Get Moving!!

The one day we get to sleep in just a little, the clock rang at 6:00AM.  Time to rise and shine…everyone in the house was up, dressed, had coffee, and breakfast.  Then we were all out the door, heading over to the shop to pull equipment together, and prep it for our early morning chores.  Yes, a family affair of weed whacking, cutting grass, chopping small trees, and unloading branches from the trailer.  All done early before the storms rolled in.

We even moved some red clay away from the French drains so the rain wouldn’t push it into the ditch. You scratch your heads wondering how we moved the clay; well I’ll tell you it wasn’t by hand.  

After doing research, getting advice from friends (y’all know who you are), and trying several tractors (Kubota, Mahindra, Kiyoti, LS, New Holland, John Deere, and Case) we decided to go with LS. 

The dealer where we purchased our LS tractor gave us the best deal around for a larger tractor and parts including service, and warranty.    We purchased the LS 4140 with a bucket, box blade, and a brush hog.

Here it is………………I have to ask……do you think my tractor’s sexy??

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While cutting back trees, Bulldog Man and I found grapes!!!!  We found all kinds of grapes, growing along the fence line out on the east side of our property.  We don’t know if they’re wild grapes, or grapes planted by the previous owner.  I’m going to need to do some research before I start to pick any grapes.  I know they’re 5 things I need to look for in research.  The shape of the leaves (heart shaped and jagged), the number of seeds in the grape, the color of the stem, the color of the flower and the tendrils.    

This is an exciting find; I hope they’re not the poisonous kind.

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I also found another type of spider…………………………

A VW Bug Spider!!!!  I thought this was funny, and took a picture to share with you.  This spider is on the side of one of the local churches.

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As I close this post today, I wanted to share; I’ll be hosting another give-away relating to survival later this week…..stay tuned!

Rain, Wildflowers, Snakes, Tractor, & Food

The rain has been coming down continuously here.  We never thought it would stop.  Here are a few videos of some of the water we received from the past several days.  

We’ve pretty much decided to maintain 3 acres out of 20; meaning we will cut, weed whack and groom those 3 acres, the rest will remain ALA natural, with pathways throughout created by water, wildlife, and humans. Bulldog Man and I routinely walk the entire property at various times to make sure all is okay, check for anything unusual, and to make sure we don’t have any uninvited squatters.  Our plans are also to invest in a nice quality drone to help with the monitoring of our property.

I thought I would share with you some of the wildflowers I found while cutting the grass.

Since the rain has stopped, and the sun is out, I decided to cut the grass.  When cutting the grass on our dam, there are areas where a push mower is needed; like next to the water of our fish pond.  While cutting next to the pond, a Water Moccasin snake became aggressive and started to swim toward me, and then decided he/she was going to attempt to come at me on the shoreline of the dam.  Big mistake…..see if the snake would have continued on he/she would still be treading water.  However, since he/she decided to lunge toward me……Mama’s 9MM (Say hello to my little friend!!!), came un-holstered and he/she became fish bait.  That wasn’t my first encounter of snakes for the day.  I came in contact with 3 other snakes; a rattle snake, a green garden snake, and another water moccasin.  The one thing I totally can’t stand is snakes.  If they leave me alone, I will leave them alone.  If they get in my way or attempt to lunge at me, that’s it; I’m done with them.

Picture from  news.aces.edu

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Several weeks ago, I hung 4 humming bird feeders out on our front porch.  There have been 3 hummingbirds that’ve made it a point to hang around and enjoy the sweet nectar provided; along with a hundred or so bees off and on each day.  The birds don’t seem to mind the bees too much; they seem to be willing to share their food.  I’m not sure where these bees are coming from, whether they’re from a wild nest or a local hand raised hive.  I wish we were ready to raise bees; I would make an attempt to capture them.  Since we’re not ready, we’ll just leave them alone, and give them space to come and go as they please.  

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Tractor shopping has been pretty interesting.  We’ve narrowed our choice down to Kubota.  Now it’s just figuring out which one to buy, and when (timing is always in consideration).  Here’s a picture of Bulldog Man test driving one at the Kubota dealership.

  

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I came across a recipe for pineapple fried rice and decided to share it with you.  If you like pineapple and fried rice, you’ll love this recipe.  The recipe is from Damn Delicious, click here to find the recipe.   

Everyone in my house gives this recipe a 4 paw rating!!!  It’s Damned Delicious!!!

 

Plenty of things to talk about, but for now, I need to get back to work.  Catch y’all soon!