once eating at a restaurant, in a Lord & Taylor, and I smelled lamb.  Seems there's a soup made with it, called scotch broth.  I tried it, again with her in mind, and it was acceptable.  Perhaps my tastebuds had matured? 

I learned the reason very few of adults eat lamb any more, from an Ag professor, who taught Sheep Production, in college.  It comes from World War II.    It seems our troops were given a lot of mutton (which is an older sheep and not as tasty) to eat.  When they came home, they wanted nothing more to do with war, or reminders of war, and so they stopped eating lamb altogether.   Therefore our parents didn't eat lamb, and the cycle continued. 

With the introduction of more people from the Middle East, and Central and South America, lamb has become just a bit more popular.  But it is extremely pricey in the grocery store.  Many stores carry it, but you have to ask for it, and it will be in their freezers, more than likely. 

If you want to try lamb, there are a few alternatives to actually buying it, and attempting to cook it.  A true "gyro" sandwich has lamb in it.  Or true Greek restaurants often serve it.  We're going to one this afternoon.  You can buy it in patties, or chops, or a roast.    But don't knock it until you've tried it.  More than likely, it's not been fed all the chemically altered feed that your beef or pork from the store, and should taste as close to organic, and natural, as possible.  Bon apetit!

Almost blitzed a boxer today...

I was going down a curvy, hilly road at about 45-50 MPH when I came around a curve and there was a boxer casually crossing the road.  I slammed on my brakes and hit the horn at the same time.  Crisis averted.  The dog looked at me like he didn't have a care in the world.  Meanwhile, I was silently cursing his owners.

When you live in the country do you just think that the dogs will become street smart?  Or do you blame their demise on the highway as a fact of life because "he was a purebred, and you know how dumb they are"?  I'm not saying the boxer is dumb; it could have been any breed of dog, although some breeds do seem smarter, or more trainable than others. 

What do you tell your children when their pet is road kill?  Do you shrug?  Do you just go out and get another pet?  Is that pet in the same amount of danger as the previous one?  Who's truly responsible for that boxer?  Living in the country does not disavow you from common sense!

Sticker Shock!

I just got back from the grocery store.  I swear someone came in there, overnight, and changed the prices on almost everything.  And not just a dime or two, a dollar or more!  As an example, I was going to buy a particular brand of bacon.  I had a nice coupon.  Even with the coupon, it was at least a dollar more than I paid the last time I was in the same store.  YIKES!!!

With the price of gas and groceries going up simultaneoously, I guess I'll have to figure out which I want to do more...drive or eat!  (The grocery store is not within walking distance.)  Hmmm...I may be going on the "starvation diet!"

Worst case scenario...I may resort to raising my own chickens!  And I'm wondering if the dog really needs all four legs to get aound.  And the horses...well, let's not go there!  (KIDDING!!!?)

The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK

Since our vacation plans to go "east" this weekend, were thwarted by the weather, we decided to stick around the area.  One trip we had been meaning to take was to the Gilcrease Museum, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  If you like things Western, Indian, old, artifactual (is that a word?), etc, etc. then this is a destination you should consider!

We spent about 3-1/2 hours there looking at everything.  Saw, for the first time for me anyway, some Frederick Remington black and white oils.    I guess he started doing bronzes later in his career, and he really prized them, and they are amazing,  but the BW oils were amazing, too!  The bits in the horses' mouths looked positively as though they were shining, like real silver, in the paintings.

There was also a French artist, Jules Tavernier, whose depictions of Indian life on the prairie, were amazing in their depth and detail.   I recognized his name from the Antiques Roadshow.  Wish I could find one of his works in someone's attic, or a flea market.  I'd snap it up.

Although all the paintings were wonderful, the majority of the artists' depictions of horses, looking head on "into the camera as it were" were hilarious!  They showed the horses' eyes as staring straight ahead, on the flat part of their face, and round as a dinner plate, with a white ring around them.  Now, the horses should have had the white ring, as for the most part, they  were in a state of agitation (such as combat, or a buffalo hunt), but horses eyes are NOT on the front of their heads, but out to the sides.  This made the eyes look cartoonish at best.  And it seemed all the artists used the same eye treatment.

One artist, who's name I cannot remember, made his horses look as though they were absolutely going to gallop out of the painting!  But their eyes were that of a cartoon.

It costs $8.00 per person to get in to the museum.  Seniors and kids are a bit cheaper.  They're closed on Mondays.  They also have a restaurant, which is not inexpensive, but that's to be expected.  I know Tulsa is probably not a destination but if you're in the area, and looking for something to do...do see the Gilcrease!

Feed the horses, feed the birds!

Believe it or not, they go hand-in-hand.  Or should I say hoof and beak? 

Anyway, I noticed during the hardest part of the winter, when there was snow on the ground, that the mounds of horse poop looked different.  Let me show an example.

This is a fairly good poop.  Also know as road apples.  Of course some of the apples broke up when hitting the ground.  Now remember, this is much more visible in the snow.  But I forgot to take pictures then.  I  saw the "phenomenon" continuing when the weather was bad, and the birds couldn't find food easily.

You probably know that everything you eat does not necessarily get digested.  Some substances go through your system, intact, and then get excreted at a later time.  It's the same with large animals.  Not all the grain that the horses eat gets digested and therefore there is "food" in that there poop!  And the birds make full use of it.  Here is visible proof.

The birds dig through the apples and really almost shred the pile of poop.  This is an ideal situation as it spreads the manure around, and aids in exposing, and hopefully killing any worm eggs that may be lurking.  Of course as summer goes on, and the birds don't need to forage quite so creatively, the poop stays in clumps, or in "apple" form.

I learned in school, that it was common place for some farmers to put their cows in corn fields, after the harvest, to eat the ears of corn that were missed.  They would then put their hogs in the field after the cows, to clean up the corn kernels that passed through the cows, undigested.

Lots of things have changed, but when Mother Nature is left up to her own devices, she's quite a logical thinker!  And we would do well to help her!  So even though I feed the birds year round, if I'm out of food, or they don't like what I'm offering, they have an alternative feast waiting for them!

Pasture management...part 2

Our dog, Elaine, loves to go out when I'm mowing.    She likes to run down the furrows looking for little animals trying to get away from the mower, like mice, rats, rabbits.  Unfortunately they just run from one hiding place to another, until the patches of unmowed areas get smaller and smaller.    I usually see some, but by that time Elaine has given up hope.  

This is her going down one of the paths I've made.

I kept mowing from this path to the fenceline.  Another nice chunk of pasture out of the way.

Now I could keep it looking like this all summer, in record time too!   (This took me two hours, including the blackberry bramble.)  If I had one of those nifty "estate" mowers, like the Dixon that I've been eyeing...!    I don't need to win the entire lottery, just about $10,000 for the mower.   Or the Dixon people could take pity on me and loan me one for the summer?  Or I'd even take a Scag mower.   You know they brag those things can mow 8 acres, or more,  in just a few hours??!!!  AND you can RIDE on them!!!  (Did I mention you "walk behind" the DR???)

Pasture management...part 1

...kinda sorta.  I may have mentioned that I mow our pastures with a DR Mower, and I was trying to keep ahead of the blackberry bushes/vines/stems...whatever they're called.  I know they feed a lot of wildlife, including our beloved box turtles, BUT we have 20 acres, and I think there are enough blackberries in places I can't get to, that the box turtles, etc will NOT go hungry!

Enough about that.  You know I love the DR!  therefore I've included some before and after pictures of the blackberry bramble I took down!  It was probably 50 feet square.  The blackberries were over 5 feet high.  Note the large cedar tree, for reference, in the "before" picture.

After mowing.  Again, see the cedar tree for reference.

The few trees you see sticking up are just that, trees.  Is that cool or what?    The DR is one great machine.   But I caution anyone doing this, again, wear ear plugs, and long sleeves, and gloves as these long, curving stems BITE HARD when they whip back on you!  Now on to the grassy part of the pasture...

Losing weight - Part 2

Everyone always wants to lose weight.  I wrote about it in an earlier piece.  I have lost a total of 2 pounds since that post.  But that doesn't account for the 5 pounds I gained, so I guess I'm still up 3?

But I digress...

I want to go on "The Biggest Loser."  Not for the big prize at the end.  Just for a week!  Those people lose amazing amounts of weight in the first few weeks they're there.  I want to lose 20 pounds.  That would make me thinner than I've ever been.  Well, except at birth.  But then I could "eat" a little, and if I gained a pound or two or three, it's not the end of the world.  I wonder if they'd take me for a week? 

I'd be willing to wear a fat suit, just to fake them out.   I'd even expose myself on national TV.  Voted off for cheating?  No problem!   Please just give me that week!

Poison Ivy...

Darn, darn, darn...it's that season again!  But you should all know poison ivy can get you at any time.  Less so in winter when the sap's not running, but...

So I was out Saturday afternoon, cleaning up a fence row of unwanted brush, and pulling vines off trees.  I recognized the poison ivy vine, but I had on gloves and long sleeves, and thought I'd be safe, as I usually am.  Well, long story short, I got it on my face, when a vine slapped back at me.  It's just a small spot on my chin, but it's there, and it's annoying.

Ways to avoid getting poison ivy are wear long sleeves and gloves, and put on some sort of ivy block.  There are preventative products at the store.  Next, when you come in and you know you've been exposed, try to shower immediately, and put ALL your clothes in the laundry.  Too often the troubling sap, or whatever causes the itch, is still on your clothing.

If you don't find out you have poison ivy until it appears, like the next day, wash all your bedclothes immediately too, as again the "sap" sticks around!

I have found that a high quality hand sanitizer, such as Purell, helps immensely in containing the itch.  And it must be the stuff that almost like a jelly.  The cheaper, watery, generic sanitizers do not work as well.  At least not for me.    Of course if it's bad enough, you can get cortisone shots from the doctor.  Which brings up a story of a gal I knew in college who had it all over her body.  She was out in the woods with her boyfriend, doing what a lot of college students do in their free time, and she paid heavily for the "fun."    It usually takes about 2 weeks to clear up.

The really annoying part of this story is that I used to be immune to poison ivy!  Yes, some people are!  But about 10 years ago, I got it for the first time.  I couldn't believe it.  Never had it, and I had been out in the woods  a lot!  Once you get it, you'll never forget it!