Driveway Etiquette People respect property lines in the countryside. When we moved in, the previous residents had “Private Property: No Trespassing” and “Beware of Dog” signs posted at the driveway entrance. Having come from a place where the property lines were a bit blurry, and not with our blessings, I thought, cool, leave the signs. […]
Rural Missouri Ways, Good to Downright Scary Read More »
Not long after the last post, an overnight dip in degrees produced the exact treasures I was seeking and revealed themselves on the morning walk! And all but a few were gone again by evening.
eureka! plummeting temperatures yield a new crop of frost flowers Read More »
I have been thoroughly enjoying the change of seasons in our new yard on daily walks. While the number and variety of wildflowers has waned with winter approaching, we have seen some fall blooms. Early one November morning we noticed something. A bit of white fluff among the fallen leaves. Frost Flower, Ice Flower, Ice
Elusive Frost Flower Sighted Read More »
Having lived in South Florida for over twenty years, heat was not a big deal to me. I was warned before buying an old concrete block home that the crawl space underneath would mean hot summers and chilly winters and indeed it did. On a cold winter’s day, I could walk into my backyard and
Crash Course in How to Get Firewood or How Not to Freeze Read More »
A pretty surprise in the front yard. Wildflower growing on side of road. Purple wild flower in park. A group of tan mushrooms growing in yard. Red mushroom growing in yard. A mushroom that sprouted in a compost pile. A tiny grasshopper helping on a job. A butterfly with pretty black and blue wings. An
Life that Crawls & Grows Around Me Read More »
“Your water bottle is right by the tractor,” I called out and returned to my phone conversation with a friend that I had been catching up with since my move. “Those are words I never thought I’d hear you say,” she said and laughed. It’s true. We have a tractor. There is more to do
A Man About a Tractor Read More »
My first Missouri winter was the coldest it’s been in 30 years, according to some reports. Awesome. I now know how to stoke and feed the fire in our wood burning stove. I haven’t started a fire in it yet, but it’s probably not a lot more than the maintaining. I repeat the mantra I
Notification Turns on Panic Read More »
About five weeks into living in the cabin and three months since we left South Florida, I still have unpacked boxes. If my writing “South Florida” as though it’s a different state from Florida stands out, it is. South Florida and the rest of the state are night and day different. The Spanish language is
The Moving-box Unopened Read More »
Today I walked/hiked down a snowy hillside, baked an elderberry crisp and pulled thorns from a dog. This is an improvement over last year when I was administering a standardized test and commuting home through heavy South Florida traffic. How? God. While I dreamed for years of moving to the countryside, I felt that taking