Recent visitor

When I went out with Sophie & Zippy Wednesday morning we had a visitor by the stepping stones. Of course the dogs were interested and sniffing around but they didn't bother him. I snapped a picture when Zippy was close to him but the camera flashed, the turtle moved and when I looked at the picture it was just the turtle. Zippy was so fast, that he was there when I pressed the button for the picture and was totally gone just that fast. So, his name fits him perfectly. ;-)



Sophie didn't blaze out of the frame and was fascinated by the little guy. We have seen a turtle in the yard several times in the last few years and I suspect it is this guy. The fencing and gates for the 2.5 acres that are fenced for the dogs doesn't have an opening tall enough for his shell to fit through. There is plenty of underbrush and places for him to go so he is safe here in the yard with us.

Poison Ivy.....poison ivy.....

gonna need an ocean, of calamine lotion..... Well, okay no, not really.

Yesterday we were pulling out stumps of shrubs and small trees with the tractor. Loving me some tractor. ;-) There was poison ivy in the area that we totally cut off to the ground. I ALWAYS try to be SO careful around it. When the stumps came out there were all kinds of roots waving around and it occurred to me that there were probably poison ivy roots mixed in with the others. I thought I was being careful and was wearing gloves that came half way up to my elbows, but not long enough. I should have had on a long sleeve shirt too. ACK!

Anyway, when I woke up this morning my right arm was itching and I looked and sure 'nuff, poison ivy. Thank goodness some years back I found Zanfel which is a great product for poison ivy rash. It is worth every penny that it costs! By the time I finished using it on my right arm I realized my left one was itching too. Using the Zanfel followed up by a generous splash of 91% alcohol, I was able to go sit in the dentist chair, get my new crown and not be itching at all.

Sophie's flowers

Yesterday I made a braided clover headband and here it is on Sophie. She seemed to prefer a profile shot. ;-)

Street Fair

Last weekend we went to a local street fair with booths of antiques,
crafts and food. We passed this cutie walking to the fair from
our truck.The weather was beautiful and not too hot or humid.




There were streets of booths and this
is just a couple of shots of one area.







I had one of the barbque sandwiches
which was very yummy and tender,
however I did use my teeth. ;-)

Alrighty then, now I know........

These vines with tubers that I'm working so hard to get under control are called Greenbriar among other common names such as Bull Briar, Horse brier, Cat brier, etc. I guess I can see where all these names come from; first the vines are bright green, they are tough as a bull, you need a horse to pull them out and they scratch like a cat.

Digging up the yard, one thorn vine tuber.............

Yesterday was another digging day. I got Zippy to pose for a size comparison and also put the shovel in the back. This was all attached as one giant mass with multiple vines sprouting from various places. It broke into pieces as we pried and pulled it out. It took a shovel, a pickaxe, a long, heavy metal pinch bar and the wench on the quad to get it all out! With the thorn vines, poison ivy, Virginia creeper, honeysuckle, and wisteria--clearly, it's a jungle out there. Thank goodness we don't have kudzu!!!

The battle of the thorn vines continues

This is just one wheelbarrow full of the tubers from the thorn vines that I've been digging up. (Our timber guy who is an arborist, calls them saw briars) The one that is leaning on the handle weighs 22 lbs. I dug and pried it out of the ground, and yes, we weighed it. :-) The vines run up into the trees and then bloom and make a ton of berries that fall and sprout and.......the process continues. I've been digging them for a few years as spraying only kills the sprout and then they sprout up from another part of the tuber. I'm thinking these have to be YEARS old to get this big.