Lucky Fish

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Tropical Storm Colin came through town earlier this week, dumping a ton of rain, and filling the little lake by our house to over flowing.  We stopped by the lake on our nightly walk last night, to see how well it had drained in the intervening days, and came upon a surprise.  It seems that several little fish that had been living in the lake had been flushed out by the draining water.    We discovered them while they were valiantly attempting to swim back up the spillway into the lake, and away from the gaping maws of the blue herons and egrets that laid in wait next to the shallow stream formed by the draining water. 

The kids immediately sprang to action attempting to return the little fish to the deep waters of the lake.  Fire Beard ran back home in search of nets to assist in the rescue attempt.  I even got in on the action, but quickly found that the kid's fish rescuing prowess far exceed mine.

In the end we rescued about a dozen fish, and hope they are happy back at home.

Playa is a lake again!

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We have a Lake Again!

We have a Lake Again!

About 2 months ago I told you how our neighborhood lake had dried up, leaving us with a playa, or dry lake bed.  The playa wasn't bad, the kids enjoyed playing on it, but we missed our lake.

Then about a week ago it started raining.  It rained for 3 days and 3 nights (thanks hurricane season), and at the end we had a lake again.

Kayakers!

Kayakers!

Then as we were driving by on Saturday, I saw something I didn't think I would ever see in this lake, Kayakers!  I actually jumped out of the car to take these with my phone before they got too far away to see (sorry they are not the highest quality).  

So far the lake only has a couple of feet of water, but we should be getting some more water later this week.  Hopefully soon, the lake will be back to it's former glory.

North Carolina - Part 2

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The mountain cabin is nestled into the side of a mountain, fairly high up, but not at the top.  While it is not a big house, it is very comfy with its wooden floor and ceiling, over stuffed couch, and it’s wide back deck looking over a sea of wild flowers and Irises.

My favorite thing to do at the cabin is sit in a rocker by the fireplace and read or knit while a fire crackles merrily in the grate.

If we are feeling ambitious we hike up the nearby Whiteside Mountain.  The mountain is considered one of the best climbing areas in the southeast with its uninterrupted sheer cliff faces, but it also has an easy hiking trail to the peek.  In recent years, handrails have been added or repaired so that the access to the cliff face is more limited, but it is still possible to hike to the very edge in some spots.

North Carolina - Part 1

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​About this time last month was my 9 year Wedding Anniversary.  Fire Beard and I were finally able to celebrate on memorial day weekend.  We took a trip up to the family cabin in North Carolina, and had a wonderful time.

​We took my old dog with us, knowing it might be his last trip since he has late stage lymphoma.  I don't think anyone would have guessed he is ill.  He seems to have forgotten himself.

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​We spent nearly every evening at the dock near the cabin, throwing sticks into the water for the old dog to fetch.  He is not as buoyant as he used to be, but he didn't seem to mind.

Preparing for winter: Chopping Wood

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During the past summer's hurricane season our neighbor lost a few trees; a water oak, a live oak, and a black oak. All of them make good fire wood, and all of them have been laying in the neighbor's pasture for months. A few weeks ago Mr. Incredible helped them cut the tree into pieces, in return for hauling some of the wood home. Today Mr. Incredible and my father-in-law used a rented wood splitter to break the logs into usable firewood.

Here is the family observing Grand-dad at work.

Mr. Incredible stepped in to help with the big logs. Manual labor looks good on my man.
Then my little man helped out with the big guys.
They grow up so fast.
Almost all of the dogs helped process the wood.

Here is my boy. See the intensity and determination.A little less determination.
This is my husband's boy. He is a very efficient wood processor.
My SIL's girl. The kid's dog was the only one that wasn't helping with the wood processing. He was too scared to go near the wood splitter.

This is what the stall in the barn that is used for wood storage looked like about half way through wood chopping.
We are not worried about any of the wood walking away. We have a "guard" dog.