Kudzu and other adventures...

Okay, so I've officially been in Georgia two weeks.

I've learned a lot in two weeks.
 
Several years ago there was a company whose slogan was "Covering the South like Kudzu".
I actually did a search and could not find the name of that company, but their thinking was right on track.

Kudzu (pronounced kood-zoo) bothers the hell out of me.
Mr. B likes to refer to it as Krud-zoo.
I wondered aloud to him a few days ago if the person responsible for bringing it to the South was sent to New Jersey and told never to return.
(Interestingly, there was a Yahoo News article about kudzu in New Jersey...hmmm)


This is kudzu....

It was brought here from Japan by some well-meaning botanist to help w/ erosion....
which it did....
but....
it grows from 4 to 12 inches PER DAY...
seriously.
It takes over absolutely everything...
fences, yards, power lines, houses...
see that dark woody piece hanging from the tree in the center of the picture?
Kudzu vine...

It's bigger around than my arm.

Then there's this...

Those logs stuck in the fence?
you guessed it...
I intentionally left the fencepost in the pic for size reference.
If you were to inspect the fence, you would note that the vine itself has completely engulfed the wire in places.
This is crazy stuff, y'all!
(Apparently, though, it does have nutritional/medical value...although, I won't be serving it up any time soon.)

I've also learned that there are some ridiculously outrageous insects here....

This guy is no longer amongst the living, but he startles me every time I walk out onto the front porch.
He is approximately 2 inches long.
Then there's this little cutie....

Yes, that's a spider...
a VERY BIG spider...
(at LEAST6 inches, toe to toe)
I have no idea what kind of spider...
but he can haul some hiney when necessary.

There are a multitude of insects that refused to pose for pictures, the likes of which I've never seen....
and, let's be honest here....
I've lived in a lot of places...
just saying.

The dirt here is red.
And my lovely white and black dog?
Has taken on a decidedly reddish cast on her head, chest and front legs.

I've also learned that my 61 year old husband is still able to vault fences....
I'm not sure he even knew he was capable of this until he dug up a bees' nest...
Boy, were they po'd!
The good news he was only stung 5 times...
I'm not sure he'd call that good news.
(He sacrificed a shoe, a shovel, and a wheelbarrow to the bees....
for the time being anyway)

It's okay if the color you picked out for your kitchen cabinets is totally grody...
you can always change it.
(even if it means that you'll be waaaayyyy behind on your project goals.)

Did you know that dogs can pick blackberries?
Well, I didn't either,
Who knew that I'd have to fight the dog for ripe fruit?

Oh yeah,
shopping carts are called buggies...
and if you can't find something, it's around here, "summers"
(somewheres).

The guys and gals at Home Depot and Lowes are the nicest people on the planet and
my  best friends.

I've also learned that one very large, outdated, satellite dish can be re-purposed for something useful and lovely...

Stay tuned for more adventures....

Love ya madly!

A Contribution from Mr. B....

Editors note:  A few weeks ago I delivered unto my husband (Mr. B) Sassy and Sammy. Sassy, it seems, is delighted with her new digs...she has approximately 1 1/2 fenced acres to patrol, and she takes her job very seriously.  Sammy, on the other hand, is thinking that my trip to the grocery store is taking an awfully long time. The following, from an email sent to me by Mr. B,  is what I'm sure is to be the first of many adventures for the pupcake:

It was a soft furry brown motion moving along the fence that I first noticed.  When it saw me it made for the fence to get away.  It made it thru the fence to come face to face with a pup.

Sassy started barking and they exchanged greetings.  As they danced across the back yard loudly proclaiming their admiration for each other, I could only watch. 

They had different ways of dealing with the other's attraction.  Sassy gave it her hind end to chew on (nothing but lots of hair there), the other tried to kiss her back with clicking added in for show. 

Well the brown furry visitor made it back thru the fence at the chicken house.

Haven't seen it since. 

But you will have to ask Sassy about her first dance with a woodchuck.

(photo from sodahead.com)

Puppy Love

This gorgeous young man arrived at my house early Friday morning perched atop bags of mortar in the back of a red and white pickup driven by his dad, Scott, and accompanied by James.

I was immediately intrigued.

Then I met him.

And I was immediately smitten.
His name is Chief. 
This creature made me willing to rescind my "No More Pets" rule. 
Not only is this boy beautiful,
but he is a total mush...
a lover boy to the extreme...
and the most well behaved dog EVER!

When I wasn't bestowing him with ear scritches and back rubs,
he liked to hang out here...

I discussed with him how much he would love Georgia.
I told him that Sassy would be a wonderful playmate.
I explained that the kitties would be a non-issue.
I even pledged my undying love and affection. 

He didn't go for it...

You see, it turns out that this boy lives in doggie Utopia.
He has a loving family.
He lives on 1,000 acres with 3 other German Shepherds, a Lab mix, and 50 chickens.
He gets to go to work with his dad every day.
Total strangers shower him with love and praise everywhere he goes.
Why the heck would he give all that up for me?
What pup in his right mind would?

Still, Chief, if things don't work out for you...
you know where to find me...
'kay?

I need to add, and this is by no means a side-note...
Scott and James did a great job on my stairs.
They were a couple of really nice guys, too.
And, the farm fresh, organic, free range eggs were a huge bonus.
This is why it's always better to deal with real people.

If anyone out there needs a good mason...give me a shout.

Plus, I promise...Chief is the icing on the cake.

My Baby....

Is no longer a baby.
But she will always be my baby.
And in the blink of an eye this little stinker...

became this lovely young lady...

And this lovely young lady, who just turned 19,  is extremely bright, talented, passionate, compassionate, and independent.

Happy birthday, Sweetie!

How wonderful life is while you're in the world! (Elton John)

Sassy and Me on the MKT

or otherwise titled...an O.M.G! Perfect Day!
Or Doggy's Day Out.

Today was the perfect spring day. 75 degrees, sunshine, a light breeze, birdies singing in the trees, flowers and trees in bloom.

Sassy and I decided (well, actually, I decided and Sassy is always up for any adventure as long as she can ride shotgun and stick her head out of the car window) that today we were going to take a walk on the MKT or KATY Trail.

(Yes, I took this picture).

The KATY is a spurline of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railway, which was abandoned in 1978. I believe, and don't hold me to this, that Columbia was the first city in the state of Missouri to develop this trail into a hiking-biking-fitness trail. To date it spans the state from Sedalia in the west all the way to St. Charles in the east (200 miles). In Columbia, one can catch the trail in many locations throughout the city. The ten foot wide trail is enclosed in a canopy of trees and traverses water in many places.

(Yes, I took this one, too. And to reduce redundancy, let's get it over with and just say I took all of the pics in this post. And, SERIOUSLY, check out that sky!)

The thing about the KATY is that regardless of where you are on the trail, you get a sense of being engulfed in wilderness. However, it's more like a bubble of wilderness surrounded by metropolis. And if you think about it, how absolutely splendid is that?!!

I've picked up the KATY in downtown Columbia and been immediately transported from hot concrete jungle to cool, peaceful wilderness. I've seen snakes intertwined and sunning themselves on rocks beside the Flatbranch stream. There have been woodchucks warming their fat bellies. And huge, seriously HUGE, frogs singing in the cool mud. And I've dodged swallows guarding their nests in the underpasses of busy city streets.

Today, Sassy and I set out on a branch of the trail closest to our home, which is more rural. There were the usual suspects...Cardinals, Chickadees, Titmice, Goldfinch and Wrens...all singing as if their lives depended on it (maybe they do). Woodpeckers of all sorts pounding away at the trees for the tastiest buggy morsels. We heard, but couldn't find, a couple of Barred Owls having a deep and serious conversation, which echoed along the stream bed. There was one nuthatch-like bird I couldn't identify, singing a song I've never heard, and I decided I needed either Mr. Eagle Eye or Mr. Bird Identifier Extraordinaire (you both know who you are) to assist in that regard. What we did not see, which we really, really wanted to see, were Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings and Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks.

The entire trail was adorned with these guys taking advantage of the filtered sunshine through the not-quite-fully-leaved trees:

more:

We stopped, or rather Sassy stopped, and sniffed, and spritz on various locations along the way. We chatted with a rather lovely elderly pup and her human. We sniffed the cool green air, and listened to the cacophony of birds and frogs and rushing water, and soaked up the sun, and reveled in the lushness of nature left to its own devices.

And then, we were tired, and hungry and thirsty. So we went here:

(Okay, no, I didn't take this picture).

Sassy had a plain cheeseburger and a cup of water (an ENTIRE cup of water)...I had a wonderful slushy strawberry-lemonade concoction.

Then we went home and visited with the most wonderful creature....
I'll tell you about him later.

A Precious Gift

I have been pondering this post for a long time, because, quite simply, I have been having a difficult time finding the correct words to convey how absolutely stunningly wonderful my birthday was for me. Even the words "stunningly wonderful" seem to be a gross understatement when compared to how I truly felt.

My actual birthday was spent as relatively quietly as my family would allow. I fielded calls and email from family and friends, worked at the bird store, and had a lovely dinner with my older sister that evening. The real excitement, though, was scheduled to begin the next day (Saturday).

As it turns out, that Saturday was the final bird walk for the store. My brother-in-law, Jeff (married to my younger sister), leads those bird walks. We had big plans for Jeff.  Now, it should be known that my older sister and Jeff have a long history of "acting up" when they are together. The plan was to surprise him on the bird walk with my sister dressed in a bluebird costume. The previous night she and I had a riotous time making signs for the blue bird to hold up for him to read through his binoculars, which included fun bluebird facts filled w/ various editorial comments.

After a few setbacks in that department, including having the bird walkers drive right past us, and our having to catch them (my fault, I'm a bozo), we managed to pull it off, and everyone was highly amused. Shenanigans complete.

Then Jeff informed me that there was a surprise for me in his car. As I walked toward the car holding the blue bird's signs, the side door of his van opened and a hooded person emerged. Turning slowly toward me I recognized the blue eyes and beautiful smile of the love of my life! (Who, I should add, I haven't seen since Thanksgiving.)

What happened after that seemed to occur in slow motion. My heart leaped into my throat and I somehow propelled myself into his arms. There were tears, and hugs, and, of course, kisses. I don't think many of the bird walkers managed to stay dry-eyed either. Later in the day, I wondered what I did with the afore-mentioned signs and was grudgingly informed by my sister that I tossed them on the ground.

Not one person knew he was going to be here. He drove 11 hours and walked into the store as the "walkers" were gathering and surprised them. Later, at a multi-birthday gathering at my mother's home, the rest of the family was caught off guard when he walked in the door. Our daughter, who arrived later, had a similar reaction to mine when he came around the corner.

A funny side-note to this story is that he was planning to come into the store from the bird walk dressed in an eagle costume to surprise me. Although we thwarted that plan, it still worked out wonderfully.

He had to leave bright and early the next day.

My husband drove a total of 22 hours to spend one day with me. It meant, and means, more to me than I can possibly convey.

Thank you, Honey, for the best birthday gift EVER!

I'm how old???

I know it’s hard to tell from my youthful appearance and attitude, but the big 5-0 is looming. Honestly, I don’t feel that old (most days, anyway.)

I do recall, though, in “firmer” days thinking that 50 year old people were just one precarious step from the brink. So, I wonder if today’s twenty- and thirty-somethings look at me and think, “Whoa, this one is ready for the ice flow!”

Up until a few weeks ago I really hadn’t given this whole age thing much play, but my brother-in-law (who will also be turning 50) had to open his big mouth. He made some comment about being on the down hill side of life. So, now every time I consider this birthday that little point nags at the back of my mind. Thanks a lot, Jeff!

The good news is his little comment has not instilled some desire in me to run and sow the few wild oats I have left. (At least I think there are a few buried in the bottom of my purse.) I have no desire for a sports car, or plastic surgery, or a baby. I don’t even have the desire to color my hair or add highlights. (Although, this whole neck skin thing really bugs the heck out of me.)

I think I’ll just settle for a little house on two acres in Georgia with my husband. I’ll paint walls. I’ll plant some flowers and maybe some vegetables. I’ll buy a little lawn tractor and a wagon to hitch to the back, so I can haul stuff around from place to place. I’ll build a garden where we can sit outside and just be.

And…there will be no chickens or llamas allowed!

You’ll visit, won’t you?