Rocking In My Flip Flops

Alway something interesting

to find on a walk

A rock outcropping covered in lichen

shapes and types

you may not have seen.

Grateful the flip flops are still able to rock

Keep your eyes on the trees cause you never know what's watching.

See the face?

The Other Side Of Stoned

My life just brims with daily excitement. 

Last week I did a clean up from eroded soil, plant debris and dog play on one side of one water garden.  A few days later I did the other side.  We've had some warmer days lately.

Don't fear water gardens!  This is just something I do every year or two with the rocks.  The only regular maintenance is removing leafs, pulling weeds and topping off the water now and then.

 Another OCD sort with my Mt Ida crystals

Likes together 

Fossils and I suspect some sort of rapidly cooled rock...

Fun with rocks and rusty wire

You knew I had to throw some weird in there!

Solid and safe.  People and pet access improved and expanded.

Now we wait for rain....

Fishing With Me

Retrieved my fish bait from my worm pit/compost pile, grabbed my purple rod and reel as Hubby gathered his little tackle box with all his lures etc.  Headed off in the Gator to the top pond with out the dogs that can't stay outta the water.  Lizzy got to go because you know she doesn't care too much for swimming.

Hubby starts reeling the bass in before I even get my bucket of worms unloaded.  My first cast I hang on a log and have to break the line.  Hubby says they're feeding deep so I trudge back to the Gator to get a float to hold my hook at the right depth.  I cast again.  

Oops!  Tangled up in a Button Willow in the edge of the pond and I'm NOT losing another hook, much less a floater.  After I retrieved the clippers from the Gator, off with my shoes and jacket. Pushed my pants legs up as far as they would go and stepped carefully into the mucky bottomed pond to save my float. Success.  Muddy feet are happy feet.

Contemplating which worm would be prime bait I wondered if they could feel that hook as I strung their little bodies on it.  Fished all my life and, believe me, the way they wiggle, they feel it! My line is still not in the water.

I was distracted by a rock.  Who, me??

I found another rock that fit my pocket.

Then decided to change fishing spots since I had no bites...

remember my line is not in the water.

Lizzy finds her spot

and I find mine far across from Hubby

where he continues to notify me with glee of how many he's caught!

My mess of fish is growing too!

Final tally...Hubby six, me twelve...but who's counting.

His stringer may be bigger but we all know size doesn't matter.

Mine were released into the spring pond

and

we're having Bass for supper.

Of All The Things I Needed To Do

I chose playing with rocks.  I wish I'd taken a true before picture but did not think until I starting unloading the rocks from the stump.

When I first built this garden for Dad, Hubby made me a stump chair.  The years and critters have worn it down so I thought it was time for it to move on to another purpose.

The removal left a hole.  Flats rocks were gathered to extend the walk.

My ever present partner, Ms OCD, had me sort like kinds.

First collection rocks were separated from working rocks.

Round rocks, cave rocks, crystals and conglomerates had to be grouped.

Fossils, metamorphic and iron ore Ms OCD sorted and played.

At quitting time you could not detect where the stump had been. The animals and people have a solid clear area to approach the water to drink, swim or just enjoy the view.

Empty pecans, pecan limbs, leafs and other natural debris were picked and raked away to join my compost or my burn pile.  Yep, that's the stump sitting behind my bench.  Couldn't bring myself to remove it completely...yet.

And You Thought I Had Stopped...

creating mad projects from nothing.  Never!

Made Hubby a comfy neck pillow from holey leggings

It's can be reshaped.

 Made an "art" piece from paint

dried in the bottoms of paint cans.

Added my own touches to the paint.

Gathered some sand and rocks for another project.

Printed, framed, hanged

and added some bling to Andrew's room.

I "assisted" Hubby while he made twenty five pounds of deer Summer Sausage.  Although I have not been posting blow by blow accounts of my shenanigans, I've tried to be productive.  

What projects are you working on this year?

Reading The Land

Creek cuts or road cuts are often an open history book not of recent times  but of times long gone. Perhaps millions of years can be read in one spot.  This is knowledge I hunger for and spend endless time trying to "read" the geological happenings that created this place, this time.

Above is a creek cut with layers of clay alternating with layers of lime.  This could be read as a long time of drought followed by a body of water which caused the lime build up.  The time of water was long because of the sediment and the fact water with lime began seeping into the clay or silt stone.  Both are considering sedimentary rocks.

Then, Boom!  There's a nice shelf of igneous rock bubbling out of the creek floor.  Now this is where it gets confusing to me.  This could be metamorphic rock because "Metamorphism is the result of solidification of material under high temperature and pressure. There are two types of metamorphism, contact and regional. The difference between the two is simple. Contact will occur in a small area usually as a result of an igneous intrusion. Regional occur in a large area due to intense heat and pressure within the earth." So could it be an igneous intrusion cooling as it is reaching the surface which then makes it a metamorphic stone? Metamorphic stone is made by squashing or heating. 

Are you confused yet?  I am.

At this point I know I don't know enough unless all I need to know about rocks is the pleasure of collecting and just listening to what they have to say.

I know barely enough to know if it's sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic...sometimes but I surely have fun trying to figure it out because under these main divisions are many, many more.

...and that is your geology lesson for the day.  

Knowing there is no simple stone keeps me looking.

I Don't Know About You

but my poor coffee table is lined with things I have jotted down, random quotes I've heard or read or even random thoughts.  Sometimes I do some thing with them, sometimes not.  I wonder many times how my mind works.  If you figure it out, please tell me.

My spiders are dusty
My legs not shaved
I leave so seldom
I must be caged...Me

"RTC-Reasons to continue"...from the series Zoo.

Delta airlines advertisement..."...wild eyed and big figured dreams..."

Peyote gave me visions of a world never seen
Where animals and people play on the same team...Me

Belle Starr's tombstone...
"Shed not for her the bitter tear
Nor give the heart to vain regret
'Tis but the casket here
The gem that filled it sparkles yet."

And now my table's clear.

"There's A Little Black Dot On The Sun Today

It's the same old thing as yesterday..."  The Police, King of Pain.

Rock,

rock,

rock,

 trees, 

rocks...

Since this is not Rock, Paper, Scissors I'm not sure which one wins.

The title has nothing to do with the post, I just keep singing this song!

The Trouble Began With One Rock

Trying to have a relaxing day and you know for me that is being barefoot and hunting for rocks. Hubby is always willing to help me out cause he can include his side trips like checking the feed plots for the wild game and just rolling over the acreage with dogs running along with us.

I viewed the dry creek, exploring barefoot where my feet had never been.  I saw this jewel of a rock. Perfect natural hole and my mind starting working or not, depending on whose telling the story.  This became my new perfect stone for my rock/water garden.  This would be my new feature piece with water running through it.

But first, and there's always a but, I needed the orange rock/gravel that are only in one place At The Farm so with some other companion rocks carefully selected while I dodged thorns and briers. we set off  to harvest some orange rocks.

We flushed a huge covey of quail.  As usual I was too slow to catch them all.  These beautiful birds are just one reason why we plant food plots each year in the fall.  So on the way to the orange rocks we checked the second food plot which is doing poorly because we've only had drops of rain since it's been planted.  

Orange rocks gathered in my shirt tail because the bucket I brought holds moss and they just wouldn't work with moss.  Not just yet anyway.

Sometimes Hubby humors me and let's me take pictures...

at a slower speed than breakneck.

Remember what started all this...one holey rock.  I began to tear down my water fall and arrange it around this new grand holey rock.  I had a smaller one but I like to go big.  I worked for hours and stacked, rearranged and scattered rocks to my heart's content.

When the pond began it was one tractor tire from my life that I always remember seeing.  It's purposes have been varied from a tire to a chicken water trough, to a pig feeder to a flower bed and many other things.  When I saw it again, I thought it deserved an honorable place in my yard since it had been around my entire life. 

So I happily worked with water and rocks and played with dogs which is kinda a perfect day in my book.  When I first constructed this water fall I had expand-a-foamed the rocks on top of the liner.  It held awhile but now it was loose.  I had the great idea I didn't need new foam but hoped to hold the liner with rocks.  Plugged the pump back in and declared it complete until the next time.

Checked on it a few hours later and my water garden had become a water balloon.  The poor Koi were swimming around the rim in very little water.  With out my expand a foam seal as the water fell down the water fall, it ran UNDER the lining.  I am glad I looked.  I weighted the liner in the middle with rocks, unplugged the pump and closed it down for the day.

Water Gardens Greet Spring

The water fall in my garden

The hostas are taking off

Variegated Hosta

Ajuga ground cover

Wild ferns

All plants have appreciated the many rains...so have the weeds.  Much work ahead but a wonderful place to listen, to enjoy singing birds and running water.  Spring has arrived.