As things rolled along I just had I would say a normal childhood. At the time I had three cousins that lived just below my house. All of them were boys so you can imagine that there was enough mischief to go around. Also in those days there were some neighborhood boys also to add to the mix.
One of my earliest memories was we were having a game of chicken. What you did was stand in a circle and throw a knife at each others feet and see how close you could get to anothers foot without them moving. It all went well until Cecil threw a knife and it speared Henry right straight through the top of his foot and actually nailed him to the ground. Of course we all freaked out. Cecil went over and picked Henry straight up off the ground and carried him to Aunt Annas' porch where they waited on the ambulance. The rest of us scattered to the winds. Stupid stupid games but, just a bunch of bored country boys. What can I say.
I had another Aunt that lived to the east of this place right across the road from my goatpath (driveway) and she was one mean woman. She even used to beat up Uncle Jean. I've seen him with his forehead busted open before by some kind of blunt trauma causing instrument. It ain't funny but it is now. Sorry. Can't help but chuckle. I have no idea why he stayed with her but he did. Anyway, she HATED all of us youngins and to be honest the feeling was mutual. There used to be a huge white pine on the east side of my mountain that you couldnt reach around. One of my cousins acquired a BB gun from some source because Uncle Rush refused to buy them boys one. Anyway it was decided one day that we would climb way up in that pine tree and shoot "Sissys" (the mean aunt) tin roof just to make her mad. Of course that worked. You could hear her screaming all over the hollow. It was echoing in all the little valleys. "I'm going to tell your mammys" "I'm going to whip your asses" After the shooting incident got boring the gun was hid under that big old pine and everybody went back to their respected homes. Shortly there after a sheriffs deputy showed up down at my cousins place. He of course told Uncle Rush about the incident and my uncle of course denied that his youngins even had a BB gun. Told the deputy he wouldnt allow such a thing. Well the deputy went on and questioned my cousins and when one of them denied any knowledge whatsoever of one his much younger brother replied, "What about the one under the big pine"? They all just got a real good ass chewing from the deputy and Uncle Rush got to warm up his leather belt for a good amount of time on three butts.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Wind Died
Woke up this morning after a strange illness and the first thing I noticed was NO WIND. Not even a pine needle is stirring. It has been really rough here since our little snow event Saturday. Very cold and wind gusts in the 35-40 range. Yesterday it was about 10 degrees and the wind was still whipping. Watering was a real chore. When you have to use a homemade digging bar that was fashioned from a model T Ford axle to bust the ice its bad. I did that three times yesterday for the animals water. On one particular downward motion the bar broke through and water splashed all over the front of my jacket and of course in my face. The water froze as soon as it hit my coat. Some of the water went up the bar itself and instantly froze my jersey gloves to it so hard that some threads were pulled from the gloves as I was peeling my grip away from it. Now thats cold.
That little illness thing was stange to me. Monday night I was feeling like I may be catching a cold. No big deal.Then Tuesday morning I woke with a real bad toothache on my left side. I do have a tooth that needs yanked but then again I am procrastinating (also cant afford it right now). I am going to say about 12 noon I came inside to eat some dinner and the pain had went away a little from the tooth but it seemed like it had moved to under my jaw. I just figured that where I had been out in the cold so long that that had relieved the pain some and my jaw was just left sore. After eating went down to check on my Mom and came on back to the house and noticed I was kinda swelled on the left side of my neck. Not long after i started feeling flu like symptoms. I got weak as pond water and kinda sick to my stomach and began running a slight fever. I went ahead and finished all the evening chores and fixed supper. I thought I would never get done with the work yesterday evening I was feeling so bad. I guess I probably went to sleep about 8 or so and woke up at 1 to shake the grates and add wood in the stove. I had been sweating like a dog in my sleep. I figure the temperature I was running must have broke. When I woke this morning my hair pillows and even the sheets were soaking wet and I was cold of course from being damp but I do feel like I am going to have a good day. As I said when I did wake I felt big time relief that the wind had laid so that helped my spirit even more.
My oldest son Jesse got home from college last night for Christmas vacation so I dont know what he will do today. There is always wood to carry ;). I do know I have to do some repairs from wind damage. Get everything back in order for the next spell. It is supposed to get warmer as the week and weekend progresses and then turn out cold again next week. We will just have to see. :)
That little illness thing was stange to me. Monday night I was feeling like I may be catching a cold. No big deal.Then Tuesday morning I woke with a real bad toothache on my left side. I do have a tooth that needs yanked but then again I am procrastinating (also cant afford it right now). I am going to say about 12 noon I came inside to eat some dinner and the pain had went away a little from the tooth but it seemed like it had moved to under my jaw. I just figured that where I had been out in the cold so long that that had relieved the pain some and my jaw was just left sore. After eating went down to check on my Mom and came on back to the house and noticed I was kinda swelled on the left side of my neck. Not long after i started feeling flu like symptoms. I got weak as pond water and kinda sick to my stomach and began running a slight fever. I went ahead and finished all the evening chores and fixed supper. I thought I would never get done with the work yesterday evening I was feeling so bad. I guess I probably went to sleep about 8 or so and woke up at 1 to shake the grates and add wood in the stove. I had been sweating like a dog in my sleep. I figure the temperature I was running must have broke. When I woke this morning my hair pillows and even the sheets were soaking wet and I was cold of course from being damp but I do feel like I am going to have a good day. As I said when I did wake I felt big time relief that the wind had laid so that helped my spirit even more.
My oldest son Jesse got home from college last night for Christmas vacation so I dont know what he will do today. There is always wood to carry ;). I do know I have to do some repairs from wind damage. Get everything back in order for the next spell. It is supposed to get warmer as the week and weekend progresses and then turn out cold again next week. We will just have to see. :)
Monday, December 6, 2010
"Unofficial" Winter
The date may not reflect it but the weather sure does. December has come in with a growl. I do hope that this will not be a repeat of last year.
It began snowing this past Saturday right at high noon. The weather folks got that right. They did fairly well with the amounts also. Anywhere from 1 to 3 inches they said but here in places it was 5 inches.
Due to a bad decision on my part I was out looking for some hay on Saturday when it started. The fellow that I usually get the round bales from was out seeing his father so I called around to find some square to tie me over till he gets back. All of this SHOULD have been taken care of already.
When I got home it had already gotten the ground a little white and I needed to get the hay hauled up before the tractor couldnt get back up the hill. Hauled the groceries and hay up so at least we all could be eating when the snow set in.
I moved the goats back down to the lot closet to the house for my convenience. I also have one that is very pregnant and I am a bit concerned for her. Got to really keep an eye on her.
As playful and funny as goats are they are NO big fan of any precipitation that I am aware of. They will stand in the shed and just watch and chew their cud. Alot of the goats I have are seeing snow for the first time and it is still amusing to just try to imagine what is going through their minds. The same with the hogs I have. This is their first snow and they were a bit more active. They were running around and playing tag with each other for a little while. That was fun to see. There is alot to be said about the critters. The longer you have them the more you learn. Their likes dislikes and mannerisms. They have personalities also. No doubt in my mind about that. When I am blessed by a moment of them just being themselves its really neat. Kind of a kin to spying on something you dont fully understand. I can get as wide eyed as any youngin about some new things I learn.
Sunday, I got up and the temperature had dropped sharply. The wind was gusting to 30 plus mph. Not fun at all. First thing I did was check my animals to see how they were fairing and I could tell they were wondering what the heck happened also. You could tell by the way they were looking at me.
Anyway, I needed to get some more water hauled so I set out clearing a path from the house to the bottom of the goat path (driveway HA ) It was a very fluffy snow so it was no big thing to sweep it. I was going to use my blower but the priming bulb on it has dry rotted and busted. I dont know why they had to replace a mechanical choke with a piece of plastic bulb. Somebody must have had to pull the string more than four times. LOL Dont get me wrong...... I HATE when something is stubborn to start. It usually dont last long around me if it gives me a fit to fire up. But anyway my driveway is fairly long and VERY rough but it wasnt too bad to sweep. I stopped and just took in things around me every now and then. I was about 30 feet from the end and the cheap aluminum broom handle broke. LOL It broke about half into and I knew I didnt have another one anywhere so I pulled my Leatherman out and bent and squeezed one end until it would just fit into the other half. I was close to a big rock so I just started pounded the two pieces back together until it was somewhat sturdy again. Worked like a charm. I didnt have to walk all the way back to the house to repair it so thats always a plus. If I had got to the house it would have been twice as hard to get back to the task at hand. So I named my rock. LOL "BroomHandle Rock" Just one more mile marker in the world. If I need someone to meet me in that area now they can pretty much tell where I am. (The ones I share the location with anyway)
Well got all that mess done and then tried to see if the tractor would make it back and forth and luckily it did. Went to my Moms and swept her porch and steps off then came on back home to finish up the day.
MONDAY
WOke up to even colder temps. In the teens this morning and the wind still whipping. They say it aint likely to stop for about two more days. In the mean time just brutal cold conditions.
Fixed the hog pen so that "Crazy" the goat cant jump in and steal their feed. Got tired real quick of having to stand guard against that big old girl. SHe is slick though. Always keeps a corner of her eye on you pretending she isnt looking at you. You walk away and after a triple take she sneaks up the back side of the pen against the shed and then just stands at the bottom of the fence and jumps flat hoofed right over into the hog pen and starts eating like crazy. The hogs "squeal" on her LITERALLY. You walk back up to the hog pen and say Crazy GET OUT OF THERE. And poof.. Over she goes. Then starts her spy act all over again. That is one goat that can jump like you have never seen. I Half over raised the height so maybe now I can feed with out having to do guard duty. Its that time by the way so better get out of here and get my golf club for busting ice and get these critters took care of for another terribly cold night.
It began snowing this past Saturday right at high noon. The weather folks got that right. They did fairly well with the amounts also. Anywhere from 1 to 3 inches they said but here in places it was 5 inches.
Due to a bad decision on my part I was out looking for some hay on Saturday when it started. The fellow that I usually get the round bales from was out seeing his father so I called around to find some square to tie me over till he gets back. All of this SHOULD have been taken care of already.
When I got home it had already gotten the ground a little white and I needed to get the hay hauled up before the tractor couldnt get back up the hill. Hauled the groceries and hay up so at least we all could be eating when the snow set in.
I moved the goats back down to the lot closet to the house for my convenience. I also have one that is very pregnant and I am a bit concerned for her. Got to really keep an eye on her.
As playful and funny as goats are they are NO big fan of any precipitation that I am aware of. They will stand in the shed and just watch and chew their cud. Alot of the goats I have are seeing snow for the first time and it is still amusing to just try to imagine what is going through their minds. The same with the hogs I have. This is their first snow and they were a bit more active. They were running around and playing tag with each other for a little while. That was fun to see. There is alot to be said about the critters. The longer you have them the more you learn. Their likes dislikes and mannerisms. They have personalities also. No doubt in my mind about that. When I am blessed by a moment of them just being themselves its really neat. Kind of a kin to spying on something you dont fully understand. I can get as wide eyed as any youngin about some new things I learn.
Sunday, I got up and the temperature had dropped sharply. The wind was gusting to 30 plus mph. Not fun at all. First thing I did was check my animals to see how they were fairing and I could tell they were wondering what the heck happened also. You could tell by the way they were looking at me.
Anyway, I needed to get some more water hauled so I set out clearing a path from the house to the bottom of the goat path (driveway HA ) It was a very fluffy snow so it was no big thing to sweep it. I was going to use my blower but the priming bulb on it has dry rotted and busted. I dont know why they had to replace a mechanical choke with a piece of plastic bulb. Somebody must have had to pull the string more than four times. LOL Dont get me wrong...... I HATE when something is stubborn to start. It usually dont last long around me if it gives me a fit to fire up. But anyway my driveway is fairly long and VERY rough but it wasnt too bad to sweep. I stopped and just took in things around me every now and then. I was about 30 feet from the end and the cheap aluminum broom handle broke. LOL It broke about half into and I knew I didnt have another one anywhere so I pulled my Leatherman out and bent and squeezed one end until it would just fit into the other half. I was close to a big rock so I just started pounded the two pieces back together until it was somewhat sturdy again. Worked like a charm. I didnt have to walk all the way back to the house to repair it so thats always a plus. If I had got to the house it would have been twice as hard to get back to the task at hand. So I named my rock. LOL "BroomHandle Rock" Just one more mile marker in the world. If I need someone to meet me in that area now they can pretty much tell where I am. (The ones I share the location with anyway)
Well got all that mess done and then tried to see if the tractor would make it back and forth and luckily it did. Went to my Moms and swept her porch and steps off then came on back home to finish up the day.
MONDAY
WOke up to even colder temps. In the teens this morning and the wind still whipping. They say it aint likely to stop for about two more days. In the mean time just brutal cold conditions.
Fixed the hog pen so that "Crazy" the goat cant jump in and steal their feed. Got tired real quick of having to stand guard against that big old girl. SHe is slick though. Always keeps a corner of her eye on you pretending she isnt looking at you. You walk away and after a triple take she sneaks up the back side of the pen against the shed and then just stands at the bottom of the fence and jumps flat hoofed right over into the hog pen and starts eating like crazy. The hogs "squeal" on her LITERALLY. You walk back up to the hog pen and say Crazy GET OUT OF THERE. And poof.. Over she goes. Then starts her spy act all over again. That is one goat that can jump like you have never seen. I Half over raised the height so maybe now I can feed with out having to do guard duty. Its that time by the way so better get out of here and get my golf club for busting ice and get these critters took care of for another terribly cold night.
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